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Re: recording owl vocalizations

Subject: Re: recording owl vocalizations
From: "John Hartog" <>
Date: Sun, 26 Jun 2005 05:16:24 -0000
I got my start at nature recording by borrowing equipment 
through the media loan department at The Evergreen state 
College while I was a student.  It may be a long shot, but maybe 
you could find someone there interested in joining in on your 
project.
John Hartog


--- In  "wahpenayo" 
<> wrote:
> Thanks for the information - very much appreciated. It's difficult 
to 
> take the financial plunge with so little experience.
> 
> I forgot that the ME series needed a power supply, so that 
takes it 
> out of my range for now. I could probably stretch to $200 for a 
mic. 
> Here's some more background on what I'm doing.
> 
> I am calling the owls in by imitating their calls. They are 
reacting 
> to me as an intruder in their territory, or as a nearby territorial 
> owl. It's part of an experiment I'm conducting to compare 
barred owl 
> responsiveness to barred owl calls vs. spotted owl calls. It's a 
> small slice of the huge research effort ongoing for spotted 
owls.
> 
> I'm keeping track of how long it takes them to respond, what 
calls 
> they use, the duration of their response, etc. If I record it, I 
> don't have to madly try to write everything down.
> 
> But I also want to get quality recordings for digital analysis, and 
> be flexible enough to handle the different recording situations 
that 
> arise. I want to develop a library of vocalizations, complete with 
> variations of standard calls. As such, I want these to be as 
good as 
> I can get. Maybe there is no single solution.
> 
> It would be fantastic to have a 2-mic set-up for stereo recording 
of 
> duets (which can be amazing, sounding sometimes like 3 or 4 
owls 
> rather than 2), and I would love to do this, but then do I lose out 
> on distant calls? But a crisp, clean stereo recording of a duet 
would 
> be something to hear. In addition to distance differences, there 
are 
> also varying levels of background noise, from dead quiet to 
echo 
> situations to interference from nearby streams or passing 
vehicles.
> 
> Is there less expensive option for a mic, or choice of mics, that 
> would allow me to handle most situations? Is a powered mic 
necessary 
> to get good recordings? I'm probably stuck between needing 
very good 
> equipment to do what I want to do and not being able to afford 
it. At 
> some point in the future, I do want to go for highest-quality 
> recordings.
> 
> Thanks again for your help, Bob
> 
> 
> --- In  Rob Danielson 
<> 
> wrote:
> > 20 feet! What fun!  $500 for a ME66/K6 should get you fine 
mono 
> > recordings for sure.  I agree that stereo imaging can be 
useful in 
> > figuring out who is talking to whom about what. There are 
often 
> more 
> > owls involved in the discussion than I first detect, both in the 
> > field and when listening to recordings.
> > 
> > If stereo imaging interests you and the background sound 
levels are 
> > low, I'd consider  binaural Shure 183's ($200 pair). Huge 
> improvement 
> > over radio shack mics. You could mount them in a dummy 
head, a wood 
> > block like Curt Olson's designs or buy a SASS fixture sans 
mics 
> from 
> > Crown. M-S is another, more expensive option. The students 
here 
> fight 
> > over our two NT1A/CAD 179 M-S rigs that use MP2 preamps. 
I'm trying 
> > to get a PIP compatible phantom power supply which would 
open more 
> > possibilties.
> > 
> > Isn't it likely that your presence is a pretty significant topic in 
> > their discussions?  Maybe there's a lot of road and other 
noise so 
> > there's plenty of agitation anyway. I'm sure you've thought 
about 
> > this. If you want to leave the scene, an NH-1 or NH 910 can 
be set 
> to 
> > record in HiSP mode for ~5 hours. Requires a PC for digital 
> transfers.
> > 
> > To focus on calls coming from two areas, a pair of 
unidirectional 
> > Rode NT-3's for about $300 are maybe worth considering. 
Perhaps 
> mount 
> > them on separate tripods with nice, swivel mounts, in good 
> > shock-mounts with zeps? Anyway, I'd definitely think a bit 
more 
> about 
> > stereo before taking a $500 mono plunge.  Rob D.
> > 
> >   = = = = = =
> > 
> > At 11:05 PM -0700 6/24/05, Martyn Stewart wrote:
> > >The mini disk should fit the bill alright and you would 
certainly 
> be able to
> > >upload your recordings to your computer and software.
> > >If your budget is tight, consider the K6/ME66 combination 
made by
> > >Sennheiser.
> > >The ME66 would be a better mic for the long distant calls 
but you 
> will not
> > >be able to record them in stereo unless you use two mics. A 
stereo 
> recording
> > >will help you separate the calls much better in an analyzing 
> program. To
> > >start off with though, your choice would be a fair 
combination of 
> mic and
> > >minidisk. At least with the K6 power supply that you need 
with the 
> ME66, you
> > >can buy the cardioid version (ME64) and this too will run 
with the 
> K6.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >Martyn
> > >
> > >Martyn Stewart
> > >Bird and Animal Sounds Digitally Recorded at:
> > >http://www.naturesound.org
> > >
> > >N47.65543   W121.98428
> > >Redmond. Washington. USA
> > >Make every Garden a wildlife Habitat!
> > >
> > >425-898-0462
> > >-----Original Message-----
> > >From: 
> > > On Behalf Of 
wahpenayo
> > >Sent: Friday, June 24, 2005 10:43 PM
> > >To: 
> > >Subject: [Nature Recordists] recording owl vocalizations
> > >
> > >I'm working on a study of barred owls in SW Washington 
and have 
> begun
> > >to record their vocalizations. I want to upgrade my 
equipment (not
> > >hard to do) to get quality recordings, eventually to do 
comparison
> > >analysis of their calls. I am looking at the Sony MZNH1 Hi 
Minidisc
> > >Recorder, which fits my budget.
> > >
> > >I am unsure what kind of microphone would work best. 
Right now I 
> have
> > >a ~$40 Radio Shack cardioid mic. There are all kinds of 
recording
> > >situations that I will have to deal with. Sometimes the owls 
are 
> very
> > >close (20 feet) sometimes 1/4 mile or more away. I want to 
be able 
> to
> > >record a pair doing a duet, even when they are on both 
sides of me.
> > >
> > >I have been thinking that another cardioid mic of better 
quality
> > >would be the best overall mic, and at sometime in the future 
get a
> > >shotgun mic for distant calls.
> > >
> > >So right now I am looking at the Sony NH1 and a 
Sennheiser ME64
> > >cardioid mic. Can anyone tell me if this is the right choice to 
> begin
> > >with, and will the recordings be good enough to run through 
digital
> > >analysis software?
> > >
> > >Thanks for any help.
> > >
> > >Bob Pearson
> > >Packwood, Washington
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >"Microphones are not ears,
> > >Loudspeakers are not birds,
> > >A listening room is not nature."
> > >Klas Strandberg
> > >Yahoo! Groups Links
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >"Microphones are not ears,
> > >Loudspeakers are not birds,
> > >A listening room is not nature."
> > >Klas Strandberg
> > >Yahoo! Groups Links
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > 
> > 
> > -- 
> > Rob Danielson
> > Film Department
> > University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee




________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________


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