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Re: Various soundscapes because they all asked

Subject: Re: Various soundscapes because they all asked
From: "Martyn Stewart" mijdog2000
Date: Mon May 28, 2007 1:47 pm ((PDT))
<<<This is certainly a great collection of recordings. Could you please
share a bit of the field craft and technique involved?>>>



Thank you, Ed.



You know to me there is no real craft in what I do, I have been recording
for over 37 years and started since I was 13, I am now 51 (do the math)

I started giving my sounds to the BBC at a very early age and to my delight
was asked to join them when I was 18. The recorders I have used have change=
d
considerably since those early days, equipment has made my work that much
easier. Consider driving out with a horse and cart just to carry the bloody
battery to taking a battery the size of a 6"subway sandwich we get now!

I think the art of recording is having patience and lots of it; I still get
a kick out of getting 20 seconds recording of a species call/song after
waiting 12 hours to obtain it! Being able to sit and wait for hours at a
time helps you become part of the environment you are in. I started to know
who I was with all those quiet times and I feel very privileged to be a par=
t
of it. You really have to enjoy what you do, I am in love with Mother
Nature, and the wife thinks I'm having an affair with someone :-)

Getting the right equipment and staying loyal to it will help you immensely=
,
forget about all the new gadgets out there, if you are happy with what you
have and you can obtain a good standard, stick with it. In the old days I
had my Nagra reel-to-reel for years on end, I still feel the analogue
recordings I made then are some of the very best I have made. I do not
believe there will be another recorder better than the sound devices 7***
for a long, long time and I'm happy using the same mics I have been using
for donkeys years. The thing I don't believe in is chasing your tail..

Sit quiet and enjoy whatever Mother Nature throws at you. Any crappy
recordings I make get turned into Foley or FX. It is all usable.

Never anticipate that you will get a good pristine recording and applaud it
if you do. the Lyrebird recording was made with a real crappy mic.







Martyn

****************************************

Martyn Stewart

Bird and Animal Sounds Digitally Recorded at:

http://www.naturesound.org

Redmond. Washington. USA

N47.65543 W121.98428

e-mail: 

Tel: 425-898-0462

Make every Garden a wildlife Habitat!

*****************************************








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