One of the things Chicago is known for is it’s some what infamous river. The Chicago river (as beautiful as it is today) was once so sludged full of sewage and other waste that rats could run across the build-up on the surface. Humans, on the other hand, had to build bridges to travel to the other side. Because many large ships used to travel the river regularly, the bridges had to be capable of lifting out of the way for them to pass.
So how do you lift a bridge? Continue reading
I’ve been running Collected Transients for almost a year now (wow!), and feel like it’s a good time to take a look back at my experiences in launching and running an independent SFX library so far. I’m going to try to be as open as possible. I hope those who create or are thinking about creating SFX libraries might find this useful. Continue reading
Every now and then when I visit my home town my Grandpa has some ideas of what might be fun to record. This weekend I went back and found out he had an old manual Klaxon horn in his basement. Little did I know how loud those things are! I had to use the pads on my Oktava mics for the first time. Continue reading
If you’re reading this post, chances are you’ve done some field recording. If you’ve done a lot of field recording, chances are you’ve had a few run ins with police, security, and the general public where they thought you were up to no good. I’ve written about one of my not so pleasant run ins with police while recording trains, but I’ve noticed a number of similar stories pop up on blogs and social media. I thought it might be fun to compile a list of these stories for everyone to read (and maybe learn from). Continue reading
I’ve been recording all over Chicago for an upcoming Collected Transients library. The other night, around 2:00 a.m., I went out with the plan to record in a tunnel that ran underneath Chicago’s Lake Shore Drive. I was hoping to capture the resonance of the cars whizzing by overhead, but as I approached the tunnel, I heard snoring. Continue reading
I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with audio metadata. When it comes to finding the right sound effect for a project, I love it. When it comes to entering all of that data, I sort of hate it. It’s such a structured thing when compared to the creative process of field recording. Coming up with words and phrases that make each sound effect searchable and unique takes time and mental fortitude!
I’m always trying to find ways to streamline the process. Continue reading
The weather was beyond perfect yesterday, so my girlfriend and I decided to make a trip up to Illinois Beach State Park for the day. It was our first time there, and we didn’t realize how huge it was. 4,160 Acres! When we first pulled up, there were quite a few other people enjoying the day as well. With how big the park is, it wasn’t hard to find a quiet place where I was able to capture this: Continue reading
I love recording things. Small things. Big things. Loud things. Quiet things. Close things. Distant things. ALL of the things.
I love recording things so much that I’ve decided to share them with the world! Today, I officially launched Collected Transients. Continue reading
Spent this last weekend recording the blizzard that hit the midwest. I was in Galesburg, IL, which didn’t get hit as hard as Chicago did. Apparently I picked the right weekend to visit my parents! Continue reading
Stosh Tuszynski 