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Re: a preamp survey

Subject: Re: a preamp survey
From: Walter Knapp <>
Date: Sun, 15 Feb 2004 13:29:44 -0500
From: "Rich Peet" <>
> 
> Well, I might be a little different than most.
> 
> Last year I recorded in Shoulder deep water, waist deep snow, thigh 
> deep mud, and ankle deep "stuff".
> 
> I also recorded in a capton's chair, from warm sands, while snoring 
> from the back of a van to leaned up against a tree dozing.  I 
> recorded with a beer, a cup of coffee, a coke, and a few others.
> 
> Last year I recorded with the most portable recorders in a shirt 
> pocket to arrays it takes hours and hundreds of feet of cable to set 
> up.  I worked the best of equipment and some of the not so best.
> 
> Last year I was confronted by the police,by theives, by a mental para 
> in a wheelchair, by naked teenagers, by drunks, and by people just 
> wondering what the hell that is.
> 
> Last year for the third year in a row I was laid up with disease and 
> spent time with clinics for things that find you in the field and you 
> never even knew it.
> 
> Last year I was helped by the most professional, the best amateurs, 
> and the new just trying stuff new to them.
> 
> It doesn't matter how you record nature just find a way to do it and 
> go.  In this part of the world no one looks sideways when you go 
> fishing with a $35,000 bass boat and you didn't make that over the 
> last year.  Hand em mic and they think you spent the world on nothin.
> 
> Last year I recorded a bunch of hours, over a bunch of miles, earned 
> nothing at it, and had the time of my life.  Hope this year is as 
> good.
> 
> Rich

I hope the fun continues too. You are more hard core than me. This is 
fun even if all and sundry brand us as real nut cases.

Shoulder deep water, down here that has extra thrills in the way of 
wildlife. Though I have gone in that deep while carting both record gear 
and digital camera and somehow kept them all out of the water. Most of 
our water down here is bottomed in untrustworthy deep goo. And when the 
bottom is hard it may contain postholes and such like, which is how I 
went in above. One leg full length down a posthole. Getting back out was 
the fun part.

I mostly try and keep the insides of my hip boots dry. But I have 
crawled on my hands and knees through a very brushy peat bog to go eye 
to eye with Pine Barrens Treefrogs. And will do so again, I'm sure.

And, well, the most snow I've seen here is 6". Kind of hard to get waist 
deep in that.

We do have plenty of ankle deep "stuff". Even deeper surfaces some of 
our "roads". Try driving 10 miles in a road that's got wall to wall 
water on it and ground up soft sand for a surface under the water, and 
deep water filled ditches on both sides. Alligators dash out from under 
the ranger as you go. Or the plowed up sand or georgia clay where 
loggers are working.

And landowners who are liable to shoot first and then ask who you are. 
If they don't just set the dogs on you. They figure the public roads 
along their property are their private roads too.

All grand fun

Walt








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