I love about making audio recordings. Maybe I said that wrong. It's not the making the audio, it's the listening.
It's the hours and hours with the 'cans' on your ears till they get tender, and your bottom asleep, listening to every little tree frog and cricket chorus..... It's watching your software coming up to a 'blip' on the recording line, and hoping it's something important, or interesting. Sometimes for hours it's just the crazy beautiful cocktail of nature's night music, and nothing more. And just when the crickets are lulling you to sleep... You hear it. That loud snap of crunched brush. Then another and another in a slow steady pattern. You can tell something with real weight is making those sounds.
And my imagination goes wild. In that moment...I'm out there, and all my senses are trained on what's coming through those headphones. What a rush!
This is my recording set-up:
It's the hours and hours with the 'cans' on your ears till they get tender, and your bottom asleep, listening to every little tree frog and cricket chorus..... It's watching your software coming up to a 'blip' on the recording line, and hoping it's something important, or interesting. Sometimes for hours it's just the crazy beautiful cocktail of nature's night music, and nothing more. And just when the crickets are lulling you to sleep... You hear it. That loud snap of crunched brush. Then another and another in a slow steady pattern. You can tell something with real weight is making those sounds.
And my imagination goes wild. In that moment...I'm out there, and all my senses are trained on what's coming through those headphones. What a rush!
This is my recording set-up:
-My favorite recorder is the Sony Linear PCM-M10. It is deployed in the field in a dry box with two external mics.
My earlier recorders were the Olympus DS-30, 31 and DS61, And there were very good, but got damaged by moisture over time. (Hence the dry box).
When I first arrived here, I recorded every night. My job was to do field research, and so I recorded all night and listened to the recordings all day. I was in Sybilla heaven.
My earlier recorders were the Olympus DS-30, 31 and DS61, And there were very good, but got damaged by moisture over time. (Hence the dry box).
When I first arrived here, I recorded every night. My job was to do field research, and so I recorded all night and listened to the recordings all day. I was in Sybilla heaven.
The evening of July 6th 2012, Ronie Powell, (Tennessee BFRO, and best friend in the Universe), and I put the food down at the berm at 9:45pm..... 22 minutes later it sounded like something was very unhappy with the recorder. Listen for the growl at the 18 second mark and again at the end around the 32 second mark.
I was pretty startled when I listened to the recording. I quickly clipped it and sent it to the team. Suddenly the berm had a whole new dimension... And I was wondering if I'd bitten off a little more than I could digest. I chuckle at myself now because when I took the food out that evening.... I also took my pistol. That's how freaked I was.
Some have asked me if I ever get scared living in an active area like this... and yes, yes I do.
Tomorrow I'll share more images audio from that first summer.
Some have asked me if I ever get scared living in an active area like this... and yes, yes I do.
Tomorrow I'll share more images audio from that first summer.
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