Lifting Michigan Avenue
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…
Category Field Recordings
Grandpa’s Klaxon Horn
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.…
The Weirdos with Microphones
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…
Distant Highway Sounds – Lake Shore Drive
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…
Lake Michigan Waves – Illinois Beach State Park
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…
Winter in the Prairie
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!
Trains Through Glass
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nkI3uyI6Ow&w=640&h=360] I’ve been a little bit obsessed with contact microphones lately. Recently, a personal project (that I hope to share soon!) led me to renting a very nice microphone: the Barcus Berry 4000 Planar Wave System. I mainly wanted…
Windy City – Chicago – 4am
Wind is a tricky thing to record. There are a couple inherent problems with the idea of recording wind:
Recording Freight Trains is Serious Business
I took a trip back to my hometown last weekend. I brought my Zoom along, as I normally do when I head to Galesburg. Many times, however, I forget about it and don’t realize I missed the chance to capture…
Homemade Contact Microphone
A couple weeks ago, I had the opportunity to make a contact mic with my class at Columbia College Chicago. I’ve been interested in contact mics for a while now, but for whatever reason haven’t actually picked one up to…