Dream sequence backgammon, Turkey

Bodrum, Turkey, and an Oblique Strategies submission from Robert van Riel, who captured the sounds of a frantic backgammon game taking place. We dealt the cards Question the heroic and Be dirty to Robert, and here’s how he applied them to the sound.

“Interpreting the Oblique Strategy cards I received, I thought that they steered in the same direction, or better, made me steer clear of polishing results too much. I like well produced sounds, even street sounds, very much and I try to achieve a same level of sophistication in my sound edits. But why should I? Why not “Question the heroic” and “Be dirty”?”

“For this challenge, I used a recording of a group of Backgammon players in Bodrum, Turkey (shown in the picture).”
“I was mesmerized by the speed the game was played and the sound of the dice and stones. At that time, the call for prayer sounded, and the players were not even bothered to look up or listen. I can imagine they wouldn’t, the call for prayer sounds five times a day and for them it is not as special as to me. Back home, being unable to separate the sounds of the call for prayer and the dice, I decided to emphasize the two most imported sounds I heard in the recording and use a delay effect and some equalizing. It focusses the attention to these sounds, and pretty much blurs out the rest.”

“”Be dirty” and “Question the heroic” are shown in the lack of separation of sounds and the absence of mastering the result, so the sounds are unfiltered and have some peaks and the high end of the spectrum.”

City version:

Memory version: