Thanks for the warm welcome and direction, Greg. Your microphone
recommedation is most useful; biophony is what I'll originally attempt to
record. I've
also ordered Bernie's book; an in-depth read makes sense before
dough-dropping. Hopefully by spring I'll be trouncing in the middle of my
selected swamp
at least "looking" like a recording expert. :) We have a huge expanse of
territory in NJ's pine barrens and I've been sitting at many a bog-side for
years enjoying the sounds. I've done some photography work here, but have no
idea why it took so long for the bulb to go off enlightening me to at least
attempt to bring home the voices.
Thanks again.
-- Bill
In a message dated 12/17/2005 5:56:13 PM Eastern Standard Time,
writes:
Welcome Bill,
There is much advice here to start the recording habit. To me the
most important is by scouting and listening first, finding the right
location is one of the big challenges in nature recording and it's
getting more difficult by the day.
There are a few good books out there, Bernie's book (a member of this
list) "Wild Soundscapes" is highly regarded. He covers finding
locations, technical info and listening exercises and much more.
http://tinyurl.com/azukf (amazon.com)
The online version of this Yahoo group has a search function to find
specific information, "microtrack" for instance brings up many recent
posts, some reviews, some more technical than others. Another place
to look is at some of the consumer MD players; again a quick search
through the list will let you know what people like.
If you are getting ready to drop some dough I would say teh microphone
is the most important element. There have been endless discussions of
what mic is best. It really depends on what you are trying to record.
To me there are two general directions in nature recording: species
recording, going after a certain critter; and ambient, trying to
record everything in a given area (biophony).
To make another generalization, species recording uses more
directional mics, shotgun, hypercardioid, parabolic dish etc; ambient
recording uses more omnidirectional mics and mic arrays, omni, wide
cardioid, binaural, ORTF, XY etc. Some of these use multiple mic
elements and some have two elements built in to one unit.
Also key is a good windscreen, either purchased or improvised. The
foam that comes with most microphones is only good for keeping bugs
off your mic.
I'll let other fill in more technical questions (and dissect mine).
In addition to the mics and recorders, a pair of closed back
headphones or canal-phones will allow you to hear what you are
recording better. I would start with the headphones, to me they are
easier to remove and listen with your ears, an important part of my
experience.
One more piece of recording advice is to "slate" your recordings,
every one, every time. At the beginning or end of your recording (I
do the beginning) say the date, time, location, direction, mic array
used, recording levels, equipment, specific species being recorded and
any other information to help identify your recordings when you get
home or in 5 years. I also carry a little notebook to note any
specifics while I'm recording.
Well that's enough out of me, good luck, ask questions and happy
recording.
--greg weddig
Baltimore, MD
http://home.earthlink.net/~gweddig
http://www.ourmedia.org/user/627
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