Recording with Sony PCMM10 (using internal mics with Rycote Windjammer), on Penally Hill, Boscastle, Cornwall, UK, almost at the slight col that then leads on to the rugged Penally Point straight ahead. The recorder is pointed towards the seaward side of Penally Point, but is also catching some sea noise from its landward side and the slightly more distant cliffs on the other side of the mouth of Boscastle Harbour. On this day (17th June 2012) the Atlantic swell was quite low and the sound pleasant but unspectacular, with the wind interfering a bit. At one point two excited children can be heard and it is the sort of place that would excite anyone who wasn't a completely dull 'sheep' Please note that the volume level of this recording has been carefully adjusted for listening purposes, and ALL my recordings so far are meant to be listened to with a volume setting that would give a realistic level for playback of CLASSICAL music (a large but not exceptional symphony orchestra). If you have the right volume setting, you should not need to change that setting from one recording of mine to another. Please remember to give this recording a rating http://www.broadhorizonnature.co.uk/meicon_wink.gif
描述:Recording made on 9th January 2013, on the northeast side of Boscastle Harbour, at a decidedly precarious position somewhat down on the cliff slabs directly above the blowhole low down on the inland side of the hulk of Penally Point. The blowhole is actually an early stage of the breakingthrough of a sea cave on the seaward side of the hulk of Penally Point, and waves hitting the end of the cave there cause shockwaves in the air and cause the violent ejection of often quite long jets of spray with impressive heavy whoomphs. Those jets of spray are generally roughly horizontal or very slightly inclined upwards, and you can hear the ejected water splashing down following many of the whoomphs. However, on one occasion just while I was setting the recorder up for this recording, there was an almighty whoomph, much more strongly 'earthquaky' than any of the others I heard, and the ensuing jet from the blowhole shot up to even a bit higher than where I was though fortunately spray didn't come this way, so I didn't have to retreat. http://www.broadhorizonnature.co.uk/penallysideboscastleharbourlowerblowhole.jpgThe blowhole in operation at the foot of the cliff.The recorder is an almost imperceptible whitish speck on the steep slope. http://www.broadhorizonnature.co.uk/recordingboscastleblowholefromjustabove.jpgThat looks precarious? Yes, it was, especially as many patches of the rock slabs there were wet and slippery. I had to use extreme care in getting down from the rough little track on the rocks to the recorder position but at least it was worth it The tide was coming in during this recording, and from about halfway through this results in the blowhole whoomphs and ejections becoming progressively smaller. Indeed, I thought that they had actually stopped altogether and that I'd want to cut off some of this recording but it is clear from listening to it, that the blowhole had just become much more subdued and not (at least then) actually nonoperational. This recording was made with a Sony PCMM10 on a Hama minitripod, using the builtin microphones covered with a Rode Deadkitten. There was a very light breeze coming from behind / left of the recorder, but not enough to notice at all in the recording. Higher quality version of this recording availableThe recordings that I upload to Freesound are of standard CD quality (44.1KHz, 16bit). As from my recordings made on 9th January 2013, all my recordings are additionally available in 48KHz 24bit, FLAC format. If interested, please see my Broad Horizon Natural Soundscapes page for details.http://www.broadhorizonnature.co.uk/arrowlongright.gif Please note that all recordings from 7th January to 2nd Feb 2013, inclusive (i.e. including this one) did not receive any correction for highfrequency attenuation caused by the new Rode Dead Kitten windshield. Subsequently I was able to work out a graphic EQ profile to apply to all recordings that used that windshield, and have applied it retrospectively but I have no plans to go through the hassle of reuploading here the recordings that originally missed out on that correction. Therefore, copies of recordings made in that period, including this one, which I supply on CDs or as licensed copies for commercial use, will have better sound quality and will sound clearer, more 'present', and with more precision of detail than what you hear from here. Please note that only very good speakers / headphones with a very extended bass response will do this recording real justice. Also, it may sound unpleasantly boomy on speakers that have any sort of boominess (like my computer speakers). Please also note that the volume level of this recording has been carefully adjusted for listening purposes, and ALL my recordings so far are meant to be listened to with a volume setting that would give a realistic level for playback of CLASSICAL music (a large but not exceptional symphony orchestra). If you have the right volume setting, you should not need to change that setting from one recording of mine to another.(Later note: This recording with better sound than here is on one of my commercial CDs, and can be found in my eStore.) Please remember to give this recording a rating http://www.broadhorizonnature.co.uk/meicon_wink.gif
描述:Recording made on 9th January 2013, on the northeast side of Boscastle Harbour, at a rather precarious position somewhat below the main path along there, overlooking the stone jetty on that side of the harbour and pointing obliquely across the mouth of the harbour though my saying that actually wouldn't mean very much to anyone who doesn't know the funny shape of the harbour, which bends round to the left and then opens to the right (seaward). The blowhole is at the waterline when the tide is lowtomiddling, and is a bit right of centre in this soundscape. It is actually an early stage of the breakingthrough of a sea cave on the seaward side of the hulk of Penally Point, and waves hitting the end of the cave there cause shockwaves in the air and cause the violent ejection of often quite long jets of spray with impressive heavy whoomphs. Those jets of spray are generally roughly horizontal or very slightly inclined upwards, and you can hear the ejected water splashing down following many of the whoomphs. http://www.broadhorizonnature.co.uk/penallysideboscastleharbourlowerblowhole.jpgThe blowhole in operation at the foot of the cliff.This recording was made on this side of the harbour,but a fair bit further removed, in the inland direction. Much of the straightforward ongoing water noise in this recording is actually not so much the sea but the Boscastle stream (which flooded so devastatingly a few years ago), which is normally very shallow and lazily tumbles over the stones in the stream / harbour bed while the tide is out. I really would have liked to continue this recording for at least half an hour, but changed my mind about that once I had started this recording and then got reconnoitring to see what would be the best next position to place the recorder. Not only did I find that I could make a recording from directly above and fairly close to the blowhole, but I was also aware that the tide was coming in and would presently stop the noticeable blowhole ejections so I chose to ensure that my recording from directly above the blowhole had priority to ensure maximum duration before I lost the 'dramatics', and thus I returned to terminate this recording. Interestingly, the heaviest whoomphs caused clipping on this recording, but only for one peak on that second recording here, which was so much nearer the blowhole. Although I couldn't hear the effects of any of the peak clippings, this time I chose experimentally to use the 'clip fix' plugin in Audacity, first lowering the level of this recording to allow headroom for reconstruction of clipped peaks, and then normalizing to virtually 100 afterwards. Presumably that processing would have softened any slightly abrasive and fatiguing effect of the clipped peaks though there were only about ten of them, so there wouldn't have been much of an issue about that anyway. This recording was made with a Sony PCMM10 on a Hama minitripod, using the builtin microphones covered with a Rode Deadkitten. There was a very light breeze coming from behind / left of the recorder, but not enough to notice at all in the recording. Higher quality version of this recording availableThe recordings that I upload to Freesound are of standard CD quality (44.1KHz, 16bit). As from my recordings made on 9th January 2013, all my recordings are additionally available in 48KHz 24bit, FLAC format. If interested, please see my Broad Horizon Natural Soundscapes page for details.http://www.broadhorizonnature.co.uk/arrowlongright.gif Please note that all recordings from 5th January to 2nd Feb 2013, inclusive (i.e. including this one) did not receive any correction for highfrequency attenuation caused by the new Rode Dead Kitten windshield. Subsequently I was able to work out a graphic EQ profile to apply to all recordings that used that windshield, and have applied it retrospectively but I have no plans to go through the hassle of reuploading here the recordings that originally missed out on that correction. Therefore, copies of recordings made in that period, including this one, which I supply on CDs or as licensed copies for commercial use, will have better sound quality and will sound clearer, more 'present', and with more precision of detail than what you hear from here. Please note that only very good speakers / headphones with a very extended bass response will do this recording real justice. Also, it may sound unpleasantly boomy on speakers that have any sort of boominess (like my computer speakers). Please also note that the volume level of this recording has been carefully adjusted for listening purposes, and ALL my recordings so far are meant to be listened to with a volume setting that would give a realistic level for playback of CLASSICAL music (a large but not exceptional symphony orchestra). If you have the right volume setting, you should not need to change that setting from one recording of mine to another.(Later note: This recording with better sound than here is on one of my commercial CDs, and can be found in my eStore.) Please remember to give this recording a rating http://www.broadhorizonnature.co.uk/meicon_wink.gif
描述:Recording made on 2nd February 2013, on the northeast side of Boscastle Harbour, in a decidedly unusual position somewhat below the main path along there, overlooking the stone jetty on that side of the harbour and pointing obliquely across the mouth of the harbour though my saying that actually wouldn't mean very much to anyone who doesn't know the funny shape of the harbour, which bends round to the left and then opens to the right (seaward). The blowhole is at the waterline when the tide is lowtomiddling, and is a bit right of centre in this soundscape. It is actually an early stage of the breakingthrough of a sea cave on the seaward side of the hulk of Penally Point, and waves hitting the end of the cave there cause shockwaves in the air and cause the violent ejection of often quite long jets of spray with impressive heavy whoomphs. Those jets of spray are generally roughly horizontal or very slightly inclined upwards, and you can hear the ejected water splashing down following many of the whoomphs. I had intended to place the recorder in exactly the same precarious position on a protruding ledge, where I placed it for the equivalent 9th January recording, but as I came round the side of that crag I thought the wind was a bit on the strong side there, and also I was looking rather nervously at the clouds, which had lightly showered on me several times during the morning and were looking as though they might fairly imminently do so again. I was in fact about to give up the idea of setting up this recording and just make do with the one right above the blowhole, when I noticed right beside me a small overhung recess in the crag, probably about 60 to 70cm high and not much wider, and I noticed that as I stuck my ear in there I could hear a whole lot of booming from the sea that I was not otherwise hearing. So, for the hell of it I placed the recorder in there. That has predictably resulted in a really weird recording, which is not only very boomy but also has a narrow, sort of 'tunnelvision' main stereo image, apart from the thumps and booms, which are more omnidirectional. This recording, therefore, is, in normal terms, an extremely BAD one, but I present it here as a GREAT recording of the sound of Boscastle Harbour and blowhole as could be heard by a mouse or small bird in a little recess in a crag :) Well, except that I eventually came to recognise that it could be MUCH improved see further below. do please listen to the newer version of this recording and see what a dramatic improvement I was able to bring about by applying a carefully worked out shaped bass adjustment to counter my recorder's inherent broad bass 'hump'. Some peaks caused by the exaggerated thumps and booms from the blowhole got clipped, and I didn't increase the level to get a more accurate rendering of the sea sound, in order not to get a lot more clipping. I could have given this lot a bass cut of course, but then that wouldn't have properly represented what was actually to be heard within that recess. Well, that was how I was viewing the matter, but after being confronted with certain issues in my birds and wind chimes recordings of 5th March 2013 and then checking back through previous recordings, I established that I had been unwittingly accepting a significant and quite audible broad 'hump' in the lower bass frequencies of ALL my recordings. I have now rectified that retrospectively, using a carefully constructed EQ curve in Audacity, and I now present the newer version of this recording. Suffice it to say, the newer version, although still inevitably sounding weird, does not now sound anything like as boomy, and because the peaks are reduced, I have been able to bring up the level to a more realistic one for the sea sound, revealing a distinctly wider stereo image and indeed sounding beautiful enough that, against it, this original version sounds quite horrible, steeped in a detailswallowing lowfrequency 'fug' Much later note:Oops, I got the above wrong The apparent bass hump in my recordings was NOT in the recordings but was a room resonance issue affecting the sound of my hifi system So I had a lot of work to do in processing and editing new copies from my archived unprocessed originals, without the bass being interfered with. This recording in its authentic state can, then, sound great, but only with correction for any room resonance affecting the sound from one's playback system. I nowadays use an AntiMode 2.0 Dual Core for that purpose, and it is really great. This recording was made with a Sony PCMM10 on a Hama minitripod, using the builtin microphones covered with a Rode Deadkitten. The breeze reaching the recorder appeared to be a straighton force 3 on the Beaufort scale (upper end of 'light'). Higher quality version of this recording availableThe recordings that I upload to Freesound are of standard CD quality (44.1KHz, 16bit). As from my recordings made on 9th January 2013, all my recordings are additionally available in 48KHz 24bit, FLAC format. If interested, please see my Broad Horizon Natural Soundscapes page for details.http://www.broadhorizonnature.co.uk/arrowlongright.gif Please note that all recordings from 5th January to 2nd Feb 2013, inclusive (i.e. including this one) did not receive any correction for highfrequency attenuation caused by the new Rode Dead Kitten windshield. Subsequently I was able to work out a graphic EQ profile to apply to all recordings that used that windshield, and have applied it retrospectively. Although in general I have no plans to go through the hassle of reuploading here the recordings that originally missed out on that correction, in this particular case the newer version of this recording already mentioned has that improvement as well as its dramatic bass 'improvement', which latter, sadly, was actually a degradation Please note that only very good speakers / headphones with a very extended bass response will do this recording real justice. Also, it may sound unpleasantly boomy on speakers that have any sort of boominess (like my computer speakers). Please also note that the volume level of this recording has been carefully adjusted for listening purposes, and ALL my recordings so far are meant to be listened to with a volume setting that would give a realistic level for playback of CLASSICAL music (a large but not exceptional symphony orchestra). If you have the right volume setting, you should not need to change that setting from one recording of mine to another.(Later note: This recording with better sound than here is on one of my commercial CDs, and can be found in my eStore.) Please remember to give this recording a rating http://www.broadhorizonnature.co.uk/meicon_wink.gif (N.B. This description may have changed a bit since it was featured, because about half of it got wiped out for some reason when I attempted to add a smiley, and I then had a bit of 'rebuilding' work to do)
描述:Recording made on 2nd February 2013, on the northeast side of Boscastle Harbour, at a rather precarious position somewhat down on the cliff slabs above the blowhole low down on the inland side of the hulk of Penally Point, but slightly higher and less precarious than for my 9th January recording notionally at the same spot, because I was a bit concerned that the breeze this time might go blowing blowhole spray back up and over the recorder. The blowhole is actually an early stage of the breakingthrough of a sea cave on the seaward side of the hulk of Penally Point, and waves hitting the end of the cave there cause pressure waves in the air and cause the violent ejection of often quite long jets of spray with impressive heavy whoomphs. Those jets of spray are generally roughly horizontal or very slightly inclined upwards, and you can hear the ejected water splashing down following many of the whoomphs. http://www.broadhorizonnature.co.uk/penallysideboscastleharbourlowerblowhole.jpgThe blowhole in operation at the foot of the cliff.http://www.broadhorizonnature.co.uk/recordingboscastleblowholefromjustabove.jpgThe recorder in operation for the 9th January recording notionally at this spot. This time I placed it a little higher and more out of the way of any spray blowing back, and also a bit less risky for me to get to. The tide was going out during this recording, and indeed the blowhole started its giant superwet farts bang on cue, just two hours before low tide, just as I was about to set up this recording. However, the 'performance' was no better than for my January recording session here, and it didn't last so long i.e. as anything really impressive. This recording was made with a Sony PCMM10 on a Hama minitripod, using the builtin microphones covered with a Rode Dead Kitten. The wind was generally a strong northwesterly, but this situation was relatively sheltered, with breeze fluctuation between 'light' and 'moderate' (force 2 to 4 on the Beaufort scale), coming mainly headon for the recorder, though varying a lot in direction as this was not the main direct wind anyway but the odd little eddies that were spinning off it. Actually, this recording should have been about 50 minutes' duration, being made while the other recording (just a little upstream) was running and I ate my packed lunch. I could hardly see the recorder from my lunch position (about halfway between the two recorders), and, unbeknown to me, something invisible to me knocked the recorderonminitripod over onto its side. When I recovered it I found that, mystifyingly it was switched off. Back at home I found that it had about 21 minutes' worth of recording, which cut off abruptly with no indication of any disturbance. At first I was very mystified as to what had happened, as I had seen no people nor dogs nor seabirds go anywhere near the recorder, and the wind around there wasn't anything close to what would blow the recorder over, and I would expect to hear sudden microphone wind noise just prior to the cutoff, and there was none. I eventually worked out a possible scenario, as follows: The recorder was knocked over by a sudden 'freak' local concentration of pressure waves from the blowhole (i.e. added to by reflections from different parts of the cliff crags there). The modest sideways impact of the recorder on the rock was sufficient to transiently interrupt the electrical contact with the batteries, resulting in a sudden shutdown. The fall appeared not to have been recorded, but actually would have been recorded into the device's working memory buffer, but the recorder would not have had sufficient time to commit that to the memory card before the unexpected shutdown.Higher quality version of this recording availableThe recordings that I upload to Freesound are of standard CD quality (44.1KHz, 16bit). As from my recordings made on 9th January 2013, all my recordings are additionally available in 48KHz 24bit, FLAC format. If interested, please see my Broad Horizon Natural Soundscapes page for details.http://www.broadhorizonnature.co.uk/arrowlongright.gif Please note that all recordings from 5th January to 2nd Feb 2013, inclusive (i.e. including this one) did not receive any correction for highfrequency attenuation caused by the new Rode Dead Kitten windshield. Subsequently I was able to work out a graphic EQ profile to apply to all recordings that used that windshield, and have applied it retrospectively but I have no plans to go through the hassle of reuploading here the recordings that originally missed out on that correction. Therefore, copies of recordings made in that period, including this one, which I supply on CDs or as licensed copies for commercial use, will have better sound quality and will sound clearer, more 'present', and with more precision of detail than what you hear from here. Please note that only very good speakers / headphones with a very extended bass response will do this recording real justice. Also, it may sound unpleasantly boomy on speakers that have any sort of boominess (like my computer speakers). Please also note that the volume level of this recording has been carefully adjusted for listening purposes, and ALL my recordings so far are meant to be listened to with a volume setting that would give a realistic level for playback of CLASSICAL music (a large but not exceptional symphony orchestra). If you have the right volume setting, you should not need to change that setting from one recording of mine to another.(Later note: This recording with better sound than here is on one of my commercial CDs, and can be found in my eStore.) Please remember to give this recording a rating http://www.broadhorizonnature.co.uk/meicon_wink.gif
描述:The original version of this recording was highlighted in the Freesound blog for the quality of its description ("The new gold standard for Freesound descriptions" Wow http://www.broadhorizonnature.co.uk/meicon_confused.gif). While of course I felt duly sortof honoured to get such an accolade, I also felt a little wryly miffed that that particular recording had been picked upon for that honour, for, as I noted in its original description, it was more of curiosity value rather than being a good recording of Boscastle Harbour / blowhole, and so actually it was rather a bizarre choice for getting featured at all That recording then got several 5star ratings, whereas my three other, really good, recordings of the Boscastle blowhole had only one 4star rating between them So, finally I've chosen to reupload the recording as it now exists on my system, with two carefully shaped EQ adjustments, both of which I now apply routinely to all my recordings: one to correct for the slight attenuation of high frequencies caused by the Rode Dead Kitten windshield, and the other, to correct for an audible broad 'hump' in the lower bass frequencies an issue that appears to be intrinsic to the Sony PCMM10, no matter what clean bill of health any reviews may have given that model. The latter adjustment has had a particularly dramatic effect on this recording, because it was so replete with just those frequencies that tally with my recorder's bass hump. All the peaks were thus greatly reduced in size, and that enabled me at last to raise the overall level to get me a realistic level for the sea sound. To my ears, listened to through my hifi speakers, the recording is now really beautiful and lifelike (albeit, naturally, sounding a bit weird because of the recorder sitting in almost a minicave), and against this version the original, which got all those 5star ratings, sounds quite horrible http://www.broadhorizonnature.co.uk/meicon_lol.gif (I'll leave others this time to make some delicious faecal comparisons) I am not (at least for some time) deleting the original here, because the comparison is so educational. On my Freesound home page you can see the graphic EQ curve that I've used to improve this recording so much. Here follow the general notes (i.e., that are still applicable here) belonging to the original version with the odd relevant amendments. Recording made on 2nd February 2013, on the northeast side of Boscastle Harbour, in a decidedly unusual position somewhat below the main path along there, overlooking the stone jetty on that side of the harbour and pointing obliquely across the mouth of the harbour though my saying that actually wouldn't mean very much to anyone who doesn't know the funny shape of the harbour, which bends round to the left and then opens to the right (seaward). The blowhole is at the waterline when the tide is lowtomiddling, and is a bit right of centre in this soundscape. It is actually an early stage of the breakingthrough of a sea cave on the seaward side of the hulk of Penally Point, and waves hitting the end of the cave there cause shockwaves in the air and cause the violent ejection of often quite long jets of spray with impressive heavy whoomphs. Those jets of spray are generally roughly horizontal or very slightly inclined upwards, and you can hear the ejected water splashing down following many of the whoomphs. I had intended to place the recorder in exactly the same precarious position on a protruding ledge, where I placed it for the equivalent 9th January recording, but as I came round the side of that crag I thought the wind was a bit on the strong side there, and also I was looking rather nervously at the clouds, which had lightly showered on me several times during the morning and were looking as though they might fairly imminently do so again. I was in fact about to give up the idea of setting up this recording and just make do with the one right above the blowhole, when I noticed right beside me a small overhung recess in the crag, probably about 60 to 70cm high and not much wider, and I noticed that as I stuck my ear in there I could hear a whole lot of booming from the sea that I was not otherwise hearing. So, for the hell of it I placed the recorder in there. That has predictably resulted in a really weird recording, which not only has a distinct boomy element (though much less so in this adjusted version), but also has a narrow, sort of 'tunnelvision' main stereo image (though actually apparently quite a bit wider in this adjusted version than in the original), apart from the thumps and booms, which are more omnidirectional. This recording, therefore in normal terms could be viewed as a poor one, but I present it here as a GREAT recording of the sound of Boscastle Harbour and blowhole as could be heard by a mouse or small bird in a little recess in a crag http://www.broadhorizonnature.co.uk/meicon_wink.gif It is also really quite beautiful in its own way, and I may well even repeat this such time as I'm there with a higher sea making the blowhole more exciting.http://www.broadhorizonnature.co.uk/penallysideboscastleharbourlowerblowhole.jpgThe blowhole in operation at the foot of the cliff.This recording was made on this side of the harbour,but a fair bit further removed, in the inland direction. This recording was made with a Sony PCMM10 on a Hama minitripod, using the builtin microphones covered with a Rode Deadkitten. The breeze reaching the recorder appeared to be a straighton force 3 on the Beaufort scale (upper end of 'light'). Higher quality version of this recording availableThe recordings that I upload to Freesound are of standard CD quality (44.1KHz, 16bit). As from my recordings made on 9th January 2013, all my recordings are additionally available in 48KHz 24bit, FLAC format. If interested, please see my Broad Horizon Natural Soundscapes page for details. (Later note: This recording with better sound than here is on one of my commercial CDs, and can be found in my eStore, where you can also find another CD of the Boscastle blowhole.) Please note that only very good speakers / headphones with a very extended bass response will do this recording real justice. Also, it may sound unpleasantly boomy on speakers that have any sort of boominess (like my computer speakers). Please also note that the volume level of this recording has been carefully adjusted for listening purposes, and ALL my recordings so far are meant to be listened to with a volume setting that would give a realistic level for playback of CLASSICAL music (a large but not exceptional symphony orchestra). If you have the right volume setting, you should not need to change that setting from one recording of mine to another. Please remember to give this recording a rating http://www.broadhorizonnature.co.uk/meicon_wink.gif
描述:这段录音拍摄于2012年6月17日,使用索尼PCMM10和Rycote Mini Windjammer的内部话筒,在离英国康沃尔郡Boscastle不远的Beeny Cliff上一个相当暴露的位置。这是在一个点上,原来非常暴露的一段海岸线已经被放弃,建立了一个不太暴露的改道,但在这里,我到了那个暴露的地方,海面上的悬崖被切开了,