Who knew pine trees grew on sandy Caribbean atolls?

This sound was recorded on Christmas Eve in 2008, on a tiny speck of sand and palm trees in the Caribbean called Glover’s Reef, at the edge of an atoll dozens of miles off the coast of Belize. Someone had hauled a pine tree to the island and decorated it. While palm trees swayed in the wind and the surf broke all around (which you can hear in the background), a small Christmas card sound chip strapped to the tree – so small I couldn’t find it in the dark – played ultra-low-quality Christmas carols all night long.

[I have featured other interesting recordings from Belize before.]

Hope your holiday season, no matter what your persuasion, is filled with love and peace…and a decent signal-to-noise ratio. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

[Zoom H2 recorder, 90° capsule spread]

• Recoil in horror to my first evil dog-recording session!
• Wince at the sound of an eBow playing a Thunder Tube!
• Marvel at the many voices of the lowly shoe stretcher!

Thrills! Chills! Stuff! Things! Excessive Punctuation!!!!!

Yours ever so truly,
-The Management

Sonic Terrain has just launched today, but there’s a lot more in store. Oh, yes, do we have plans. Please visit, comment, and drop me a line at nathan [_at_] sonic-terrain [_dot_] net if you’ve got something you’d like to contribute. We’ll see you there!

We ain't tough, but we sure is noisy.

Today marks the first anniversary of Noise Jockey’s very first post. Like any one year old, it can be annoying and loud but have moments of awesomeness that make it all worthwhile.

99.9% of those awesome moments have come from you, this site’s visitors. I’ve gotten back far more than I’ve given, which makes me humbled, honored, and much better informed than when I started.

Noise Jockey is simply the blog of a creative personality that’s driven to explore, share, and learn. I’ve found that its readers are exactly the same. You all amaze me with your own blogs, audio explorations, and even online sound communities…if you’ve not yet done so, check out each other’s online audio goodness in the sidebar.

Here’s to another great year of sonic wackiness, and I hope you’ll continue to join me.

I’m just back from the 26th Annual Nature Sounds Society Field Workshop. I thought that I’d share some video diary entries that I shot with my new iPhone 4. As far as I know, this is the first time that video of this workshop has ever been seen online.

I’ll be sharing more of the learnings, experiences, and recordings in the coming weeks. For now, I hope you enjoy this set of dispatches from the field.

[You can read about the gear I took with me in a previous post.]

I thought it might be interesting to share what I’m bringing with me to this interesting outing. (Well, OK, fine, I really needed to make a packing list and I just suckered you into reading it.) Later this summer, I’ll not only share some recordings and photos from the field workshop, but will recap the gear used and how it all performed.

So, what am I bringing?

Personal Gear

• Permethrin-treated clothing, bug headnet, insect repellent, and waterproof hiking boots. The Sierra Nevada had a very wet winter and the entire mountain region’s spring is about a month behind schedule. This will mean one of three things: Snow, soggy ground, or mosquitos (ooh, maybe all three!), depending on local conditions and the locations we travel to. Any recording will be ruined if I am rustling due to bug-laden distraction. [Side note:DEET is pretty awful stuff, but I've tried many alternatives in the Sierra Nevada with zero success over the years. It can melt plastic on contact, so wearer beware!]
• REI Trail Stool, chosen to keep my behind high and dry for being the sturdiest, lightest-weight stool I could find.
• Petzl e+LITE headlamp. While I use even lighter-weight LED lights for backpacking, the Petzl could be handy for navigation around camp and for gear setup, given that our wakeup calls could be as early as 3:30am. This’ll be clipped to whichever recorder I bring.

Recording Gear

• Sennheiser MKH 50 and MKH 30 mid-side stereo microphone rig. A variant on the nature-recordist standard MKH 40/30 pair, I happened to invest in the MKH 50 because its hypercardioid pattern is much more useful the mono effects I capture in the field. This creates a bit more of a focused center stereo field, which I’m usually OK with. This rig will be mounted on a Rycote stereo suspension and inside a Rycote windshield.
• Røde NT4 XY stereo microphone. My one backup mic will be securely wrapped with a dessicant pack unless needed, in a bag with a Røde Blimp. [Handy hint: Use a windshield like a mini box of its own. Use it to carry other stuff, from windbreakers to unmounted mics. Way smarter use of space in a bag or pack.]
• Sound Devices 702 field recorder and Fostex FR-2LE field recorder. Given how remote this area is and because, well, $#!% happens, I’m bringing the FR-2LE as a backup. I’ll have two batteries for the 702, and both a battery sled with NiMH AA batteries and a RC-style Tamiya rechargeable battery for the FR-2LE, all fully charged the day before I go. Both recorders will be in model-specific Portabrace cases. I only use SanDisk Compact Flash cards, and will have two 4GB and two 8GB cards with me.

Grip & Cases

• Slik SprintPro Tripod. Does for my mics what the trail stool will do for my ass.  I’m connecting the mics’ Rycote grip to the tripod head using a simple 1/4-20 to 3/8″ bushing and, as a backup in case that gets lost, a Manfrotto quick release system with a 3/8″ QR plate.
• LowePro Magnum 200 case. This will hold all the extras, bits, and bobs I might need: the Røde NT4, Rycote Windjammer and its comb, screw adapters, tools, 2 backup CF cards, Rainman cover, and boom pole. This’ll probably live in the trunk of my car; I don’t anticipate shlepping it into the field.
• My trusty adventure-racing-style Solomon backpack will carry all my personal effects for our outings, including extra sunscreen, clothing, rain gear, water, camera, and snacks.
• Depending on the length of the hike to our recording locations, I may wear my recorder on my chest with a LowePro chest harness.

Wish me luck, and more info soon!

David Sonnenschein

Last month, an international group of eight members the online sound community (myself included) attended a “beta test” webinar with Sonnenschein, and it was excellent. The format will be about half lecture and half discussion of attendees’ work, submitted beforehand. I think that the opportunity to learn more about how the human brain interprets audio is essential learning for anyone involved in music or sound, just as the study of visual perception is paramount to visual and interaction design. This class will focus on taking theory and making it practical in one’s work.

Here’s David’s own description of this webinar.

SEMINAR TOPIC:  PSYCHOACOUSTIC TOOLS FOR CREATIVITY

Do you desire to produce really effective soundtracks that reach your audience through neurobiological resonance, tapping into how they subconsciously perceive the world through sound?  Would you like more access to your own brain power for finding innovative approaches and solutions?  Every professional sound designer can benefit from understanding and experiencing the science of sonic storytelling. In this seminar we will explore the neurobiology and psychology of hearing and how these underlying principles can support creative sound design.

WHAT WE’LL DO

In the second half of each unique 2-hour seminar, David will screen, analyze and discuss video clips pre-selected from submissions by the participants (max. 5 min., 100mb file size). If you have something ready or a work-in-progress, send info on the genre, length and any particular area of sound that you’d like to discuss, to dsonn22@gmail.com.

It’s a steal, too: You get access to one of the best minds on sound design for US$40. It’s limited to 25 people, so definitely sign up soon. If you’re active on socialsounddesign.com (see my earlier post about this awesome community), you’ll probably recognize a lot of peeps in the class.

To paraphrase our state’s governor in Predator: DOOO EET! GET TO DA CHOPPAH!

1. You spend an average of 3 minutes on NoiseJockey.net. This suggests you actually listen to the sounds. :-)
2. 60% of you are directed here from other sites; of that, over 20% of you are arriving from DesigningSound.org.( I thank everyone who runs sites in this increasingly vibrant sound recording/design community who read and support Noise Jockey! You rock!)
3. 60% of you use MacOS, and 35% of you use some flavor of Windows. I’m gonna assume the 2% of you who visit Noise Jockey on the iPod, iPhone, or iPad are lamenting Apple’s refusal to support Flash.
4. 42% of you use Firefox, 36% of you use Safari, and and less than 7% of you use Internet Explorer. There’s a word for that: Progress.
5. Almost half of you use laptops to view this site, but at least a quarter of you have big-ass monitors, too.
6. Noise Jockey’s visitors are quite international. A hearty “merci beaucoup” goes out to the 10% of you that parlez Français, possibly visiting from SoundDesigners.org. (A personal thanks to Benoit is appropriate here, and apologies for not having taken French since middle school!)
7. You made post that you found most annoying also the most-viewed/heard. (Thanks to David Hobby at Strobist.com for the pick-up).
8. You commented the most on the first video I released. More to come…

Numbers only tell so much. How many of you are female vs. male? How many of you are professionals vs. hobbyists? What else do you do for fun? That’s what’s most meaningful, and the statistics above only paint part of the picture.

If you want to share more, do so in the comments below. But more importantly, visit each other’s sites and blogs. Join an online sound community. (Some of my favorite blogs and communities are listed in the “Aural Linkage” sidebar.) Record something and start your own blog!

Or, at the very least, just listen. To where you are, every day. Your life will be richer for it.

Speaking of longtime readers, many of them are linked in the Aural Linkage sidebar of this page, and you should visit their sites for Serious Sound Wisdom™. If you haven’t done so, also read Designing Sound’s recent post on the growing online sound design and field recording community. All these links belong to people who are way smarter than I am, and their insights and techniques are legendary. Check ‘em out.

It’s also worth noting that a couple of the sound design elements of yesterday’s clip has been previewed before in previous posts on this site…

• The film motor sound in the identity stinger is from a Kodak Brownie camera.
• The bicycle effect that was demonstrated was used in the power-up effect in my robotic sound design clip.

Some of the other elements include public-domain soundtracks from 1950′s films, the sound of a struck mezzaluna, and even a DAT tape read error.

Thanks again, all,  stay tuned for more sonic mayhem.

Andrew Spitz's new site, Social Sound Design, gathers great talent and attitude...a rare combo.

I’ve been using the new SocialSoundDesign.com for about a week or so, and I’m mighty impressed. It’s a strict Q&A format, but with some spiffy features. Most importantly, it’s got people way smarter than me involved, and I learn something every time I visit. (Ooh, plus it uses a fabulous red and black and white palette like another sound design website I could possibly mention. :-p)

While this is true of other forums (some of my faves are listed in the sidebar), so far SocialSoundDesign.com (SSD) has an extremely low signal-to-noise ratio of content to attitude. Everyone is giving with their knowledge. No one’s copping attitude. Questions range from the remedial to the advanced, and answers are informative and varied. It’s amazing to see many of the major sound design bloggers and active online professionals starting to gather in one place. It’s like a family barbeque for the Online Sound Clan…with very strange noises. Andrew Spitz deserves huge kudos for bringing this great resource to life.

As with any such website, the community is only as rich, giving, and patient as its members. If you’re interested in sound for film, games, and any other medium, it needs your voice. Check it out, register, follow it on Twitter for new-question updates, and join the conversation.