Australian Sound Artist
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Saturday, September 4, 2010

Field Recording @ Puffing Billy

I spent today gathering field recordings for New Media (projection) artist James Wright's next short film.

Place of recording was the Puffing Billy train station in Belgrave, Victoria.
-and of course, the sounds of interest were of the trains as they chugged 'full steam ahead'.

Selected microphones included a SoundField ST350 Portable Microphone System (thanks Phil), the C-ducer contact microphones and my tried and true Rode NT4 (stereo).

I have not yet decoded the ambisonic recordings from the SoundField set-up and am curious as to what my own opinion will be regarding it's spatial capabilities. The C-ducer were appropriate for filtering out the chatter of other passengers and capturing the brutality of the carriage movement. Thuds and creaks gained the feel of added weight and body mass behind each sound. Sub frequencies rumbled with a delicate intensity that these microphones are renown for capturing. The last recording was made with the Rode. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it's sound was as appealing to me as always - managing to stand strong alongside of the ST350 (through headphones at least).

Many thanks to the Train driver at Belgrave for fitting me into his drivers compartment.....