Switching Title

Happy New Year and New Season! I went looking for inspiration on a walk one night last October. While walking, in my mind I saw myself standing at a certain familiar edge of this pond. I took myself there with my recorder, started recording, looked at stars, and took some pictures. If I ever get around to officially releasing the music from Season 01, this is where when the cover art revealed itse...

This bird is talking to me.  Off to the movies and back on my bike - Meg 2 finally! New bike trail talk. Other films discussed are The Last Voyage of the Demeter and Renfield, and the Jaws’s of course. A sick TMNT soundbite. Naming bike routes and promoting strangers’ business. Putting a bow on ST Season Two while heading back to the theaters to see They Live.

This recording is from the final weekend that the pool at my apartment complex was open. My recorder was poolside while I took a dip and relaxed, as I love to do. My microphone picked up some interference from cellular transmission.

One day I’ll remember to not put my cell phone next to my recorder, especially up in Shenandoah where the cell phones try really hard to communicate. Sound Bytes. Down to The Gulf via Nashville, and Shirley Jackson. Watching movie previews, getting into William Friedkin, and a pit-stop.

This sixth of the Places series is at Gravelly Point, which is a park just to the north of Reagan International Airport. There you can watch and listen to planes taking off or landing, have a picnic, or start a bike ride along the Mount Vernon Trail. I've been wanting to record the planes flying over here for years, so I'm glad I finally did it!

Another jump back to August, 2017. I've had this recording of me wandering around and talking to people about the 2017 total solar eclipse event, and what better time to share it on Switching Title than a week prior to the occurrence of the October 14th, 2023 annular solar eclipse. Maybe I'll get a new recording on that day too, and post it later.

Imagine six thirty-six a.m. from a third-story balcony of condo across the street from the beach in the Gulf of Mexico. Water is dripping from the roof from last night’s rain. You have to pack and leave, and end your vacation, but you’ll have just one more cup of coffee and this time to yourself to look out over the south-western horizon.

On my way to the movies, and I run down some ratings. I love the Goldfinch. Being a month ahead; we’ll see if I can keep it up. You have to sit through me rolling in late, and also some of the end credits - I swear I talk eventually! I sneak in a little track.

This fourth Places sub-episode was recorded at Weston Pass Campgrounds on night two of a backpacking trip I went on in The Rockies this last July. Great bird song and intense squirrels are all over this recording. You can also hear me and my brother in the distance making and eating breakfast. Luckily the animals and nearby South Fork South Platte River obscured most of what we were saying!

Not much talking on this one; more listening, and more eavesdropping. Spruce Knob trails and towers. Driving noise descriptions (because you can’t really hear them). Bugs, dogs, and bros at Antietam Creek Campground. Sounds of waves from probably the last time I was at Chincoteague. Hanging out at a bar called The Pinch in DC waiting for bands to play. Mixing the soundscape at Lake Accotink.

Out in the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests resides one of my favorite escapes from the city and burbs: The Elizabeth Furnace Family Campground. I go out there to reset myself after long, grueling periods of work. There are excellent opportunities for recreation and experiencing wildlife there. Here, I wake up, build a fire, try to stay dry, and listen to birds.

I found some rambling recordings of me in nature (surprise, surprise) from August 2017. This podcast idea has now been shown to be at least a six year old idea. It’s apparent then that six years ago I didn’t know anything about birds. This one is from Seneca Rocks and Seneca Shadows Campground in West Virginia. Pre Fitbit heart and footstep rate checks. The mix of the environment. I’m a passing-hi...

This is the second of my new sub-show Places. This recording is up in a spot I find tranquil called Mudhole Gap, which you can reach by hiking up West on the fire road from the Elizabeth Furnace Family Campground. You can hear Little Passage Creek nearby, and it was lightly snowing at the time, which was one of the few times I remember seeing snow around here this winter.

Travel Logs. Baltimore to New York City on the train. Asteroid City movie review and other Wes Anderson thoughts. For the approximately final 25 minutes I combine an attempt of a recap of a trip from within Denver’s airport and a soundscape recording at Buffalo Meadows where I took a break on a recent backpacking adventure. In there you’ll hear hints of how to find my Spotify Only episode playlist...

This is the first installment of an idea I've been holding on to for a while. Tentatively called Places, I'm recording around 30 minutes of audio at different places and posting them. Looks like I'm providing an introduction to them. For now. This one is just from my apartment window on a day that I thought was pretty nice. The recording data says February 9th around 9p. Can that be ri...

Bikepacking on the C&O Canal Towpath and repeat challenges. I can’t remember the things I forgot. Still fan-boying about Indigo Buntings, and other bird observations. Night Visitors and Protectors at camp. Being social on the trails and following through on plans made, like the brutal Maryland Heights hike. Developing the Slimer route, Morbid Angel Rulez, Basic Instinct film review, and you ca...

Dream Song. Human sounds and which birds benefit or are hindered? Plenty of other Nature Ambiences. A White-Throated Sparrow inspired riff. Movie Samples. Metal festival thoughts at Hell in the Harbor and on the trail, featuring Goatwhore. Also on the trail: Tick paranoia and birding literally saves my life! Plans for the second season of Switching Title.

Not much to say, except I think it's done. I reflect while hiking in the snow, and predict the new questions that will challenge me.

Spring peepers in winter! A potentially final new recording segment to include with the rest of the bunch. I review a preliminary order of all nine tracks. What are their names? I do a second pass and try to talk myself out of some ideas. Recording as an exercise.

A couple of new music ideas appear! I’ll keep this brief because I want to get this episode published, and move on. I talk about my creation process and ideas. I also come clean about my current influences and blatant ripping-off.

Just when I thought I was done - more music around the same themes. Back in a favorite birding spot and recording in stereo - wow! Stalking overhead airplanes, contemplating formats, and distracted by birds. A little serendipity and I try out a few ideas. “How Do We Make Sounds?” And rebooting a radio show maybe.

Force-fed previews on streaming platforms - and they almost got me! Citizen science year in reviews: Seek, iNaturalist, eBird, Merlin Bird ID, and Google Maps. Binging on my recordings that you’ve already heard, but in a sequence. Talking about the creative process and leaving in a bad idea.

Bullet Points, trying new things, and new music (with a super long fade out - don’t worry!). A new recording technique. Brand new year and goals, despite tardiness. Naming my bike route: Suburban, or Spaghetti? Or both? More weird poetry and me trying to interpret it down family lineages, and boy is it rough going! Numerology and a sparrow face. ST Archives: Green Room.

Tolerating below zero temperatures in Colorado and footstep sounds in the snow. Flight preferences and the magic of the window seat, so you get a recitation of some writing and deep thoughts. Gateway Pond (or is it?), Poudre Trail, The Swetsville Zoo, and birding updates with tragedies. Despite my intentions, I published late. Finally, a distant hymn from and campfire at Sunset Reef.

Ambient Bookend Number Three. Back in San Francisco in 2018 talking about Yerba Buena Park, fountains, and touring the Trans Bay Terminal. Old friends - R.I.P. Allison Sparrow. Talking with some birders in 2018 Cleveland that turned me on to the birding apps. Cacophony at the Exxon. ST Archives: Bronze as a God. Speaking of Allison - here’s a track we made titled “Ghosts”.