> Alas, I have not been at all successful in trying to find the "focal poin=
t" of the squirrel baffle dome. I think I need to gain a bit more experien=
ce in nature recording and be more familiar with my Olympus LS14 before tac=
kling any more DIY microphone experiments.
If it is spherical rather than parabolic that would explain it.
> However I was successful in building a pair of the EM172 mics, which I ha=
ve put into 4" off cuts of 22mm plastic plumbing, so at least I can use the=
se as stereo microphones. I have been thoroughly confusing myself looking a=
t SASS rigs and other methods of recording in stereo. All very confusing to=
a beginner like myself.
There are coincident stereo arrays, like MS and XY. Then there are near-coi=
ncident arrays with ear-spaced mics like ORTF, Jecklin disk, and SASS, and =
also
> Using a pair of stereo mics as "tree ears" looks promising, if I don't ha=
ve any trees nearby, I could always strap them to my backpack=85
I=92ve done that, and propped up the pack with a hiking pole while I got ou=
t of the way. In addition that rig allowed pausing to record something on t=
he trail without putting my pack down.
> Ideally I would want a light weight portable solution (which the squirre=
l dome is not!)
There are two styles of nature recording with different purposes. Species h=
unting, for scientific study or making identification CDs, tries to separat=
e the bird from the environment as much as possible. A parabolic dish micro=
phone is best for this.
The other style is soundscape recording, capturing the whole wide-angle sce=
ne. This is useful for scientific population and ecological studies, and ae=
sthetic listening. It can be done with the variety of stereo arrays mention=
ed above. All are good!
> So what I will probably do in the mean time is gain recording experience =
just using the inbuilt mics on the recorder if I want to record in stereo, =
other wise I'll use my shotgun mike.
That is a wise plan, you learn best by trial and error.
-Dan
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