I'm a little behind on my reading and replying to the posts in this thread.=
More recent posts from John and Greg have addressed some of what I raise h=
ere, for which I am very grateful. Along the lines of Greg's comment, I've =
been telling anyone who will listen (anybody?!) that we - and the rest of t=
he natural world - would benefit greatly from a machine sabbath. Just one d=
ay a week without engines. That would be a start. What say you, nature reco=
rdists? Impossible?
The input on post filtering is useful and something I will play with some m=
ore, but I guess I'm looking more for psychological approaches to this prob=
lem rather than technical ones.
Species recordings don't grab me the way those few seconds -- or at most mi=
nutes -- of engine-free soundscapes do. Soundscapes speak to me of wholenes=
s in a way that selective species recordings do not. I love the silence pun=
ctuated by a drop of water, or something rustling in the leaf litter, or a =
dragonfly flitting past, its wings whirring, or the birds suddenly bursting=
into warning calls because a hawk has arrived in the area and then going q=
uiet again when it leaves. When I get it together I will post the lousy rec=
ording from the Bay of Fundy, about seven years old, that got me interested=
in soundscape recording in the first place. (We have slow dialup internet =
and it's not easy for me to upload or listen to audio files). It is marred =
by very cheap hissy microphones with no stereo image whatsoever, but I stil=
l love it. Getting a better version of that recording with good equipment h=
as been my main goal, not yet achieved.
How are other recordists dealing with this? Are you spending hours at the c=
omputer applying filters? Are you stitching together a minute here and a mi=
nute there? Are you traveling extensively looking for quiet places out of t=
he flight lanes? How do you feel about having to do that? What are you doin=
g with your engine-filled recordings. Archiving? Erasing? Editing?
It's interesting to me how little of this engine noise we normally hear. On=
e of the consequences of the recording and listening that I have been doing=
is that I have told many people about the challenge of engine noise. And i=
nvariably they tell me of such and such a place, usually their house, where=
it is perfectly quiet. And I go there and the noise is nearly constant. Th=
ey just aren't hearing it. Their brains are filtering it out, it is so comm=
on. But now they are aware of it because I have drawn their attention to it=
, and they are astonished. Maybe some good can come of that, although in th=
e short term I'm probably not spreading happiness. Our filters exist to pro=
tect us, I suppose.
This desensitization to environmental damage concerns me though. I do not w=
ant to be a desensitized person. I do not want to be constantly filtering t=
he world out, mentally or electronically. Recording has helped me open my e=
ars, remove or at least reduce the filters. That's one of the main reasons =
I am recording, to listen more fully. But I don't like what I am hearing mo=
st of the time! Like the right whales in the Bay of Fundy who are stressed =
by the noise of ships, I find this constant engine noise stressful.
So there is the dilemma I am trying to resolve or live with. How do we keep=
listening and keep recording and deal with this stress of becoming more an=
d more aware of the noise that is reshaping the soundscape of the planet? I=
t's a similar challenge for anyone doing any kind of environmental monitori=
ng. How do we open our senses and our hearts fully and not become discourag=
ed by what we see and hear and feel? I've been doing some kind of environme=
ntal monitoring for about 15 years and I still haven't figured this out. I'=
d love to hear more about how others are approaching this.
best wishes to all,
John
--- In vickipowys <> wrote:
>
> John,
>
> Another thought is, why not concentrate on single species studies
> using a directional gun mic or parabolic reflector? Such studies
> can be fascinating and are not dependent on an absolutely noise-free
> environment. I know of people in Australia who have done excellent
> studies of butcherbird song right in the middle of suburbia.
>
> It is not worth getting stressed about noise, just change your
> tactics. It is the only way to keep sane :-)
>
> cheers,
>
> Vicki
>
>
>
>
> On 02/07/2012, at 10:57 PM, John Crockett wrote:
>
> > Greetings all,
> >
> > Trying to record soundscapes around southern Vermont has become a
> > very frustrating experience. I have hours of recordings, and only a =
> > few minutes without some kind of engine noise: mostly jets, but
> > also prop planes, chainsaws, atvs, cars and trucks and motorcycles, =
> > skidders, and who knows what else. It appears that we are in a
> > direct flight path for Logan airport in Boston, so that accounts
> > for a lot of it. These are sounds I have effectively screened out
> > in a lifetime of living here. I have always thought of this place
> > as quiet. But turn on the recorder and suddenly all that engine
> > noise comes to the fore. Not quiet at all.
> >
> > It makes no sense to me to get in my own noisy car and drive all
> > over the countryside trying to find quiet places. How contradictory =
> > is that! I'm not having any luck finding quiet places anyway. This
> > noise has become such a frustration that I am sorely tempted to
> > give up recording altogether, having only barely begun.
> >
> > How have others dealt with this frustration? How have you worked
> > around it? Anybody have an airplane noise canceling microphone?!
> > Should we be hoping the price of oil goes through the roof?
> >
> > best wishes,
> >
> > John
> >
> > John Crockett
> > Westminster, VT
>
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