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RE: Digital Distortion

Subject: RE: Digital Distortion
From: "Martyn Stewart" <>
Date: Sun, 29 Jun 2003 18:15:49 -0700
What I mean Walt is patching sounds together, obviously if you are
having different tracks then what you say is correct, but lets say you
have one track consisting of distant river frogs and close river frogs
following each other as a single track, it would sound unnatural, a
little like this (I know this is crude) but you get my drift, most
nature sound CD's that I have done have been from different locations
joined as one but all of the same level.

http://www.naturesound.org/Workshop.htm


Martyn

-----Original Message-----
From: Walter Knapp 
Sent: Sunday, June 29, 2003 5:38 PM
To: 
Subject: Re: [Nature Recordists] Digital Distortion

Martyn Stewart wrote:
> (My way of using the huge dynamic range of digital is to try to stick
> with a standard recording level for almost everything. When I edit
cuts
> together, they come out with the natural level differences. Of course
> when I make a CD, I may mix everything up to get a better overall
level,
> and I may raise quieter parts so they can be heard on smaller sound
> systems. But that's the final stage, not the first
> thing)
>=20
> You couldn't get any nearer the truth here, if you have to twig the
> sound AFTER, it just sounds unnatural and when you patch sounds
> together, to the ear, it sounds awful, it stands out like a sore
thumb.
> Set a level and stick with it, why amplify a quiet sound anyway?

Before we get too carried away down this road, maybe we need to do a
little thinking.

Let's say we are going to produce a CD. This CD will contain distant
river frogs on a quiet night in one track. Say the measured level in the

field is 40dB (we turned off all the insects using the force). Next
track is going to have close river frogs, say 80 dB in the field (real
close ones). Now if we are absolutely purist, that CD will have a 40dB
jump in level between tracks. Just how many listeners will not adjust
the volume? Assuming we did not do so already?

Even when we record, by setting a gain level for the mic we have already

changed the level. If it was a parabolic mic it did so even before it
got to the mic.

So, thinking we are going to not modify sound levels seems a bit
pointless. We are going to modify sound levels, we just have to do it
with care.

Walt







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