In 1987 I went to Rwanda for a month to record mountain gorillas at
the late Dian Fossey's research site, Karisoke. Anticipating 40 hrs
of recorded sound I took with me the following:
1 Nagra IVs recorder 20 lbs (w/ carrying case but without batteries)
8 sets of batteries (the Nagra takes 12 D cells that last about
5 hrs) 28 lbs
2 pairs of mics (Beyer Dynamic M700s and Schoeps 541) 6 lbs
120 7-inch reels of Ampex 457 tape (on reel of 1mil tape lasts 20 min
at 15ips) 106 lbs
Misc cables, field repair gear, headphones, etc. 5 lbs.
Tripod 4 lbs.
The total weight of the recording gear for a month in the field in
1987 came to 168.5 lbs (76.6kg) plus lots of bulk.
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Weight today assuming the Sound Devices 722 for 40 hours of recording:
SD 722 (40 hrs @ 44.1kHz/24 bit w/ 15 hrs of rechargable batteries) 4 lbs.
2 mic systems (Senn. 30/40 combo w/ mounts & windscreens, ECM55 lavs)
4.75 lbs
Headphones .5 lbs
Tripod 1.7 lbs
Total weight of recording gear for a month in the field 2005 comes to
10.95 lbs (4.98kg), a 94% reduction in weight over 1987 technology.
If carrying the gear long distances is an issue, one would want to
reduce this even more with smaller MD technologies and even lighter
mic systems.
Bernie Krause
--
Wild Sanctuary
P. O. Box 536
Glen Ellen, CA 95442
t. 707-996-6677
f. 707-996-0280
http://www.wildsanctuary.com
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