Evocative Sound and Visuals presents Abandoned Prison, featuring sounds captured at the historic Ohio State Reformatory (OSR) in Mansfield, Ohio. Included are nasty squeaks, loud bangs and deep thuds from the cavernous empty prison’s cell block doors and massive chapel door. Files are recorded from multiple perspectives with contact microphones and omnidirectional mics in a baffled-omni setup.
The lowest level of the West Cell Block at Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, Ohio on Monday, February 6, 2017. Photo by Richard Alan Hannon
The steel door entrance to the chapel at the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, Ohio on Monday, February 6, 2017. Photo by Richard Alan Hannon
Looking up at the six-tier East Cell Block at the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, Ohio on Monday, February 6, 2017. Made completely of steel and built between 1908-01910, the block housed 1,200 men in 7×9-foot cells. A spiral stairase leads to the topmost level. Photo by Richard Alan Hannon
Contrary to what a ghost hunter might have you believe, OSR doesn’t make much noise. It’s a cold, damp, sad place. So unless you create the sounds, it’s pretty quiet without inmates. One exception was birdsong. Feathered friends making themselves heard have snuck into the cell blocks due to broken windows.
I’ve taken a few solo prison tours of OSR, each with permission. In September 1994, armed with an old Nikon film camera, I was tripping over what remained of the Shawshank Redemption movie set. Its cast and crew filmed the movie at the prison the summer before. Take a look at some of the images I shot at the time here. In February 2017, I returned with sound recording gear and hung out for an afternoon.
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Library Specs
- 15 sounds
- 420 MB
- Recorded with Sony PCM M10/Sound Devices Mixpre-D combo and Audio Technica 3032s (baffled omni) and Barcus Berry contact microphones
- UCS compliant
- Soundly and BWF metadata included
Note: ‘drunk tank’ closing door sounds were recorded outside the Canyon County Historical Society museum in Nampa, Idaho. I’ve included them in this library because, well, it fits.
Behind the Scenes
Sound recording at the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, Ohio on Monday, February 6, 2017. Photo by Richard Alan Hannon
Sound recording inside the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, Ohio on Monday, February 6, 2017. In use is a Sony PCM M10/Sound Devices Mixpre D combo with a pair of Audio Technica 3032 microphones in a baffled omni pattern. Photo by Richard Alan Hannon
Sound recording inside the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, Ohio on Monday, February 6, 2017. In use is a Sony PCM M10/Sound Devices Mixpre D combo with a pair of Audio Technica 3032 microphones in a baffled omni pattern. Photo by Richard Alan Hannon
Sound recording inside the reverberant chapel at the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, Ohio on Monday, February 6, 2017. In use is a Sony PCM M10/Sound Devices Mixpre D combo with a pair of Audio Technica 3032 microphones in a baffled omni pattern. Photo by Richard Alan Hannon
Sound recording a prison cell door with a pair of Barcus Berry contact microphones at the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, Ohio on Monday, February 6, 2017. Photo by Richard Alan Hannon
Being an Extra in the Shawshank Redemption
The Ohio State Reformatory has been the backdrop for quite a few Hollywood films: Harry and Walter Go to New York (1976), Tango & Cash (1989), The Shawshank Redemption (1994), Air Force One (1997), Judas and the Black Messiah (2021). The image below was shot before filming the scene in The Shawshank Redemption where James Whitmore’s character Brooks, the old librarian with a pet crow, nearly gets hit by a car as he crosses a busy street. “The world went and got itself in a big damn hurry,” he writes to the ‘fellas’ still in prison and spoken for the audience through his voiceover. My big role, not really mind you, was walking up and down that hilly street in downtown Mansfield, Ohio for multiple takes. The scene called for fall weather in Maine. In reality, it was summer in Ohio. It was so hot in those scratchy wool clothes.
It has been nearly 30 years since the movie premiered in September 1994 at the Renaissance Theater in Mansfield. Unlike Brooks, the movie never gets old.
