I was unaware anyone had gotten so organized, I don't regularly read
Bioacoustics. Thanks for providing this. It does appear to be a little
dated with some of the new technologies coming out and already out.
(solid state recorders, for instance). And a bit oriented to birds.
(flock, pair, colony and juvenile, nestling for frogs???)
Principal species name is a problem in many frogsites as there may the
equal (and large) numbers of several species. I don't try to name
tracks, though I give each CD some sort of name, but it's more often
humor than science. My disk titles are descriptive in a sense. (like
Dryfoggin', a July 2000 disk) I use a numbering system that is
sequential for each year, and includes the year and disk number. A
individual track might be something like: 2000A05-08, with reads year
2000, audio (same system works for photography where it's a P here),
disk 5 for the year, track 8. I make up booklets and jewel case inserts
for all my master CD's that contain all the basic info.
To my mind you should be keeping a copy that's not post processed,
trying to specify just how a filter was set when some settings are a
slider without numbers would be tricky. Or the adaptive noise filters
like I use that get their setting by sampling the sound. And software is
continually changing so the same setting in the same filter may not do
quite the same. Settings worked when it was a lump of electronics, those
did not change much. This is why it's even more important to keep a raw.
The data I gather is a direct outgrowth of the set protocol for the
Georgia Herp Atlas and is more oriented toward the perspective of the
herp folks than recordists. Their protocol covered data collection from
any source.
Getting water temperatures is not always possible, at least here where
access is a problem. And many of the frogs call in what amounts to wet
areas, no real pools of water. But they may still actually be in the
water! Eastern Narrowmouth Toads are like this, for instance. Frogs tend
to have a minimum temp they will call, but not much change above that.
Insects are much more temperature specific.
And let's try to avoid helping the bodies in bottles folks. It's rarely
necessary to collect specimens. It's a holdover from the "there's a
endless supply" days. For some rare species scientists may be one of
their major dangers. The herp folks still have a voucher system where if
you do any published study for anything you have to kill animals and put
them in a museum, though it is finally beginning to weaken. My recording
effort is a direct attempt at cracking this wide open for distribution
data, there's more distribution data on frogs in Georgia in audio than
bodies in bottles now. Audio is one of the least invasive ways of
getting distribution data.
I cannot emphasize enough, get a GPS and use it! Trying to figure out
the location notes on musem specimens will teach you why. (one key frog
specimen in Georgia has a location tag "around Atlanta") Even a simple
GPS will get someone trying to find the spot to within less than 50' at
worst. If they can't find it then maybe they need to learn more about
the animals. A GPS will give you a altitude estimate as well if that's
deemed important.
Walt
"Ranft, Richard" wrote:
>
> I agree with Walt that location and date are the most important data. A
> full list of data items, agreed by all the world's main sound libraries i=
n
> consultation with many recordists, was published in Bioacoustics
> ("Documentation standards for wildlife sound recordings" by R Kettle & J
> Vielliard, vol 3(1991), pp 235-238) & is reproduced below.
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------=
---
> ---------
> Richard Ranft
> NSA Wildlife Section, The British Library National Sound Archive, 96 Eust=
on
> Road, London NWI 2DB, UK.
> email:
> New WWW pages with fully-searchable on-line catalogue at:
> http://www.bl.uk/nsa
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------=
---
> ----------
>
> Data List. This list may look lengthy, but not all recordings will have
> every data item listed here. However, the more data that accompanies each
> recording, the more uses to which it can be put.
>
> With each tape or collection:
> * Recordist's name
> * Tape reel/disc no
> * Equipment (field recorder & tape speed if open-reel; microphone(s);
> parabola (if used) diameter and focal length) e.g.: Beyer M77 microphone,
> Uher 4200 recorder, 19 cms, 50 x 150 mm parabola
> * other technical details ; mono/stereo; equalisation, filtering, noise
> reduction (which should be used sparingly, if at all);
> * Date
> * Recording location (Country/region/district/locality (with latitude,
> longitude and altitude, if known)
> * Habitat
> * Weather, if exceptional
> * In captivity?
>
> (The above data often applies to a whole tape/disc; if any of them change=
,
> they need to be indicated against the relevant recordings)
>
> With each recording:
> * Cut or track number
> * recordist's reference number (if used)
> * local time of day (24-hour clock for numbers in the form 1230 hrs, 0845
> hrs. Add BST/GMT, etc. If details are unavailable, use e.g. dawn, dusk,
> evening)
> * principal species name (or track title, e.g. 'dawn chorus'). If the
> species is unidentified, enter any suggested name e.g. 'unidentified thru=
sh
> sp.'
> * visual identification at the time of recording?
> * museum specimen number and location, if animal collected
> * number, age and sex of animals when known (indicate, if appropriate,
> flock, pair, colony and juvenile, nestling)
> * type of sound (e.g. song/call/drumming/stridulation)
> * sound description (e.g. 'unusual phrases' or 'tsik-tsik notes'. Especia=
lly
> useful if there are confusing background sounds)
> * behavioural context (and whether playback used) (e.g. alarm. aggression=
,
> flight, begging, echolocation, display, etc)
> * behavioural description (e.g. 'Singing in presence of female at the nes=
t'
> 'response to playback of own song')
> * distance from subject
> * background sounds
> * temperature (for invertebrate and amphibian recordings. For amphibians
> calling at the water surface, both air and water temperatures)
> * recording quality note (especially factors that detract from the
> recording, e.g. 'microphone interference')
> * recording notes: for other data that does not fit in the preceding fiel=
ds
> * a note of any confidential data that you do not wish to be revealed in =
a
> public database
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Reginald E. David
> > Sent: 11 August 2002 22:34
> > To:
> > Subject: [Nature Recordists] Documenting recording data
> >
> >
> > Aloha Chatters:
> >
> > This may be a very obvious question, I apologize in advance
> > if it has been
> > asked many times before. I am just getting to the point that
> > I am recording
> > cuts that are of rare / endangered or very localized birds. What
> > information should I be recording regarding the conditions
> > under which the
> > recordings were made to make these recordings of more value to others?
> >
> > Aloha
> > Reg.
> >
> > Reginald E. David
> > Rana Productions, Ltd.
> > P.O. Box 1371
> > Kailua-Kona, Hawaii 96745-1371
> >
> > Phone: (808) 329-9141 Cell: (808) 937-0124 Fax: (808) 329-1245
>
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