After incidents one sometimes wonders whether one was ever really in
danger. I'd prefer to be left guessing than know for sure...
In Australia, as Syd points out, we've done away with our megafauna,
so wandering around the bush recording is a fairly safe and often
relaxing affair. In India it is very different. In many parks it is a
'safari only' situation, so vehicles have to be hired, guides taken,
and overnight forest entrance is often not allowed.
During our first sound recording trip to India, Sarah and I were in
Nagarahole National Park in Karnataka, which is known for healthy
populations of large mammals and predators, including tigers. We had
a fantastic driver from a local village, Dharmaja, with a new jeep.
We would head out around 6am to catch the first light and dawn chorus.
I record stereo soundscapes only, and in Australia I had been using
directional microphones, and developed a satisfying way of standing
meditatively, tracking the activity around me. I was now finding this
to be a precarious strategy in India, particularly when recording in
the pre-dawn darkness, one of the tiger's hunting times. I had tried
just plonking the mics on a tripod and retreating to safety, but the
result was some very hit and miss stereo positioning. So I was
reduced to deciding where to stand and record without exposing myself
to excessive danger.
On this morning, Sarah, Dharmaja and our guide had gone up a nearby
lookout tower. Being with them and trying to record was out of the
question - no matter how well-intentioned, the guides could rarely
keep quiet. Some had serious-sounding chest complaints, and as anyone
who has been to India knows, hacking and expectorating are engaged in
uninhibitedly.
So I chose to record standing on the jeep's roof rack, parked in the
middle of a moderately-sized open area surrounded by lantana. I
figured that at least I could swing down into the back of the jeep if
an elephant entered the clearing. I hoped that being of somewhat
scrawny physique, I would make uninspiring pickings for a tiger. And
I bolstered my confidence with an experience from the previous day,
when we had encountered a huge male tiger on the track. We had
watched him for a few minutes from the jeep, and he us, before he
turned away and began moving off into the forest. Our enthusiastic
guide then leap out of our vehicle with his camera in hand, and set
off on foot in pursuit of a last photo. So I hoped that the anecdotal
stories about them not usually attacking humans was reliable. A
calculated risk, measured without much information, it was the best I
could think of at the time...
That morning there was a good deal of animal activity; deer alarms
calls, and far away distant roaring of maybe an elephant or tiger, I
couldn't tell.
Back at the lodge the head ranger dropped by to see how we'd got on
that morning, and so I asked him to identify the alarm calls for me.
I gave him headphones and as he listened he said, "Chital" (Spotted
Deer). Thought so. He listened on and a slight smile came to his
face. "What is it?" I asked. He replied "Tiger". "Really? I thought
it might have been a tiger roaring, but it was too far away for me to
hear clearly". "Oh no" the ranger said, "it is not roaring, it is
yawning, it is maybe 200 metres away"...
That recording ended up featuring on our 'Nagarahole' CD, and whilst
the tiger 'yawn' is fairly subliminal and not very impressive for
many listeners, it is to me!
Cheers to all,
Andrew
PS: these days found happily utilising a SASS on a tripod....
Listening Earth P/L
Andrew Skeoch and Sarah Koschak
Nature Sound Recordings
www.listeningearth.com.au
Tel: 61 3 5476 2609
P.O. Box 188
Castlemaine
Victoria 3450
Australia
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