I posted this message around 2 PM Friday and Yahoo bounced it back to me
claiming they would not post it because my ISP was slow delivering other
mail they had sent. So this disqualifies me as a poster? - I guess so. My=
other three Yahoo groups, too.
So I resent it six hours later. No soap. Now I am resending it 17 hours
later. Try, try again. :^)
NB: I am cc. Doug directly in case Yahoo still has my accounts screwed up.
Hello All:
For two years I have been promising to photograph the rig I usually use,
which, like a parabola with two mics, produces exaggerated angular stereo,=
pulling in whole scenes from a good distance. Unlike my parabolas, it is
light and very quick to aim, and fits through narrow game trials in the
puckabrush, sometimes on the run.
I have just posted four photos, and briefly describe the construction. Let=
me know what I have left out, or have not made clear, please.
The materials needed are shown and described first:
http://enjoybirds.com/howitworks/XMaterials.jpg
I actually left out the 1 cm. urethane green or black foam I used to get at=
rug stores, and now get at sewing stores.
The assembled rig is shown from the top, describing the first steps of how=
to make it.
http://enjoybirds.com/howitworks/XRigTop.jpg
The back of the rig is shown with the next few steps.
http://enjoybirds.com/howitworks/XRigBack.jpg
Lastly, the whole rig and holding handle are shown with the rest of the
assembly:
http://enjoybirds.com/howitworks/XRigDone.jpg
The handle shown beside the rig, is then inserted from below, and the
washer and wing-nut are added on top to secure it to the rig.
In the field, the handle projects down and slightly back of the Styrofoam
block, and it is covered with the same foam you can use as a cushion under=
rugs. This foam de-couples hand noises from the rig handle. The mics are=
additionally de-coupled as they lie in a foam bed, held in by rubber
bands. The unique thing about this rig is it holds the mics crossed near
their diaphragm locations, about 30 degrees angle apart. In practice, this=
can be adjusted by how the mic lies in the foam and how the rubber bands
are adjusted.
For a semi-deaf recordist like myself, the rig makes it easier to find a
sound from a hidden singer very quickly than any other I've ever
tried. During the recording, I typically point one of the mics straight at=
the singer, and make any whispered announcements into the other one.
On a number of amusing instances, I have managed to point the left at one
bird and the right at another species and get fairly acceptable recordings=
of both simultaneously, although the separation is incomplete and usually
has to be later "helped along" by Cool Edit filtering as well.
But the most important thing about this, like all my field equipment is
that it has one feature without which it might be stolen: IT IS ABIDINGLY
UGLY. Anyone seeing this rig would run the other way. This employs the=
theory that "apparent resale value" is directly related to theft
likelihood. Seeing this, in these photos, you will undoubtedly say to
yourself: "This has no resale value at all, look how he has ruined those
perfectly good mics." ;^) That is why the K-6 amps are covered with fuzzy=
blue sticky material, too, oh yeah, and I got the fuzz for free at the dump=
.
best regards,
Marty Michener
MIST Software Associates PO Box 269, Hollis, NH 03049
EnjoyBirds.com - Software that migrates with you. http://www.EnjoyBirds=
.com
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