To be honest, I didn't have any expectations at all at first
"Can you really sell something like the sound of rain in the Japanese countryside?"
With that skepticism still lingering, I gradually uploaded the nature sounds I had recorded to Pond5, a stock sound site for overseas users
And now, my second music release has been sold
The recording that sold was of the distant sound of thunder and the sound of rain dripping on the station building, recorded at Tsubojiri Station in Tokushima Prefecture
Why was the recording being made at Tsubojiri Station?
This is the audio that sold this time
Rain And Distant Thunder At A Remote Japanese Mountain Station (Tsubojiri)
Tsubojiri Station is a famous switchback station located deep in the mountains
It's not a place easily accessible by car, and at night it's almost pitch black. There's no sign of people around
I've been filming "quiet Japanese scenery" for YouTube for some time now, and I've been particularly drawn to unmanned train stations on rainy days and late at night
On this day, I was doing fixed-point photography in the rain
Thunder rumbled in the distance, and rainwater dripped from the wooden station building
The damp mountain air, the silence, and the occasional low rumble of thunder
When I was there, I was just recording while thinking, "What an amazing atmosphere this is."
I never imagined that sound would sell overseas
The "atmosphere" captured with Portacapture X8
The audio tracks sold this time were recorded using a TASCAM Portacapture X8
Because it uses 32-bit float recording, the sound won't distort even with loud noises like thunder
The X8 has a way of capturing the very essence of the moment, from the sound of tiny raindrops to the distant thunder
When I actually listened to audio recordings from other sellers, I realized that my own recordings had a significantly different sense of depth and spatiality
It captures not only the sound of the rain, but also the feeling of "being there."
That may be a major reason why this sale was successful
Pochip
The process until a sale is made
Actually, I left this audio file untouched for a while after uploading it
At first, the number of impressions hardly increased, and I thought, "Maybe it's not going to work after all."
But one day, I got a "Pin" in Pond5
This is like a bookmark function; it means someone has saved it as a potential purchase
Then, when I had completely forgotten about Pond5, I suddenly received a sales notification from Pond5 in my Gmail saying, "Congratulations!"
I was truly surprised
Moreover, this is only the second time I've made a sale, even though I've only uploaded four works so far
Why do Japanese rain sounds sell?
What I realized once again this time is that there is value in "Japan's tranquility."
Overseas, you don't often find wooden train stations like those in Japan, or unmanned stations deep in the mountains, or the quiet atmosphere of a rainy night
Moreover, an environment free from the sounds of cars and people's voices is extremely valuable
Movies, documentaries, games, ASMR, ambient sound works
I think the people who create those kinds of works are looking for an "authentic atmosphere."
And what I've been continuously capturing on YouTube is precisely that "atmosphere."
What's next
To be honest, I didn't expect to feel this much of a positive response at first
However, the fact that it actually sold overseas has made me want to record even more of Japan's local natural sounds
Tsubojiri Station. Goshōji Temple. A residential area late at night. Rain along the Seto Inland Sea
Even seemingly ordinary scenes might be considered special sounds from a global perspective
I intend to continue recording the tranquil atmosphere of the Seto Inland Sea
And one day, the sounds I recorded will be playing in a movie or other work somewhere in the world
That would be an interesting future
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