Back in January, I posted a recording of a guy taking a chainsaw to a log . . .  and an hour or so later there was a big wooden eagle for everyone to see.  On that same day, there was another guy with a chainsaw carving an eagle out of a block of ice.

Unfortunately for our ice sculpting friend, it was unseasonably warm that day; his eagle kept falling apart and ice was melting all around him.  Before long, he was working in a puddle of water.  I had been recording for a few minutes when I realized he was working with an electric saw and he seemed to have every electric tool possible!  I didn’t think that was such a smart move for a guy working with melting ice.

I didn’t stick around to see him finish, but the word on the street is that he managed to finish without getting electrocuted.  In terms of the sound, the electric chainsaw is a bit more subdued and consistent than its gas-guzzling cousin.  The only bummer was the crowd around him overlapping my recording.  Regardless, it is a fun recording and I’m glad he is still living.

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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 getting electrocuted.

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 had a rather frustrating couple of days of recording this past weekend.  I was in the country again and at first I didn’t think it would stop raining, and when the rain did finally stop it never got quiet enough for my taste.  Drops of water cascaded down a canopy of leaves, which created a wonderful crackling sound, but unfortunately, a clean recording was not in the cards.  Planes and cars constantly passed by and I didn’t get one clean second.  I was in a fairly remote place, but sometimes you just can’t catch a break.  So instead of posting something beautiful from the country I thought I would embrace my inner chainsaw.

The recording below is from a visit I made about a year ago to a small farm in Wisconsin.  I had to record a bunch of farm sounds and machinery for a client, and nestled up next to a tractor was an old beat up chainsaw.  After the chainsaw finally started it proceeded to up and die a quick death.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

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 in a small barn that housed the tractor and some hay.