They absolutely loved the fire whooshes!

But a great library Frank. One of my best purchases after Ultimate Mud

I felt that on a blog dedicated to sound design / field recording techniques, that perhaps mentioning a bit about the safety aspects would be good. While I’m sure the write-up wasn’t a tutorial on recording fire, the behind the scenes video might encourage others to give it a try.

One thing to perhaps keep in mind is the possibility of igniting yourself on fire. As we’ve been taught growing up, stop drop and roll is the best method to extinguish yourself, you would be surprised how many people I’ve seen forget it at times. Something always to be mindful of especially if you are recording alone.

Also there was the experimentation with various fuels in plastic bottles that had me a bit worried. Information is available out there on results you could expect. Not only could this allow you to safely carry out what you were accomplishing, but also give you the added benefit of being able to “sequence” what would happen. For example, I noticed when you tossed in the container of gasoline it was pretty lackluster. The fumes of gasoline is what is combustible and not necessarily the liquid.

Overall, I’m glad to hear that you felt safe during the recording, and that the captions were more of dramatic license, however it might be worth addressing some of the safety concerns in “high-risk” recordings (fire, explosives, machinery) such as this. Also, feel free to check out the website of the fire arts group that I’m involved with.

My garage has 18 inches of concrete foundation before the siding begins and the torch landed 2 feet from the side of the building. I was just being extra careful because I could have just kicked it onto the lawn and let it burn out. I take this very seriously. I did not see the need for any extra measures while recording. There was a fire extinguisher in the tractor trailer that was easy to get to and there is one in my garage and one in my kitchen.

My neighbors were neer in any danger. The closest neighbor is 300 yards or more away. Out of hand to me ment that it went beyond the the expectation of what I was aimg for when recording a paticuar sound effect and the is some dramatic license taken.

All went well and I am fine. I am very safe and as safe as one can be when I record. things can happen I know, but that’s also true with real life everyday thigs.

I understand in this day and age that people an get crazy ideas from what they see and hear in the world around them. I’m glad I’m not in the television production industry where they have to constantly think of what might happen if someone copied or got ideas from what they were producing.

I will draft a disclaimer and have it posted but people will do what they want to do anyway.

– Frank

First, I didn’t see any fire extinguishers in sight. Multiple times you reference to things becoming “out of hand,” and the fact that there was objects in the way to safely accomplish what you’d like to do. It wasn’t until you started recording swooshes that I started getting quite concerned.

A water bucket won’t always be able to save you when these situations get out of hand. You can get a fire extinguisher for $40. Given all the gear that was used for the project, a little bit for the safety of you, your family and your neighbors would have been considerate.

What worries me is how many other field recordists will try to copy your situation and not take fire safety into serious consideration. Please add a disclaimer to others to be more prepared when recording fire!