Being new here, I'll offer a quick intro before starting in on my questions....
By trade I'm a business consultant (think helping small to mid-size businesses
get online from design & dev to marketing) and photographer, and a long time
hiker/biker/climber/kayaker/xcskier/snowshoer/runner. (Prior lives included
chem/bio/mathematics teacher/univ. instructor/usaf officer/environmental &
civil engineer/dot-com technical project manager...) At present I'm considering
dipping my toe into the waters (or immersing?) of podcasting with at least one
project being nature oriented. In the past I've done some video work, but
haven't worked with sound a great deal. Early versions of Vegas
Video/SoundForge was the last time I really got into it. So, I anticipate I'll
be climbing a learning curve but am excited about the possibilities.
(1) Does anyone have some good instructions/software/techniques for removing
background hiss/traffic noise?
During a recent trip back to my family home in MN (to work on preparing it for
sale), I made several recordings of morning and evening songbirds with a small
digital recorder (Olympus WS-300M). As could be expected I'm now dealing with a
great deal of recorder hiss and traffic noise that I'd like to weed out. Any
pointers for doing this would be helpful. I've installed audacity as a start
and will continue to dig through google & the forum here for tidbits that would
assist me in clearing up this set of recordings.
(2) Any suggestions/recommendations on additional equipment required for
quality nature recordings?
After reading through suggestions on this and other forums and emailing Doug V.
I'm looking at purchasing a Fostex FR-2 and Telinga Pro6/Stereo DAT and
screen. Any comments on these or other options and necessary equipment would be
helpful. I anticipate most of my recordings will be in the field (hikes in the
Cascades), however there will also be some more local work. So weight will be
somewhat of a factor.
(3) Any suggestions/recommendations on equipment beyond (2) for occasional in
office recordings for podcasts?
I'm sure there are many w/ experience in preparing quality sound casts. Any
equipment that I should check out that you can't live without?
Thanks in advance for your assistance/guidance. I'm looking forward to the
challenges ahead and hearing some great nature in the process. (In some sense
too these projects are personal -- my partner Richard is hearing impaired and
I'd love to share those wonderful twittering birds with him too!)
Regards from Seattle,
Bonnie Campbell
|