>Hello recordists,
>
>I'm currently in Brasil again, where I met some amazing people from a
>rubber-tapper's settlement in Acre state (far NW of the country). The
>location is extremely remote, requiring three day's voyage by canoe to
>reach. During the 80's, their community fought off various groups intent
>on large scale deforestation, so I believe that the forest there is
>relatively intact. Together we thought of a project to document the
>human and natural sounds of the area some time next year, and I'm hoping
>to get some advice from Bernie and the others on this topic. The length
>of time I would spend there would be approximately three weeks.
>
>I'd be interested in people's advice on the following areas:
>
>1) Equipment. I intent to get a Sounddevices 722 and hopefully some
>reasonable mikes (Sennheiser, Schopps, Telinga etc etc) if at all
>possible, but I'm still concerned about durability, especially in very
>humid situations, and also battery life. The specs I was given about the
>SD 722 led me to believe that I would need a LOT of backup batteries on
>a trip like this, even if irregular access to a generator was possible.
> What other factors do folks consider important in considering
>equipment for such a long trip?
I don't have enough experience with the 722, itself, if humid
tropical environments, Derek, to say with some authority that it
would be sufficient. On the other hand, having been told of potential
DAT failure under those conditions, I ended up with 7 DAT machines,
each a backup of the other, none of which ever failed in the field no
matter what the conditions. Also, to be fair, I took pretty good care
of them. The batteries are an issue but the large capacity (Li-ion
7.4V 6000mAh) that cost around $35USD each lasting 6.5 hrs on a full
charge, so 7 of them would be sufficient for the trip assuming that
you plan on recording 40 hrs total at 44.1/24bit. That should
certainly do it on that score. Just remember that Sound Devices
cautions about condensation potential in the HD if measures aren't
taken to prevent it.
As for mics, I take only two types into the field. Any of the
Sennheiser MKH series will do for a main pair. I prefer the MKH30/40
combo because, for my purposes, archiving and media production, this
works best. While not totally impervious to humidity and moisture,
they are pretty functional on that score and, if one is very careful,
will find that they can endure almost any kind of abuse. Schoeps will
fail in about 10 minutes as will Neumann and other condenser types.
As a backup system, I bring an inexpensive pair of Sony ECM55Bs with
me. These lavaliere mics seem to work well under many kinds of
adverse conditions and they have never failed me. If you decide on
this solution, find a tree, the diameter of which is about the same
distance between a pair of human ears, tie a string around it, and
mount the mics at 180 degrees opposite one another. You'll get a very
credible binaural signal. If you're looking for species-specific
recordings, the Telinga system is the way to go. Compact, light, and
also durable.
>
>2) Methodology. I have many ideas about documenting the human activity
>in the settlement, and also the natural life around. But do people have
>schemes they would like to share about timed-interval recording, or
>setting "acoustic traps" to record animals in an undisturbed state, etc
>etc? How do people here find the balance between "scientific" and
>"artistic" recording strategies?
In the equatorial tropics, anytime is good to record. The best,
however, remain the dawn and evening choruses, and the froggies
around midnight. So it's a fulltime job. With the 722, however, you
can set "on" and "off" times so that you could just sleep through if
you trust that everything will work properly (I haven't got to that
point of confidence, yet). Just make certain you keep good notes on
everything from time, date, location, type(s) of equipment, equipment
settings, and critters so that your metadata is intact when you
return from the field.
>
>An interesting anecdote--I played one of the people I met this sound
>after we had a discussion about the different sounds at different times
>of day:
>
>http://soundtransit.nl/mp3/0326.Derek_Holzer.Monte_Alegre_Para.frogs_on_th=
e_lago.mp3
>
>I told him nothing about the sound except the location (state of Para),
>and asked only that he tell me whether it was recorded in the morning,
>midday, evening or night. He listened for some time, smiled and said
>"nine o'clock in the evening". He was absolutely correct! He then went
>on to tell me the local names for almost every animal present in the
>recording, and gave me a very elaborate description of the water that he
>imagined from the recording. I was truly amazed!
Yeah. There are a few like that in the world. The late Ted Parker,
from Louisiana State U., claimed to be able to identify (if not
imitate) over a thousand birds from the tropics.
Good luck with your efforts and let us know how it goes for you.
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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