> If you are getting serious into nature recording, a shotgun microphone wi=
ll be extremely limiting. A shotgun mic will only be good for reaching bird=
s that are within 30 feet, and won't be the greatest for interviews either.
Sorry to disagree, but shotgun mics are indispensable for effects recording=
and for interviews, let alone wildlife at a distance. I was already a TV
Film Recordist when the first gunmics became available and I pioneered the=
MKH 415 when it first came out, and bludgeoned the BBC Film Unit to buy me=
one personally instead of having to draw one each time from Tech Stores.
I used a pair for stereo in the first BBC Film Unit stereo film recording
done abroad in "World About Us - African Railways" with some recordings
going into the archives such as a double ended Beyer Garrett locomotive
coming out of Mombasa up into the hills. Short gunmics and long gunmics soo=
n
became an indispensable item in every BBC Recordists kit.
I have a pair of MKH 816's which need more care when used in stereo, but
which can give an excellent image at a distance in otherwise noisy woodland=
:
http://www.stowford.org/recordings.htm
Spool to "Dusk in Pig Wood Nature Reserve."
Here's what I got even with mismatched long gun mics with a noisy stream
nearby:
http://www.stowford.org/recordings.htm#dawnapril
There is a photo to show the scene.
Gunmics are ubiquitous in current video filming, from news to documentaries=
and have cost many recordists their jobs as they are routinely mounted on
video cameras and used for interviews. However, often in news scrums, a boo=
m
is seen with a gunmic on the end as the only way of collecting an ad-hoc
interview.
Almopst all my recordings were done on gunmics as noted. As for optimum
distance, very few are as close as 10 metres, and they come into their own=
at around 100 metres producing clear birdsong which would otherwise be
impossible to record clean.
Check this one out for distance. The woodpecker was past a large garden,
behind a house and over a car park, an estimated 200 feet away:
http://www.stowford.org/recordings.htm#woodpeckerbeech
Even the sheep a quarter of a mile away can be heard - so much for only
close-up recording on a 416. Now say they don't give an account of distance=
,
from the close blackbird to the sheep.
As for parabolas, they have their place, but the frequency response is far=
from flat whereas a gunmic, even in a windshield has a near linear axial
response. And you can tuck a gunmic, in its windshield, under your arm.
David Brinicombe
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