I wanted this to be better than it was. I’ve been up in this forest before but never with the intention getting tape. There’s just too much traffic on the roads, and the hikers mostly casual and noisy. This heavily edited segment was recorded in a bend of the road where a creek crosses under on its way down, right were the aspens begin. This is first of a series heading up the mountain, but the others aren’t much better. I only had a few hours to make this, no time to head deeper into the woods and I wasn’t equipped for it anyway. I’ll hit it again one day. 

Almost a year since I published anything here. Time for another thunderstorm as we ease back into it, and this one is perfect for that mood. The rain is soft here and the thunder itself is distant, spaced out among other night sounds. There’s a slow build to this recording. I’m saving the meat of this storm for another file. 

Recorded at at 96kHz on my personal Zoom F6 via a matched pair of Clipply EM272s on my travel stereo bar. 

It’s been a while since my last update, but not from lack of tape. Here’s a welcome thunderstorm recorded from my Dad’s front porch in Midland, Texas this October. This trip was over a weekend to give my kids a chance to see their grandparents before my work schedule really gets complicated. It felt like much of it, for various reasons, took place late at night. It was a good visit. 

Recorded at 96kHz on my personal Zoom F6 via a matched pair of Clipply EM272s on my travel stereo bar. The setup was close to the ground with it’s back to the door (the only place with cover from the rain). 

The cover photo for this episode was made very close to where this recording was made, only during a Spring thunderstorm in 2019. Fall thunderstorms seem darker to me, but it could have just been the day. 

The train tracks cut right through the middle of the town of West, Texas. If you’ve only ever stopped there for kolaches you might not know that. I like it when we have events in West. It’s quiet, the food is good, you can get coffee late, and there’s always a longer drive to the hotel at the end of the night.  The view from the back of the high school is nice, too. 

The media people are almost always the last ones out. I happened to catch the sound of a passing train as I was working on something next to my car. 

This was made on a Zoom H5 from the hood of my car. Some wind noise at the end, I didn’t have a good shield on it. I was in a hurry to get it out of my bag. The last staff member had left and I was working on a laptop on my hood trying to get something posted before I drove back to our hotel. 

Episode page: https://www.johnskeesphotography.com/not_tape/2022/3/12/last-person-in-west-high-school-parking-lot-1117pm-3-4-22

I was driving to Waco for an assignment when I hit a bad thunderstorm. Pulled into my usual stopping place in West for a bite to eat and to stretch my legs. I left my H5 rolling on my dashboard to try and catch some of the storm as it moved on. It was one of those storms that caused flash flooding in some places and possible tornados in others. I’ve always liked the sound of rain from inside a car, but these days I’m always the one driving. And you never enjoy it as much when you are the driver. 

The cover image for this episode was made during the recording. Weather always complicates our Spring events, but I can never dedicate enough time to capturing it well if I am on another assignment. Aside from one or two exceptions. That little H5 was my first field recorder. I had used one briefly when I was a teacher and bought this one sometime during the pandemic. Even though I take an F6 or one of my work field recorders, this one always comes with me. 

Episode page here.

The headwaters of The Wind River, this lake sits in the Rocky Mountains east of Grand Teton National Park. Recorded by a small waterfall downslope from the lake itself. Edited to remove the noise of passing traffic on HW26. You cross the parking lot in front of the lake and climb down among the trees in a space between the lake and the highway to find this waterfall. You can hear it from the road but not see it. 

Recorded on a F6 via a matched pair of Lewitt 141 Air mics in ball wind filters and fluffy covers mounted on a stereo bar attached to a tripod. Tied down in a few places to keep it from sliding further down and into the water. 

Episode page here.

Along Bear Creek before it takes a turn and empties into the Wind River. Recorded from the property of our friends on a F6 via a matched pair of Lewitt 141 Airs inside ball windshields. 

They said it’s running higher and faster than normal for this time of year. That there is construction work being done on the damn that feeds this creek, and they are letting out more water than normal. It really is that loud. It’s a constant sound at the cabin, and the sound we fell asleep to in the tent that night.  

Episode page here.

The Sinks Cave, Wyoming. Recorded from a perch on the rocks just before the water disappears under the mountain. Recorded on a Zoom F6 via a matched pair of Clippy EM272s. 

The Sinks are a series of limestone caves that swallow the middle fork of the Popo Agie River in the Wind River Mountains of Wyoming. The river is low enough in the summer to actually enter part of the cave, which is where the recording was made. Sitting there, after climbing up the angled back wall, you watch the river flow down hill and then sweep past you in a curve before vanishing into cracks in the mountain. The sound beats on your ears like the water over the rocks right below your boots. They told you that the water will stay underground for over two hours until it regains the surface in a pool called “The Rise”, a quarter mile down the canyon.

Learn more about The Sinks and The Sinks Canyon State Park here.

Episode page here.

A slightly different walk thought the area around my hotel in San Antonio. Same neighborhood, slightly different path through the buildings along 410. Hotel coming and going, some talking, car music, traffic, insects, a water fountain, and a staircase. 

This recording was also an experiment. I’d wanted to record in 32 float in order to compensate for sudden loud sounds (car’s coming close, hidden dogs barking, etc.) but I don’t have a hand-held stereo mic. So for this walk I recorded on an F6 via the line-out of a an H5 and it’s stereo X/Y capsule. Slightly more handling noise because of the cable into my bag. Recorded at a higher gain on the H5 than I normally would, I think held up with the traffic noise. 

Episode page here.

Recorded on a Zoom H5 set on a tiny tripod a few feet from the edge of the warm-up pool at one of our State Swimming Championships. Loud as it may seem it’s quite a change from the competition pool.  

Episode page here.