Description
Freight Trains:
Many years ago I spent one entire year running around the county recording trains. The result of my efforts was North Country Trains which I released in late 2011. I learned a lot about the best places to record and the best times of the year. Along with nearly being arrested I spent countless hours sitting and waiting in locations ranging from wide open fields to dense forests to the local train depot. For this collection I used that experience and knowledge to record even more of the massive diesel beasts as they rumbled through the area without waiting forever to capture the moment.
I learned that with the 70+ trains that pass through here everyday, there is a certain pattern to the criss crossing madness. I would listen and wait for the times when I heard many trains approaching from the South which meant trains from the North were waiting patiently before crossing the lake. Just one set of tracks cross the lake and a bottleneck is almost daily. Other trains come from the West on a separate rail system and they have to wait also. When they get the go ahead the North South trains are waiting. These “stop and go” train situations create the perfect opportunity to get slack take-up metal impacts along with slow starts and passes.
One of the aspects of train sounds that I love the most around here is the way that the horn echoes and bounces between the valleys and the mountain ranges. On a quiet day or evening it’s a stunning sound and can go on for what seems like forever. Another is the way the wheels scrape and squeal against the rails when a train is on a curved set of tracks. It can be abrasive and yet at times it’s strangely musical.
Equipment Used:
Sound Devices 702 | Sennheiser MKH-8040ST | Sanken CSS-5 | Sony PCM-D100 | Sony PCM-D50
Locomotive:
In August 2013 I had the opportunity to record a rare diesel powered train from the 1950’s. The EMD FP9 was a 1,750 horsepower (1,300 kW), B-B dual-service passenger and freight-hauling diesel locomotive produced between February 1954 and December 1959 by General Motors Electro-Motive Division, and General Motors Diesel. Final assembly was at GM-EMD’s La Grange, Illinois plant, except for Canadian orders, which were assembled by Canadian subsidiary GMD at London, Ontario.
This collection includes the sounds from the inside of the locomotive, very close to the powerful 16 valve diesel engine. Because of the noisy time of year and the amount of people outside the train only the interior was recorded. Also included are heavy freight car door open and close sounds.
I placed a MKH-8040ST in the rear of the compartment facing toward the front ever so slightly. I then placed a MKH-8040 up in front of the engine just above the cylinders and a MKH-8050 further forward at the air intake and electrical generator. I ran my cables into the train engineers cockpit and set the recorders on one of the seats. I only used these three microphone rigs as there were many other enthusiastic people that were invited to hear this old beast start up so there was not much room left inside the train. My goal was to record the “intimate” interior part of the train and outside was a bit noisy so I remained focused on the interior sound.
Once the video camera was set up and the mechanics performed all the pre-start tasks we were ready. I gave them the go ahead once I was confident the two SD-702 machines were locked and the video camera was rolling. Looking back I would have preferred to remain outside the locomotive because once they ran the engine up to full RPM it was shaking like crazy… I was a little nervous to say the least. Being inside a old train running at full throttle was a wild experience, my mind started thinking wild scenarios such as: What if the train slips into gear? What if it explodes? What if a cylinder bursts open and metal darts go everywhere. “OK, stop it!” I told myself. The mechanics obviously knew what they were doing so I gave all those freaky thoughts a rest.
Needless to say I got some very unique sounds from a locomotive that is very difficult to record. My favorite part of the sounds I recorded are the throttle downs and the high RPM steady portions. I think all kinds of SCI-FI type of sounds can be designed from this diesel engine/turbine combination. The engine inside this train was the largest piston engine I have every seen and what it takes just to run it is quite amazing. A special thanks to all the guys who worked on getting this beast running and for allowing me to record it.
The files include a MKH-8040ST stereo XY track and 2 (8040-8050) mono tracks. I created tracks with a mix of all the microphones and placed the 2 mono tracks in a stereo track to create a very wide, spacious soundtrack.
>Equipment Used:
(2) Sound Devices 702 | Sennheiser MKH-8040ST | Sennheiser MKH-8040 | Sennheiser MKH-8050
TECH SPECS
| Files | 45 |
| Sounds | 45 |
| Library Size | 5.31GB |
| Format | Stereo BWAV – 24bit, 96kHz | Mac-Windows |
| Metadata | Soundminer, BWAV |
| Available As | Download Only |
| PDF Sound List | XLS Sound List |
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BLOGS & VIDEO
In August 2013 I had the opportunity to record a rare diesel powered train from the 1950’s. This was a long time coming but it finally happened thanks to a few friends and the really cool guys who were tasked with making the machine operational. Here is the back story.
All Images and Sounds Copyright 2016 Frank Bry – Creative Sound Design, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
