Category: Soundscape

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The Other Sodding Tractor

Please see my previous post and then join me as I try to record the tranquil sounds of the River Deveron, near to Banff, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It clearly isn’t my day for field recording! Today is a public holiday and I would expect any self-respecting farmers to take a day off. Not in Banff. So please enjoy the tranquil sounds of the River Deveron passing you by and the delightful sound of a f**king tractor pull a rake around a nearby field. Using my directional parabolic mic (DM), I can hear the sounds of tractors and other industrial noises several kilometres away.

The sounds of the River Deveron + and an annoying f**king tractor! by Richard Broom
The Other Sodding Tractor

The Other Sodding Tractor – Richard Broom Photography
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The Sodding Tractor!!!

Join me as I try to record the sound of birds today. It is public holiday here today in Scotland. There is no wind. It would have been a perfect day to record bird sounds in the woods near to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duff_HouseDuff House in Banff, Aberdeenshire. Wonderful bird sounds but oh my, the noise of a f**king tractor on Banff Golf Course provided unwanted background noise to the recording of the birds who were really going for it in the woods today. Pah!

Duff House Sounds + sodding tractor! by Richard Broom
The Sodding Tractor!!! – Richard Broom Photography
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The Pilot’s Briefing

Join us on a British Airways flight and listen to the pilot briefing the passengers about the up and coming flight to Chania, Crete. I’m sure someone will tell me that the image I have chosen is not that of an Airbus A380!

The Pilot's Briefing by Richard Broom
The Pilot’s Briefing – Richard Broom Photography

The Pilot’s Briefing – Richard Broom Photography
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The Cave and the Libyan Sea

Join me in a cave close to the Libyan Sea in Crete. The cave was a natural echo chamber. Listen to the waves breaking and the echo as the sound of the waves bounced around inside the cave. You will also hear me tramping about in the cave. There was no sand but plenty of gravel underfoot.

The Cave and the Sea by Richard Broom
The Cave and the Libyan Sea – Richard Broom Photography

The Cave and the Libyan Sea – Richard Broom Photography
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British Airways Blues (‘Your call is important to us’)

Join me as I listened for a total of over 3 hours to of ‘music on hold’ and ‘your call is important to us’ messages whilst I waited for British Airways to answer the telephone today. After a total of three hours of no reply, I gave in. British Airways, and before it BOAC and BEA, is or was something we British used to be proud of. I did get hold of one unhelpful chap from BA who dismissively gave me another number to call because I had ‘the wrong kind of Business Class ticket’ (yes, Business Class!) and the number he gave me promptly disconnected me and so I went to the back of the queue again.

Sadly… we live in changed times. Is the UK going down the tubes and taking British Airways with it? It’s certainly beginning to look like it.

British Airways – such a disappointment (and I speak as an IAG shareholder!!!!).

British Airways Blues by Richard Broom
British Airways Blues
British Airways Blues – Richard Broom Photography
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The Suck, Squeeze, Bang and Blow…

Join me for my rather warped idea of what it would sound like if you were sitting in the middle of an internal combustion engine. Best with headphones on….

All done on my Machine Mikro.

The Engine Soundscape by Richard Broom
The Suck, Squeeze, Bang and Blow
The Suck, Squeeze, Bang and Blow…

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The Sound of Swooping Swallows…

Join me as I try to imagine the sound swooping swallows would make as they fly around the sky over our heads. I always think that swallows are avian jet fighters and yet so graceful. I could watch them for hours…

All sounds created on my Machine Mikro (what a clever little box it is!)

https://soundcloud.com/rrr700/the-sound-of-swooping-swallows?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
The Sound of Swooping Swallows
The Sound of Swooping Swallows…
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The Golden Age of BBC Radio – Come in Tokyo

Join me and listen into some clips from the golden age of BBC Radio Comedy from the 1950s. I remember listening to the radio (no TV in those days during the day) to BBC Radio Comedy programmes on a Sunday afternoon. Names like Tony Hancock, Keneth Williams, Keneth Horne and many more spring to mind.

Radio always had the best scenery…

I created the background music (if you can call it that) on my Native Instruments Maschine. I have no musical knowledge or training it (and it shows). I just plug noises into the spreadsheet arrangement (image below) which is the Maschine 2 software, push the button and see what pops out. It seems to work and, of course, it is royalty free!

You can listen to my musical efforts on their own by clicking here.

https://soundcloud.com/rrr700/come-in-tokyo?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
The Golden Age of BBC Radio – Come in Tokyo
Tony Hancock – courtesy BBC
Mashine 2
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The Crazy Sound of Surf

This is what happens when you put the sound of surf crashing onto rocks (see my previous post) through Adobe Audition filters (flanger, phases and echo). Quite a noise! Best with headphone on.

https://soundcloud.com/rrr700/the-surf-gone-crazy?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
The Crazy Sound of Surf
The Crazy Sound of Surf – Richard Broom Photography
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The Stream Meets the Sea

Join me on the beach at Portsoy, Scotland where the stream that flows down from the hills crossed the beach and flows into the sea.

https://soundcloud.com/rrr700/where-the-stream-meets-the-sea?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
The Stream Meets the Sea
The Stream Meets the Sea – Richard Broom Photography
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The Sound of Portsoy Beach

Join me and listen to the waves crashing onto Portsoy beach. Portsoy is in Aberdeenshire, Scotland and was the setting for a Peaky Blinders episode last year. Portsoy has some wonderful walks in and around this most delightful town. The harbour is also well worth a visit. By the way, I used my panoramic microphone (1 dish, two mics) to record the sound.

https://soundcloud.com/rrr700/portsoy-beach-the-sound-of-the-waves-crashing-onto-the-beach?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
The Sound of Portsoy Beach
The Sound of Portsoy Beach – Richard Broom Photography
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The Crow and the Tractor

Join me as as I tried to record the sounds of a crow but then a tractor came along and ploughed the nearby field. The field was close to the woods at Duff House, Banff, Aberdeenshire. You can hear the tractor driver lift the plough, rotate it and lower it again before turning round in order to plough in the opposite direction.

The Crow And The Tractor by Richard Broom
The Crow and the Tractor
The Crow and the Tractor – Richard Broom Photography
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The Pilot Speaks…

Join me on a transatlantic KLM flight heading towards Europe. Listen to what the pilot has to say.

https://soundcloud.com/rrr700/the-pilot-speaks?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
The Pilot Speaks…
The Pilot Speaks – Richard Broom Photography
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The Sound of Water

Join me and listen in to the sound of water passing through a short tunnel under a footpath in the woods.

As promised, this is an example of sound recorded using two microphones fitted to my parabolic microphone rather than just one microphone. See what you think…(also see my posting regarding the parabolic microphone here)

https://soundcloud.com/rrr700/the-water-through-the-tunnel?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
The Sound of Water
The Sound of Water – Richard Broom Photography
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The Sound of a Wedding

Join me an enjoy the sounds of a wedding in an old Norman Church.

https://soundcloud.com/rrr700/the-sound-of-a-wedding?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
The Sound of a Wedding
The Sound of a Wedding – Richard Broom Photography
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The Cafe in Harrods, London

Join me for a cup of tea in the cafe in Harrods department store in London.

Harrods Cafe by Richard Broom
The Cafe in Harrods, London
The Cafe in Harrods, London – Richard Broom Photography
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The Walk in the Woods…

Join me and enjoy the sounds from our dog walk in the woods near to Duff House in Banff, Aberdeenshire, this morning. You’ll hear the sounds of woodland birds, including a fine woodpecker, streams and all the other sounds (including, if you listen very carefully, golf ball hits from the nearby Dufff House Royal Golf Club.)

All sounds recorded on my parabolic (directional) microphone using a ZoomH6 recorder (My Zoom F6 still hasn’t arrived!). The sound was mixed (using adaptive noise reduction) using Adobe Audition.

A walk in the woods by Richard Broom

The Walk in the Woods…

The Walk in the Woods – Richard Broom Photography
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The Amsterdam Tram

Please join me for another ride on one of Amsterdam’s wonderful trams.

A Tram Ride in Amsterdam by Richard Broom
The Amsterdam Tram
The Amsterdam Tram – Richard Broom Photography
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The Sound of Sonar…

Join me as I submerge in my own private submarine…

Submarine Sound Effect by Richard Broom
The Sound of Sonar – Richard Broom Photography
The Sound of Sonar – Richard Broom Photography
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The Toilet From HELL: The Return of the Haemorrhoids!

Join me in the toilet from Hell. It’s what happens when the haemorrhoids fight back.

The Toilet From Hell by Richard Broom
The Toilet From HELL: The Return of the Haemorrhoids
The Toilet From HELL: The Return of the Haemorrhoids
Richard Broom Photography

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The Train Just Whizzes On By…

Join me along side the high-speed railway track in the Netherlands as an express train whooshes by us at tremendous speed…

The Train Whizzes By… by Richard Broom
The Train Just Whizzes On By…
The Train Just Whizzes On By – Richard Broom Photography
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The Boiling Kettle

Join me for a cup of tea or just listen to a good old sound effect – a kettle boiling in our kitchen earlier this morning.

The Kettle Boiling (sound effect) by Richard Broom
The Boiling Kettle
The Boiling Kettle – Richard Broom Photography
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The Parabolic Microphone

A new microphone system!

I have purchased a parabolic microphone from the Parabolic Microphone Company.

Today was the first day I ventured out into the woods with the ‘para-mic’ to test it out – results below.

Briefly, the parabolic microphone is a directional mic. Basically, point it at a sound source and press the record button (listen to the babbling brook recording above).

On this first try out down in the woods close to Duff House, I forgot to put the ‘wind condom’ on the dish (second image below) and so I picked up quite a bit of wind noise. Moreover, there was a gentle but steady wind through the trees in the wood and that gave me a small amount of background noise which I’ve managed to reduce in post-processing using Adobe Audition.

I used my Zoom H6 to record the sound. I’m still waiting for my Zoom F6 to arrive.

The first recordings will be coming up shortly. Please stay tuned.

The Parabolic mic (without wind sock) – Richard Broom Photography
The parabolic mic with the wind ‘condom’ attached – Richard Broom Photography
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The Noisy Cafe, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Join me in this noisy and busy cafe in Central Amsterdam, Netherlands.

The Noisy Cafe by Richard Broom
The sounds of a noisy but busy cafe in Central Amsterdam, Netherlands
A cafe in Amsterdam, Netherlands
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The Sound of Dutch Coffee…

Join me as we sit in a delightful and vibrant restaurant and coffee house in Amsterdam.

The Cafe Netherlands.WAV by Richard Broom
The Sound of a busy restaurant and coffee house in the Netherlands…
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The London Underground Station

Why not join me on the platform of a London Underground (the Tube) station. There’s an PA announcement at around 1 minute and 5 seconds.

London Underground Station Soundscape by Richard Broom
London Underground Station Sounds
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The Soundscape Library (Soundscape 10) – King’s Day, Amsterdam, Street and Canal Parties

ing

Please click on the Soundcloud link below, close your eyes and join me on the streets of Amsterdam for the King’s Day (27 April) celbrations. Amsterdam turns into one big street party on King’s Day and boats with very loud sound systems and celebrating crew members tour the city’s canals having what can only be described as a very good time!

See all other soundscapes here.

See my King’s Day video here.

See my King’s Day Spark here.

The King’s Day, Amsterdam

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The Soundscape Library (Soundscape 8) – Amsterdam Central Station, main lobby

Please click on the link below, close your eyes and join me in the main lobby in Central Station Amsterdam (a natural echo chamber). Towards the end you’ll here a station announcement but the natural echo in the main lobby makes it hard to hear what is being announced.

See all other soundscapes here.

Amsterdam Central Station

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The Soundscape Library (Soundscape 5) – London Underground Station

Please click on the link below, close your eyes and join me at the ticket barriers in a London Underground (Tube) station. Security announcement towards the end…

See all other soundscapes here.

The London Underground

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