KVR Audio

jens · Post by **jens** » Fri Mar 23, 2007 6:29 pm

Rick Deckard wrote:yes i am seeing that but what is "DC"???

hm... I am only guessing here but maybe 'DC' as abbreviation to 'Washington DC'? ('DC' is used to differentiate the city from the state fo the same name)

b.t.w.: you'd just need to hoover with the mouse-cursor over the pic and then its name is show in the bottom left corner of your browser's window - and the name already gives it away...

VitaminD · Post by **VitaminD** » Fri Mar 23, 2007 6:36 pm

THANK YOU for these recordings!!

I have some deeelicious ideas

heh heh heh for these...

makes me want get some field recording equipment and make others..

rockstar_not · Post by **rockstar_not** » Fri Mar 23, 2007 7:11 pm

District of Columbia, the DC of Washington DC.

Now that I've dl'ed number 1 and had a listen, I'm going ahead to DL the others - very nice recordings. The constant low frequency rumble could make for some really creepy pad sounds.

Thanks again for sharing.

-Scott

Klemperer · Post by **Klemperer** » Fri Mar 23, 2007 7:12 pm

Thanks, just downloading the flacs. I always record stuff with a poor minidisk-recorder and some cheap lavalier-mic (plus a self-made windshield

). Will listen to yours, thanks for sharing! There is much more stuff like this, including trains, in the nice "freesounds"-project. The only reason I didn't upload some of my stuff there is that other folks have better equipment than I have, so my recordings are more useful for myself and a few friends than to others, I suppose

.

kingtubby · Post by **kingtubby** » Fri Mar 23, 2007 7:28 pm

Listening to these 'out of context', highlights how much we take the noises that surround us for granted. I'm going to transfer these to my mini-disk and listen to them as I travel to work on the subway

- many thanks

Mart.

frog_jr · Post by **frog_jr** » Fri Mar 23, 2007 11:40 pm

yes i am seeing that but what is "DC"???

The legendary "3rd rail" provides direct current. Hence the name.

Incidentally, if you magnify the LED message above the front door of the train you'll see it's the Orange line, which is, you may have noticed from the recording, the same line I rode. So it was remotely possible that was one of the stops I passed through while recording this. I couldn't identify the stop from the pic though.

Listening to these 'out of context', highlights how much we take the noises that surround us for granted.

Or how crappy my mics were? But truly the metro is a very noisy place. Would I be better to use PZM mics maybe instead of lav mics? I have them. And would I be better to put the mics on my hat instead of my handtruck? I know this is a pretty technical way of talking here but you know, hey.

Toxikator · Post by **Toxikator** » Fri Mar 23, 2007 11:55 pm

In my experience the HRTF of these binaural recordings is sometimes a bit sticky, causing unwanted flanging or artefacts. Not for YOU, understand, for you listening with your eyes closed would be like an out-of-body experience... but for other listeners it's never quite the same.

Still, the effort is surely appreciated, and who knows, I may have great results with it.

BTW it's great to see a familiar sight; I lived in Fairfax for the first 18 years of my life so I got to know those trains well. Taking day trips to the downtown area and Smithsonian mall was a blast. It wasn't until I left for Tennessee that I realized how great it was having that system around, and such an amazing thing in my own backyard

. I used to walk to the station and ride a day pass around all day, then give it away at night. It's good karma, sometimes you'd get a free one on the way to a show or something and it would pay you back.

Anyway, I'm rambling, but DC 4 eva! lol.

frog_jr · Post by **frog_jr** » Sat Mar 24, 2007 1:01 am

Never heard of head related transfer function before today. I always assumed a stereo recording was desirable at any rate. How would you have me place the mics then? Or just do a mono? Is there any preference on that? I could easily enough mount a pair of pzm's on a box at right angle to each other, which I've seen diagrammed for some studio use.

Toxikator · Post by **Toxikator** » Sat Mar 24, 2007 1:09 am

Oh, I'm sorry... I thought you were doing binaural recordings (the mics go in your ears, it records literally what you hear; the HRTF has to do with how the sound interacts with your ears to produce a 3D image; it's also got to do with the ear's shape, but the difference in head sizes is what causes the oddness depending on the listener). These kind of field recordings are sometimes done, especially of ambient city scenes; it's great when listening on headphones.

I realize now they're just stereo recordings, not binaural. My bad!

VitaminD · Post by **VitaminD** » Sat Mar 24, 2007 1:38 am

rockstar_not wrote:The constant low frequency rumble could make for some really creepy pad sounds.

I'm glad they're in stereo.. if I want mono I can always edit them into that.. and remove the bass but that would be no fun.

frog_jr · Post by **frog_jr** » Sat Mar 24, 2007 2:10 am

Toxikator wrote:Oh, I'm sorry... I realize now they're just stereo recordings, not binaural. My bad!

No, sorry, nothing that technical. Like I said, I was just taking my hand truck full of recording gear from Capital South to New Carolton and wanted to take advantage of the situation. Actually had been looking forward to it for a few days. I have lav mics and PZM's, and that's it. So I just hooked things up and attached the mics to the handtruck as I wheeled it around. This "binaural mic" thing is intriguing, but not what I'm doing now.

Cheers, frog

Landphil · Post by **Landphil** » Sat Mar 24, 2007 4:55 am

Cool post, frog.
Thanks for sharing these (and posting flacs).
In clip 1 starting at 4:25, the train sounds like ultimate suffering...voices wailing from the pits of Hell.

The occasional wind noise in the mics was the only thing that slightly distracted my metro ride. It was still an exellent ride, though.

Great recording!

frog_jr · Post by **frog_jr** » Sat Mar 24, 2007 2:02 pm

Landphil wrote:Cool post, frog.
Thanks for sharing these (and posting flacs).
In clip 1 starting at 4:25, the train sounds like ultimate suffering...voices wailing from the pits of Hell.

The occasional wind noise in the mics was the only thing that slightly distracted my metro ride. It was still an exellent ride, though.

Great recording!

My pleasure. I will have to make some windscreens or something next time I do it. And I guess it does sound kinda creepy, doesn't it. Well that's roughly where the word "garish" comes from, or so I always imagined. Cheers, frog

Toxikator · Post by **Toxikator** » Sat Mar 24, 2007 2:07 pm

I don't think that's what garish means at all. But yeah, those trains sound creepy as f**k.

In fact, all of the actual underground stations are creepy as f**k. They have those soft hexagonal padded lights and the weird structures... everything is pretty much illuminated from below, and of course there's the fact that about 20 feet to either side of the track is a giant metal rail of death. It's spooky.

frog_jr · Post by **frog_jr** » Sat Mar 24, 2007 3:00 pm

I think "gare" is French for train station, and "garish" was in reference to the lighting usually found there in the earlier 20th C; i.e., harsh, unflattering and a little creepy. So although "garish" is more in reference to a visual impact, it kind of relates. But I love creepy things I guess, because I love riding on the metro.

Free Field Recording - Riding on the Metro