gregweddig.net

I was on a scouting trip to the northeast corner of California, checking out the Warner Range and other recording opportunities.  I was in Cedarville having a greasy breakfast a a local joint which had a little buzz going that morning, it wasn’t just the coffee.  I found out that one of the large ranches was transporting  200-300 head of cattle to their Summer grazing grounds up in the mountains.  This involved a cattle drive through the middle of downtown.  Since by the time I got out of breakfast the herd was fast approaching, I pulled out the microphones and this is what I heard:

As I continued exploring the area I had several other opportunities to drive through the same cattle swarm.  Good thing I wasn’t in a hurry.

MS, Schoeps MK21, SD 744t

Photo Courtesy of t_camuti ©2006

The sound you are about to hear is one that fascinated me the first time I took a walk in Bidwell Park.  In January I recorded it, reported to be the third largest urban park in the US, Bidwell Park is located within the city limits of Chico, CA near “Lake” Oroville and the Oroville Dam whose power travels along said lines.   The crackling that is heard is an effect called corona discharge [Wikipedia] and is caused by the interaction of power and humidity or other particles in the air surrounding the lines  (as I understand it).

As you can hear the city of Chico is on the right side of the image, it is somewhat heavily rolled off to provide a more pleasant listening experience.

MS, Schoeps MK21, SD 744t

Apologies for a missed opportunity this post: in our haste to get to Lassen Volcanic National Park for a much needed weekend getaway we left the camera at home so you will just have to visit on your own or look around here.  Well the weekend getaway nature of this trip put recording on the back burner but it was a good opportunity to scout the area before lugging recording gear in…but I decided to lug gear anyway.  We headed out from the Warner campground, a dusty national park campground that seems lightly visited, it’s just a mile or so from the trailhead to the lake itself.

I situated the mics and myself between two bubbling mudpots, much to Nicole’s concern and encouragement.  There were plenty of other footprints where I was setup so I wasn’t too worried, though I did notice that the ground was physically warmer in some places, weird.  Shortly after hitting “record” a curious couple spent a long time exploring the relatively small area frequently calling out to find the other.  A Spotted Towhee was foraging in the area some calls and wingbeats can be heard..

UPDATE: I decided to mix and post my recording at Terminal Geyser, which is not really a geyser but a steam vent, at first it was a little boring to listen to but once I mixed in the 154° (67°C) bubbling stream I decided it was worthy:

These Lassen National Park recordings by GT Weddig are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

This is part two of the Nature Sounds Society summer workshop field report:

Sunday Morning we had an early 4:30am start up at Yuba Pass, dawn chorus, there are a few pretty loud Song Sparrow calls (at 3:19-LOUD) early in the recording also woodpeckers, and many others that I have yet to identify.  The microphone array you are hearing is ORTF, though I also recorded a rear Blumlein pair.  Please post if you are interested in hearing it.

Late morning as the group dispersed we visited Madora Lake which seems to be a stream fed lake though it may be a man-made spring.    This stereo track was derived from a 4 channel, double MS recording.  There are American Coots, Red-winged Blackbirds, Bullfrog and a persistently chipping that seemed to be a MacGillivray’s Wabrler.  After this successful recording location and a small picnic lunch the 2009 Nature Sounds Society workshop came to a close.  The recording below was originally part of a double MS recording on the gregga tree.

These NSS recordings and photos by GT Weddig is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

I headed out this morning to scout an area known as Gray Lodge Wildlife Area which is managed by the California Department of Fish & Game.  The weather was pretty overcast on the way out and I was hoping for a bit of sun.  I didn’t get any sun but I got to use my trusty microphone umbrella.  Most of  the migrating waterfowl that I had seen on my initial visit a few weeks before was gone, but the American Coots, Northern Shovelers and of course the Mallards were still there.

Rain at Gray Lodge Wildlife Area by GT Weddig is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

In late March 2007 I headed up the Yearling Trail in Ocala National Forest on a windy spring day, I found a spur trail just into the longleaf pine edge of Pat’s Island.  There isn’t much to hear here besides the wind in the tall trees, but the quietude was exceptional that day.