> How are other recordists dealing with this? Are you spending hours at the
> computer applying filters?
No, very rarely. Only when a particular piece is needed for a production that
someone wants to purchase for a film or museum.
> Are you stitching together a minute here and a minute there?
Yes, I splice together all the uninterrupted parts of a session to make a suite.
> Are you traveling extensively looking for quiet places out of the flight
> lanes?
Yes, I prize the quiet spots and times. There's often clean time in the spring
and summer after nautical twilight but before the aircraft start. I camp in the
location to be there for it.
> How do you feel about having to do that?
Comes with the territory. Thinking positively, I celebrate the quiet spots.
> What are you doing with your engine-filled recordings. Archiving? Erasing?
> Editing?
I record mostly in the national parks, with research permits. I ask them what
areas they want documented. Serious volunteers are welcomed. I record the whole
soundscape with everything, in surround. I turn in documented and annotated raw
recordings to the parks. I make artistic pieces out of the good bits. I keep
everything.
> It's interesting to me how little of this engine noise we normally hear. One
> 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
> invariably 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. They
> just aren't hearing it. Their brains are filtering it out, it is so common.
> But now they are aware of it because I have drawn their attention to it, and
> they are astonished.
Yes, I've had that experience with park rangers who have guided me to a really
quiet spot--not.
> Maybe some good can come of that, although in the short term I'm probably not
> spreading happiness. Our filters exist to protect us, I suppose.
>
> This desensitization to environmental damage concerns me though. I do not
> want to be a desensitized person. I do not want to be constantly filtering
> the world out, mentally or electronically. Recording has helped me open my
> ears, 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 most
> 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.
My first experience was taking a binaural rig and a cassette recorder across
the country on the bus. I realized that the soundscape was motor noise and more
motor noise.
> 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 and
> more aware of the noise that is reshaping the soundscape of the planet? It's
> a similar challenge for anyone doing any kind of environmental monitoring.
> How do we open our senses and our hearts fully and not become discouraged by
> what we see and hear and feel? I've been doing some kind of environmental
> 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.
With the interruptions you are still making great "point counts" of the species
present. If documented this is valuable citizen science, and you can harvest
the pure bits for production.
> best wishes to all,
>
> John
Happy recording to you, Dan
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