Direct mp3 download or play: Part 1
Part 1
Direct mp3 download or play: Part 2
Part 2
Direct mp3 download or play: Part 3
Part 3 With Effects
During the fall and winter of 1997 and 1998, I made several recordings of falling rain at my home in Martinez, California. The rain was some the most intense I had ever witnessed. California was in the midst of an El Niño.
These were made using a DAT recorder, and with a similar setup to recordings I’ve made more recently in Seattle. The main difference, however, is the distance between the two microphones was much greater (over 100 feet). One of the microphones was mounted on an aluminum pie pan, which I hung in a bush on the hillside behind my house, and the other microphone was mounted under the eaves of my house near a downspout.
I used RG-59 cable TV wire, complete with fittings for the more than 100 foot run from the pie pan microphone to my mixer. Because of my job as a cable TV technician, I had access to this type of wire and it worked quite well for audio.
The recordings are quite long and probably somewhat boring unless you really like ambience. In addition, my recording technique uses lots of compression, and tends to show itself with a lot of white noise coming up at times. The audio level noticeably increases and decreases on quieter parts and louder parts, respectively. With that in mind, I hope you can imagine what a really wet day in California can be like.
Electret condenser microphone mounted on pie pan
Pie pan and microphone hanging
Backside showing “F” fitting
12 users commented on " El Niño 1997-98 Martinez, CA "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackIt sounds really wet. There are some really nice bonks on the pie pan too. Also,what is that creaking sort of noise near -11:00 on part 3?
That left me with a strange craving for Jiffy Pop.
Is that soft rubber or something that squirts out of a tube that you’ve used as a shock absorber/washer?
Very nice design, very Weathermanesque.
At about -11 on part 3 is where I started experimenting with adding effects such as chorus, flanging and reverb. I think the effect right at -11 was flanging being produced by my Delta Lab Super Time Line digital delay. I believe the aluminum was a Marie Callender’s pie pan and on the original unit, I installed rubber or fiber washers on both sides of the pan to prevent leakage.
Not boring to me. Damn, I’m a sucker fer rain…
I love the sound of rain, and have quite a few recordings of it to just put on in the background sometimes. These are really nice.
i recognize that el nino rain vintage 1998 as i lived in pasadena at the time.
in particular the 16th droplet noise on the aluminum pan is especially memorable to me. i definitely recognize it from pasadena.
The storm in Pasadena was probably part of one the same storms that affected northern California during the 1997 – 98 wet season.
“Those were the days” ♫♪ ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸
They look like sturdy pie pans, and I am not saying that your stated origin is wrong, but I thought that Marie Callendar’s pie pans had “Marie Callender’s” embossed across their bottoms.
Sorry (as usual), but I think you are correct, mischief.
I too have “Marie Callender’s” embossed across my bottom. It hurt like a bitch, but it was worth it. The ambient rain is great, by the way.