naturerecordists
[Top] [All Lists]

Re: New Sennheiser mic and frogs

Subject: Re: New Sennheiser mic and frogs
From: Geoff Sample <>
Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2004 14:15:04 +0000
Hi All

Good to see you back Lang.

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.

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.

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. We've got
a few 'alien invaders' about, but recently lost the only other possibly
indigenous species (small population of Pool Frogs in Norfolk). And the
American Bullfrogs escaped in the south of England are being hunted out;
apparently they're voracious predators and are doing very well on our Common
Frog. Incidently, absolutely no allegories intended here!!

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.

Hope you enjoy it, 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




________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

>From   Tue Mar  8 18:26:45 2005
Message: 16
Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2004 09:09:47 -0500
From: Lang Elliott <>
Subject: Re: Re: Newbie - Equipment Recommendations

Why go with an expensive minidisc recorder when great new flash card
recorders are showing up, including the Marantz MD670, the new Fostex FR-2,
and the forthcoming Sound Devices 722?

Great, thanks again! Your advise is really a big help since Im really
new to this game. Like i say, it sounds like the Portadisc will be
fine for my needs. I dont know how it compares to similarly priced
DAT's, but the fact that it replaced HHB's own DAT has to bode well.
I also hear its used as standard for all BBC field recordings. By the
looks of things I'll be able to pick up a Portadisc and an ME67 for
reasonible enough cash, and Im sure they will be just what i need. I
checked out the Telinga mics, and they do look really cool. Probably
a little much for my needs though, but definately worth consideration.

Just to clarify what i said regarding my work, when i say i 'mangle',
i dont necessarily turn sounds into something crazy. I mean that I
enjoy altering and twisting sounds into whole new contexts. For
example, using techniques like additive resynthesis, convolution,
vocoding and granular synthesis, fairly boring sounds can be
transformed into something much more interesting. And Ive always
found that when making music, the highest priority is to get the very
best quality recordings in the first place. This is definately
something Ive taken into account with my sound design. For example,
if i want a bird call to stretch, loop, process etc for use as part
of a texture, I'll still require a good quality recording even though
the result is unlikely to be recognisible. Working with noisy, weak
recordings is never good in my experience, something im sure you'll
agree with. Im in contact with several zoo's and safari's regarding
the possiblity of recording their animals in close quarters (probably
in indoor caged areas), so hopefully I'll be able to get useful stuff
before to long.

As a matter of interest, what is the purpose of your recordings? Are
you involved in conserational research or something? It seems really
strange speaking to people involved with audio recording, yet not in
a musical context. Im finding it all very interesting though, and
hope to learn more :)



"Microphones are not ears,
Loudspeakers are not birds,
A listening room is not nature."
Klas Strandberg 


Yahoo! Groups Sponsor   ADVERTISEMENT
 



Yahoo! Groups Links
To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/naturerecordists/
 
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:

<=Unsubscribe>
 
Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service
<http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/> .





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
Admin

The University of NSW School of Computer and Engineering takes no responsibility for the contents of this archive. It is purely a compilation of material sent by many people to the naturerecordists mailing list. It has not been checked for accuracy nor its content verified in any way. If you wish to get material removed from the archive or have other queries about the archive e-mail Andrew Taylor at this address: andrewt@cse.unsw.EDU.AU