Putting together this particular sound effect was especially rewarding. It's a combination of several different sounds that I had recorded. It all started with a children's fair at my church. I started by just recording children and their families talking near a blow-up play trampoline. Then I got a little from the hotdog line. Next I recorded a small train that the local Shriners had brought out to take the children on train rides. I ran alongside it with my Zoom F8 and Neumann KM84 stereo pair on a boom pole. After I got back in the studio I wrote a short organ piece to add to the background (you have to listen for it) and then I did some barker phrases like, "Step right up, play the game". The trick was getting all the right tracks mixed with the right amount of volume and panning them to the right place in the stereo image. This is perfect for use as background for a fair, festival or amusement park ambience. Can you smell those hotdogs and cotton candy?!
I have my good friend John Golden to thank for this particular sound effect. John & Rob Nathanson recorded an album of original songs back in the 1984 at Twin Oaks Studio. He later had it digitized and he gave me a CD copy of it. Fortunately, the CD still contained the sound of the original album needle noise and vinyl crackling. I was able to grab a few seconds of about 10 cuts to piece together my recording. With a little EQ and some compression, it came out just the way I had hoped. Thanks John! Here's a link to John's music: www.thegoldengallery.com/collections/john-c-golden-audio-cds
Here is the recording: Vinyl Record Crackling Well it seems that the Zombie craze has been strong the last few years. I decided to have fun one evening and sat down with my Mac and a Neumann U87 microphone through a Neve Portico 5012 preamp. I found some watermelon in the fridge because I needed to be eating something to create the zombie flesh feast sound that I was after. I recorded it....and then cleaned up the floor from all the juice that had gotten on it. I mean I really got into it. And I don't like watermelon. Using the plugin Zplane's ElastiquePitch2 I was able to lower my voice a bit and make it more sinister sounding. It was great fun to make and I can only imagine what my neighbors were thinking because it sounded great with the volume turned up a bit!
Here is the recording: Zombie Flesh Feast My good friend Jim Flippen is a wonderful Pilot. I have never seen anyone with more passion about flying as Jim. He LOVES it! I love to hear his stories about being a helicopter pilot during Vietnam and about his work as a commercial pilot for many years. This guy has some great stories and great experiences in the air. A couple of years ago I went out and recorded his Dec 1945 Aeronca 7AC Champ Trainer Plane. We did some start up and idle sounds and some flyovers. For the recording I used a Tascam DR60mkII along with a Sennheiser MKE600 Shotgun. Turned out great! Thanks Jim! Can't wait to record your new helicopter.
Here's a link to one of the recordings: Small Airplane Start Up & Run Idle Whenever I sell one of my sounds I always make a point to see who bought it. It's amazing to see and learn about interesting companies all over the world who purchase these sounds. I enjoy going to their sites and learning more about their work and how they might use my sounds. Just in the last 3 days I've had sales from the US, Netherlands, Thailand, Canada, Romania, UK, Mexico and Italy.
There's a little creek in my neighborhood just up the block from my home. I took my grandson down with me last week and we cautiously made our way down a steep embankment to get to it. I was a bit weary of snakes so I was checking things out pretty closely. Fortunately, we didn't see any. Using my Sony PCM D100, and squatting over some large rocks, I was able to capture a nice stereo recording of the creek water running. It's another nice, soothing, background sound.
Here is the actual recording: Babbling Creek Water I recently purchased a DPA 4060 stereo set to add to my arsenal. I have been reading about them for some time and have listened to many recordings made by them. I was able to find a used set in mint condition on eBay at a very reasonable price. I am extremely happy with them. A couple of weeks ago we had an unusual amount of rain. I was listening to it raining and hearing the rain pour through the gutters on my front porch. I ran and got my DPA 4060 set mounted in a Rode Blimp and along with my Zoom F8 recorded the sound. Take a listen!
Here's a link to the actual recording: Light Rain With Gutters Dripping I love the ocean and I'm thankful to live within a few miles of Wrightsville and Carolina Beach. Using my Zoom F8 and a DPA 4060 stereo pair along with a Neumann 81i shotgun mic inside my Rode Blimp, I recorded some crashing waves out at Fort Fisher. I find listening to the ocean very soothing and I couldn't be happier with the final product! By the way, the picture of me on my home page was taken by my wife, Terrie, as I was recording this.
Here is a link to the actual recording: Ocean, Sea, Beach Ambience A few months ago I recorded the sound of an adult bicycle with good success. Last week I decided to experiment with one of my dpa 4060's and Sony D100 recorder on my grandson's bike. I attached the mic with some putty just behind the pedals near the back tire. Thankfully, the cord to the 4060 is fairly long so I was able to run alongside him to get the recording. The trick was to keep it from picking up my shoes as I ran down the road and to keep him from going too fast! After three or four takes, I was able to get what I was after.
Here is a link to the sound: Riding Small Bicycle Off and running with this new site to be able to share the various projects I'm working on. I find reading and learning about the projects of other folks in this field to be very interesting. I hope to be able to share my current projects and new sounds. |
AuthorLearn more about Mark Teachey, Apple Hill Studios and the sounds/music he produces. Categories |