Photographs, Video and Stuff
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!
Join me at the Cornish Pastie shop at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) in Birmingham in the UK. The Cornish pasties were edible but not the best I have ever tasted. The NEC is generally very busy (as you’ll hear) and the food outlets do charge top dollar for their mass-produced products.
Join me on one of our British trains. Over the years I’ve learned that the food on our British trains generally is massively overpriced and doesn’t taste so good (French trains so much better in all respects). Please note that it is the train loudspeaker system that is delivering quite badly distorted sound (along with the badly distorted sandwiches!). Brexit = terrible food!
Please join me for another ride on one of Amsterdam’s wonderful trams.
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.
Join me in this noisy and busy cafe in Central Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Careful! The music starts suddenly.
Join me and listen to one of the organs that are often found on the streets of the Netherlands.
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.
I just love Soundworks.
Sound……often more important than what we’re seeing.
And……..this film, I-Origins (look out for misspelling in titles) which didn’t, I think, get a lot of attention is an excellent film, sound and all…
SoundWorks Collection – The Sound of I-Orgins with Dolby Atmos from Michael Coleman on Vimeo.
