It’s December, and by all means we are supposed to have some snow by now.
Alas, not this time!

It was one of those wet and muddy December days that I thought that some of the recordings made last winter will be of some use. I can vividly remember that night in 2010, about 9 pm, dark and cold, but not that cold that I didn’t make some recordings outside. Lots of snow. So, for those missing creaky, scratchy, squeaky sounds underfoot and sparkles all around – you can hear it right now.

These are the nine recordings of different types of snow and different sorts of movement in the snow. All of those recordings are under 30 seconds long.

Someone passing by:

I obviously had too much snow in my shoes:

Recorded January 31st, 2010 (CA-14 omni, A-B stereo)
Published December 9th, 2011.

Kulikova street / Shkolnaya street intersection, Klementyevka area, Sergiyev Posad. Recorded on a late November night, sound of footsteps in the snow, traffic, train’s whistle at an overpass nearby.

Recorded November 25th, 2011 (CA-14 omni mics + STC-9000 preamp)
Published November 26th, 2011.

If there is a list of the most melodious doors in Sergiyev Posad, then this is a chart-topper. Recorded at the local consumer services centre in Uglitch area, Sergiyev Posad.

Recorded November 15th, 2011 (CA-14 omni mics)
Published November 22nd, 2011.

On November 10 Podstantsiya website asked its readers to sent in a three-minutes recording of some mundane goings-on that would be used in a radio feature later on. Here’s mine – a billboard at the centre of Sergiyev Posad being cut off.

Recorded November 10, 2011 (CA-14o + STC-9000)
Published November 12th, 2011.

As you walk from the station to the monastery in Sergiyev Posad, you cannot escape this souvenir alley on your route. It is quite long and it stretches right to the Trinity Sergius monastery walls.

President-faced matryoshkas, fur hats, Khokhloma utensils, balalaikas, pseudo military outfit – all the props you need to make your own bad Russian guys movie. But don’t be fooled by this – there are plenty of great items hand made by the local artists as well.

This fair is not only place to get a pair of wool gloves knitted by a babooshka or some exquisite terracotta by the Abramtsevo folk – it’s a place to collect voices from all over the world, accents and dialects, toys and crafts, real bells and hand bells. Let’s hear the tourists as they stroll along the stalls at this global cross-road. This is the edited recording.

Recorded October 30th, 2011 (MS-TFB-2)
Published November 5th, 2011.

Isn’t that a wonderful pattern?

This is the sound of the Moscow train gathering speed. It takes a little less than an hour and a half to get there from Sergiyev Posad.

Recorded October 30th, 2011 (MS-TFB-2)
Published November 5th, 2011.

Trance-inducing! Shoe store street advertising delivered by a loud hailer from a shopping centre window. Sergiyev Posad, Vokzal’naya square (Railway station area).

Recorded October 23rd, 2011 (MS-TFB-2)
Published October 23rd, 2011.