need wind protection? Howbout a fuzzy duck?

The little clown-nose wind protector that comes on the H4 just doesn't provide enough wind protection. I took it out during a recent trip to west Texas, and while I was able to get a bunch of good stuff, my ratio of unusable to useable was probably 10:1 due to wind noise that was being caught with the slightest breeze out there.


I was kind of disappointed with that once I got back into the studio because I really was hoping for a greater variety of useable stuff. One location in particular had a very distinct insect sound going, but in the non-windy spots I had a prop plane running overhead - so I did what I could but it wasnt as good as it could have been. Fortunately this was just for library stuff so it was non-critical, but I expect more from my little rig.

I had been brainstorming a little home made rycote style rig for the H4 with suspension and pantyhose as an additional wind buffer, but while the lovely Mrs and I were out at the pet store we found an unstuffed dog toy that looked almost exactly like the little afros that rycote actually sells for things like mine.

This looked like it made all kinds of sense and was far far less involved (or expensive) than building a suspension rig for the thing, so we picked it up and set out to mod it.

A few scissor snips and pulled stitches later, and voila! The Fuzzy Duck mod.

I think its kind of cool in a sick kind of broken duck back kind of way.

Initial recording tests showed a HUGE improvement, so I'm going to have to go out again and see how she holds up in a tougher environment. The other challenge is keeping it away from the dog.

printer. jam.

awesome!


Mistabishi - Printer Jam from Hospital Records on Vimeo.

the inverse of sound design

visual design to musical stuff.

This is really great. The high res version is here, and I'd highly suggest checking it out in full screen.



via the music of sound.

zelda medley

I've always liked stuff like this.

Watch more video games and play free games at WeGame.

christmas eve gunshoot

I had the great opportunity to head out to a hunting lease about 40 miles west of Lubbock with some good friends and high-powered weaponry in tow.

Recordings and photos to follow, but I'm pretty happy with what I think I have here.

this is one of the coolest things I have ever seen

Seriously. There is a whole world of art that is just flowing in an out of various disciplines that can defy believability. The fact that we have to dig so deeply for it is the problem with it all.

Sound is about motion. There is no stationary noise, so when you turn music into visual art those visuals have to move. Generally speaking moving pictures (and the mass distribution of those pictures) is a relatively recent human innovation, so its ok to be awed by the natural progression of these things.

I have about 15 songs right at the top of my head that I'd love to see rendered in this fashion. It's pretty cool.


Relentless, The REV from flight404 on Vimeo.


Magnetic Ink, Process video from flight404 on Vimeo.

some remarkable california footage

As strange as California is politically and socially, it is flat-out beautiful geographically.

The inherent beauty that much of the state possesses makes it that much more difficult to watch it burn down in the wildfires that seem to continually plague it. I came across this video courtesy Vimeo staff pics. It's pretty good stuff.


Tea / Las Alturas Fire, Santa Barbara California from Patrick Lawler on Vimeo.