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Re: Single or group for ID? was: Digital over mod?

Subject: Re: Single or group for ID? was: Digital over mod?
From: Walter Knapp <>
Date: Fri, 18 Oct 2002 17:59:30 -0400
Marty Michener wrote:
> At 08:59 PM 10/17/02 -0400, you wrote:
> 
>>The question I have is do we use ID clips that include the
>>multi-individual call sounds or just the "pure" single calls. We are
>>going to have all out frog chorus tracks as well just to make sure it's
>>completely confusing. But we start out being semi nice with just the
>>single species calls. Or as close to that as luck and filtering can do.
>>
>>Walt
>>
> 
> 
> Good question, Walt!   My experience is that even trained ears have a 
> problem relating single source sounds to choruses.  I have been in the 
> field numerous times when a single frog or toad called and then had very 
> experienced naturalists ask me: What was that!!??  So for anuran sounds I 
> would have both available for every species, where possible.

We are trying to make a average for ID calls of no more than 30 seconds, 
with a max of 30 seconds for the narration for each. And probably the 
narration will be a lot less than that. With the number of frogs in 
Georgia that will give us somewhat over half the CD left for chorus tracks.

For toads with their long calls, that's not a whole lot of room.

Most state frog ID recordings like this seem to run through the ID clips 
twice, first time with narration, second time "testing". With little in 
the way of chorus recordings. From the beginning we decided on one round 
of ID and then go into mixed chorus. Currently we are planning the 
chorus section to go in a seasonal order, no narration there, maybe not 
even much intertrack time. There will be a accompanying booklet, which 
will discuss each chorus and it's more or less the "test" tracks, or 
just to listen to. The people I'm working with are not used to mastering 
CD (neither am I really), and tend to think and talk like tape. I've 
been handed the additional task of keeping them thinking CD, there are 
differences.

I've got a meeting next week where the question on the toads will come 
up as we will be reviewing the first cut on them, I'll raise it. Just 
thought I'd ask here too.

I should relate here, there's a expert on bog plants who's also a good 
herpetologist very familiar with frogs. He often works the Florida 
Panhandle and Southern Alabama, where the Pine Barrens Treefrog was only 
recently discovered. He was asked how he missed them in the 20 or 30 
years he'd been working the bogs they were in doing plants before they 
were discovered. He figured it was all a matter of focus, he was looking 
at plants and his mind just took the easy route and said Green Treefrogs 
(similar call, very common). That also says something about how hard it 
is to accidentally see some of these frogs. So, even experts can be 
easily fooled.

Walt




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