Rob,
They're actually quite far apart, with one on the northeast corner of the
house and the other practically on the southwest corner.
I hear airplanes and things like that in stereo, but the stereo sound is no=
t
as exciting as I thought it might be.
I like the idea of cushioning the mic from the house. I'll give that a try
on the back.=20=20
I'm looking forward to recording the first thunder of the spring, but I
don't think the mics do particularly well with extremely loud sounds. I
hear distortion when a loud vehicle goes by.
Jerry Berrier
http://www.townisp.com/~jerry.berrier
-----Original Message-----
From:
On Behalf Of Rob Danielson
Sent: Monday, March 13, 2006 12:18 PM
To:
Subject: Re: [Nature Recordists] Listening to Nature from Indoors
Thanks for the thorough and interesting report, Jerry. I'm sure others will
be apply many of the tips you provide.
The low frequency, interior sounds from your house can probably be reduced
substantially by inserting a waterproof cushion or pad between the house an=
d
the mic. "Float" the mic housing so there's little or no direct contact wit=
h
anything that is screwed or otherwise attached to the
wall-- 1/4" in thickness should do it. Great that the EZB/O mics are takin=
g
the weather well.
How far apart are they? Can you locate distant sound events in their stereo
image? Rob D.
At 9:38 AM -0500 3/13/06, Jerry Berrier wrote:
>Bringing Bird Sounds Indoors
>
>
>I spend a lot of time sitting at my computer, and I enjoy hearing
>nature sounds while I work. Based on suggestions from some avid nature
>recordists, I have installed an audio setup with which I am well
>pleased. My goal was to bring reasonably good quality stereo sound
>from outdoors into my home office. The following is a description of my
setup:
>
>
>Microphones: I purchased two Shure EZB/O Omni-directional boundary
>microphones for approximately $100.00 each. I mounted one under the
>eaves on my back deck and the other under an overhang in the front of
>my wood frame house. It is important that they be mounted where they
>will be protected from direct rain. I was told that they should be
>mounted on a fairly large flat surface and not too near a corner or
perpendicular wall.
>The one on the front of the house is only a couple of feet from the
>ground and hidden by bushes. I suspect that neither of my mounting
>points permits optimal audio input, but they perform well enough to
>suit my ears. These microphones are very sensitive and will pick up
>even very light sounds. One slight disadvantage is that they pick up
>some unwanted sounds from inside through the wall of the house. Wind
>is not a problem at all, unless a gust blows directly into one of the mics=
.
>
>
>
> The EZB/O mics include preamplifiers and require phantom power. I
>used a 100-foot XLr microphone cable for one of them, with no
>noticeable hum or interference. Initially I had some static from
>moisture getting into the XLR fittings, but I used silicone sealant and
have had no more trouble.
>
>
>
>Mixer: I purchased a Behringer UB1202 audio mixer for just under $100.--.
>It provides the phantom power needed by the microphones, and it offers
>a number of useful features that made it well worth the investment.
>
>
>Speakers: I cabled the "Tape Out" output from the mixer into the
>Line-in input on my computer sound card. This serves two purposes; I
>can hear the sounds through my computer speakers, and I can also record vi=
a
the computer.
>(See below) I cabled the mixer's main output channels to inputs on my
>stereo system for even better sound.
>
>
>Recording: I use an audio editing program called GoldWave, available
>from http://www.goldwave.com/
>
>I set GoldWave to accept input from the Line-in, and I set the record
>mode to "bounded and looped". I set the initial file size to 2
>minutes, although I could have used a much longer time period. Once I
>begin recording in this mode, GoldWave continually captures the most recen=
t
two minutes of sound.
>If I hear a sound I want to save, I simply stop the recording within
>two minutes of hearing the sound. I then save the current file, which
>contains the past two minutes of audio. With GoldWave, it is easy to
>edit and convert audio files. I prefer the MP3 format, because MP3
>files are only about a tenth the size of comparable WAV files.
>
>
>Although this equipment cost a little more than I had initially planned
>to spend, I am happy with the outcome.
>
>
>Jerry Berrier
>
>http://www.townisp.com/~jerry.berrier
--
Rob Danielson
Film Department
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
"Microphones are not ears,
Loudspeakers are not birds,
A listening room is not nature."
Klas Strandberg
Yahoo! Groups Links
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