Here's one more piece from my last trip to Onalaska, TX that I've finally got round to editing. It was recorded from the Patrick's Ferry boat ramp pier facing toward the parking lot and the ramps, where the best wave action was. Sunset was approaching and the only other people there were a family with a small child whose voices I captured.

I'm interested in what I record, obviously, or I wouldn't record it in the first place--but recordings from this place move me like no others I've done. I never get tired of them.

Patrick's Ferry boat ramp, November 25, 2006, 3:18pm
5m37s 7.71MB mp3 (click to download)

Took a trip to my girlfriend Denny O's folks' in Alvin, TX this weekend for her brother Carlos' wedding reception party thing. Partied so hard i didn't really have time for recording, but just before we left I managed to get a few minutes of binaural audio of the helium balloons tied to the mailbox out front bumping around in the wind. I thought it sounded neat. Plus i was hungover & not really in the mood to do any real sound-searching.

Congrats to Carlos!

Balloons, Alvin, TX, December 10, 2006, 3:57pm
3m37s (click to download 4.96MB mp3)

This is my second field recording excursion to Onalaska, TX, which was much more successful than the first. I recorded about 10x more material using 2 sets of mics & also had the good sense to take my camera. The location was the same as my previous recordings--Patrick's Ferry public boat ramp, right at the western end of the highway 190 bridge over the Trinity River. The river had risen several feet and the wave sounds were much louder; I also managed to get right under the bridge to record the sounds of traffic passing overhead.

I've finished a rough first-draft edit of a portion of the recording I made with my in-ear binaural mics; the recording begins right under the bridge and i eventually make my way toward the boat ramp itself. Since it's binaural, I highly recommend using headphones to listen to this piece. Enjoy!

Patrick's Ferry public boat ramp, Onalaska, TX, November 25, 2006, 16:55
9m45s (click to download 13.9MB mp3)

Took a trip back to my hometown, Trinity, TX, this weekend. Ostensibly it was to visit the Texas Renaissance Festival, but (as always) I was on the lookout for sounds to record. Didn't do any recording at TRF (i was actually enjoying myself too much--next time!) but took a trip out FM 356 from Trinity to Onalaska and recorded a nice few minutes of audio at one end of the 190 Trinity River bridge. I spent a good deal of my younger days in this part of the world: it's pretty much where my grandpa taught me to hunt & fish, so I have a lot of powerful memories and I feel a strong connection to this place.

This particular recording was done on the bank of the river in a public park almost right under the bridge; I tried to give equal attention to the bridge traffic, the lapping waves, and the people enjoying themselves. I find this recording intensely soothing, and wish i'd had the time to record an entire disc from this location. Next time i'll plan better, and take a camera!

Hwy 190 Bridge, Trinity River, Onalaska, TX
5m (click to download 6.73MB mp3)

So yesterday I got a wild hair & decided to record my dishwasher. It was there, making a lot of racket, right?

I recorded 4 separate mono tracks by attaching my homemade "stereo" piezo contact mics to hard drive actuator magnets (got that idea from Richard M on the phonography list--check out the brilliant use he put his mics to) & sticking those to the front of the dishwasher in a different arrangement for each of the "stereo" tracks (one emphasizing high frequencies and one low). Then I separated the 2 "stereo" tracks into 4 mono tracks, edited & EQed them & stuck them all into Adobe Audition's multitrack editor. I panned the 2 high-frequency tracks left/right to give an illusion of a stereo field. the 2 low-frequency tracks become a single combined mono track in the center of the field.

Does it sound like you're listening from inside?

4-channel dishwasher
7.35MB vbr mp3 (click above to download)