Sometimes the simple sounds of life, machine and world can inspire us greatly. I hope these inspire you.

All audio clips are recorded by Tom Doerr and may be used freely.

Just a simple January rainstorm off of my back porch with trains a couple miles away in the distance.

Rain and Trains :: January 21, 2010
13:22 :: 128kb :: mp3 :: 12.2mb

Took a drive down Hwy 1 along the Pacific Coast and stopped off at a road-side motel that was right along the water. I couldn't sleep and so I propped open the window and made this recording sometime around 2am. The tide is in and the waves were about 100 feet from my room. Mist was blowing in and the breeze was crisp.

Cambria Tide 2am :: January 10, 2010
01:05:31 :: 128kb :: mp3 :: 59.9mb

I was lucky enough to take a road trip to see the Grand Canyon and while hiking down the Bright Angel Trail I was able to make a couple nice recordings. This one is a mule train with good ole American tourists riding up the trail. The last rider found me out and laughs about me recording them.

Grand Canyon Mule Train :: October 09, 2009
01:49 :: 128kb :: mp3 :: 1.66mb

Another one from Grand Canyon AZ. This time it's two cowboys coming down quite fast on the trail with two empty mules in tow. You can hear them talking to eachother as they fade down the trail and it echoes through the canyon.

Grand Canyon Mule Train - 2 :: October 09, 2009
01:25 :: 128kb :: mp3 :: 1.3mb

At the end of Ocean Drive in Carmel is a beautiful white sandy beach. It's a popular tourist spot with lots of people and many kids running around and Pebble Beach Golf Course in the background. This particular afternoon was busy as usual with a steady system of waves crashing almost on top of each other. A small child runs up a hill towards the end.

Carmel Beach :: August 16, 2009
04:25 :: 128kb :: mp3 :: 4.05mb

Here is a short clip of a cable car I recorded on Valentine's Day clunking down California Street complete with the ever familiar bell dinging at the end.

Cable Car-with bell :: February 14, 2009
00:50 :: 128kb :: mp3 :: 789kb

This is a long recording of chimes caught up in the recent storm. There are some long periods of soft rain but the chimes sound off at various intervals.

Chimes :: February 15, 2009
51:25 :: 128kb :: mp3 :: 47mb

This is what thousands of people talking at once sounds like. It's crazy to think about how much noise humans make. Loud, clumsy, and when mashed together in large groups, sounds like a train wreck. This one still needs a little editing as it doesn't quite sound as large as it is.

Ruckus Of People :: February 11, 2009
3:22 :: 128kb :: mp3 :: 2.81mb

When I was young the sounds of food cooking in the kitchen seemed to have a soothing effect on me. It was the center of the home and while dinner time was anything but peaceful in my house, this recording is somewhat serene. Asparagus roasting in an oven. It ends with the oven door closing.

Oven Roasted :: February 11, 2009
2:22 :: 128kb :: mp3 :: 2.22mb

In Woodside at Wunderlich Park, we ventured off trail a bit and came to a small creek. We were drawn towards the trickling water and came to a 6 foot dam which had a rusty old pipe sticking out of the ground. Water was coming over the dam and splashing into a shallow pool. In this clip you are hearing two water features; in the foreground is the rusty pipe leaking onto the mud; while in the background the afore mentioned dam.

Wunderlich Park - Small Creek With Rusting Leaking Pipe :: January 19, 2009
5:37 :: 128kb :: mp3 :: 5.14mb

We've been waiting for a nice rain storm to come through and it finally arrived. This is a soft rain, but I captured it pattering the tin water-heater shield on my roof. The crows are waking up nearby jumping from tree to tree and off in the distance a commuter train rolls on.

Rain At Dawn With Crows :: January 22, 2009
5:50 :: 128kb :: mp3 :: 5.34mb

Inside Point Reyes National Seashore there is a great lagoon that in the summer is teeming with birds and wildlife. I discovered that in winter weather and 40 degree temps, wildlife is pretty scarce. Lucky for me, Abbotts Lagoon was trickling over the sand and rocks.

Point Reyes - Abbotts Lagoon :: January 04, 2009
5:12 :: 128kb :: mp3 :: 1.5mb

There was this great little unmarked cove off of HWY 1 just north of Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park. After a short .5 mile hike down into the valley, you come out onto a very rocky and small beach. A little creek runs from the mountains and straight into the sea. The waves smash nicely into the boulders and make a cool foamy slap.

Big Sur - Random Cove :: January 03, 2009
3:01 :: 128kb :: mp3 :: 2.77mb

On a recent visit to San Francisco, I captured a few cool clips. Here is some street noise with electric buses and various foot traffic I recorded at the corner of Fillmore and Clay on a sunny day.

Fillmore Street :: December 29, 2008
3:57 :: 128kb :: mp3 :: 3.62mb

Another one from San Francisco. This time on Union Street. Watch the volume on the begining as there is a brief horn exchange between a couple cabbies. Afterwards, a woman walks by, stops in front of a shop, then enters.

Union Street :: December 29, 2008
2:00 :: 128kb :: mp3 :: 1.84mb

Wind Tunnel, NASA Ames Center, Mountain View, Ca. This is a familiar hum for most of us locals. It starts out quiet and slowly builds up. This was recorded from my back porch.

Wind Tunnel :: December 27, 2008
7:08 :: 128kb :: mp3 :: 6.53mb