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1. Re: All-Night Recording Technique (was sequoia groves recording Augu

Subject: 1. Re: All-Night Recording Technique (was sequoia groves recording Augu
From: "Rob Danielson" danielson_audio
Date: Thu Aug 28, 2008 3:50 pm ((PDT))
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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