Hello all,
I've been watching with great interest the discussions about Martyn's
splinter group, naturerecording. I want to make the Nature Recordists
list's goals clear so there is no misunderstanding about what's taking plac=
e.
Since I started this list 8 years ago (August of 2000) it has grown
impressively to nearly 1500 members worldwide! That is much, much larger
than the original members ever thought possible, and a real testament to
the success of the group and its goals. There have been about 35,000 posts=
since that time! Amazing, to say the least.
The original thought behind the group was to give the few nature recordists=
out there a place to exchange experiences recording various natural
subjects, and to share our knowledge of equipment, techniques, etc. The
list has accomplished those goals better than I ever expected. From time,
to time some members who were less technically oriented felt that the
messages had become predominately gear-oriented, and less oriented to
actual location recording. This was a function, I think, of the rapid
advance of the equipment used to record natural sound. In 2000 the best
recorders were DAT recorders, the latest and greatest in digital recording.=
Next came MiniDisc and lately, solid-state recorders. The advance in
microphones and mic arrays kept pace with the recorders, and keeping up
with it all took a real devotion to studying the gear. People like Dan
Dugan, Klas Strandberg, Rob Danielson, and many others kept us all informed=
.
Meanwhile the importance of recording natural sound became clearer and more=
urgent. People like Bernie Krause, Kevin Colver, Martyn Stewart and Walter=
Knapp, just to name a very few (and I apologize to the dozens whom I've
left out), helped guide many of us down a track of conservation-minded
approaches to preserving natural sound, natural quiet, and biophonies. Then=
some artists joined in, guys like Aaron Ximm, who travel the world in
search of rare and enchanting sounds. Others specialized in the software we=
all use to edit and archive our sounds, and other in innovation of
technique and equipment.
All in all, we have the world's best resource for new as well as
experienced nature recordists, and I am immensely proud to have been part
of it. Several years back my life got too busy to continue to moderate the=
increased activity of the group and I prevailed upon Jim Morgan to help
moderate. He was kind enough to accommodate, and he moderated for a year or=
two. Then I asked Martyn if he would start moderating, and he's been doing=
a superb job of that since he started. I really appreciate Jim and Martyn's=
contribution to the group!
In the 8 years the group has been alive, there have always been a few
recordists who were not as interested in the finer points of equipment and=
what the specifications were, or in "tweaking" their gear. These people
just wanted to go out and record! Now that Nature Recordists is so large
the number of people in that camp has grown, and Martyn has tried to
accommodate them with a group that concentrates less on gear and more on
field recording.
This does not mean that members of this group will be restricted to gear
only, or that we don't want to hear and discuss field recordings. In fact I=
foresee and hope to see little change in this group. The new group will
cater to those who want to receive fewer posts in their e-Mail and who, for=
one reason or another, do not care as much about equipment.
We'll all know more in a few months, when the dust settles and we see what=
type discussions are occurring there. Let's just give it a chance and see
how it goes. If, after a few months the new group is not meeting
expectation, I'd expect to see most of those members migrate back here. In=
fact, I imagine that most members of the new group will remain members of
this one, too. This is not a competition, it is just a new opportunity. I
hope we can all see it that way, and wish Martyn and the new group the best=
.
Thanks for reading this overly-long post!
Doug Von Gausig
List Owner
*****************************************
Doug Von Gausig
http://www.naturesongs.com
Digital Sounds and Photos from Nature
All photos and sounds copyright 2000-2008, Naturesongs.com
Licensing info at: http://www.naturesongs.com/license.html
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P.O. Box 490
Clarkdale, AZ 86324
(928) 634-3501
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