Kevin & Mike, et al--
I've been recording all-night (8-12 hour) takes, 5-7 nights/week
since last Fall.
1) I record in 16/48K with an application called, Amadeus Pro
directly to a computer hard-drive. One can get 500GB internal hard
drives for laptops today.
2) When I hit "stop" or use the timer to stop the recording, Amadeus
creates a waveform "overview" file that shows me the whole night. I
have found this view really useful for not only gaining a sense of
the whole night's rhythms but for sensing the passage of time that I
simply can't imagine when working with numerous segments. I take a
screen shot of the overview and can "see" developments like the onset
of insect species, etc, by looking at the overviews for a week.
3) As for storage. After I make "outs" or smaller files I want to
collect and study later, I use "save a copy as .flac" and the _whole_
8-12 hour file gets saved as a compressed (lossless) file that is 1.7
- 3.0 GB in size. That file will burn to an 26 cent "archive" quality
DVD-R in 24 minutes at 2X speed. I save the "outs" and my notes and
this master recording of the whole night and scan them to my master
catalog.
4) I monitor with wireless headphones as I sleep for pleasure and to
increase my chances of detecting loud events. I also enjoy taking 30
minutes to "spot play" the master recording in the morning too and
make excerpts before I trash the full res 16k/48 files. The lossless
.flac file is saved for the archive.
Seems like its worth the extra trouble to create a record of the
whole night and less of an headache than dealing with a bunch of
fragments. Amadeus is $40USD and only for Mac. Rob D.
=3D =3D =3D =3D =3D
At 1:13 PM -0600 8/26/08, Kevin Colver wrote:
>Mike,
>The decision on how much to store depends on the purpose I was
>recording. If I am after a specific species or sound I will scan and
>save the recordings of that sound while splicing out and discarding
>the trash. Some recordings are done for soundscape archival and
>future scientific reference, these are saved intact with full
>documentation of location, weather, time, ect.
>
>I just hope the price of memory storage keeps dropping as fast as my
>collection grows. I remember being excited to have a 1 gigabyte hard
>disk not too long ago, now the 500 gig is filling up.
>
>Kevin
>
>On Aug 26, 2008, at 12:59 PM, Michael Oates wrote:
>
>> Kevin,
>>
>> Thank you, what puzzled me was you said "set to start a new file
>> every 60 min", I was
>> aware of the option to start new files after a set size limit was
>> reached, but not after a
>> time limit. The menu number is 41 on the 744T.
>>
>> So I guess you either record at 24/48 stereo or use single tracks
>> and use 24/96
>>
>> Good idea!
>>
>> Now then once you have gathered these all night recordings, how do
>> you go about checking
>> them for sounds you want to keep. Do you actually listen to it all,
>> or do you skim through
>> looking at a spectral display so that you can see where possible
>> sounds may be and just
>> listen to parts.
>>
>> Going on from there, these files take up masses of storage space,
>> once you have gone
>> through the files and taken cuts out of the good bits, do you then
>> delete, or do you
>> archive the whole lot?
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Mike
>>
>> >Mike,
>> >On my 722 menu there is option 33: File: Max Size which I set at 950
>> >megabytes which is about one hour. There are also options of about
>> >30 min and 2 hours. At the end of the megabyte limit the 722
>> >immediately launches into a new file with continuous recording.
>> >There is no loss of data or pause between the blocks of sound. I can
>> >splice them together if needed.
>> >
>> >BTW, I also have a Sony PCM D1 but haven't been able to figure out
>> >how to set a limit on file size or duration. It will go on recording
>> >more than 2 hours in one block and finally stop when memory is full
>> >or battery dies. Anyone know if the file size can be set on this
> > >machine?
>> >
>> >Thanks,
>> >Kevin
>> >
>> >
>> >On Aug 26, 2008, at 10:56 AM, Michael Oates wrote:
>> >
>> >> Kevin,
>> >>
>> >> I am new to SD recorders, I have a 744T. How do you setup the
>> >> recorder to start a new file
>> >> every hour. And are there any gaps in the recording or can they be
>> >> pieced together without
>> >> any gaps or glitches.
>> >>
>> >> Thanks,
>> >>
>> >> Mike
>> >>
>> >> >I agree, it's nice to hear a bit of a blog on Dan's recording
>> >> >adventures. When we hear stories like this we pick up little tips
>> >> >that can only be learned by experience, ours or those of someone
>> >> >else. Please all, send in your stories.
>> >> >
>> >> >Agreed; that leaving the recorder on is helpful. Bernie taught
>> that
>> >> >to me and I've captured some great material by recording hours
>> at a
>> >> >time. My SD722 is set to start a new file every 60 min, so in the
>> >> >studio at home I can review the recordings in manageable 60 min
>> >> >blocks. Sometimes, when something great comes out of the night,
>> you
>> >> >want to have the preceding several minutes to frame the
>> interesting
>> >> >sound.
>> >> >
>> >> >And it's nice at night to have the mic at the other end of a long
>> >> >cord. Bernie's recordings of a bear mouthing the mic and a jaguar
>> >> >growling at it in pitch darkness are dramatic. Once I was startled
>> >> >out of a half sleep while monitoring at night by an angry loud
>> >> >hissing. I jumped because it sounded like something was right
>> in my
>> >> >face. Lucky for me, the patrolling bobcat was down at the other
>> end
>> >> >of the 100 foot cable and I was reclined safe and warm in my
>> parked
>> >> >truck.
>> >> >
>> >> >Kevin
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> >On Aug 25, 2008, at 6:21 PM, Romilly Hambling wrote:
>> >> >
>> >> >> --- In
>><naturerecordists%40yahoogroups.com>=
om,
>>Dan Dugan <>
>> wrote:
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> > Sharon Perry and I did our second Yosemite sequoia groves
>> >> expedition
>> >> >> > August 8-10. ... To be continued.
>> >> >> > -Dan Dugan
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> Nice to resurface on the list and find Dan writing about
>> recording
>> >> >> adventures out in the wild again -- AND at night. I look
>> forward to
>> >> >> hearing samples from that 4 channel 3032 setup.
>> >> >>
>> >> >> Dan, run the thing all night, turn in and get some proper sleep!
>> >> Do I
>> >> >> know what it's like "sleeping" with headphones on and a finger
>> >> on the
>> >> >> pause button. Then you get a good day, and back home you go
>> through
>> >> >> the files knowing you've missed absolutely nothing. Well,
>> yes, it
>> >> >> takes time, but what a lot there can be -- some of which would
>> >> never
>> >> >> wake you up or . . sort of heck, it's 3.37 am and can I
>> really be
>> >> >> bothered with this 57th possible false alarm.
>> >> >>
>> >> >> Most I excerpt, but one or two I keep as they're so magical. All
>> >> those
>> >> >> tiny noises, things dropping (as Dan says), and oh so mysterious
>> >> >> visitors to the mics. Can be quite creepy sometimes.
>> >> >>
>> >> >> I was forced into this (leaving equipment running while getting
>> >> some
>> >> >> sleep) because the dreadful piece of tinny plastic I'm currently
>> >> using
>> >> >> has all of a two-second buffer. All but useless unless you're
>> >> prepared
>> >> >> to turn yourself into a nervous wreck with arm cramp! So I just
>> >> left
>> >> >> it running. Still haven't been through all the files!!
>> >> >>
>> >> >> As to jets, etc, I'm now resigned to Sats and Suns, tho jet
>> traffic
>> >> >> can start up un Sun in anticipation of Mon I find. Oddly some
>> >> weekdays
>> >> >> are passable, but you have to get to know which. I've no idea
>> >> why they
>> >> >> should vary. Round us the night to avoid is Monday -- invariably
>> >> >> awful.
>> >> >>
>> >> >> On another note, I'm fairly sure digifish got his 3032s at least
>> >> >> partly because he heard my samples. I got my 3032s (now 2 pairs)
>> >> >> entirely because of this list, especially of course Eric
>> Benjamin's
>> >> >> report. Use'm all the time. Now many are wailing because they're
>> >> >> unobtainable. tee-hee.
> > >> >>
>> >> >> Three cheers for nature recordists, night recordists and 3032s!
>> >> >>
>> >> >> romilly
>> >> >>
>> >> >>
>> >> >>
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >
>> >
>> >
>>
>>
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