Ken Durling wrote:
> ...I've been thinking a lot about the fact that our ears are very
> rarely stationary the way mics often are, and that the sonic
> experiences that inspire me to want to record them are complex ones,
> ones in which I'm constantly changing my location and position of my
> head to try to get a better read on a sound and/or to match it to a
> visual. Or like my Snow Geese, the sheer amount of motion involved is
> a difficult thing to capture. Do people "pan" microphones like
> cameras? I imagine it could lead to a confusing stereo image, but
> perhaps there are effective techniques.
Again, sir, you ask all the right questions. I assume you're talking
about recording natural ambiences, and not individual callers.
My first reaction used to be to follow a moving sound source. But then,
when I would play it back at home, the recording had lost much of its
original interest -- with the sound source mostly centered, except for
my tracking errors. Instead, I think it's usually better to allow
natural motion to occur around a stationary mic array if possible.
Here's an example, recorded with a stationary array early last May at a
remote lake in north central Minnesota. Note the slow movement of geese
flying against the steady sound of frogs.
http://www.trackseventeen.com/media/tsp/x050503-frogs_geese.mp3
(There, folks, we're talking field craft for a change, and with a sound
clip besides! I could have pointed out the noise of the Shure 183s in
this quiet environment and the fact that I need to get my hands on a
pair of AT 3032s pretty soon, but I restrained myself.)
Curt Olson
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