Once, while at a soundscape conference at LucasFilm (Skywalker Ranch) in th=
e late 1980s, someone raised the question for John Cage about the issue of =
recordists who were claiming that their recordings were =93pure,=94 meaning=
that because they were unedited, they were somehow more authentic then wha=
t others were producing. After some discussion amongst various pros in atte=
ndance (Randy Thom, Ben Burtt, Walter Murch, Andy Wiskes, Hildegard Westerk=
amp, etc) it was generally agreed that all recording was, at best, an illus=
ion and that =93edits=94 didn=92t necessarily mean a break in the continuit=
y of time; they also refer to choice of mic(s) and recorder, location of eq=
uipment at a site, time(s) chosen to record, material chosen during playbac=
k. Finally, at the end of the discussion Cage thought for moment and said t=
his: =93Found art,=94 he sniffed. =93That=92s because all true artists know=
that germane to their respective crafts is transformation =96 the inspired=
conversion of sound or image from one medium to another, or ideas from min=
d to page =96 ultimate expressions far more resounding than the resources f=
rom which they spring. It is through the process of insurgency that art in=
any medium obliges insight into the numinous and improbably. Transformatio=
n is the key to life and (its expression through) art, the real mystery of =
creative nature. Attempts to replicate or capture aspects of the natural wo=
rld without amendment speak clearly to a vision of paralysis and death.=94
Bernie
On Oct 30, 2014, at 5:48 AM, [naturerecordists] <nature=
> wrote:
>> I want to understand the basics of the various technologies that are wor=
king in the background - albeit now in a palm sized machine and also learn =
the dos and don'ts of field craft.
>>
>> I understand that Bernie Krause has a very good book on the subject (whi=
ch I am in the process of acquiring.
>
> Sudipto,
>
> Bernie is the master and he is on this email list which is fortunate for =
us
> when he has time to write.
>
>> Not that I want to tamper with the sound or change it in any way but I a=
m sure there is more to post processing than just push up the volume a bit.=
>
> "Tamper" is the wrong word to use. Recording is an artificial process lik=
e
> photography, and the aim is to present the recording in a "packaged" form=
> just as we do with a photograph. You can't just present the sound as you=
> hear it, but you have to do some interpretation to make it sound "real"
> starting of course by deciding on the beginning and end, avoiding passing=
> aircraft and so on.
>
> As an example, recording thunder can be disappointing, but this is a spec=
ial
> case. The way to make it sound "real" is to let it overload on the loudes=
t
> bits, but most digital recorders won't let you do this and a limiter kick=
s
> in. My pet hate is limiters and compressors which always sound artificial=
> and make the background sounds "pump" down and up. The trick is to record=
> low and to distort the peaks in post editing.
>
> With wildlife sounds, you need to avoid distorting them by recording low.
> How low you record depends on your system, but as long as the recorder no=
ise
> is below the background and mic hiss, you are losing nothing. In the days=
of
> tape recording, we were fighting tape hiss and kept recording levels high=
,
> but the joy of digital recording is that you can often record
> peaking as low as -18dB and lose nothing. It is worth testing this out wi=
th
> your setup.
>
> The general rule is to present the edited recording as close as possible =
to
> what you heard with your ears. This is often not easy but it is the art o=
f
> recording. For instance on playback, there may be a low frequency backgro=
und
> which interferes with the wildlife sound or is distracting. In this case,=
I
> use my judgement to make the recording sound more like what my ears heard=
,
> giving prominence to the wildlife sounds. This is similar to framing a
> photograph or adjusting its tone values in order to reproduce what you sa=
w
> with your eyes.
>
> I have occasionally used a gentle noise reduction in the Audacity editor =
to
> reduce mic hiss in very quiet recordings. With this I use a HPF filter on=
> the noise sample. The justification is that I dind't hear mic hiss with m=
y
> ears in the original location and provided that the wildlife sounds remai=
n
> intact, I am reproducing the original sound experience. Another example i=
s
> occasionally using a narrow notch filter to reduce a whine from a grain m=
ill
> about a kilometre away from my woods. Also, with birdsong, I make no apol=
ogy
> for using a gentle bass roll-off, again to match the recording with reali=
ty.
>
> For anyone with Audacity, I have many filter definitions on:
> http://www.stowford.org/sounds/eqcurvesadd.txt
>
> David Brinicombe
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
> Posted by:
> ------------------------------------
>
> "While a picture is worth a thousand words, a
> sound is worth a thousand pictures." R. Murray Schafer via Bernie Krause.
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Yahoo Groups Links
>
>
>
>
Wild Sanctuary
POB 536
Glen Ellen, CA 95442
707-996-6677
http://www.wildsanctuary.com
SKYPE: biophony
FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/BernieKrauseAuthor
TED Global talk: http://www.ted.com/talks/bernie_krause_the_voice_of_the_na=
tural_world.html
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