Thought I would report on the trip that caused me to solicit people's advice
about
"Backpacking Solutions" a couple or three weeks ago.
Five of us went on a 25 mile backpacking trip into the Grand Canyon last
weekend. It is a
vertical mile up and down and hot. We were on a radical, wilderness trail.
Down the
Boucher, and over to Hermit Creek, and up. Daytime recording was severely
hampered by
the fact that the National Park Service has designated the area just to the
West as a flight
corridor for tourist helicopters and planes. Nighttime recording is fine.
I posted a little website to share the recordings of the riparian ecosystem at
the bottom of
the Grand Canyon.
http://web.mac.com/geopaul/iWeb/Geo2Sound/Recordings.html
These were made in MS stereo, with an Audio Technica 835ST, Sound Devices MP-2,
and
Sony TCD-D100. They were edited in 24 bit only as to fades, and then bounced
to MP3, in
Apple's Logic Pro 7. No filtering of any kind. I have some "pops" on some of
the
recordings that annoy me. I have tried to get rid of them in Logic's sample
editor, but
unsuccessfully. Anyone who can diagnose this phenomenon? How to deal wih it
other
than avoid it in the first place?
For canyon hikers of the Southwest, this is a familiar sound, but upon first
hearing, it is
strange and other-worldly. Often you can hear these vocalizations in the
afternoon, from
high above as you decend into the shady slot canyons. Then, they are
characterized by
reverberation and are one of if not the primary marguis sounds of the Grand
Canyon.
Indeed, when I first heard this biophony in 1983, I could only think of some
wierd
planet, perhaps out of a "Star Wars" fantasy, inhabited by wonderful goats of
some sort.
Apparently most people, when hearing the Canyon Treefrog, think of a rivet
machine and
that is how the Peterson Guide describes the song.
There are two amphibians on all but one of these recordings. The loud song is
that of the
Canyon treefrog, Hyla arenicolor. It is accompanied by a much more subtle
trilling, of the
Red Spotted Toad, Bufo punctatus. You must listen for the toad.
On the little website are some photos. These deal with the "backpacking
solutions." There
were two main problems:
On the tripod, as I wrote earlier, I opted for a super light, super cheap Radio
Shack
Chinese manufactured job, very light. Light is paramount on this trip. The
legs and
stability of this were fine. I love the weight and the price ($10 on sale from
$15), as
compared to the Gitzos that are from $300 to $650. However, the tripod head is
just too
chintzy to be reliable. I can see it breaking on a trip in the future and
becoming
worthlesss. The key to the solution was a tripod functioning qua tripod, and
the lightness
in weight.
On the microphone protection, again, taking everyting into account, I went for
light
weight. I actually tried implementing Rich Peet's suggestion of PVC pipe, and
bought a
length of 6 inch diameter pipe, with end caps. However, it weighed between 1.5
and 2.5
pounds. Too much.
What I did is wrap the mic, inside its Sennheiser windscreen pistol grip and
fuzzy coating,
in a kitchen garbage bag, and then that inside an Apple store double walled
plastic
shopping bag. This was then gently "lashed" onto the back of the backpack with
the
elastic ties that actually came with the backpack, as you can see from one of
the
slides in the slide show on the website.
The key take away for me personally is that each trip is a combination of
factors that
contribute to equipment solutions peculiar to the situation. In this case, the
weight of the
solution was paramount. A 25 mile trip in May in the Grand Canyon is an
extreme
experience. I had to go as light as the equipment would allow.
If I were driving a car to a remote location, and walking on level ground for a
mile or so, it
would be a different matter.
Thanks for everyone's help.
George Paul
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