Richard,
You will be amazed and in awe of the rainforest! Since you'll be
there for only a few days, the chances are you won't have any
problems with humidity. You can improve your chances by
keeping your gear in sealed bags that contain packets of desiccant
(available at most any camera shop) when you're not recording.
Moving from an air conditioned room or vehicle out into very hot and humid air
will cause condensation on all the surfaces of your gear. It's best to keep
the gear sealed in bags until it's had a chance to warm up to the temperature
of the ambient air.
My preference is to keep gear to a minimum while traveling, particularly if
you're with others who aren't interested in recording.
One factor to consider is that the staff in national parks around the world are
becoming increasingly restrictive of activities that look to be "professional,"
that is, undertaken with the goal of making money. If you appear to be a pro
sound man, with boom, blimp and headphones, you may be asked to purchase a
license for audio recording. If you look like a tourist with a Walkman, nobody
will pay attention.
--oryoki
--- In Richard Folwell <> wrote:
>
> In about a month from now I will be spending a few days in the Taman
> Negara in Malaysia. I have never been to a rain forest before, and am
> only just starting up with nature recording. Hoping to do some
> recording while I am there, but have concerns about the effect of
> humidity on microphones (just from what I have been reading). At the
> moment my equipment consists of:
>
> AT8022 stereo mic
> Rycote S-series blimp
> Marantz PMD620 recorder
>
> and have a few extra mics: couple of cheap but surprisingly effective
> binaural pairs bought through eBay, an ATR3350 lav that is useful as a
> cheap omni, and a Rode Videomic which I don't think is ever going to fit
> into the blimp.
>
> Would very much appreciate any advice about recording in such a place.
> Obviously battery management is a prime issue, but I am wondering if I
> ought to be also taking backup microphone(s) that are going to be
> completely robust in warm and wet conditions. It is only a vacation
> trip - not like a serious project, but it would be a shame to get there
> and find wonderful sounds (seems likely) and not be able to record them.
>
> I'm mostly interested in stereo/binaural ambient recording. Link to
> something I am fairly happy with so far, done locally in London, at the
> end (ambient recording of rain, not critters).
>
> Thanks,
> Richard
>
> http://www.riversideinfo.net/pub/Urban_Rain_Hammersmith_London.mp3
> (5 mins)
>
> And something with bird sounds (not done with the AT8022, but a Sony
> MS957).
>
>
>
> http://www.riversideinfo.net/pub/hungry_gulls_with_aeroplane.mp3
>
>
>
>
>
>
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