> I am wondering, with current editing technology, whether it is
> possible to detect when someone puts together a "composite"
> recording that did not exist in fact.
Michael,
The simple answer is no. Also, stereo recording is only a
psychoacoustic illusion and an auditory cheat in the first place. When
we listen to a loudspeaker, we are listening to the vibrations of a
rice-kellogg cone system and its resonances, not a bird. Our brains
re-create the bird.
>From time to time we discuss whether editing and filtering is ethical
with wildlife recordings. It is very easy to edit sounds and less easy
with video, but we have got so used to seeing edited video and films
we forget that scenes like reverse angle shots can only be done in
discontinuous filming. Also "journey" type films use heavy time
compression and often big forward and backward jumps in time.
"Cheating" is normal.
The justification of this is that what is presented is a work of art,
even if the selection is only a choice of time, duration and record
and replay levels. I use some filtering without apology as this
filtering starts with mic placenemt especially with highly directional
mics. What I present is what my ears choose to hear. Our auditory
cortex filter out all sorts of things when we listen to the wildlife.
Here, that includes a distant grain mail and traffic which I put at
the less sensitive areas of my MKH 416's.
Where editing integrity is important is when presenting samples such
as birdsong where timing and phrasing is important and where the
recording may be subject to further analysis. If an edit is made in
such a recording, cuts can be marked with a brief fadein and fadeout.
Legal authenticity is hard to prove with a recording unless the entire
provenance of the recording can be documented and proved as with a
police interview. It would be possible to lay a digital signature
behind the recording but this would have to use the same "voice"
frequencies so that it could not be replaced. With video and still
photos it is possible to put a virtually invisible watermark on the
image.
David
David Brinicombe
North Devon, UK
Cogito cogito ergo cogito sum - Ambrose Bierce
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