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.

New York City was the last place on earth my wife and I wanted to be on New Year’s Eve, so we retreated to upstate New York where the temperatures were in the balmy low 20s.  We were also treated to several days of snow and high wind: not so great for swimming, but full of intriguing sounds.  I noticed a pine tree creaking and crackling as it shed snow and ice in the wind.  I set up my Schoeps right under the branches of the tree and ran my freezing ass back inside the house.  One of the nicer details is the sound of a little padlock on a gas meter clanging away in the distance.

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If you haven’t heard Wintry Mix Part 1, you can check it out here.

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.  I didn’t end up taking my Sound Devices recorder on this trip, but instead packed my new toy, the Sony PCM-M1o, which replaced my crappy zoom h4.   This recording is my maiden voyage using my Sound Devices MP-2 mixer as a front end to the Sony.  I’ve always loved the sound of the MP-2, and I’m really pleased with the results.  The PCM-M1o isn’t much bigger than an iphone and it has a fairly transparent and quiet line input.