A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to record an old foghorn, which a loving collector picked up from Cleveland Station many years ago.
This bad boy sits right on the edge of Lake Eerie (what a backyard). What better place for a foghorn but a giant lake:
I love the utter hugeness of the sound that this thing exhibits:
Thankfully my pal Kelly Pieklo went out with me and I was able to record a number of different perspectives. The first file in the set is a close perspective and the second is a medium distant perspective. The more distant perspective really provides a better sense of space. HOOOOOOEEEeeeeeeeeennnnnnnkkkkk.
This horn needs lots of air! It is fed by a large 1936 Schramm air compressor that fills a 1000 gallon air tank. It doesn’t take long for the tank to be drained. It also didn’t take long for the two of us to get slightly unhinged. The very first blast of the horn nearly had us both leaping backwards. HOOOOOOEEEeeeeeeeeennnnnnnkkkkk.
Recording Geek Note: Close Rig consists of Schoeps CMC5′s setup for MS, with the MK4 as the mid. It was tracked with a Cooper CS 104 a Sound Devices 744T at 24/192. Distant Rig consists of Sennheiser MKH 30/40 setup for MS. It was tracked to a Sound Devices 744T at 24/192.
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I say, I say, I say that’s a great LOUD horn ya got there son. Mighty fine tone. Love the way it ramps up and drops off. A thousand gallons of air? Cripes, you should be able to SEE the blast!
Thanks Robert. It was a fun one.
Ey Michael,
Great find! Would love to have heard it from even further off. Did you get any recordigns from further?
I wish I could but their would have been too much human noise.