I'm still fairly new to file-based recording, having evolved from
minidisc recording to Sound Devices hard drive recording a couple of
years ago. Actually I still use MD for my "light" rig, which will
eventually evolve to compact flash. Yesterday I discovered that I had
made the all-to-easy supreme goof of file-based recording: erasing an
entire expedition!
It wasn't anything rare or precious, but it was two four-channel
sessions that involved, respectively, hauling my heavy system out for
a night set-up after a full day of activities, and then getting up at
0-dark-thirty (military expression) to drive to another location to
catch a dawn chorus. Significant effort.
When I got home I was very busy. I had a day to do my bookkeeping that
usually takes two days, and an installation out of the lab that would
blow away all routine activities for the next few days. So I just
checked the recordings. I connected the hard-drive by firewire and was
glad that Snapper could audition the files right from the recorder
(mounted as an external drive).
Fast-forward to a week later. I have a rental for the recorder, so I
pull it out of the studio and reformat the drive to be ready for my
client's use. I'd forgotten that I'd never transferred the files! My
listening session had given me a sense of process completed.
File-based recording takes more discipline, I've learned the hard way.
I think the best way to deal with ephemeral media is to make it a law
to immediately transfer everything to non-erasable media like DVD-ROM.
I could make my copies for the hosting park and the California Library
of Natural Sounds immediately, and send them off-site. The only
problem with that plan is that any submission of recorded material
should be accompanied with documentation, and preparing the cover
letter describing the location, set-up, and what species are included
takes a considerable amount of time and can't be done until the
recordings have been listened to and notes made.
-Dan Dugan
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