Microphones and Technique

Wind Chimes is a collection of meticulously recorded wind chimes purposely recorded with a pair of high-end Barcus Berry contact microphones. By using this type of mic instead of traditional ones, the attack, sustain and decay of each tube struck by its clapper are experienced in ways unheard by the naked ear. Every tinkle and plink, every clang and rattle sound a bit more removed from its environment than normal. Harmonics can easily be heard alongside fundamental frequencies. Every recording is unique to its moment in time, each note as random as the wind that played it. These wind chimes are anything but showroom new. Some are weathered. Some are outwardly neglected. A few sound pretty, others not so much.… Read More

Irrigation is a collection of water flow ambiances captured in and around the Treasure Valley of southwestern Idaho, where the Payette, Boise, Weiser, Malheur, Owyhee and Burnt rivers drain into the Snake River. Follow the flow of crystal clear water as it travels from mountain-fed streams and rivers down into large reservoirs. Listen as water courses through the pipes and along the canals that carry it to sprinklers large and small. Finally, the water fans out onto verdant golf courses, people’s front yards and farmland.… Read More

Trains in the Valley is a 55:19 nature recording album featuring the sound of both steam and diesel-electric locomotives traveling through Cuyahoga Valley National Park.… Read More

Put on your swim trunks or bathing suit, turn your thermostat up to 100 F (38 C) and listen to my latest blog post on making Soak, The Soothing Sound of Idaho Hot Springs, featuring the soundscape of Pine Flats Hot Springs along the South Fork of the Payette River in south-central Idaho. Recorded in April 2021, the 55:42 album transports you down a 100-foot jagged algae-covered cliff to the source of the springs, where hydrothermal water comes from the underworld at 138 F (59 C), onto a relaxing and comfortable waterfall-fed soaking pool, then finally to Class II rapids along the blue-green river.… Read More

Look at and listen to sounds of the Beaver Marsh at Cuyahoga Valley National Park in northeast Ohio. For a different kind of recording, I used a pair of high-end contact microphones clipped to the boardwalk that spans the 70-acre marsh. You hear the 70-acre wetland from the wood’s perspective.… Read More