wrote:
>
> Bernie,
>
> I far prefer the MKH50/30 combo to a parabola for medium reach
> requirements...I got some great monkeys and birds in lowland Bolivia with
> that combo. And I just did some woodpecker ambiances in Louisiana with 50/30
> for two NPR/National Geo stories on the ivorybilled woodpecker search.
> (Shameless Plug: Tune in to Morning Edition next Monday and Tuesday morning!)
What sort of distance do you consider to be medium reach?
> -- The fig8 mike needs to be in the same plane as the omni (i.e., directly
> behind the center of the dish), to avoid arrival time differences between the
> two mikes from side-arriving sounds, and as far behind the dish's surface as
> the omni is in front of it
Since the fig8 is not getting the same sort of reflection path as the
parabolic omni, I'm not sure about it being necessary to be same
distance away from the dish. Is it possible this is not a important factor?
> -- The bidirectional nature of the fig8 mike tends to null out most of the
> sound reflecting off the rear of the dish
Note that the use of a omni in a parabolic means it's picking up direct
and reflected sound, the reflected being stronger due to the gain from
the parabolic. But, there must be some interference at some frequencies.
Would it be better to use a more directional mic to eliminate the direct
pickup entirely? Or baffle the omni?
> -- The parabola itself blocks a lot of the sound behind the dish from
> reaching the omni mid element.
And of course the reverse for the figure 8.
> The last two points combine to reduce the amount of noticeable sound problems
> resulting from arrival time differences. The two mikes really have very
> little information in common. That's why I expected the combination to sound
> like three distinct sectors, left, mid, and right, with little
> integration...but I was pleasantly surprised at the outcome.
The only way we really find out about these things is to try them. Lots
of combinations have not been tried in nature recording contexts. Some
are dismissed based on comments that really apply to the inside
recordings rather than nature recording.
> Both the above rigs (parabolic dish and 50/30 in zeppelin) are fairly
> noise-prone for handheld operation at very high amplification settings. I
> use a monopod for supporting the rig when I'm moving a lot, and a small
> tripod that snaps onto the bottom of the monopod for when I can stay still
> long enough to go hands-free.
What sorts of suspension are you using in the two rigs? Especially the
parabolic one. The Telinga I have is easy to handhold. Though I don't
know how I'd mount a figure 8 on it. Since it's stereo to start with,
I've not really gotten into that.
I'd kind of expect that wind protection is out of the question for the
parabolic outfit, but if not, what did you do for that?
Walt
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