We spent several weeks in Penang and on a beautiful Wednesday evening, we went to the Farlim Night Market on Medan Angsana Road in to record and archive the vibrant sounds of the night market back in 2018.

Penang is famous for its street food and is one of the best food destinations in the world. We could already smell the various spices and foods in the air while driving to the market from Georgetown. Before unpacking our gear, we explored the area to get a feel for the general mood and for security reasons.

We looked for good recording spots that weren’t hidden and chatted with food stall owners to build a connection and feel protected.
We realized that each food stall had its own power generator, which was unique compared to markets in other Southeast Asian countries like Thailand and Vietnam.

We recorded the sound of a vendor squeezing sugar cane into juice with an old machine that was also connected to a power generator. We also captured the sizzle sound effect of a huge wok as the cook turned on the gas to keep it lit up and turned the food several times.

The night market was safe, and we had a lot of fun recording the ambience and all unique sound effects.