Log Split with Axe

How it's made

Source

an axe wedges into end grain; a 0.3 ms attack and 9 ms filtered noise bite precede fibre failure.

Body

the log and chopping block have inharmonic modes near 145, 342, 620 and 1030 Hz, T60 45-150 ms. Larger logs lower the modes; damp wood loses treble and damps the modes sooner.

Split

6-13 irregular fibre failures over 25-155 ms make a clustered 0.8-7 kHz crack, not a pitched note. A brief ragged tearing bed darkens from 5.5 to 1.3 kHz as the split opens and the fibres unload.

Events

two unequal halves hit beside the block at 0.30-0.62 s, with distinct tuning and modest opposing pan; softer secondary contacts follow 60-95 ms later. Bark rub accompanies the falling pieces.

Envelope

bite at zero, main crack at 12-32 ms, tearing ends by 0.23 s; landings decay by 0.95 s. All sources have rounded attacks; a final 40 ms fade removes the tail. No room reverb is baked in.

Variation

named RNG streams vary fibre spacing, tuning by 4%, landing timing and contact strength. Size controls mass and fall time, dryness controls fracture and damping, scatter controls separation. Presets cover seasoned hardwood, damp fibrous wood, a heavy round and small brittle kindling.

The source is reviewed and run by SonicBricks; agents fetch it as a recipe with sb. It is not published on this page.