An Early Morning Trip to the Marshes

I stepped out of my house at around 4am this morning, and aimed for Rye Harbour Nature Reserve. Having been tipped off a few weeks before hand that there were a number of Seasonal Birds around at this time of year, I thought maybe this would be an interesting place to try and capture a dawn chorus.

Not knowing what to expect, I was initially quite disappointed with what I heard. I could hear the dawn chorus starting, but I couldn't find any way to get close enough to any trees or bushes that were housing any wild life.

I carried on deeper into the reserve and could in the distance hear a raw which I, at first, passed off as the sound of the Sea in the distance. With the Raw getting louder I decided to explore further.

As I got closer I the sound was becoming more distinct, and the sky was beginning to lighten up enough for me to see what I was hearing. This certainly wasn't a flock of Seagulls... I think it could have been better described as a "swarm"!

There were thousands of them, all flying around in circles, squawking away in a constant dron

I havn't got around to cataloguing my recordings properly yet, but here is an example of what I heard.

Sea Bird Dawn Chorus by Audious

And here is another recording, I made earlier in my visit. This one is a bit calmer.


Dawn Chorus, Rye Harbour, Sea Gulls, Birds, humm from nearby houses by Audious

Children Always Play Up

I was out recording in Rye, East Sussex on a hot summers day. A mum and daughter walked past my set up, and as they walked past the girl turned her head to my mic and did this.

Children always play up. by Audious

I smiled at the woman as she walked past. Im sure her daughter will be a radio start one day.

The Ancient Town of Rye.

I recently made a visit to the Town of Rye, in East Sussex, England. As well as a busy town centre Rye boasts a number of cobbled high streets leading up to the church and a number of small rivers going throughout the town. This makes Rye a great location for tourists all across the world to visit.

I decided to make Rye the subject of my latest recording project. I spent my first afternoon walking around the town in both ancient and modern areas capturing sounds, and scouting locations for my next return.

It was a lovely sunny day, so there were plenty of tourists around, although sometimes the wind

got up a little bit causing some unwanted noise in nearby trees and bushes.

This project is set to continue. I aim to capture a vast array of different location sounds from the town, so watch out for more information on this project coming over next few weeks and months.

You can hear one of the recordings made during this visit by subscribing to the Audious Podcast (Episodes dated 1st and 7th June 2010).

Mobile Phone Vibrating Sound

Recently there has been a sound that I hear regularly in TV programmes, films and internet videos that keeps catching my attention when I hear it.

The Mobile Phone Vibration.

SRC Mobile Phone Vibrate by Audious

Much like my version of it (above), it always sounds far too "boxy". It tends to catch me by surprise and pull me out of the program itself and makes me think for a second "Oh sweet, text message!" before the character on screen pulls out their mobile phone.

I created this boxiness by placing the mobile phone on top of a cardboard box and then place the microphone underneath it. This amplified the vibration.

Remember, calling a mobile phone will cause interference in the recording equipment. I actually recorded this by flicking on and off the vibrate switch on the phone.

This was a quick recording that I made, just to make a point. The cardboard box I used was quick beaten and battered. In another recording of this sound I would experiment with different boxes and chambers of different sizes and materials to see what would give a crispest sound.

Beside the River.

Whilst driving around looking for interesting countryside sounds to record I came across a bridge down a lane.

The river was in a small valley, it was a long distance from the main road, so there was no traffic noise pollution. There was a lot of trees around and unfortunately, there was enough wind to be heard blowing in the trees.

I tried 3 positions when recording this sound. The first was to gather and all round image of the terrain. I placed the microphone about 3 metres away from the river, pointing towards it. The second recording was place at the same distance, but point in a parallel direction to the river.

With both of these recordings I found that the wind in the trees and the surrounding wild life were more prominent that the river itself. Unfortunately, the wind was not the most pleasant of sounds.

For the third attempt, I decided to change the perspective and get a close up recording of the river itself. So I moved the microphone as close as I could to the river, pointing it in the direction of the stream to get a good left to right stereo image.

You can listen to an example of this recording by subscribing to the Audious Podcast (Episode Dated 17th May 2010).

Alternatively, the sample is available for FREE to add to your sound library by downloading the FREE Audious Sound Sample Pack.

Audious Sound Design Podcast - Ambiance Series.

Series 3 of the Audious Podcast is now going live. Click Here for the iTunes link

This series is showcasing some of the Ambiance sounds that I have recently started recording.

1. The first episode showcases a recording made on Winchelsea Beach. For more information on this recording see a recent blog entry called "Oh I do like to be beside the Seaside" Number 2
2. The second episode showcases a recording made beside a country stream. For more information on this recording, see the blog entry called "Beside the River"
3. The third episode showcases a Outside SubUrban Ambiance made in a little village called Broad Oak (aka my back garden) in East Sussex, UK.
4. A bonus episode in this series, showcases a recording made recently in Rye, East Sussex. The recording is of a busy road in the town centre near a group of tourists.
5. The Fifth Episode returns to Rye, but to an area with less traffic and more tourists. It discusses the use of Walla.

To subscribe to the Audious Podcast Via iTunes: Click Here

To subscribe using another Podcatcher use the following Url:http://www.podcastnetwork.co.uk/podcast/audious/audious.rss

FREE Audious Sample Pack 1.

Audious Sound Design is pleased to announce the release of the first FREE Sample pack.

The sound recordings in the sample pack are completely royalty free, and you can add them to your sound effect library.

To download the FREE Audious Sample Pack, please fill out the following questionnaire: