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Re: New File Uplaoded

Subject: Re: New File Uplaoded
From: "John Hartog" <>
Date: Wed, 01 Jun 2005 04:03:40 -0000
> > So in summary a parabolic, split mic, no barrier arrangement 
can 
> >out reach a parabolic using a stereo barrier with near spaced 
mics.
>         Reach is one of my goals but I also want a more natural 
> recording. 

I too have been experimenting with stereo 183s in a dish.
First I mounted them spaced about 1" without a barrier, and It 
actually seemed to produce ok stereo for the subjects (frogs).  I 
posted a clip, and Walt suggested the effect might be more 
panned mono than stereo, and I think Dan Dugan suggested the 
background sounds were essentially mono.  I listened to it again 
and noticed the stereo field for the subjects seemed wider than 
for the background - kind of inside out.  
Another thing that makes me suspicious about that method is:  I 
was playing with a Telinga dish by reflecting light onto a piece of 
paper ( a not very scientific experiment,) and I noticed that the 
focus (at least for the light from that lamp) was not very 
symmetrical - rather twisted and distorted.

I switched to a very simple barrier of mounting the 183s on a 
tube - again spaced about one inch.  This method seems to 
work ok, the subjects sound nice and the background sounds 
wider.  The only thing is the background sounds get flip-flopped.  
I think this is because a sound from one side, let's say the right, 
reflects off the opposite side of the dish and into microphone on 
the left.  
Here's a of example using this method (Northern Shovelers - I've 
posted this once before - 940k):

http://www.rockscallop.org/JH_Shovelers.mp3

I wanted a system that kept the entire stereo image intact without 
a flip-flop so I decided to use a barrier large enough to block the 
sounds from one side from reflecting off the opposite side.  I 
decide on using an old LP, because it is thin, fairly dense, and 
rigid and about the size I was thinking of.  It seems to work well,
preserving a wide background image while highlighting the 
subject, as in this recording (Western Meadowlark - I've posted 
this once before - 940k):

http://www.rockscallop.org/JH_050226_WMeadowlark.mp3

This method is also useful for isolating multiple subjects as in 
this recording of two frogs (Pacific Chorus Frogs - New - 163k) 

http://www.rockscallop.org/jh-183pblp-050430-pcfrogs.mp3

All that being said, I mostly use my 183s without a dish using a 
tree as a barrier.  I got the "tree binaural" idea from someone at a 
Nature Sounds Society workshop.
-John Hartog





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