Last night I made my way to The Tote quite late in the evening armed with a H4N Zoom Recorder to collect sounds of the venue as it is familiar to me: packed with patrons and music booming. I had originally intended to visit during a gig that seemed to me like a classic gig one would find at The Tote (independent day festival comprised of obscure, experimental genre-bending bands) but unfortunately I didn’t make it in time.

I arrived at around 10:00pm and the venue was still relatively lively with the post-gig loiterers. I was aiming to capture nondescript conversation and did at certain points, although more often the Zoom was very receptive to specific conversations. The recordings I did get have personality and are quite lively and humorous. I’m glad I made the trip out to the Tote last night and am now looking forward to having access during the day on Wednesday to compare the experience.