One of the most profound sound experiences of my life was in Tikal. I
think it was around 1996. I was traveling around with my belongings,
including basic camping gear, in a backpack and didn't really have a
place to put it, so I carried it around Tikal all day. As evening came
and everybody started to clear out, I decided it would be fun to clamber
atop one of the more out-of-the-way pyramids and spend the night there.
Looking down on the jungle flashing away with a myriad of fireflies and
only guessing at mysterious and sometimes creepy night sounds was
amazing enough. Then at dawn, the jungle soundscape exploded with
howler monkeys in the treetops at eye-level and dozens of various bird
calls.
The beauty of being young: I didn't give much thought to how appropriate
it was culturally or ecologically. It just seemed like the right thing
to do at the time. I don't know if I'd do it again. But if I did, I'd
sure like to have an ambiosonic rig at that vantage point.
Enjoy! Robb
On 2/1/2012 10:27 AM, Kawika wrote:
>
> Hola Compadres,
> I'm out here in Tikal, Guatemala, enjoying the big noisy birds and
> rich soundscapes. Not much has seemed to have changed from the '80's
> when I spent time here--unlike at home in Hawaii, where the endemics
> seem to be going fast, more later on that.
> The vicissitudes of travelling with recording gear have dealt a
> blow--one of my MKH20's fizzled and expired, so I won't get the
> soundscapes I dreamed of, like from Temple IV in Tikal, the sounds
> from which had a lot to do with inspiring me to get into recording. My
> fall-back for soundscapes will have to be a melding of the one MKH20
> with the Telinga--without-the-parabola, mixed in post. Ah well.
> Otherwise I'll do a lot of hunting with the parabola.
>
> Adios,
> David
>
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