Andy, you might want to check with Derek Solomon, (or
www.kuyimba.com
). Solomon is one of the finest African naturalists/trackers/guides/
outiftters going. In over a dozen trips, there, I've not met anyone
more knowledgeable. His specialty is leading sound safaris and he
knows and can identify every bird, insect, amphibian, reptile and
mammal voice. Derek's main rig consists of a MS (Sennheiser MKH30/40)
and Sound Devices system. And his recordings are among the best coming
out of southern Africa (Botswana, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Zambia, northern
S. Africa) these days. He certainly knows the routine in the field,
batteries, chargers and all, and is always helpful. You might check
with him and maybe even book a trip since, as far as field techniques,
he's as good as it gets and your learning curve will be very short. He
leads many trips for National Geographic, for instance.
Bernie Krause
On Oct 4, 2012, at 12:37 AM, bwanakomba wrote:
> Thanks Dan, I get to places in Tanzania that are off the beaten
> track so I almost feel obliged to try and get better quality audio
> as a record of where I have been and contribute to ecosoundscape
> research. In practical terms an MS array looks easy to lug around in
> the forest.But depending on the choice of mics power usage will
> rise. Trying to recharge enough batteries is one of the banes of my
> life in the bush! Another issue will be learning how to decode the
> MS recordings. But thats another learning curve. Ultimately I need
> to get myself on one of these audio field courses to get my hands on
> some of this wonderful sounding but expensive kit. Anyone fancy
> doing a audio field craft work shop out here in Tanzania? I could
> help set it up?
>
> Cheers Andy
>
> --- In Dan Dugan <> wrote:
>>
>>> <<I like the idea of stereo environmental recordings more and
>>> more, not just mono. If I start using a Mid Side array is it
>>> possible to retrieve the mono track from it to use for my
>>> research, but also have the stereo picture for ambient recordings?
>>> I.e. do you get 2 for one?>>
>>>
>>> Absolutely you do, & this is one of the great benefits of MS
>>> recording. Simply mute the S channel & you have your mono front
>>> facing channel. Just don't decode the MS signal prior to
>>> recording. Do that later in post production.
>>
>> If you get a Sound Devices recorder, you can decode the MS to
>> headphones for monitoring in the field while you record raw MS to a
>> file. [disclosure: I'm a dealer]
>>
>> -Dan
>>
>
>
>
>
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