Hi John,
Thanks for the comment. I can certainly get a stereo mic just as
close to the lyrebird - whatever mic I use needs to be concealed in the
adjacent vegetation and with 50 metres or so of cable back to where I can
conceal myself. With the exception of one individual, the lyrebirds I study
will not tolerate a human within sight.
However, I can be quite certain that I will not in future be needing to
consider the surrounding sounds. Whether with mono or stereo, they won't be
recorded. Some of the lyrebird's mimicry is very soft, but the territorial
songs are extremely loud: on one quiet morning I heard the territorial songs
of a bird whose precise location I knew to be 1.5 km from me. So with the
recording level low enough not to overload such a song 2 metres away, I'm
certainly not going to get any recording of the local ambience. With my
analogue recorders, I had to make a choice: overload the territorial songs
or miss the softest notes. My Tascam digital recorder copes. (I haven't
invested in any of the marvellous new recorders discussed on Nat/recs.)
Syd
> From: "John Hartog" <>
> Reply-To:
> Date: Tue, 30 Dec 2008 04:34:33 -0000
> To:
> Subject: [Nature Recordists] Re: Mono v. Stereo
>
> Hi Syd,
>
> That stereo has more potential than mono doesn't mean it is the best
> option for any specific project. Of course, do what you have to do to
> get the results you need - if it is easier to get the results in mono
> then mono might be the best way.
>
> However, is there a reason you cannot get just as close to a Lyre Bird
> with stereo mics?
>
> By recording in stereo, you could still achieve the detailed analysis
> you are after. Not only could you get the same precise sound
> signatures you get from mono, but you would also have spacial
> information. Perhaps you don't need that extra information today for
> this specific project, but in the future you may be interested in the
> placement of surrounding sounds, the qualities of the local ambiance,
> or resonances the lyre bird's call that help describe the subject
> within its setting.
>
> It is possible to extract mono from stereo, but not stereo from mono.
> That is why stereo has more potential.
>
>
> John Hartog
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