Greetings,
Just found and joined this group, and will follow the format suggested in
the FAQ for this very basic question.
Stop me if you=92ve heard this one! I=92m interested in exploring nature so=
und
recording but have limited budget and experience.
1) Although I=92ve long been intrigued by natural recording, I=92m acting n=
ow
largely because I=92d like to incorporate an audio component into the Field
Biology course I teach. Because our main goal will be to capture recordings
(birds, orthopterans, and frogs) in the field that we can later try to
identify, I think we=92d want these sounds to have as much separation from
the background sounds as possible.
2) Realistically, most of these recordings would take place in either urban
settings or natural settings within a mile of urban development.
3) I think portability and =93on the go=94 would be valuable attributes in =
a
field biology class. I=92m not sure about sound qualities; I suspect noise
would be best minimized, but stereo image and spatiality probably less
important (I may be biased here, as I=92m deaf in one ear!).
4) Total budget almost too embarrassing to mention; probably less than
$300, at least initially. There are a couple of internal grants, ranging
from $500 to a few thousand, that I could apply for with some preliminary
data/experience (see next question). I doubt I currently own any relevant
gear (does a Sony digital voice recorder count?).
5) I view this as a try-out exercise with the potential for considerable
expansion if I can make it work in an educational (college undergraduate)
setting. On the other hand, it=92s just the sort of activity that I could g=
et
personally addicted to regardless of whether it works in class!
Any suggestions would be appreciated. There apparently once was a shotgun
mike somewhere in the department, but its location is currently unknown, so
I haven't been able to try it out to get some baseline experience.
Thanks very much,
Alan
--
Alan Harvey
Associate Professor of Biology
Georgia Southern University
Statesboro, GA 30460-8042
(912) 478-5784
fax (912) 478-0845
http://www.bio.georgiasouthern.edu/bio-home/harvey/index.html
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