> Date: Thu, 18 Mar 2004 00:22:33 -0500
> From: Walter Knapp <>
> Subject: Re: New Sennheiser mic and frogs
>
> From: Geoff Sample <>
>
>> I too welcome any new kit that'll help me get my recordings, but with a more
>> compact and LIGHTER load. I've just started having remedial massage on my
>> neck and shoulders and I'm sure one of the contributory factors was the
>> weight of kit-bag1 hanging round my neck (with DAP1, battery pack -6 D
>> cells, MP2, tapes, torch, tools etc). That's as well as optional back-pack
>> with stereo rig (MKH30&50), tripod, prob. MKH70 on serious outing and either
>> 25m or 100m (the real killer) of stereo cable. And I do do this for fun!
>> it's just the years are catching up.
>
> I know what you mean. It is getting a lot tougher. Why I try to keep it
> simple. Rarely use the MP2, just the Portadisc. And keep everything
> running from the lighter AA batteries.
I was very taken with the improvement in sound, when I started using the
MP2, as opposed to the internal pre's on the DAP1. Since it's the really
special recordings that make it worth-while for me, if I'm going to set up
the stereo, I now want it running through the MP2. Can't help it - I'm more
of a sound aesthete than a scientist. My battery packs have served me well
over the years (I get about 5 hours of DAT power from each one), but I'm
going to rethink it when upgrading to solid-state/hard-disc in a year or so.
>
>> Anyway, though I'm interested in the new Sennheiser 418s, I'm disappointed
>> that they've gone for the supercardioid mid. The idea of highly directional
>> and ambient combined has always seemed a bit of a conceptual oxymoron in my
>> mind, though I know many of you get great results from this kind of
>> approach. I can see how the 418 will be ideal for a lot of TV and media work
>> - a tight pick-up on the subject, with some optional ambience for
>> post-production. I'll be interested in hearing it, but expect I'll be
>> sticking with the 30/50 & 40 combinations.
>
> Well, having used both, I find that each has a place.
>
> But to start, think about how you listen, say, to a bird calling a
> little ways away. What you hear in your mind is the result of your
> brain's processing. It's very much that bird emphasized, but located in
> the local ambiance. That's what something like my M/S MKH 60/30 combo
> sounds like. The same sound cannot be reproduced with any of my wider
> M/S or SASS setups very well. So, I consider the M/S MKH 60/30 to be a
> intermediate between the close mics and the Telinga DATStereo, which
> takes this approach to it's limits.
I can see the convenience in this, which is so often very useful to us -ie
we often don't have the time or even opportunity to get closer. But I'm
interested to know if, given the choice, you'd prefer to get one of your
wider/more open stereo set-ups (below) placed closer to the subject. Or are
there times when you would prefer 60/30 above these?
> For closer in I have several choices for that more even or wider
> soundfield. The Two SASS, M/S MKH 40/30, M/S MKH 80/80. I've been
> working the SASS more recently, but use them all. I'd hardly expect even
> a excellent MKH-418S to replace those. Entirely different uses.
>
So much choice!!
> It's good to see Sennheiser looking at all at producing a all in one
> stereo mic. I'm hoping they will do more. I'm sure this was not put out
> for nature recordists but for the niche you describe. That does not mean
> we cannot try it out.
Absolutely. And maybe I should try out this 60/30 combo. I've always trusted
my ears. When I started doing nature recording seriously, I went for the
best set-up I could afford/find for my purposes, which was the 30/50. Since
then, I've grown to value the discipline of using just the one set-up by
choice (other than reflector or MKH70 for mono) and thinking carefully about
mic placement, distance from where I hope the subject(s) will perform and
location acoustics. Though in the last few years I've added the option of
the MKH40 for a slightly tighter stereo picture and rear rejection. I expect
I'll cave in to an MKH20 soon, unless something along the lines of this 418s
emerges to replace the whole system. Unlikely.
>> All you guys over the pond esp. Walt waxing lyrical about your frogs make us
>> feel a little inadequate here in UK with only one native species.
>
> Note not all the folks over here are as blessed. Georgia, at 31 species,
> has more frog species than any other state except Texas. (and I'm trying
> to find another species)
There's also a steep gradient here in the orthopterans. In the south of
England there's quite a variety, around 20 species of grasshoppers and
bush-crickets. Up here on the Scottish border we've no bush-crickets and
maybe 4 grasshopper sp. I thought I'd made science and recorded the first
bush-cricket at a Northumberland site a few years ago just after nightfall
in July. I couldn't identify it from my sound guide so sent the recording to
Jim Reynolds at the Natural History Museum. Turned out to be the ubiquitous
Common Green Grasshopper - but the slowest stridulation they'd ever come
across!
>
>> However our common frog (Rana temporaria) can deliver a rich, if rather
>> quiet, chorus. Which you can hear on the monthly feature page of my website
>> (getting a little more care and attention now).
>> http://www.wildsong.co.uk/monthly_feature.html
>> The main chorus clip was recorded with MS set up in the marsh on a small
>> tripod, so I guess the nearest frogs would be about 6-12 inches away from
>> the actual mics. I was 25m away.
>
> This has a voice a lot like our Gopher Frog (Rana capito). Not a big
> chorus and you have to tolerate the spring peepers, ornate chorus frog etc:
> http://naturerecordist.home.mindspring.com/gopher.mp3
A nice mix of species. Are the rising click series the ornate chorus frog?
But yes the slow rolling croaks sound very like Rana temporaria. Though they
are the same genus, there are other members of the genus in continental
Europe that sound very different.
>
> SASS/MKH-20, hand held and I'm up close and personal at maybe 15-20'.
> And at the top of my hip boots as far out as I could get. The Gopher
> frogs call from nearly submerged to fully submerged.
>
>> Hope you enjoy it, Geoff.
>
> Lovely
>
> Walt
>
Thanks for the reply and best wishes, Geoff
Geoff Sample
Wildsong Studios
Northumberland, UK
http://www.wildsong.co.uk
This month's feature on common frogs:
http://www.wildsong.co.uk/monthly_feature.html
.........................
'Music is everywhere if only we had the ears to listen'. John Cage
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