Old Military Road, 9am
Several weeks back, I went out searching for a quiet spot to record that was still close to the city limits. It was still somewhat early, around 9am when I was out and about, but finding a spot with little vehicle noise is hard to find. In my recording session, I don’t think I went more than 3 minutes without interference from some transporting human being, but the one minute clip I’m posting here is a nice mix of bugs, birds, and crows. Of course, if you listen closely, you can also hear a vehicle speeding away in the distance.
Download Audio: Old Military Road
Inside a Nature Reserve
Before you get any grand ideas about this nature reserve allow me to say that the Jewel E. Moore nature reserve on the UCA campus is only 8 acres and surrounded by major roads, so it is hardly a peaceful escape from the always noisy city environment. Therefore, this recording will have automobile noise as almost all my in town recordings do. In the reserve, there are 5 acres of what UCA calls ‘virgin shortgrass prairie’, although it looks more like an overgrown field to me. Nonetheless, many species of insectish creatures live there and this recording features those little guys chirping away despite the noisy environment surrounding their little reserve.
Download Audio: Bugs in the Reserve
The smell of coffee in the morning.
I am not a coffee drinker. Even with loads of sugar, creamer, milk, whatever, I do not care for coffee at all. But I absolutely do love the smell of it in the morning. So when my wife brews her cup of coffee in the mornings, I love to hang around the coffee pot and smell the delicious aroma. Unfortunately, we don’t yet have the technology to record smells as we do audio and visual. So I give you the next best thing, the sound of the coffee pot brewing coffee in the morning at the Shewmaker house. I can almost smell it…
Download Audio Morning Coffee
There goes mr. choo choo
Anyone who has ever lived even close to a railroad knows just how loud they can be. Even if you discount their 90+ db horn blast, just the sound of these massive machines barreling down the track is enough to disrupt the normal sound flow. This is a one minute snipit of the last bit of a train passing close by a friend’s apartment. (so no choo choo sound this time, sorry)
Download Audio: Train Passing
Fun Times with Piccolo Warmups
I bet not too many people have heard a section of marching piccolos warming up for a football game. And if you are one of those people, then today is your lucky day. This recording sports 10 piccolos tuning their fine instruments (bet you didn’t know you could tune a piccolo eh?), plus you can hear the drumline warming up as well in the background. The audio from the drumline is not direct sound as they were behind another building, so their sound is coming at the microphone after being reflected from another building. It all makes me realize how glad I am to not have to be in marching band anymore.
Download Audio: Piccolo Warmups