All the files in in this comparative set are 'raw': no EQ or any other processing or effects, other than identical normalisation for each file, and then identical gentle gain envelopes to balance background and foreground sound levels. Essentially, I wanted to let the microphones and the arrays 'speak for themselves'.

Although in one sense, this a kind of 'technical' field recording study or experiment, in another sense, it is also a kind of aesthetic work in itself. You can listen to it out of 'technical' and practical interest; or, you can listen to it aesthetically as a pure sound experience, or as a deep meditative listening experience. Or all of the above, simultaneously.

The motivation for these comparative parallels was that, rather belatedly, I found out that it was possible, after all, to record 32 bit float isolated tracks with a MixPre. I had assumed it wasn't, because I'd tried splitting 32 bit files using Sound Device's (free) application Wave Agent, which doesn't support 32 bit files: the result was just 'static'. I'd also tried using iZotope's RX and Steinberg's WaveLab, both of which can open Poly files, but can't split or pair the isolated tracks. So, I'd been doing all my multitrack recording at 24 bit, and splitting and pairing the Poly files with Wave Agent.

But it just seemed far too implausible that 32 bit float ISO files weren't possible... Eventually, I dug a bit deeper: first, I came across AudioMove, a (free) application that can split 32 bit Poly files into separate 32 bit single tracks; but the split single tracks then have to be manually assembled into stereo pairs with another program (I used WaveLab). Then, I found out that Audacity (also a free program) can open Poly files; and it is very quick and easy to pair individual tracks into stereo pairs and export them as 32 bit stereo wav files. It takes less than a minute.

Consequently, one of the first tasks for which I wanted to use 32 bit float multitrack files was (at last) to make some comparative parallel recordings of trains (specifically, the Indian Pacific transcontinental passenger train, and freight trains).

The parallel recordings in each track are presented in this order: AB 63 cm (omnidirectional microphones in parallel), ORTF (cardioid microphones with capsules 17 cm apart at a 110 degree angle), Binaural (omnidirectional microphones at a 180 degree angle, i.e., pointing in opposite directions, set into silicon human-type ears, about 15 cm apart, with a partial baffle between them). More exactly, I should say 'semi-binaural', as the baffle is not a representation of a human head, either in size or in shape. I sometimes insert a small oval-shaped cushion as a baffle between the microphones, which is more similar in size and shape to a head, but I wanted to avoid doing this for the present recordings.

Microphone and Microphone Array Parallel Comparisons: Trains

The Indian Pacific is an Australian passenger rail service that operates between Sydney, on the Pacific Ocean, and Perth, on the Indian Ocean, with Adelaide, on the Southern Ocean, as a midway station: a journey of 4,352 kilometres (2,704 miles) and four to five days. This recording was made at night, at around 23:30, in the countryside, one to two hours out of Adelaide: here, the Indian Pacific is en route to Perth. Traversing a long stretch of straight track, the train was travelling at a fairly brisk pace.

The recordings were made with microphones that I've been using for years: a pair of MKH 8020 omni microphones in AB 63 cm (i.e., parallel to each other and spaced 63 cm apart) and a pair of MKH 8040 cardioid microphones in ORTF (i.e., divergent at a 110° angle and 17 cm apart), all mounted on the same mic support bar, at a distance of 9 steps (approx. 5.5 - 6 m) from the railway tracks, simultaneously recorded the passing of the train into a MixPre-6 II. The preamp gain for the 8020s was 35 dB, and for the 8040s it was 40 dB. Even so, the signal level of the 8040s was far below that of the 8020s. Not surprising, given the omni polar pattern of the 8020s, and their greater sensitivity.

The comparative sensitivity of these microphones is as follows (according to the manufacturer's specifications): MKH 8020s -30 dBV/Pa, MKH 8040s -34 dBV/Pa. Although fairly close, the very different polar patterns (omni vs cardioid) of the two microphones make this small difference in sensitivity quite significant. ['Sensitivity' refers to the amount of output that a microphone provides for a given input. Microphone sensitivity is typically measured with a 1 kHz sine wave at a 94 dB sound pressure level (SPL), or 1 pascal (Pa) pressure. Thus, a -30 dBV/Pa output is a more 'sensitive' (and 'louder') response than a -34 dBV/Pa output.]

No processing has been used on the samples presented, other than the following simple adjustments: both samples were normalised to -1.00 dB, and then precisely the same gain envelope adjustments were made to both samples to rebalance the overall temporal gain levels after normalisation. The original files are 96 kHz/32-bit float; the resampled version presented here is 44.1 kHz/16 bit.

The most evident and most significant point of difference between the two recordings, from the recordist's perspective, is that between the stereo imaging/spatial staging of the same event as recorded from the same position. Of course, it would be quite meaningless to suggest that one image is 'more true' or 'more faithful' than the other. There are also some more subtle differences in the timbral detail and texture of the two recordings, due to the subtly different frequency response contours and polar patterns of the two types of microphone. It would be very interesting to make further comparisons with reference to a parallel binaural recording rig.

Track image: Comparative spectrograms of both clips at 96/32. Drone aerial photograph of Indian Pacific from https://www.journeybeyondrail.com.au/indian-pacific/.

2025.01.30 Indian Pacific Transcontinental Train: MKH 8020s and 8040s Parallel Samples.

2025.02.10 Mic Array Parallels: Freight Train (2).

2025.02.10 Mic Array Parallels: Freight Train (1).

2025.02.11 Mic Array Parallels: Indian Pacific Transcontinental Passenger Train.

North Sea island Spiekeroog, June 2025
Clippies EM272, Zoom F3

In the dunes, early morning: herring gulls, skylarks

This recording was meant to be a simple, practical, innocuous, and unambitious gear test, purely for the purpose of trialling a mid-side microphone arrangement with improvised windshield. There was no intention of making a 'serious' nature field recording, because I know this location very well, and I know exactly what to expect. Yet, while sitting there, intently listening as I was recording, some kind of story, a narrative, an essay - or rather, a simple, literal reality - naturally, and unnaturally, spontaneously and yet not merely spontaneously, unfolded in and through the soundscape... Nothing overstated; rather, thanks to distance, quite subtle, far away, and detached; and yet, perhaps, all the more telling and disturbing, precisely for that reason. And so, I decided to include the whole unedited and unaltered recording, here, under the banner of 'Problematic Interpenetrations'.

The word 'incroachment' is probably my own neologism: the usual word is 'encroachment'. The prefix 'en-' implies something approaching from 'outside', whereas the prefix 'in-' suggests something 'encroaching' from 'inside' (yes, that is paradoxical). The reason for this choice or construction of a 'new' (or at least uncommon or unfamiliar) word has to do with the way in which the sound or noise of something happening at a distance, from 'outside', but gradually approaching, is already present, here, from where it can definitely already be heard. Although the source of the sound has not yet physically arrived, and may still be far away, its sound or noise is already present, here, and that presence is not merely a sign, an index, a premonition: it already has subtle but real causal influences and effects. Creatures, plants, beings, are already responding...

Hearing is a very special, important, and vital sense, in this respect. There are many things we can hear, long before we can see them, or be touched by them. Yes, we can see lightning before we hear thunder, if it is within view of our eyes. But we can also hear thunder long before we can see lightning, if it is beyond the reach of our eyes. As Gordon Hempton has observed: while we sleep, our eyes are closed; but our ears remain open. This fact was crucial to our ancestors' survival. Is it the case, today, that we value what our eyes tell us, far more than what our ears tell us? Are we losing, or have we already lost, our ancestors' attunement to the survival value of simple hearing?

2025.06.13 The Incroachment. A Meditative Reflection. Winter.

Dawn chorus recorded above Dalrymple Creek, Main Range National Park, Goomburra Section, 5th August 2025. Zoom F1, PUI 5024 capsules

Dalrymple Creek Dawn Chorus

Dawn chorus on the wetland. You can hear these species on the recording: great reed warbler (primarily), common cuckoo and mute swan
Date: 8. 6. 2025
Time: 4.05 - 5.30 am
Weather conditions: temperature 16°C, wind: 2m/s, partly cloudy
Place: Vranovice, South Moravia
Equipment: Telinga parabolic dish

Great reed warbler - dawn chorus on the wetland

Just after dawn, this recording captures farmlife as day begins, with a cockerel calling intermittently and a group of sparrows calling from a nearby tree.

Recorded 08.08.2025
Zoom F3 + 2 x DPA 4060s

Dawn On The Farm - Florac, Cevennes, France

This soundscape was recorded from the top of a magnificant treehouse built in an ancient Chesnut tree in the forest surrounding the Ferme des Cevennes. We hear gentle summer birdsong as well as one of the farm donkeys calling out and resonating beautifully through the valley. We also hear a woodpecker pecking against a nearby tree.

Recorded 08.08.2025
Zoom F3 + 2 x DPA 4060s

Dawn In The Treehouse - Florac, Cevennes, France

Dans les chardons on entend l’Anthidie à manchettes (Anthidium manicatum) qui s’affaire à collecter les poils des feuilles ce qui lui vaut le surnom d’abeille cotonnière.
« Anthidium manicatum est une espèce d'hyménoptères de la famille des Megachilidae. Comme d'autres espèces de son genre, on l'appelle abeille cotonnière à cause de son comportement : gratter les poils des feuilles comme celles de la Molène Bouillon-blanc ou de l'Épiaire laineuse qu'elle met en boule et qu'elle transporte sous son corps pour en revêtir son nid. »
source Wikipedia : https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthidium_manicatum

European wool carder bee
In the thistles, we can hear the Wool Carder Bee (Anthidium manicatum) busily collecting hairs from the leaves.
“Anthidium manicatum is a species of bee in the family Megachilidae. They get the name "carder" from their behaviour of scraping hair from leaves such as lamb's ears (Stachys byzantina). They carry this hair bundled beneath their bodies to be used as a nest lining.”
source Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthidium_manicatum

Abeille cotonnière

MORE JET$ IN THE AIR!
MORE JET$ IN THE AIR!

WE DON’T BLOODY CARE
AS LONG AS PROFIT’$ THERE!

HO HO! HO HO!
PACK YOUR BAG$
OFF YOU GO!
HERE’$ YOUR TICKET
YOU CAN $TICK IT!

MORE JET$ IN THE AIR!

HO HO! HO HO!
MILLIONAIRE!
BILLIONAIRE!

MORE JET$ IN THE AIR!

____________________________

According to FlightRadar24's aviation statistics, in August 2025 the highest daily seven-day moving average of global flights was 259,858, with the actual number of flights peaking on 7th August 2025 with 276,831 in one day. As you will see from the graph in the track image, cited from FlightRadar24's 2025 statistics (covering January to August 2025), the number of daily flights just keeps increasing... And we keep hearing of new international runways and terminals being planned and built in many countries and cities.
____________________________

This recording was made on Wednesday 19th August 2025 in a eucalypt forest in the foothills of Adelaide, just three kilometres (approximately two miles) from where I live, during mid afternoon. A pair of Clippy EM172 omni microphones, plugged into a Zoom F3, were clipped onto tree twigs and left alone while I continued walking, enjoying a sunny winter's afternoon stroll, surrounded by numerous familiar species of local native birds. And, of course, numerous jets.

Some might say, "Well, the birds and other native animals carry on their lives, despite the noise and all that goes with it. So what's the problem?" Yes, indeed, they do, as best they can, because they must, and have no other choice, unless or until they become endangered or extinct; and so do we, because we, too, must, and have no other choice. But isn't THAT precisely the fundamental problem? To put it quite bluntly: aren't we being forced to live - to survive - under the rule of a kind of environmentally toxic fascism, dictated by an inflexible, irrational, and insensitive political economy?

I believe wholeheartedly in a free world. But I absolutely do not endorse the ancient lie that 'justice is the advantage of the stronger', and that those who have contrived economic, political, military, financial and cultural advantage have the putative right to tell us what 'justice' is, and to tell us what we are required, even against our wills, to suffer, in order that their own 'advantage' rules. Nor do I believe that - let's say, for the sake of the argument - if one million people are persuaded to subscribe to, support, and hence also enjoy the ample benefits of, such an irrational and unjust political economy, that the objection of one thousand, or even one hundred, or even one dozen, unpersuaded people who disagree with and reject that way of being and doing things for fundamentally valid and true reasons should be overruled and subjected, merely on the basis of a numerical count! A 'majority' is not necessarily 'right', merely by being a 'majority'!

Let's not forget that Hitler was voted into power 'democratically' by a majority of voters. As Hitler recognised, very early in the game, the simplistic concept and system of 'democracy' can be very conveniently and readily manipulated by persuasion through ideology and mass media. 'Democracy' and 'Fascism' do not necessarily stand in logical opposition. When hegemonists and dictators cannot control by persuasion, they will resort to force. And vice versa. No one has yet resolved the fundamental problem of how to actualise a genuinely 'free society'... And what, indeed, IS a 'genuinely free society'...?

2025.08.19 MORE JET$ IN THE AIR!

This was the first time I could listen to a longer sequence of ants stridulating in their nest – and I was and am totally fascinated by these really weird sounds. Of course, there is also a lot of crawling und running going on....
Recorded in the German Alps (Allgäu) with JrF ecoutic microphone into Leaf Audio field amp into Mixpre 6ii

Stridulating ants

COMMON SANDPIPER (Actitis hypoleucos)
SONG IN DISPLAY FLIGHT

This sound-portrait of a Common Sandpiper on its breeding grounds reveals the insistent and highly rhythmic "sewing-machine" song, given  as the bird circles around the loch side just after midnight on the 6th June 1997.  At times, insects drone close against the windcage.

The atmospheric roar of distant breakers on the Uig Saltmarsh can be heard in the background, along with "bleats" from Snipe, and faint calls from Ringed Plover and Greenshank.

The title of the piece is the Gaelic name for this species, meaning literally "Fidler-Bird by the Loch".

Uig Saltmarsh, Timsgarry, Uig Penninsula, Isle of Lewis.

Captured with  a Sony MZ-R3 Portable MiniDisc Recorder, using a pair of Sennheiser K6ME66 short-gun electrets.   Note that this is my only Soundcloud item in which I have used electret microphones and a non-linear recorder

Fidhleirbord - An - Locha - Common Sandpiper

𝔈𝔵𝔭𝔩𝔬𝔯𝔦𝔫𝔤 ℌ𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔦𝔫𝔤, 𝔱𝔥𝔢 ℌ𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔞𝔟𝔩𝔢, 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔱𝔥𝔢 ℌ𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔢𝔯, 𝔞𝔰 𝔞𝔫 𝔈𝔳𝔢𝔫𝔱, 𝔞 𝔐𝔬𝔡𝔢, 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔞 𝔇𝔦𝔪𝔢𝔫𝔰𝔦𝔬𝔫 𝔬𝔣 𝔅𝔢𝔦𝔫𝔤.

2025.01.30 Indian Pacific Transcontinental Train: MKH 8020s and 8040s Parallel Samples.

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