Northwest Soundscapes

Back-and-forth all afternoon. recorder: SD702 mid-side configuration mid: MKH8060 side: MKH30

I was situated along the shore of Lake Washington, so I had to make the tough choice of "light crowd chatter" or "gentle wave lapping" in the background. recorder: SD702 mid-side configuration mid: MKH8060 side: MKH30

The Blue Angels practice strafing runs over Lake Washington for two days. During that time the air is filled with screaming jets, continuous booming rumble, and dissipating smoke-oil tracks. recorder: SD702 mid-side configuration mid: MKH8060 side: MKH30

I was situated along the shore of Lake Washington, so I had to make the tough choice of "light crowd chatter" or "gentle wave lapping" in the background. recorder: SD702 mid-side configuration mid: MKH8060 side: MKH30

I was situated along the shore of Lake Washington, so I had to make the tough choice of "light crowd chatter" or "gentle wave lapping" in the background. recorder: SD702 mid-side configuration mid: MKH8060 side: MKH30

The Blue Angels practice strafing runs over Lake Washington for two days. During that time the air is filled with screaming jets, continuous booming rumble, and dissipating smoke-oil tracks. recorder: SD702 mid-side configuration mid: MKH8060 side: MKH30

If you lose track of them in the distance they can really sneak up on you when they return, just as this simultaneous pair did. The stereo field goes all wacky as I twist the boom around. kinda like how it feels, all nice and swimmy. recorder: SD702 mid-side configuration mid: MKH8060 side: MKH30

Back-and-forth all afternoon. recorder: SD702 mid-side configuration mid: MKH8060 side: MKH30

I love pigs, especially smaller pigs. They have a very human vocal range, and they sound like they're constantly in conversation. It's a very strained conversation that THEY'D REALLY WISH YOU'D LISTEN TO THEIR OPINION ON. They're always excited to see you, especially if you have food.

I love pigs, especially smaller pigs. They have a very human vocal range, and they sound like they're constantly in conversation. It's a very strained conversation that THEY'D REALLY WISH YOU'D LISTEN TO THEIR OPINION ON. I love this track so much because it sounds like they've made their point and are resting the case, "harrumph" included.

I love pigs, especially smaller pigs. They have a very human vocal range, and they sound like they're constantly in conversation. It's a very strained conversation that THEY'D REALLY WISH YOU'D LISTEN TO THEIR OPINION ON. This track in particular is meaningful to me as it sounds just like our dog Jack, an Australian Terrier that passed away in 2012 at the age of 14, when he couldn't find his food...

A medium-length tanker train recorded at Carkeek Park, Seattle. The trains here are easily accessible to recording, but their location makes it difficult to get a nice, clean recording with no voices and no birds. You may hear some on this track... I really love the squealing brakes on this train as rounds the bend I'm standing in. Recorded in tight MS. mid: MKH8060 side: MKH30 recorder: SD702

A long freight train recorded in Columbia Hills State Park, Washington, right on the Columbia Gorge. The trains here are frequent, long, running at full speed, and easily accessible to recording. In other, designed for sound recordists! Also: dangerous! This was recorded at a distance of close to 1/4 mile, somewhere around midnight from my tent on a camping trip earlier this year. Yes the trains a...

A long freight train recorded in Columbia Hills State Park, Washington, right on the Columbia Gorge. The trains here are frequent, long, running at full speed, and easily accessible to recording. In other, designed for sound recordists! Also: dangerous! ORTF: Røde nt5 pair recorder: SD702

A long freight train recorded in Columbia Hills State Park, Washington, right on the Columbia Gorge. The trains here are frequent, long, running at full speed, and easily accessible to recording. In other, designed for sound recordists! Also: dangerous! ORTF: Røde nt5 pair recorder: SD702

A long freight train recorded in Columbia Hills State Park, Washington, right on the Columbia Gorge. The trains here are frequent, long, running at full speed, and easily accessible to recording. In other, designed for sound recordists! Also: dangerous! This train was recorded at with a tight mid-side pattern, hoping to get come good clatter. mid: MKH8060 side: MKH30 recorder: SD702

These are monster planes, used for carrying around 787 Dreamliner parts. This one landed and taxied by at an airport where I watching my daughter take single-prop flight lessons. Fortunately I had my gear handy. SD702 Mid: MKH8060 Side: MKH30

Seattle has an airport in the heart of the city: a water-port for the seaplanes of Kenmore Air. Their fleet consists primarily of DHC-2 Beavers and DHC-3 Turbo-Otters. Beavers, such as this one, have piston-drive engines, and really sell that great old-clanky-propeller-plane sound that is matched only by a fleet of Harley Davidsons. SD702 Mid: MKH8060 Side: MKH30

Seattle has an airport in the heart of the city: a water-port for the seaplanes of Kenmore Air. Their fleet consists primarily of DHC-2 Beavers and DHC-3 Turbo-Otters. Turbo-Otters, such as this one, have turbine engines and sound more like jets than the quintessential old-clanky-propeller-plane sound of the Beavers.d SD702 Mid: MKH8060 Side: MKH30

I've been playing around with alternate stereo recordings methods lately. This excerpt is from my first using an omni center Mid-Side setup. No high-pass filtering in record and no post-processing has been done (a rarity for me)except for a gain-boost and trimming down to 2 minutes. Mid: Sennhesier MKH 8020 Side: Sennhesier MKH 30

I spent the day going through some of my old crow recordings. The have just such a wonderfully expressive range, more than just the simple "caw-caw" that everyone thinks they do. Every time I see a movie with a crow or raven that says, "caw-caw, caw-caw-caw" at the same pitch over and over and over, I think it's a wasted opportunity. image credit: "American crow, October 2017--Warren Bielenberg" b...

Lately I've been trying to record some straight-out natural ambiences from the same location at multiple times-of-day, mostly dawn & dusk choruses. Seattle's a noisy town, full of background roar and cars, so it's nice to find a place within the city that actually sounds like it's got a natural presence.

Many years ago we had finches as pets. I could listen to finch songs all day. It's like sunshine in a little feathered body.

Two geese fly overhead, followed at a distance by a small, eager to catch up flock.

I always imagine crows to be making fun of us somehow. Or just laughing and pointing. image credit: "American crow, October 2017--Warren Bielenberg" by Great Smoky Mountains National Park is marked with Public Domain Mark 1.0. To view the terms, visit https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/?ref=openverse.