At 3:18 PM -0700 8/3/09, David Kuhn wrote:
>
>Hi listeners,
>I, and an Ornithologist colleague
><http://www.pacificrimconservation.com/>http://www.pacificrimconservation.=
com/ , are
>starting a recording project in August on the island of Lehua, 20
>miles off Kauai--see photos at:
>
><http://www.hawaiioirc.org/OIRC-ISLETS-Niihau/OIRC-ISLETS-Niihau-Lehua.htm=
>http://www.hawaiioirc.org/OIRC-ISLETS-Niihau/OIRC-ISLETS-Niihau-Lehua.htm
>or <http://tinyurl.com/lxo6u4>http://tinyurl.com/lxo6u4
>
>Lehua Islet is a restoration project which has recently been
>relieved of its rabbits and rats, which were introduced in the last
>two centuries. With these aliens removed, and native plants
>restored, there is reason to hope the island might regain its former
>wealth of nesting seabirds (as evidenced by fossil remains).
>I'm very excited about this project. I credit Magnus Robb and his
>book "Petrels Night and Day" for much of the inspiration (see
>message 37419
><http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/naturerecordists/message/37419>http://=
tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/naturerecordists/message/37419
>) .
>We'll be on the island for a week, having been delivered by boat to
>swim ashore with all gear in waterproof bags strapped to surfboards.
>There is a WeatherPort shelter on the Island. Our purpose is to
>record soundscapes and individual birds, to survey the species known
>to be nesting there (at least 11 species) as well as to discover
>other species prospecting for nesting opportunities. I'll set up to
>record all night at least 3 nights, after we determine the best
>sites. Most recording and listening will be at night, given the
>seabirds' habits of arrival and departure under cover of darkness.
>Daytime recording will target nestlings and attendant adults.
>Here is the recording gear I plan to take along, hopefully with
>enough back-up and redundancy to make it through the week:
>
>Recorders:
> Sound Devices 702
> Sony PCM D50
> Sony MZ-RH1
>Microphones:
> Telinga Stereo
> SASS modified with MKH20's
> Mid-side set-up with MKH 30/40
> Senn K6/ME62 pair
> Hydrophones-- Aquarian Audio H2a XLR PIP, tho I may not be able to
>safely get far enough offshore to escape the snapping shrimp
>cacophony
>Other:
> ART Phantom II power box
> Sound Devices Mixpre
> Plenty of cable, 200', 50', and 6', plus back-up
> Plenty of batteries, and there is a solar charger at the shelter
> Sony MDR 7506 headphones, two
> Adequate windscreens, I think, for all mics--this can be a windy place!
>
>This will likely be a rich learning experience for me, on a
>virtual desert island (no water) with no outside support once we
>land. Weather will be NE trade winds 10 to 15 knots and
>no rain, unless a tropical storm comes in from the southeast, which
>would yield a short period of light or no winds and the best
>recording conditions, followed by heavy rain.
>Comments and advice welcome. In an ensuing post I'll ask
>for guidance in use of mid-side, which is new to me.
>
>Aloha,
>David
>
> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>David Kuhn
>www.soundshawaiian.com
><david%40soundshawaiian.com>
><dkuhn012001%40yahoo.com>
>808 335 0398
>Cell 808 651 8247
>Mail to: PO Box 1018
>Waimea, Kaua'i HI 96796
><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
>
Hi David--
I agree, it makes a lot of sense to carry along complete redundancy
of batteries, associated power cables, recording media and essential
adapter cables every time one heads out-- even if just for swapping
out and trouble-shooting. Taking a butane soldering iron, wire
strippers and a small multi-meter?
With all the long duration recording you are planning, I'd be
concerned about only having one charger. Having the 702 stationed and
running somewhere most of the time is a lot of power usage. You're
going to want to have fresh, full batteries to put into that unit
every time you visit it.
Relying on the sun could cut dramatically into charging efficiency so
a smart charger capable of telling you the actual charge state,
capacity & how long a battery has been charging can relieve a lot of
anxiety and premature outages. A lot of the larger batteries can take
an 1-2 amp fast charge rate so it might be good to see if the solar
panel is large enough to take advantage of this efficiency. I'm sure
your testing everything out at home. Not a bad idea to cycle every
battery pack, every cable, every memory card several times to make
sure its not acting up before making room for it in the pack.
Seems like you might want some extra gear to address the trade winds.
A fairly large wind break on the back side of the mic that faces the
wind can do wonders. Is there a stretchy, open weave, non-whistling,
fabric that people have successfully used to create a wind break?
I've used taut mosquito netting and its worked pretty well but
there's probably something better.
As for M-S technique, of course, the mkh 40 is brighter in the center
compared to the omnis you're used to. I start exploring positioning
for a 30/40 rig favoring this tendency. Positioning consistent,
treble content towards either side can create a greater sense of
imbalance than with a SASS or other spaced omni array, so I tend to
be a bit more conservative about centering subjects of interest with
this rig. Next, I start thinking about getting interesting things
happening perpendicular to the mid mic axis on both sides. Having
some texture on both "hard" sides seems to be crucial in getting
dramatic lateral spread. I try to ignore content that's coming from
the 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock region at this stage and identify
sources that can be more purely, "sides." The 10 o'clock and 2
o'clock zones are usually be picked-up better by the mid mic anyway.
Its not crucial to have M-S monitoring in order to go about mic
positioning this way. I can usually detect the directions of the
sound sources and relative volumes more reliably by ear and explore
adjustments with my head and mock them with the array. Rob D.
--
|