A Blog Of Notes

Digital Camera Sounds

2008-08-13T14:41:00.002-05:00

My old digital camera makes a creaky D4 noise when the lenses open and retract, and it plays what's just flat of a B7 for its beeps, a very high note indeed.

Digital Camera

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June & July 2008 Compiled

2008-07-30T18:13:00.002-05:00

We posted 16 sounds these past two months. I figured it was time for some compilations, so I whipped up the typical formats:

"Linear", a quick chronological run through all the sounds set to a beat.

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"Layers", i.e. all sounds at once. About a minute and a quarter long.

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"Mix", whereby I hone in on a few sounds and spin that off into something. 1 min, 39 sec.

Link

Til next time.

Aerial Truck Platform Backing Up Beep

2008-07-23T08:48:00.001-05:00

For a week or so an aerial truck platform thing lumbered like an hydraulic dinosaur around the building where I work. The property owners were either cleaning or painting or treating the stone at the top of the chimneys and stuff. It seemed like important work--important enough to use a SkyLift, exactly as in this image I have stolen off Flickr.

Anyway, at one point the beast was inching its way down the alley outside my office window, all the while sending out its mating call: an E7 beep. And I captured a little of it. At the very end of the recording there is a cool sound of engine noise as well, something very brief but Death Star-ish.

Aerial Truck Platform Backing Up Beep

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photo by CovLtwt, used fair 'n' square

Microcassette Transcriber Sounds

2008-07-14T15:50:00.002-05:00

Presenting the M-2000. And hey, that's no microcassette, that's a Transformer!

Listen to these euphonious sounds from yesteryear of an old piece of analog electronics.

Here's rewinding a tape. I hear simultaneous A3 and A#3.

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Now here's fast-forward. I hear A#3 and D#4.

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DVD Burner Fan

2008-07-10T22:10:00.001-05:00

A small fan. In the white noise there's a faint whine sharp of a G5.

DVD Burner Fan

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Unidentified Spooky Sound

2008-07-07T09:20:00.002-05:00

One night a few years back I was in my bedroom and heard a spooky sound coming from outside in the distance. I sought my microcassette-corder, opened the window, and captured a couple minutes of it on tape. I never figured out what it was. Motorcycles on the highway, racecars at the fairgrounds, an extraterrestrial spacecraft dropping a monolith for some apes? I hear G3, G#3, C#4, and D4.

Unidentified Spooky Sound

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Answering Machine W/ Mysterious Message

2008-07-03T22:05:00.005-05:00

Someone left a brief message on my home answering machine tonight. It appeared to be a wrong number as the caller says nothing and you can hear a mysterious siren in the background. Wonder where in the city it came from? And if it was them being chased. I love this kind of stuff. Thanks for the call, anonymous person! The beep is a B5.

Answering Machine W/ Mysterious Message

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Garbage Truck Compressing

2008-06-24T22:28:00.000-05:00

I had my sound recorder handy at last week's garbage pickup, and recorded the dulcet tones of a garbage truck working its compressing magic.

I hear both an A4 and an A♯4.

Garbage Truck

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Gas Generator

2008-06-23T22:21:00.001-05:00

We had a pretty short but nasty storm last week, which resulted in us losing power for close to twenty-four hours.

A neighbor (well, technically a neighbor three doors down from us) had a gas generator running during the outage, and was nice enough to let us hook up our freezer to it via a series of extension cords, in order to keep our food from spoiling.

The generator is growling an A3.

Gas Generator

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Robin Chirp W/ Angry Squirrel

2008-06-22T22:14:00.004-05:00

I was in my bedroom when I heard something that kinda sounded like a beeping. I went outside and realized it was a bird chirp. Seeking out the sound, I saw that it was coming from a robin in our neighbor's tree. There was a feisty squirrel making a racket in the same tree. I am not sure if the squirrel's chattering indicated that he was angry, but for some reason I like to think so.

The chirp seems to be pretty close to a B♭4, with an occasional dip to an A4.

Robin Chirp

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Weed Trimmer

2008-06-21T10:00:00.000-05:00

Captured out my living room window, across the street. Guy was putting the finishing touches on a lawn with an old weed trimmer. It wavers in pitch around an A3.

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Pan Clang

2008-06-16T07:00:00.001-05:00

Since dish washing is among my regular duties, clanging a pan of water against the sink is one of my favorite sounds. Here I clang an F4.

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Little Wedding Bell

2008-06-13T09:14:00.004-05:00

I attended a delightful wedding last weekend in Madison, WI. On the reception tables were little bells to ring during happy couple kisses or just if you felt like it. Well of course I kept mine to turn it into a post here. It's spot-on an F5!

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National Weather Service Alert

2008-06-09T15:26:00.004-05:00

I caught a strange weather alert on the radio from the National Weather Service in nearby Lincoln, Illinois the other night. They'd been broadcasting a few of these ones with clipped announcements. I never found out why. It has a comedic effect, though, because the tones are such dramatic attention-grabbers and then the announcement just goes kaput.

And those tones are: Middle C (the short opening and closing tones) and a long note middle-way between G#5 and A5 (played before the announcement--probably some thousands of Hertz).

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I wonder, are these tones nationally standardized across weather stations, or do your radio weather alerts sound different than mine? Same computerized voice?

I wasn't sure what picture to post this time, so I went with what I thought was cool: shots of doppler radar stations. Enjoy.

Leaf Blowers

2008-06-06T12:49:00.002-05:00

Two guys were using leaf blowers to blow grass clippings off the pavement of the funeral home across the street from where I work. The tones waver in pitch around an A3. Some might call it noise pollution. I call it a duo of groundskeeping drones. In stereo...

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Flagpole Clanging

2008-06-04T00:31:00.003-05:00

On an extremely windy day, as I was walking home from the train, I recorded the noisy clang of a couple side-by-side flagpoles.

It sounds to my half-assed ear to be around a D4.

Flagpole Clanging

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Toy Bee, Plus Bee And Elephant Mix

2008-06-02T07:00:00.003-05:00

This toy bee makes an awesome vibrating noise similar to the toy elephant I posted back in April.

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Toy elephant's central note was close to an F#2 whereas this is more of a C#2, a fourth lower. Mix them together with a dance beat a little bit and... I call it "Be And Elephant Are Friends". It's just a short, simple ditty.

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May 2008 Compiled

2008-05-31T07:20:00.003-05:00

We posted 16 noises this month. So what could it sound like, put all together?

This is the Linear compile, all the sounds posted this month in chronological order to a beat. This month I twisted it: the second half is the sounds played in reverse chronological order IN REVERSE. You'll see--er, hear.

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Now here is the Mix: selected sounds from this month made into something song-like. Helicopter, car, and train are key. Are you ready to rave?

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Finally, here are the sounds Wall At Once. I think the aggregate noise of this past month is rather pretty, with major sevenths resonating. Ghost Train holds it all together.

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I really wanted to hear Wall At Once with a lot of delay on it, so ta da.

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See you next month!

Drive-Up ATM, Plus "Nucular" Beat

2008-05-28T18:30:00.002-05:00

The musical sounds of money being dispensed! My recent visit to the local drive-up ATM machine. The notes are sharp of an E4 (button beeps) and A#5 (prompt beeps).

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Now here it is mixed with a jaunty beat and George W. Bush saying "nucular arms".

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Toy Castle Flag Whapping

2008-05-26T17:14:00.004-05:00

I was over at a friend's house recently where his kids are lucky enough to have an original Fisher Price Castle. I was pulling the springy flag pole on it back and letting it go when I noticed it was making a cool sound, so I recorded it. It's less musical than percussive, but knowing I'll probably be glad to have it in the soon-here May mix(es), I'm going to post it anyway and call it a Middle C, which it actually sounds a little bit like to me.

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Eerie Freight Train

2008-05-23T07:00:00.000-05:00

On my way to work on Tuesday, my commuter train was standing still for a bit. I heard a high-pitched sound. I looked out my window and saw a freight train start moving in the opposite direction.

What then transpired was an eerie, impromptu song containing a variety of notes, among them G#4, G5, G6, G#5, and C6.

Eerie Freight Train

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Sequence of Sounds By A Roboraptor In Play Mood

2008-05-22T07:00:00.002-05:00

Dern, my Roboraptor:
Isn't he cute? Yes, that's a crude mod (the toes).

I recorded some of the sounds he makes in play mood.

His starting roar is a D then a D#--ah heck, I won't even pretend like the rest of them are notes of any kind. I just thought they were some cool sounds and would be fun to play with in the month-end mixes. Do I hear electric guitar in there?

Anyway, the sounds are:

Link

1) 00-05 seconds
Opening Roar
the Roboraptor emits this roar when it's switched on

2) 05-11
Wagging and Woofing
now in play mood, wagging tail and making woofing noise

3) 11-19
Nuzzling
when you place your hand near Roboraptor's face, Roboraptor nuzzles it and makes this pleasing sound

4) 19-25
Biting and Tug-of-War
when you place your finger in Roboraptor's mouth, a sensor senses it and Roboraptor bites your finger and plays tug-of-war with it

5) 25-29
Laughing
my favorite sound, Roboraptor laughs and sort of dance/waddles

Roboraptor videos on YouTube...
Roboraptor videos on Google...

What's That Doorbell Song? Plus, Sync Up With Churchbells

2008-05-20T17:32:00.002-05:00

This is the doorbell that came with my house when I bought it. It's not the most pleasant tune of tones you'll ever hear, but I have yet to get around to replacing it.

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My question is: does the song have a name?

Wait--it's the same song as the Immaculate Conception Cathedral bells! Or at least part of it--the last two measures--C4, G#3, A#3, D#3 ... D#3, A#3, C4, G#3.

In fact, let's play that part of the cathedral bells song and the doorbell at the same time. In your speakers/headphones, the cathedral will be on the left and the doorbell on the right. Aaaaannd go!

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How neat. They're in the same key and nearly the same tempo. What a world. But what's that song?? Anyone know?

Air Conditioner Conditioning With A Hum

2008-05-19T07:00:00.011-05:00

This giant, industrial strength air conditioner sits atop a building on the campus of Sacred Heart-Griffin high school near my house. The other day I was walking by and noticed it emitting a loud musical hum. It's a note just sharp of a D4.

Helicopter In The Mix

2008-05-17T11:57:00.003-05:00

I liked Helicopter In The Sky so much I mixed it with a few other sounds and some drum tracks. It's nothing special, really. Just a short experiment, it clocks in at 1 minute 29 seconds; Emerson Lake & Palmer music this isn't!

Helicopter In The Sky

2008-05-16T07:00:00.001-05:00

I recently scored this recording of a passing helicopter. The pitch drops with the Doppler Effect, but if there's a note in the first few seconds it's somewhere between an F3 and F#3.

Wind Chimes Chiming

2008-05-15T07:00:00.005-05:00

My mom flies these wind chimes off the front porch awning of my parents' house. They (the wind chimes) are in the key of E major starting with an E5. In the recording, wind gusts blow through the trees and a neighbor's wind chimes in the distance--plus the requisite birds--to create a nice mixture of sounds.

Weird Electric Drill Tones

2008-05-13T07:00:00.001-05:00

This Black & Decker "Fire Storm" electric drill has a trigger that when pressed slowly, gradually cycles through its various speeds. The odd thing is each speed with this drill is accompanied by a particular tone. The tones don't correspond to any notes exactly, but they're all in the 6th octave, starting with, approximately, E6 and working up and bouncing around from there. The noise of the whole drill at top speed is about a D#4, in case you wanted to know.

Freight Train Horn

2008-05-10T07:09:00.004-05:00

Recorded at a distance of about 100 yards, this freight train horn is near a D#4.

Singing Wine Glass

2008-05-08T07:31:00.002-05:00

The term "glass harmonica", or "armonica" as Ben Franklin called it, refers to any musical instrument played by rubbing glass.

This armonica, a single wine glass half-filled with water, is playing a G5. Cheers!

Goose Honking

2008-05-07T06:51:00.004-05:00

Recorded at the Washington Park pond in Springfield, IL.

That Canadian Goose is honking an F4.

I ♥ My Casio

2008-05-06T00:01:00.000-05:00

******************

Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun. Orbiting this at a distance of roughly ninety-eight million miles is an utterly insignificant little blue-green planet whose ape-descended life forms are so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea.

--Douglas Adams, "The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy"

******************

Count me among one of the above-mentioned ape-descended life forms.

My Casio is playing a happily chirpy B4.

Ice Cream Truck Song

2008-05-05T06:48:00.004-05:00

I was out walking one day when an ice cream truck came my way.

The song is based around a B4.

Car Honking

2008-05-03T09:13:00.000-05:00

Honk honk! This is the horn of my Volvo 850, aka Big Red.

It's a G#4.

Wood Chipper

2008-05-02T06:38:00.002-05:00

To start out the month, here is the sound of a wood chipper. Thank goodness, they were just feeding sticks into it.

Notice the A# caused by the 60 Hertz again.

April 2008 Mixes

2008-04-30T07:00:00.012-05:00

We posted 25 sounds this past month. I sort of went a little crazy with mixes, producing three of them.

First is the compiled mix, which focuses on (what I felt were) the best sounds of the month:

Link

Second, if for some god awful reason you're aching to hear every sound we put up this month AT ONCE, here it is! Brace yourself, it's cacophonous!:

Link

Or, if you'd rather hear them all in a more mellow fashion, listen to the linear mix:

Link

See you next month!

Street Light Buzz

2008-04-29T06:35:00.000-05:00

The ultimate 60 Hertz electrical noise! One of those buzzing street lights. In the background are a bird and a police car siren.

Railroad Crossing

2008-04-28T06:42:00.001-05:00

I was walking by the railroad tracks one day when a freight train came by. Here's the tail end of the recording: the passing of the train and the end of the bell dinging.

The dings are some note between A4 and A#4.

Clothes Dryer, Plus 60 Hertz Electrical Song

2008-04-27T10:00:00.004-05:00

As promised, here is the fluffy, soothing sound of my clothes dryer recorded in hi-fidelity audio. It's a hum near an A#2.

That's more 60 Hertz electrical noise, of course. So, I have put together this little song with a bunch of samples of 60 Hertz electrical hums.

It uses hair clippers, microwave, refrigerator, box fan, washing machine, clothes dryer, and as-yet-unposted clips of a vacuum cleaner and a street light buzzing. If you listen close you can hear a bird and a police siren in the background.

Cathedral Bells

2008-04-25T07:56:00.011-05:00

Strolling north on 6th street in Springfield, Illinois the other day, I noticed it was near 2 o'clock and I was approaching the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, which has bells in its clock tower that chime:

on the hour with a melody and then a number of dings announcing the hour
on the half hour with just the melody (no dings)
and on the quarter hour with a shorter melody

This recording, then, captures the full melody plus two dings. Hang in there during the 28 seconds between them. I always enjoy the sound of these bells when I catch them.

The four bars of the melody are G#3, C4, A#3, D#3 ... G#3, A#3, C4, G#3 ... C4, G#3, A#3, D#3 ... D#3, A#3, C4, G#3.

The dings are D#3.

Idling Bus

2008-04-24T06:55:00.001-05:00

I was out walking on my merry way one day when I turned a corner and there pulled over idling at the side of the road was a Springfield Mass Transit District bus. Luckily I had my Microtrak with me. This is recorded about ten feet from the back side of the bus. I think it turned out pretty cool.

I hear spot on a B2.

Now, here it is slowed down 200%.

And sped up 200%.

Play all three at once... if you dare!

Get It On

2008-04-23T06:12:00.001-05:00

Years ago when I was in college and needed one badly for a band (or so I thought) I bought a gong with with what I could scrape together and some student loan money.

Here I strike it once. Typical of gongs, it's hard to say what note it plays. I hear a bunch of tones... various C's and F's.

By the way, feel free to download this and use it as your doorbell.

Lawnmower Flange, Plus Bonus Repeat Track

2008-04-22T06:32:00.009-05:00

They were mowing the lawn of the funeral home across the street from where I work recently. The guy was on a riding mower, and for some reason as he turns from mowing parallel to me to coming toward me, there's a subtle flange effect. It's very cool. The note is close to an A2.

But it really comes to life on repeat. As a bonus (scoop) here is one minute of it! Crank it up!

(Unfortunately) Not The Sonic Youth Album

2008-04-20T07:34:00.006-05:00

Sunday is laundry day at my house. So you can vicariously partake in the profound experience, here is the sound of my washing machine.

It's one more electric motor humming near an A#2 probably caused by 60 Hertz electric cycles. Yep...

Tune in next week for the exciting sounds of my dryer!

Kooky Cow Toy

2008-04-18T06:13:00.001-05:00

I found this strange Mardis Gras necklace at my friend's house where it resides as a toy for their 3 1/2 year old daughter. You push a button on the back and it makes a mooing sound three times. Cute. I also like the gaudy beads.

As it moos, the pitch rises somewhat slowly, plateaus near a D3, and then falls off rapidly.

Box Fan

2008-04-17T07:12:00.002-05:00

Who doesn't enjoy the calming sound of a box fan? I put the microphone right up to the motor to capture its hum as well as the background drone of the blades.

I hear simultaneous notes A#2 and C3. Probably the A# is the motor. Most motor hums in my house seem to be near A#, as evidenced here, here, and here. According to yet another article at Wikipedia that doesn't cite and references or sources,

Electric hum, mains hum, or power line hum is an audible oscillation at the frequency of the mains alternating current, which is usually 50 or 60 hertz depending on the local electric utility configuration.... Assuming a tempered scale with A=440Hz, a 60Hz tone is almost exactly halfway between A# and B two octaves below Middle C....

So perhaps I'm hearing a 60 hertz tone in the electric hum of these motors.

Hearing Chords In Drum Cymbals

2008-04-16T07:23:00.001-05:00

For cymbals, my current drum kit came came with a crash and a hi-hat.

Here is the crash. Typical of cymbals, there are many overtones in it; the loudest ones here are G#4 and a C5.

In the case of the top hi-hat, this recording will demonstrate how complex the tonality of a cymbal can be. I strike it twice in two different places, the first time between the bow and the rim and the second time between the bow and the bell. In the first strike, there are distinct tones of B3, D#4, and E4, forming something like a B4 chord. In the second strike, the notes are tougher to discern, but they sound to me like A3, B3, and D#4, forming a nice B7 chord.

Warning! Bridge Raising!

2008-04-15T00:05:00.000-05:00

Last week I was walking down Harrison Street, headed towards Printer's Row for a leisurely lunch. Wouldn't you know the bells of the Harrison Street Bridge were a-banging, as the bridge was about to go up.

It's two notes played together at an octave interval -- a B♭3 and a B♭4.

Yomega Yo-Yo

2008-04-14T07:00:00.002-05:00

This Yomega brand yo-yo has ball bearings inside it that spin and make a sound when it's in "sleep" mode after a throw. From the Wikipedia entry on "yo-yo":

[I]n 1980, Michael Caffrey patented what would later become the Yomega Brain, a yo-yo with a centrifugal clutch transaxle. Designed with a free-spinning ball bearing linkage, "The Brain" could spin much longer than previous fixed-axle designs. In addition, the axle was "clutched" with spring-loaded weights which would pull away from the axle at higher speeds and grab again at lower speeds. The result is an automatic return of the yo-yo when speed drops below a given threshold.

The noise is very cool, and if there's a note it's close to a B2:

Different Gas Pump, Same Notes

2008-04-11T06:38:00.000-05:00

Splotchy shared the notes of his gas pump experience.

As for my own recent visit to the fuel trough, the notes turn out to be the same, even though the gas station brand was different!

As before, the machine plays a D5 to ask me if I want a receipt, and then it plays a C6 when I push "NO".

Friendly Gmail Chat Bloop

2008-04-10T00:06:00.000-05:00

I use Gmail as my primary email account these days. Gmail has a handy-dandy Chat widget that you can use to connect with other Gmail users.

Every once in a while I'll initiate a chat with another user, or a user will initiate a chat with me.

When I don't have Chat as my active window I'll hear a very pleasant bloop that lets me know when someone has just chatted something to me.

It's two notes played together at an octave interval -- a C4 and a C5.

Toy Elephant Meets The Beat

2008-04-09T10:44:00.009-05:00

Just the toy elephant from the last post mixed with a dance beat and some drums.

Toy Elephant

2008-04-09T06:37:00.001-05:00

While over at my brother and sister-in-law's recently, my sister-in-law suggested I record the cool sound of this toy elephant, part of my four-month-old niece's playpen. Luckily I had my recorder with me.

When you pull down on the elephant and let go, it rewards you with the noise as it raises back up.

I'd wager it's close to an F#2 (very bassy), though the pitch drops as the elephant gets halfway up or so--a nice effect.

I could listen to this one over and over.

Goddamn Alarm Clock

2008-04-08T00:17:00.000-05:00

Here it is, my morning nemesis. If I hear any sound remotely like this when I am out and about, I involuntarily flinch.

Never has an A5 sounded so goddamned obnoxious.

TV Bleep Censor

2008-04-07T07:26:00.002-05:00

According to an article at Wikipedia that doesn't cite and references or sources, the TV bleep censor--the tone played over an increasingly small list of curse words when they're uttered on TV--is generally a 1000 Hz tone. That would put it just flat of a B4.

Let's take an episode of South Park, the very first episode actually ("Cartman Gets an Anal Probe"), then select a few lines with lots of bleeped expletives (the scene where Kyle cusses out the aliens) and see if the bleep tone is near a B.

Nope, in this case it's just flat of a C5.

Backyard Gate Squeak

2008-04-06T00:42:00.005-05:00

So the gate on the side of my house that leads to the backyard has a pleasant high-pitched squeak.

It's a B♭6!

Pizza Store Doorbell

2008-04-05T08:03:00.000-05:00

One nice thing about digital voice recorders like mine is that they look like cellphones.

So no one thinks weird of me when I'm on my way out the door at the local Papa Murphy's and I whip out such a device and push a button on it.

The talking in the background is over the radio in the store.

That doorbell note is an appetizing E5.

Why Yes, My Refrigerator Is Running

2008-04-05T07:59:00.004-05:00

My refrigerator's air compressor makes a humming noise like most do, I imagine.

Here is mine AMPLIFIED.

It's very close to an A#2 similar to the hair clippers and the microwave.

A Grocery Store Scanner Of A Different Note

2008-04-04T09:42:00.000-05:00

Tim has shared his grocery store experience. Now I must share mine.

I was waiting to pay for groceries at my local supermarket and decided to record the sounds being made by the price scanning device used by the cashier (that's not me in the picture, by the way. Tucking your shirt in to go shopping? Are you freaking kidding me?).

Well, the lane I was in was definitely beeping an A5, though you can hear a scanner in a nearby lane happily chirping a C6.

Civil Defense Siren

2008-04-02T06:47:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I scored a recording of the Springfield, Illinois, civil defense siren system during one of its scheduled 1st-Tuesday-of-the-month tests.

If you listen closely in the first few seconds you can hear two sirens of different pitches. This happens as they are warming up.

That alarming note is C5!

Gas Pump

2008-04-01T08:08:00.000-05:00

I had to visit the neighborhood gas station for a minor fill-up (y'know, the $30.00 kind).

For the past couple of years I have paid at the pump with a credit card rather than actually interact with a human being.

I noticed that the gas pump makes two different kinds of beeps. There is a beep when the gas pump is trying to tell you something, and another kind of beep when it is acknowledging some action taken by the human interacting with it.

For this recording, the first beep you hear is a D5. The gas pump is asking me if I would like a receipt.

My "NO" response is replayed to me in the form of a C6.

Thank you, friendly gas pump!

March Compiled

2008-03-31T11:08:00.007-05:00

We posted 21 audio files this month.

As a public service, of course, here are all of them strung together. March 2008 in one listen.

Link

And now with a funky beat...

Link

Windows XP Hardware Connecting Dings

2008-03-31T07:20:00.000-05:00

Thought I'd give my sound recorder a breather. Here's a sound from my computer, currently running Windows XP Home edition.

This is the default sound it makes when I attach my iPod or a thumb drive to a USB port while the computer is on.

It is two tones, starting on a C4 and ending on a G4.

Kitchen Sink Drain Gurgle

2008-03-30T08:59:00.014-05:00

My kitchen sink drain pipe gurgles in musical ways. And it does so incessantly.

After the guy installed my new sink (pictured), he tested it by running water for a minute. After he turned off the water, the thing went into its five minutes of playing bongos. The guy had to ask, "Did it do this before?" Yep, though I don't mind.

In this recording, we find it playing a nice little tune in G minor built around strange rhythms and the notes G3 and A#3.

TiVo Beep And Bump

2008-03-27T07:17:00.017-05:00

Two of the well-known and cutest TiVo sounds--I call them beep and bump--recorded with the good old digital voice recorder held up to the center speaker.

Beep, played when you move up or down in a list, is D#5, while bump, played when you try to do something not allowed, happens to be G#2.

Electric Toothbrush!

2008-03-25T23:37:00.003-05:00

An unpleasant visit to the dentist prompted me to once again reach for the electric toothbrush.

Honestly, I can't imagine why I would use a non-electric toothbrush, as it wouldn't naturally produce the simultaneous, mellifluous tones of a C#4 and a F4.

Grocery Store Checkout Sounds

2008-03-25T07:20:00.003-05:00

I surreptitiously captured a bit of my checkout experience recently at the local County Market, a regional chain of grocery stores.

Unidentified store music hovers in the background while the sound of my groceries being handled mixes with the beeps of the register.

The beeps are D#5 exactly. The store music is in F.

Post Office Garage Watch Out Beep

2008-03-24T09:20:00.000-05:00

I work pretty close to the main Chicago post office. When I walk down the sidewalk to my train, I'll occasionally have to stop because a car, mail truck or semi will be exiting from the post office's big garage.

I'll know to stop because a device of the garage door will start making a steady, loud beep.

It's not the most pleasant C6 I have ever heard, but it does stop me in my tracks.

Cell Phone Ring Tone

2008-03-23T08:44:00.005-05:00

This is my ring tone. It's called "Basic Ring 3" and is close to an F#, that most vulgar-looking of keys.

The Cats' Meows

2008-03-20T08:55:00.009-05:00

Vocalizations by my cats...

This is Mason (left in pic), two sets of two meows, asking for food. Both times he raises the pitch on the second meow about 1/2 step. The first set is approximately D#5 and E5. The second is D5 and D#5.

This is Galileo (right), two sets of three meows. This bit of his is pretty musical and is typical of feeding time. There are slight variations in pitch going on, and purring too, but it's close to G#5, F#5, D#5 both times.

Metra Door Dong-Ding

2008-03-18T22:16:00.005-05:00

Tim has contributed the lovely strains of the Chicago El doors closing here.

So, I figured I'd record the El's suburban equivalent, a train on the lovely Metra rail.

Unlike the El, the tone starts low and then goes high. The tones go from a C5 to a F5.

Elevator Dings

2008-03-18T08:38:00.003-05:00

We have three elevators in the six story building where I work (the elevator lobby pictured is not in my building -- our elevator lobby is festooned with dark red 1970's disco bricks).

I hit the UP button and was surprised when two elevators simultaneously stopped on my floor. The tones of the two elevators were slightly different. One appeared to be a G5, while the other seemed closer to a F#5.

I again tried taking an elevator later in the day and got the F#5 elevator.

A while ago I had actually noticed that the elevator dings were slightly different, on the rare occasions when they would simultaneously ding. By having the tones slightly off from each other, a person will know that more than one elevator is arriving at a given floor. Pretty cool, I think.

I will attempt to pin down the tone of the third elevator in the near future.

Strange Horn Of An Oncoming Metra Commuter Train

2008-03-17T22:35:00.003-05:00

So, I finally got off my sick bed this weekend to purchase a handheld digital voice recorder. I recorded several neat sounds today, the first of which I'll share with you.

This morning I decided to try to capture the sound of the horn of an oncoming Metra train. My train station in the morning usually has a couple trains that go by before my train leaves for downtown, so I knew I would have a good chance. As a fast-moving train goes by its horn is usually honked a few times as it passes the station.

So, I turned my new recorder on and was surprised at the sound of the horn coming from the Metra train -- it wasn't the horn I was used to; it was quite different, much more musical than the customary Metra train horn (don't worry, I'll attempt to capture the more familiar Metra train horn in the near future).

It's hard to pin down the note due to the Doppler effect, but I'd say it starts out as an E4 and slowly slides down to something halfway between an E♭4 and an E4.

Microwave Hum And Beep

2008-03-16T09:53:00.011-05:00

The beeps of my microwave are A#5, unlike the B5 beeps of Splotchy's oven panel. But that's not all. The hum it makes when it's running is also an A#, a low A#2.

Starting The Car

2008-03-13T16:25:00.009-05:00

This blog has me paying attention to the notes all kinds of things make. The "fasten your seat belt" dings when I start my car are E5, for instance.

Didgeridoo

2008-03-13T09:50:00.007-05:00

My didgerdioo, recorded in the studio (i.e. my basement). It's a very low B1!

Metal Fence Finger Pings

2008-03-11T12:54:00.002-05:00

When I walk by fences made of vertical metal bars, I almost always drag my index finger along them to see what interesting tones they might make. This one here (not pictured) produced, of all things, Middle C#.

Street Cleaners In C

2008-03-10T12:49:00.008-05:00

On July 3rd, 2006 I attended Taste of Chicago. It was the evening of the big fireworks display, and the place was a mad house. Thousands of people had jammed Grant Park, creating a solid block of bodies. No one could move. As usual, Lake Shore Drive was closed off the length of the festival, and the crowd swarmed it for the fireworks. After the display (which was amazing) a fleet of street cleaners, one for each lane, inched it's way along LSD to disperse the crowd, horns blaring. I just happened to have my trusty digital voice recorder handy. Turns out those street cleaners were blasting Middle C!

Oven Beep

2008-03-09T20:40:00.004-05:00

The buttons on my oven's control panel make an insistent beep -- if you guessed the note of the beeps was a B5, you guessed right!

Hair Clippers Buzzing

2008-03-08T13:52:00.018-06:00

I was trimming my beard today when I wondered, "What note are these clippers playing?" Turns out it's spot on A#2.

Chicago 'L' Ding-Dong

2008-03-06T20:28:00.008-06:00

This is a recording I made of the "DING-DONG" and "doors closing" of the Chicago 'L' near the Berwyn stop on the Red Line. The notes of the ding-dong make a 4 and 1 on the Western scale, just slightly sharp of F#4 and C#4. Recorded 6/20/2006 using my trusty digital voice recorder.

A Quick Note About Notes

2008-03-06T19:34:00.000-06:00

For musical notation, we'll be using this keyboard numbering system:
Click for larger pic

Now Hear This

2008-03-05T23:31:00.000-06:00

Okay, it's another blog. It's a magical blog, a blog filled with whipped cream and topped with chocolate sprinkles.

It's an audio blog.

Here is the prime directive of A Blog Of Notes.

Contributors to this blog will periodically upload sound samples that consist of a note or handful of notes. Yep, that's the plan.

In each post, they'll provide the details of what produced the sound, and the notes employed by the sound. My intention is to indicate where the sound resides on the scale of traditional Western music -- we'll see how that goes, I guess. I'm probably going to need to learn more about music and frequency theory as this project goes on.

In some cases where we'll be including notes of musical instruments, the tone will be easy to convey (an F# on a guitar, for example).

However, one little twist where I think this blog can get interesting will be recording sounds in the environment around us that have tonal properties that convey a particular note or notes.

For example, what is that one note I'm hearing when I tap out a phone number on the buttons of my cellphone? What notes are used in the "DING-DONG" of my commuter train when the doors are closing? What note is being used by that person's car horn that's telling me to get the hell out of the way?

We hope to find out. And we hope you'll join us.