Hello! I've been reading some of these threads off and on for a few
months, so I suppose now that I have a question, I should start this
off by introducing myself! My name is Brittany Oleson, and I'm a
student at the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy in Aurora, IL.
It is a residential high school, so I am living several hours away
from "home" for nine months out of the year. The Academy opens doors
for just about anything its students wish to do, and Ecology class
field-studies trips to Wyoming each September have been some of my
favourites! During one of the night-time hikes on each trip, my
Ecology teacher assisted us in recording some elk bugling. It is
amazing! Unfortunately, once we were back in IL, we realized that the
sound quality wasn't what we'd hoped for.
The first year recordings have less of that constant background
"fuzz," but the bugling is extremely faint. This year, I brought
along what I thought was better equipment. The bugles are much louder
and clearer, but there is a lot more of the background fuzz. This may
have been due to the fact that I had to jimmy-rig a stick mike into
our parabolic reflector because of some equipment malfunctions. I
don't really know what kind of equipment we use, but I can get that
information if it is necessary. There wasn't really wind on the
nights when we recorded, so I don't think that is an issue. This
year's recording is incredibly "clean" of other noises, but last
year's is full of crinkling coats and unscrewing of Nalgene bottles.
The purpose of this is to acquire a clean copy of this year's 35
minute bugling CD to listen to for personal enjoyment. This "clean
cut" will then be chopped into 30 second bits and analyzed for a
presentation I am to be giving at the NECC in San Diego this July.
The purpose of my presentation will be to inform teachers of how they
can integrate bioacoustics into their classrooms!
My question is: how do we get rid of the background fuzz? I know in
these threads I have seen a bit about restricting the range of the
recording to include only the desired sounds, thus eliminating at
least some of the fuzz. Can anyone explain how to do this? I really
know nothing about sound, though my partner in the project does, so
she can interpret any advice I don't understand. I have purchased
Cornell University's Raven software and I have a temporary copy of
Sony's Sound Forge 8.0 (which can become permenant if decided it is
necessary), but I can acquire anything you think I should have (short
of putting elk in a recording studio!).
I thank you in advance for your help! I have enjoyed reading your
posts, though I don't understand a lot of them. I especially liked
the beaver vocalizations and tail-slapping sounds, and was wondering
if I could get a copy of them for my mentor (also my Ecology teacher:
he is a long time enthusiast and researcher of wolves and beaver). I
am also fascinated by the discussion of using iPods to store your
audio data, as well as the use of photovoltaic cells for battery-life!
Amazing!
Brit
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