> At the moment I haven=E2=80=99t given much thought about what microphone(=
s) I
> should have, but was tending to go for a shutgun mic, mainly for the bird
> recordings.
Paulo,
A shotgun mic is good for "bringing in" birds and other wildlife sounds and=
I use two as a stereo pair, but they are bulky and a bit fussy to set up fo=
r
stereo. My recordings on
http://www.stowford.org/recordings.htm
are mainly done with second hand Sennheiser "T" power type which are cheape=
r
second hand than phantom powered versions but they need a special T power
supply. You are still looking up to the $500 dollar mark for a second hand=
MKH-416 T.
> You mentioned getting a pair of affordable cardiod mics, do you
> have recommendations for which makes/models to consider and which to avoi=
d
> (mid-range price)?
I suggested a good starting point is two cardioids of basic fair quality fo=
r
stereo and for learning with. Don't get hung up too much on frequency
responses, polar diagrams, etc, as wildlife is often not Hi-Fi anyway.
Borrow one or a pair if you can to try out.
Start with them close together at 45 degrees and play with the stereo
images. The ideal is an even spread of sound from left to right, but you
need to train your ears to use headphones as well as speakers. You can't go=
far wrong experimenting with two cardiods. BTW don't listen to the Hi-Fi
buffs - they don't need to be a matched pair to get good results. I've used=
different mic types and nobody has commented. :-)
Beware, if you get hooked you will want to try out other rigs frequently
discussed on this list, but two cheap cardioids will get you going. Others=
may disagree of course. :-) From this point on, the most important thing yo=
u
get with added money is less mic hiss, but the scale is exponential.
If everything is optimised in the recording chain, the loudest unwanted
noise hiss will be from the mics. Put that way, the mics are the weakest
link. They can easily finish up as the most expensive components including=
mounts and windshields.
David Brinicombe
"While a picture is worth a thousand words, a
sound is worth a thousand pictures." R. Murray Schafer via Bernie Krause.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yahoo Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/naturerecordists/
<*> Your email settings:
Digest Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/naturerecordists/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
<*> Your use of Yahoo Groups is subject to:
https://info.yahoo.com/legal/us/yahoo/utos/terms/
------------------------------------------------------------------------
|