Literally… Captured bouncing and rolling down the dense, Precambrian volcanic rock on the North Shore of Lake Superior in Minnesota last Summer. I recorded this sound with an AKG c4000b large diaphragm condenser microphone. No processing included. Just linear fades in and out.
North Shore Rocks
I’ve always tried to keep my ears open as wide as possible and to record something at the drop of a hat when I witness a spectacular sound or just have a melody trying to pry it’s way out of my head. Sometimes these ideas come at the darnedest times. Making a BLT Sandwich is usually a pretty greasy situation. Last month I was frying up some bacon for the family in hopes of making the ultimate BLT when I was suddenly hearing a rainy day. I had a notion that if I recorded the sound of my sweet bacon sizzling and slowed or pitched it down that it would sound just like rain. I had to do it. My first recording was made with an AKG c4000b. I used a lesser quality mic, a Shure BG 1.1, for the second. I assure you that both mics got as close to the action as possible without becoming caked with grease. The outcome was not as my ears were hearing it. I dropped each wav file into Ableton Live and panned them about 33L and 33R. I added just a touch of reverb to blend the two. Sounded like rain to me! To top it off I made a field recording in my backyard that included mostly birds chirping and added it to the mix. This made it a bit more convincing.
So, the BLT’s were the bomb and the recording turned out to be worthy of using. By the way, I only use Berkshire Bacon!
Bacon Rain
Recently I had the pleasure of producing the audio for a short animated piece called “Drown” by Aaron Dabelow. I simply recorded myself blowing bubbles in water with a straw. I captured in it Ableton Live 6 with my AKG c4000b large diaphragm condenser at a distance of about 9 inches, being careful not to splash water on the mic. The processing included down pitching an octave or so, running it through a high pass filter, and then dousing the works with some massive reverb.
Water Atmosphere
– From “Drown”
During my life as a musician, audio engineer and sound designer I have always been fascinated by the unique ways we construct believable sound environments. The concept of AudioCookbook.org is to pass on what we have learned as sound designers, foley artists, musicians and engineers by hosting “recipes for sound design”. This can include all sorts of things we do as audio professionals to create great sounding productions. From crazy foley techniques to step-by-step sound design tutorials.
Plenty of great sites offer terabytes of pre-recorded audio files. That’s not the purpose here. The goal is to share fun and useful techniques on how to create high quality, original sound effects. Perhaps this will lead people to reach for the microphone instead of browsing for needle drop. To help illustrate techniques, an integrated media plugin routes audio or video files directly into a player within posts. If you’re an audio professional and interested in sharing your techniques we please consider participating.