Today was a lazy Sunday for me and the missus, which meant a morning trip to the laundromat to have some machines clean our clothes.  In an effort to capitalize on the experience, I decided to do some recording.  I put my DPA 4060s in my hat, packed up the dirty clothes and headed down to the local laundromat.

The space has a low level rumble from the clothes cleaning machinery, and, if you listen long enough, you’ll hear various patrons looking for their missing socks.

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Remember to be careful and dry at your own risk!

Recording Geek Note:  Rig consists of a pair of DPA 4060 mounted stealthily in a hat.  It was all tracked to a Sony PCM-M1o, with Sound Devices MP2 as a front end while trying to avoid running into the snuggle bear.

This recording dates back to October 2009.  I was wandering around with my gear and I ended up at Brooklyn Bridge Park along the East River. The Brooklyn Bridge was off to my left.  Water taxis, tourist boats, and helicopters were all whizzing by and the promenade was full of random people goofing off.  One of my favorite moments that day was when two women approached me:  ”Are you recording?  Yo, are you recording?”  I love when that happens!  I went on to explain that I was recording the ambience there, which seemed to confuse them.  One of the women went on to tell me how she just finished working on a new hip hop single.  I don’t know how recording the random sounds of Brooklyn Bridge Park makes me a powerful record mogul, but somehow it did.  Didn’t anyone tell these ladies that the recording industry is broken?

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One nice detail in this recording is the sound of flagpole ropes rattling against a flagpole that was off to my left.  In the midst of the boats and aircraft rumbling by, it was a subtle repetitive sound that stood out to me.

Recording Geek Note:  Rig consists of Schoeps CMC5 setup for MS, with the MK4 as the mid.  It was all tracked to a Sound Devices 744T at 24/96, while trying not to get accosted by random morons.

Back in December, I was in Florida for a couple of days.  It was as a week of unusually chilly weather and overcast skies.  I was hoping to do a decent amount of recording that week, but didn’t have much luck.  One nice feature of the overcast skies and rain was the sound of wind passing through the palm trees.  In this recording I had the zeppelin right between to palm trees whose fronds were overlapping and banging against each other in the wind.

This edit is one of the cleaner passages where planes or cars weren’t rumbling by, and if you listen closely toward the end, you can hear small drops of rain beginning to fall.

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Recording Geek Note:  Rig consists of Schoeps CMC5 setup for MS, with the MK4 as the mid.  It was all tracked to a Sound Devices 744T at 24/96.

EagleFest is a one-day event held each year in mid-January in the town of Narrowsburg, NY.  Narrowsburg is just a couple of hours north of New York City on the Delaware river.  The festival features live bird demonstrations, opportunities to view birds of prey along the river, and lots of fun events for the kids.  On Saturday morning, there was a live demonstration of chainsaw sculpting:

The resident sculptor was wearing a T-Shirt that stated he was a Master of the Chainshaw.  I believe that, because he wasn’t using Stihl chainsaws, but a more rarified brand called Husqvarna.  I don’t know if the European brand adds a touch of class, but it it is hard to to argue with the results of the Master’s work:

Quite an appropriate subject for EagleFest!

The following recording features some background voices, falling chunks of wood, and 2 different sized chainsaws that were used to carve the log:

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Recording Geek Note:  Rig consists of Schoeps CMC5 setup for MS, with the MK4 as the mid.  It was all tracked to a Sony PCM-M1o, with Sound Devices MP2 as a front end while trying to avoid sawdust flying around.

I’ve been on an upstate New York kick lately, and this week the kick continues.  There was an open drain at the edge of the property, and I stopped to record it.  There is nothing remarkable about it, but I do love the reflections inside the drain.  The ground was covered with over five inches of snow, and the sound you hear is the little bit of water that wasn’t frozen!

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It started snowing shortly after I walked outside and if you listen closely you can hear snow hitting the Rycote.  It was not a desired effect, but I had forgotten my wind sock, so snow clicks are what happens when you forget your wind sock.

Recording Geek Note:  Rig consists of Schoeps CMC5 setup for MS, with the MK4 as the mid.  It was all tracked to a Sony PCM-M1o, with Sound Devices MP2 as a front end.