Creaks ‘n Groans


Hey Audio Cookbookers,

I’m Tom Player and have been a reader of ACB for a while, and a sound recordist for a long time. I run a website lostrack.co.uk where I store some commercial and personal work. I’ve got a huge archive of great recordings, some of which I plan to unleash here soon!

About this time last year I was in New Zealand, exploring and recording everywhere I went. I was fortunate enough to meet one of the captains of the NZL14 racing yacht who invited me on board with their crew, to record the sounds of them all in action. What I didn’t expect was the sound of the boat to be so fascinating!

A bit about the yacht, it’s a work of engineering excellence. The sail is one piece Kevlar, the hull carbon fibre, and the keel is 16 tons of lead. It’s formula 1 on the water – she makes beautiful groaning, creaking noises, like nothing you’ve ever heard before.

Gear: Fostex FR2-LE with matched stereo pair rode NT5 mics.

Full Length Original Version of Onikoroshi

In order to put the last entry in context I thought I would share the original track that the Clavinet recording was made in. As I said before it is called Onikoroshi and it is the ninth piece on the album Super Structure Baby, re-released electronically in 2004 on Unearthed Music. I think the piece dates back to 1998 or 1999. Perhaps Saronni (Nils Westdal) will have some input on that.

Onikoroshi
from Super Structure Baby (2004, Unearthed Music).

Chopped Up Clavinet Through Wah Wah

I just recycled this ten year old recording made on my Hohner E7 Clavinet. It was originally a track in the piece Onikoroshi on the album Super Structure Baby (2004, Unearthed Music), which I think was recorded in 1999.

Unfortunately the rubber hammers on my clav have deteriorated so it is no longer playable. I have been meaning to restore it when I can find the time, but it is apparently a time consuming and arduous undertaking as you can tell from this video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZXYU48P90Q

Robot Clavinet

Froth and Bothered

I recently recorded loads of bits and pieces of melodies and bass lines with my Maxi-Korg. This is an example of one of the ways I have attempted to assemble the parts into a musical form.

In this piece I have layered a synth bass line with dry analog drums. Soon afterward a duo-phonic melody is introduced running through reverberation. I really fancy the gritty texture of the Maxi-Korg bass.

Maxi-Korg Experiment

Laundry Day

From the content of my last entry you can probably guess why I am slightly behind on my On Sound Every Day project. Fortunately I have sounds for the missing days and will be adding them soon.

A combination of time spent during the holidays on family visits, parties, keyboard desk building, and studio reorganization has left me trying to catch up on several things including a massive pile of laundry. This gave me an excuse to record my old squeaky clothes drier.

Squeaky Drier