'Vegas has certainly earned its reputation and trades on it heavily. I like
the work here (setting up video equipment for the convention business.) When
you go outside of the 'Vegas valley, you'll find a huge, varied and largely
unpopulated landscape. It's a short drive (by our standards, at least) to the
Sierras, Death Valley, the Grand Canyon, sandstone rock formations of southern
Utah, etc.
Anyway, I think it's well documented that habitat destruction is the single
biggest threat to wilderness areas and it's occupying wildlife, and the
soundscape is an equal element of those habitats. Perhaps the soundscape is
the defining element of habitat quality. It's been said many times that an
animal will hear us long before we see it. Perhaps our noisy encroachment
keeps pushing wildlife further and further into an ever shrinking corner.
We like a "clean" sound recording because that is what is rare in our world.
Hearing nature uninterrupted is now the exception. I disfavor listening to
air and road traffic noise on my recordings just as a photographer would not
want to see unnatural elements in a favorite landscape photo. If you were
taking a photo of the Grand Canyon and a helicopter suddenly and conspicuously
appeared in your viewfinder, would take the photo regardless or wait for the
helicopter to fly away?
I know of a few places around 'Vegas that are exceptionally quiet. One place
in particular is Desert National Wildlife Refuge. Speaking of non-sequitors,
because the refuge is adjacent to the Air Force bombing range and the Nevada
Test Site, the entire refuge is a no-fly zone for commercial and private
aviation. There are only a few roads across the refuge and non of them are
paved. Occasionally, fighter jets fly over the refuge in spite of Air Force's
agreement, but that is only an occasional interruption.
Fred
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