Evening Traffic on Lowry Avenue

One of the first few recordings I made with my Sony PCM-D50 was to capture traffic ambiance. This was really a pretty good test for the stereo imaging of the built in mics. I held the device, so there is some handling noise, although I did put a wind screen on the D50. This recording would have been impossible without it. The mics on the D50 are very sensitive to wind. Even indoors if an object, like a door, moves the air near the unprotected mics you will hear the capsules flapping in the breeze. Despite the wind screen you can hear a bit of wind noise around 00:34. The stereo image is acceptable, but it’s not as broad as other stereo mics I’ve used such as the Shure VP88. I have yet to try the 120 degree, Y pattern setting, which I imagine will spread the image considerably.

Lowry Traffic

Summer Glau Triple Mash and Cooked by Teru

While browsing ccMixter recently I came across this track called Summer Glau by John Anealio remixed by Teru that incorporates sounds from ACB including Pro-One Dub and apparently Synthesizer Fifths Drone although I couldn’t make it out in the mix. In any case, after a bit more browsing I came across another Teru mix called Cooked (mega downtempo) that uses Synthesizer Fifths Drone, Rhodes Wah Wah, Electric Razor, and Door Stop all sounds I posted on AudioCookbook.org. I must admit that it is fun to come across examples of ACB samples being used by other artists. I’ve linked the tracks below, or visit Teru’s page on ccMixter to hear what else he has on offer. You can also checkout the Audio Cookbook Sample Pool to hear how other artists are using ACB samples.

Cooked

Summer Glau Triple Mash
(vocal mix)
Summer Glau Triple Mash
(instrumental mix)

This is Not a Website About My Cat

This is not a website about my cat. First of all, the cats are not mine. I just live with them. Secondly, I can get away with this because I’m posting an animal sound. Anyway, before I get myself in trouble by saying something regrettable about cats, my wife’s cat Minuit (French for midnight) has a really great purr. I managed to capture a little bit of it along with some cat swallows and a partial meow the other night when I first got my Sony PCM-D50. The photograph is not Minuit, but actually his chief rival, Caro, the newest edition to the family who embodies pure evil. Just look at those eyes!

Minuit Purring

Sony PCM-D50 Arrival

I found my shiny, new PCM-D50 in a box on my doorstep when I came home on Thursday evening. Luckily it was still there. UPS ignored my note to deliver it to the neighbor if no one answered my door. I haven’t had much time to play with it yet, but I have made a few test recordings in my house. It’s been freezing outside the last few days, so the forced air heating is on constantly providing every recording with some nasty background noise. To avoid the noise I made a few recordings in my bathroom. Naturally the first thing I recorded in there was the toilet flushing. Here it is in all its gurgling glory.

Toilet Flush

Chlorobenzene Mistfall

It’s been a while since I have posted a rough mix, or musical idea for the One Sound Every Day category, so here’s an excerpt from something I wrote recently. It’s in very early stages, but has a high melody in 3/4 time along with some lower melodies in harmony with each other. The lower pitches are made up of the Rhodes Feedback that I posted an example of yesterday.

I cut up the feedback into sections that had specific qualities I was after, then I pitched them so that they worked underneath the high melody played on the Rhodes at an upper octave. Finally, after a couple of run throughs, I arranged the pitched feedback in real-time to form the passages heard in the excerpt.

Chlorobenzene Mistfall