Thanks for the many encouraging public and private responses. I'll use
just one e-mail to reply to a few specific comments...
John Hartog wrote:
> Very inspirational recordings.
I don't want to make this sound like a mutual admiration society here,
John, but in the interest of giving credit where credit is due, it was
your pristine and spacious 2005 "Robin Takes the Morning" recording,
and the unusual mic rig you used to capture it, that shocked me into
realizing there was vastly more potential to nature sound recording
than most conventional techniques seemed to be delivering. Thank you
for that important kick in the pants!
Chris Halis wrote:
> ...I am sure I can hear the display beating of grouse wings...
Indeed you do. The area is a huge National Forest, managed primarily
for pulp wood production. That's bad new for certain wildlife species,
unfortunately, but great news for others, such as the Ruffed Grouse,
which thrives in that kind of habitat. Almost all my recordings made in
this part of Minnesota contain the sound of Ruffed Grouse drumming. In
one dawn chorus recording from this spring, one of these birds stepped
up and started drumming so close to the mic rig that I could distinctly
hear his feathers fluffing against each other.
Doug Von Gausig wrote:
> The swans come through with such force and body, while the frog tink
> away in the BG...
That's especially true with clip #1, which was recorded with a rig
designed to be placed on the ground. At ground level, frog
vocalizations become highly diffuse and attenuated, while many other
sounds coming from higher angles of attack are often still very clear.
Ground level micing for nature recording opens up a huge "can o'
worms," but I'm discovering that it can be useful in certain
situations, as clip #1 shows.
Bob Howe wrote:
> ...heard a Wilson's Snipe winnowing in the background...and also the
> grouse drumming mentioned by Chris. ... From someone who grew up in
> north-central Minnesota (Bemidji), your recordings were truly
> delightful.
Yup, winnowing snipe can be heard almost anywhere in this habitat at
this time of year. Since you grew up in Bemidji, you'll probably relate
immediately if I point out the location -- about 28 miles almost due
north of Deer River.
Kevin Colver wrote:
> Are those mergansers calling in the background? Sometimes I have
> difficulty sorting out the calls of female ducks.
I'm mostly an "ear candy" guy at this point and not much of a species
guy (at least not anytime soon), so this is where I need big time help
from the experts. Also, as many others here have learned, I often get
better soundscape recordings from an unattended rig, so I wasn't
present during all these events to eye-ball the callers. I'll put down
mergansers as a tentative ID for some of those ducks. Thank you so
much!
Bill Rusher wrote:
> Could I ask about your mic setup for the recordings? I was wondering
> if it is possibly one of the homemade ones that are pictured on your
> website.
Clip #2 was recorded with a mic setup pretty much like the ones shown
on my site. Clips #1, 3 and 4 were made with something rather new and
different -- a slightly radical variation on the theme that seems to
make big improvements in spacial imaging. I don't have any photos or
descriptions yet.
Curt Olson
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