From: "thorley_tom" <>
>
> Hi Walter,
>
>
>>> Take your recording setup in your hands, all of it, all set up to record
>>> anytime something calls you want to record. Now walk at least a mile
>>> cross country through a mixture of brush, forest, ravines, swamps etc.
>>> Preferably through some rain, drizzle, fog and so on. Now record, though
>>> you should have also been recording on the way there. If your setup
>>> cannot be used that way it falls way low in my choices for nature
>>> recording. We should be discussing portable gear, and that sort of test
>>> is what I mean by portable.
>
>
> I am crazy and maybe young (24) enough to lug around my recording kit ,
> which consists of a tripod, stereo bar and two full rycote assemblies and a
> recorder with a full battery complement. I also am prone to a binaural setup
> mounted on my glasses for "On the way there".
Back before the dawn of time I was young too. I'm still often carting
too much, and my body lets me know it. But, if I'm going to load up with
extras, it's likely to be extra mics. One mic is like doing photography
with one camera lens (and I don't mean a zoom lens).
Each person has their own definition of portable. I hiked all through
the Sierras through to the N. Cascades and elsewhere, often cross
country solo. My pack was half full of cameras, lenses and so on, and a
full set of flyfishing gear. And since I had little money back then I
often hiked with canned goods in the pack. If my pack was light it would
be 70lbs. Not uncommon for it to exceed 100lbs. I'd not survive that now.
>>> Your second test should be going to one of those tropical stations
>>> without power and recording for a week or two if you are really hard core.
>
>
> I use lithium Ion NP-1's (to my knowledge they have the best power/weight
> ratio). I am in Australia on a 3 month trip and doing a lot of recording and
> my
> luggage consisted of 90% equipment and a few clothes for good measure -
> hey it's hot in Australia! This time I have made a compromise though, I have
> not brought an external preamp with me I am going straight into the DAP-1.
I've been over some of Australia. But then the year I was there was the
wettest in the outback for some time. My worst problems were mud. Love
the outback, it's so alive.
There are some very nice folding solar setups now that can supply a fair
amount of power. They are pretty expensive, but could be the way to
handle this. The small solar chargers won't charge enough batteries.
> I brought my laptop based studio with me as well so I can still record
> 24/96...
A glutton for punishment...
>>> Nor is nature recording in a studio, so sound quality that matters is
>>> what you get while nature recording. Invariably this will be far more a
>>> function of the site than the gear. And your use of the gear.
>
>
> With this I totally agree and I am sure that your experience in the field
> will
> enable you to get much better recordings than I might - a relative novice to
> the field. But when I do get out there I am happy if I make mistakes,
> hopefully
> I will learn from them, but I am not so forgiving of my equipment.
You should not confuse being casual about equipment with not caring. I'm
very at home with my equipment and it's technicalities and know very
accurately it's limits. But I don't stress out over that. I can run it
well nearly as easily as breathing or walking. We are back to that
concept of 'good enough'. Even though I've not stopped gaining
technically that allows me to go on to the next level of nature recording.
That's where you are recording emotions, feelings, the effect of the
site on you, a conversation with nature. You have to come to terms with
the technical side first until you don't think about it much. You think
more about the environment you are in than the equipment. Then the
recording turns into doing art. I've barely started into that. Klas
talks about seeing a smile on someone's face when they listen to his
recording. I feel really good when I can get folks not just smiling, but
really involved in what they are hearing. Give them something of the
experience of interacting with the site.
Walt
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