Fifth (and final) Audio Sample from Trek01

On my return trip I again wanted to find a more focused audio source. Up the road from the Midwest Tunnel in downtown Milwaukee I found two sewer covers on the street that were no more than two feet apart. But even with them being so close, the stereo separation was wide. The lower one, or the southerly one, had an industrial vent fan assisting the ventilation of the sewers, and the upper one, the northerly one, was a drain for incoming pipes from different areas of the block. The diversity in sound ranged from the fluffy, constant low-frequency hum of the fan to the high-frequency, unpredictable dripping of the drains.
Taking the right mike and putting it on the north drain and the left mike on the south fan, what I recorded is suprisingly exactly what caught my attention in the first place; the two sounds just don't mix! I believe the mikes did a good job at capturing it, especially with the ever-present traffic noise, but I still recommend wearing headphones to listen to this sample.

Drains

Fourth Audio Sample from Trek01

OK, enough with ambient sound. Let's concentrate on a focused source, something I may be able to control.
As I rounded the corner at the Midwest Tunnel in downtown Milwaukee, there was a gentleman performing a noise-creating action I was, in fact, looking for: shoveling snow. I politely asked if I could record him and he obliged, but only after asking me what time it was. I didn't know, but he didn't seem to mind.
Standing 6 feet from him, he traversed a parallel path that measured approximately 15-20 feet long. He was also avoidably fighting the grooves in the sidewalk, but I didn't want to say anything. His abrupt stops made for good sounds, and some inside laughter.
I handheld the mikes, keeping about 4 feet inbetween them. I got a decent stereo affect, which is acceptable because I don't think an extreme separation was necessary. Besides, the listener may get nauseous!
(NOTE: For those who've never experienced snow, this is a sound that echoes throughout the Frozen Tundra.)

Shoveling Snow

Third Audio Sample from Trek01

For this next sample, I remained at the same location, the Midwest Tunnel in downtown Milwaukee, but I exited the inside of the structure and stood outside the east exit. This tunnel is approximately 150-200 yards long, long enough for the entrance to appear rather small from my perspective. As the cars approach the exit, their noise becomes immediately louder just before they emerge from under the tunnel, so that told me that the expanse swallowed up and dispersed most of the ambient noise. But what I did notice is that louder, higher frequencies defeated the man-made buffer and did a fine job of exiting at the point I was standing. A prime example would be emergency vehicle sirens.
This third sample is exactly that, the remains of the emergency vehicle siren as it passed the entrance to the tunnel. Or at least I think it did. I actually never saw the vehicle go by, only heard it. It came upon me suddenly, like an air pocket opened allowing the stronger frequencies to reach me, and it left me just as quickly.
When you listen, notice that the back-traffic appears muddled, and the fore-traffic is clear, but over it all is the ethereal siren.

Tunnel Sirens

Second Audio Sample from Trek01

Once I acquired the 'magic' from the lakefront, I proceeded towards downtown Milwaukee. I knew that traffic noise is an everyday anomoly, so I wanted to stear clear from that, unless of course I found something interesting. Obviously, walking downtown will unavoidably find traffic noise, but I went with it anyway and did my best to record it in a fashion other than normal.
For this next example I walked underneath the Midwest Tunnel downtown. My initial thought, or idea, was that being a low ceilinged structure it must have an awful time making sense of itself. I was right.
I positioned myself in the middle of the tunnel, south side of the road. There are potters, or fixtures for plants to grow in, located between each massive supporting column, and I thought the mikes would do well positioned on the one I was facing. I again spread the mikes about 4 feet apart, the left one facing the west and the right east. Keep in mind the traffic travels west to east only, as it is a one-way road.
I don't want to go into much detail on the recording as I believe it speaks for itself quite well, but I do want to ask a question: is what you're hearing just recorded sounds, or does it take on a life, almost as if there are notes being played in a mechanized and reverberated environment? (The ceaseless traffic creating the underscore whilst the voices carry the tune.)
Let me know what you think.

Tunnel Talkers

Looking at this map, I labeled my position in the tunnel as X1, my position at the snow shoveler as X2, and my spot at the drains as X3. This map serves as an overview of the area, the others will show more detailed views.

First Audio Sample From Trek01

The moment has arrived. Here is my very first Audio Sample on only my second blog entry!
What we have here is an ambient recording of the Lake Michigan east coast in Shorewood at Big Bay Park on North Palisades Road. Braving the bitter cold of the 11th of February, I headed to the lake in hopes of recording the ice cracking. I knew that the location would be prime, and that the dock would allow me to walk out and get a full-circle feeling.
So taking the two condensor mikes that I had, I hung the right one over the right side of the dock, and the left on the left. I figured this would give incredible separation to the recording, and indeed it did. There was very little movement of water, but flowing underneath the ice it needed a place to exit, and you can clearly hear it escaping, more so on the right than the left. There was a bigger hole. But the best part about this recording is the faint cracking of the ice in the background. It comes into play almost immediately. And if you listen close enough, you can actually hear windchimes from a house almost a mile away. Amazing how sound can travel in a deadened environment in the cold of night.
Here's the link:

Ice Cracking

It's best to listen to it with headphones in a silent environment, but do what you can. Comments are more than welcome. And check back soon for the map and panorama.

I've included detailed maps for your information as to where exactly I was located when I performed the recordings. They give a rough overview and hopefully shed a little light on what my experience was like. The map on Sample #2 is an overview of the downtown Milwaukee location.

COMING SOON!!!

Yes, very soon, in fact! This upcoming post will be so amazing and life changing, you may delete all Favorites on your computer but this one! I am in fact speaking of my first Trek and the audible findings my research did produce. If this particular day finds you jonesen MP3s of cracking ice, traffic, and shoveling snow then bookmark this page because look out! I'm almost there.