Deep in the forests of New Guinea, there are giant thornbugs measuring abou=
t
10' long. Their vibrations pass completely through the earth and can be
heard at various "vortexes" scattered across North America.
In my early days of field recording, I would often notice a very low 30-40
Hz rumble, seeming to come from nowhere. I was totally baffled until Rex
explained to me what I was hearing.
It is the mating call of the Giant Thornbug, given 24 hours a day, 365 days
a year, with short periods of silence when the bug is actually mating. Rex
tells me there is only one left, and when it dies, so will the rumble.
Lang
> Marty,
> I don't know if you are familiar with the Rex Cocroft's work with
> thornbug sound. If not, you may find it interesting. He has been using
> varous acoutstic transducers to pick up vibrations in woody parts to
> trees and bushes. Very interesting stuff for nature recordists.
>
> Jim lee
>
> Marty Michener wrote:
>
>> Dear Brian:
>>
>> I know I do have the reputation on this list for making wildly immodest
>> claims, so perhaps it is the time for me to make the MOST immodest
>> claim of my life:
>>
>> Around 1968-70, while working with Roger S. Payne in Lincoln, MA, helpin=
g
>> him getting 70 sonabouys ready for his trip to Argentina to study Southe=
rn
>> Right
>> Whales, I seem to have invented on my own an entirely new field of sound
>> study,
>> which, to my knowledge still remains largely un-investigated to this day=
:
>> xylophonics
>> - the study of sounds in wood - in live trees - - lots found out, nothi=
ng
>> published.
>> I WAS interested in getting a handle on insect noises which might be use=
full
>> for woodpeckers to locate their food.
>>
>> I locally placed crystal phono cartridges inside of heavy metal waterpro=
of
>> cans on trees. Each cartridge was mounted on foam, and attached directly
>> to a lead sinker. The needle-holder was placed on top of a brass screw,
>> screwed about 2 cm into the tree. This was run (high impedance output)
>> into a FET two stage gain of 1 amp to an very low output impedance,
>> over unbalanced mic line into my home into a regular stereo amp.
>> Actually one tree fed left, another fed right. The results were not
>> at all what I expected, and I will detail them later, when I have more t=
ime,
>> but I did find out that ordinary soil, bedrock, and especially tree root=
s
>> feed low vibrations long distances. You could easily hear someone on fo=
ot
>> at a normal stride approaching the house - or the trees - in this case R=
ed
>> Oak,
>> from more than 30 feet. And a lone chickadee landing on the 50 foot
>> tree-top.
>>
>> So, to get to an answer - Land is correct about always thinking about sh=
ock
>> mounting mics on tripods. The roots and ground can carry rumbles and
>> crunches
>> a long way into your nature sound recordings.
>>
>>
>> my very best,
>>
>> Marty Michener
>> MIST Software Associates
>> 75 Hannah Drive, Hollis, NH 03049
>>
>> coming soon : EnjoyBirds bird identification software.
>>
>>
>>
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>>
>>
>>
>>
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/
>>
>>
>
>
>
>
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>
>
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