Yard Maintenance by The Puppet Pullers

I've always appreciated the unsteady rhythm of going back and forth mowing the yard. I was able to add to that joy when we moved into a house for the first time in years and I decided to get a push mower. The speed that the blades oscillate at is determined by the speed you push, so the tones of the blade whirring vary a little depending on the height of grass, unevenness of the yard, obstacles, etc. It's a nice little concert whenever I mow the yard and I decided to try and capture that with the Zoom H8. Because of the central location of the stereo recorder, as I make the passes mowing the yard the sound pans wonderfully from side to side, front and back, droning in between plunks of the mower being turned around, hitting the fence, etc. The ambience of Sunday morning in little Bourbonnais, Il fills the recording with classics like birdsong, distant church bells, dogs barking a polite amount, a little gust of wind, and me getting high in my garage before mowing. Please enjoy this recording with headphones or stereo speakers, but don't let me tell you how to live your life.

One man puppet band