At 6:02 PM -0800 2/8/08, <> wrote:
>My name is Cynthia Nogar. I am new to nature recording. I was laying
>in my tent in the Boundary Waters a year ago, listening to the deep
>silence interspersed with waves laping on the shore and the
>occasional plop and splash of night life. Later that night we were
>treated to the sounds of loons chorusing. I realized that night I
>want to preserve these sounds for myself and others before I'm too
>old to get back into the wilderness.
>
>I have a Sony Hi-MD recorder and have been reading Bernie Krause's
>book, Wild Soundscapes. I want the recording to sound as close as
>possible to what I'd hear with my ears. Am hoping I can get
>recommendations from this group. The gear needs to be as sturdy and
>lightweight as possible. I already have a very small padded pelican
>case for the recorder.
>
>I read in Bernie's book about a $700 system sounding nearly as nice
>as a $25,000 system. Unfortunately, the gear in that $700 system
>isn't listed. What would people recommend?
>
>I look forward to getting to know you and learning more about nature
>recording.
>
>Sincerely,
>Cynthia Nogar
>Rochester, MN
Welcome to the list, Cynthia.
For very quiet locations like the Boundary Waters, you'll probably
appreciate having microphones with very low "self-noise," if not very
low self-noise. This translates into less "hiss" and a more
convincing sound image. In the "low" category, with a very low size
profile and costing $700 or less, Klas's EMKS-23 mic's come to mind.
http://www.naturesongs.com/Telinga.html A pair of these mics for
stereo will plug directly into your Hi-MD so all you would need to
add is a mount that incorporates wind protection. Here is Dan
Dugan's shoulder pad mount/windscreen system in which EMKS-23's will
also fit:
http://www.dandugan.com/downloads/Dan%27s_183_mic_shoulder_mounts.pdf
. Here's a close-up of an EM-23 in his mount http://tinyurl.com/26x4gf
There are options involving more bulk but lower "self-noise" within
your budget. The often suggested Audio Technica Model AT3032's
(~$170USD each) require the addition of a portable "phantom power
supply" when used with an Hi-MD recorder. There's some info about
two inexpensive phantom power supplies and more about the AT-3032
mics here: http://www.uwm.edu/~type/audio-reports/HiMD/index.htm
Fellow Minnesotan, Curt Olson, has developed some microphone mounts
for the AT-3032's that you may enjoying looking at and he provides
many sound samples you can listen to:
http://www.trackseventeen.com/soundscapes/mic_rigs.html Rob D.
--
"While a picture is worth a thousand words, a
sound is worth a thousand pictures." R. Murray Schafer via Bernie Krause
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/naturerecordists/
<*> Your email settings:
Digest Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/naturerecordists/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
------------------------------------------------------------------------
|