Daily Challenge: Social Media Overload
Daily Challenge Sponsor: Nick Bergus
Website: nbergus.com
Challenge: The feeling of being unable to stop checking Twitter/Facebook/Tumblr/MetaFilter/Google Reader/e-mail and go to sleep.
Again, one day to complete this challenge!
Daily Challenge: Mnemonic of Moxie Wanderlust
Daily Challenge Sponsor: Moxie Wanderlust
Website: moxie.me
Challenge: “Create a mnemonic based on my name. What does Moxie Wanderlust sound like?”
I have one day to complete this challenge. I’m very curious myself to see how this one turns out!
UPDATE: It took me a little over a day to get this turned around. The first day I recorded and edited about 30 different sounds: things like a car’s power locks, walking up a hallway, opening doors on cabinets & appliances. Some were random, but a couple were intentional. I wanted to convey the sense of serendipity and adventure along with the travel bug and a sense of a modern hipster laid back ethic. That’s what the name sounds like to me. The walking up the hallway is the approach to transition. The next section is a drum beat (pardon the poor timing) bookended by doors opening and closing, and also joined or interrupted by random sounds.
I sampled a few notes on a piano with the intention of creating an instrument out of it and then bringing in a melodic aspect. I simply ran out of time to include that in this challenge. I probably could have just played a couple melodies on the piano instead of just taking a few isolated notes.
Daily Challenge: Leather Sofa Radio
Daily Challenge Sponsor: Dean Klemick
Twitter: @deanlk
Challenge: The sound of a woman sitting down on a leather sofa; radio plays.
I’ll post an update within a day.
UPDATE: I recorded the sound of sitting down on a vinyl leather chair, then a click of a lamp switch (simulating the sound of turning on a radio), and finally created a song in GarageBand on the iPad (with some filters applied to make it sound like an old small radio). Leather Radio Play by joeltimothy
Daily Challenge: A Record Scratching
Daily Challenge Sponsor: Music Marketing [dot] com
Website: musicmarketing.com
Challenge: The sound of a record scratching.
I’ll post an update within a day.
UPDATE:
Below are various versions of record scratches. I left them as raw recordings with only fades applied to the beginnings and ends.
Record Static by joeltimothy
Record Scratch Wah Wah Wah by joeltimothy
Record Scratch 06 by joeltimothy
Record Scratch 01 by joeltimothy
Record Rim Static Loop by joeltimothy 
Daily Challenge: Low Rumble, Fire, Explosion
Daily Challenge Sponsor: Danger Cave Media
Website: dangercavemedia.com
Challenge: Create the sound of a low rumble, fire, and an explosion.
I will post the update within a day.
UPDATE:
The best low rumble that I found was by recording the floorboard of my car while driving. I recorded at 96k/24bit and then resampled it to 48K (half-speed) and EQ’d it to get rid of most of the high end and boost the lows.
For the fire, I tried first recording a propane burner on a gas grill. However, there were too many background sounds that got in the way. I finally decided to burn a couple pieces of pine tree branches in my fireplace. This worked out well as I could control the environmental sounds and get a clear recording.
The explosions were firecrackers recorded at 96k, resampled (slowed) to 11k, then brought into a new project for some EQ and a little reverb, and then exported at 48k.
Daily Challenge: A Deserted, Dirty, Gritty Alley
Daily Challenge Sponsor: Gene Blalock
Website: seraphfilms.net
Challenge: Create the sound of a deserted, dirty, gritty alley.
I’ll post an update within a day.
UPDATE:
I imagined all kinds of sounds that you might encounter in an alley. In my head I pictured a scene in a movie with some paper being blown by the wind, a trash can closing in the distance, and a cat giving a “meow”. Unfortunately that’s not what I was able to create this time. However I now have that scene imprinted in my mind and will probably attempt that specific interpretation another time.
I ended up going to the historic downtown of Waxahachie, TX and recorded a few alleys and ambient spaces.
The following sounds are the ones that I felt fit in best with this challenge.
Daily Challenge: Futuristic Sci-Fi Sound
Daily Challenge Sponsor: Guillermo Martinez
Challenge: Create a sound of a futuristic engine, weapon, or scanner (think Star Trek, Doctor Who, and Stargate).
UPDATE:
I created and recorded some sounds, mashed them up, manipulated them, and came up with the sound of some kind of futuristic machine. I imagine it as some kind of large scanning device. I also have the individual elements separately in order to show what went into layering the final sound.
