NSS participants

Learning from the pros

This last summer, I had the opportunity to attend the annual meeting of the Nature Sounds Society, which met near Yuba Pass, California.  I was able to tie the meeting in with my annual summer visit to family in northern Nevada.

Yuba Pass is north of Truckee, California, and is a beautiful area of towering pines and firs.   The actual meeting was held at the San Francisco State University’s Sierra Nevada Field Station, a rustic enclave on the banks of the North Yuba River.  The drive from Carson City to the field station was gorgeous, except for the road construction in Kings Beach at Lake Tahoe.  The meeting convened on late Friday, and after some time getting to know one another, dinner, and a very interesting presentation by Steve Baumgardner about some documentary work he’s doing in Yosemite, we headed off to our respective tents.

It seemed like I had just dozed off when the 3 am alarm came the next morning.  We groggily headed out to record the dawn chorus in the lovely Sierra Valley.  Donning hats and gloves against the near-freezing temperatures (quite a change from the 110 degrees I left in Arizona!), we set up our mics and quietly listened as the first birds began to greet the day.  These were grassland and marsh birds – something I’ve not had many opportunities to record before.

Misty morning in Sierra Valley
Misty morning in Sierra Valley

After recording in Sierra Valley for awhile, we headed over to Carman Valley for breakfast and more recording.  I was able to borrow a Telinga stereo mic setup from Dan Dugan, and did side-by-side comparisons with my trusty standby Audio Technica mic.  My fears were realized: the mic I’ve been using for field recording is pretty noisy, which is why I have to spend a ridiculous amount of time editing the sound files (on the plus side, I’ve become a half-way decent editor).  Then it was back to camp for some down time until lunch.   After lunch, the crew of instructors (Dan Dugan, Steve Sargeant, Greg Weddig, and Sharon Perry) covered a variety of field recording techniques and equipment.  After dinner, Steve Sargeant gave a presentation on an interesting podcasting program he’s doing to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Wilderness Act.

On Sunday morning we got to sleep in until 3:30 am, before heading up to Yuba Pass for recording amidst the tall trees.  An entirely different suite of birds (nuthatches, chickadees, grosbeaks, juncos) and tree squirrels greeted the dawn, one by one adding their voices to the chorus until it was hard to imagine that a temperate woodland could be so full of song.  It was easy to hear why this area has become somewhat of a mecca for nature recordists, thanks in large part to the Nature Sounds Society and Cornell Lab of Ornithology workshops.  Some of these birds I had not heard much from since I left Montana many years ago – it was like being among old friends.

We finished up the workshop at Madora Lake, a lovely mix of pond habitats and deep woodland.  I borrowed a stereo parabolic dish, and had great fun focusing the dish on the bullfrogs and red-winged blackbirds at the lake.

Madora Lake California
Madora Lake

The meeting was great fun, and it was good to learn so much about equipment and recording techniques from professional sound guys.  It was nice to be able to compare different mics, and get expert advice that will help me improve my future recordings.  And it was nice to be able to record in some new habitats.  I left with the determination to learn how to build my own microphones for using in the field (stay tuned!).  I look forward to attending more meetings in the future.

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Photo at top by Dan Dugan: me listening to the sounds from Steve Sargeant’s (on right) mini-Jecklin disc, as Sharon Perry looks on.

Recording in Sierra Valley made with Sony PCM-M10 with Audio Technica AT2022 mic with Felmicamps pre-amp. Recording at Yuba Pass made with Sony PCM-M10 and Telinga clip-on mics.

7 thoughts on “Learning from the pros”

  1. What do I think? I think this blog is fascinating and fantastic with lots to learn for novices like me. I do some nature sound recording too (with my Marantz PMD 661 Mk II and Sennheiser K6/ME66) and would like your advice on some good books to refer to particularly in the area of field recording techniques and post processing. Most books, seem to be geared to meet the demands of the film industry folks (hobby or professional).
    All I do now is hold the microphone, making as little noise as possible. And back in the computer I just chop off the unnecessary bits, keep the main bird or the soundscape in focus, push the volume up a bit. And that’s it. I am sure there is more to it than that 🙂

    1. Thank you for the comment, and I’m glad you found something useful on the blog! There are not many books for nature recordists (I plan on starting a “beginner’s guide to nature recording” after the start of next year). Although still geared toward the film and sound effects industries, you might find some info in book by Ric Viers and Paul Virostek. There are also a lot of great tips in Bernie Krause’s book, “Wild Soundscapes.” I haven’t found any good guides to post-production yet, as most appeared to be geared to the music industry where you’re mixing many tracks. If you are not already following the Nature Recordist’s yahoo group, I would suggest that you do. Lots of good tips there for equipment and techniques, including post. Have you run across other books or sites that you found useful and want to share?

      1. I certainly did find a lot of useful things in your blog. Thanks for alerting me about Bernie Krause’s book. I wasn’t aware of it. The book is expensive as it is but I find that here in India it costs almost double the price in the US, which makes it quite expensive. Will have to wait for some friend to come back from the US to bring it over. Although the book is relatively old, I am sure the basic principles, field craft and techniques would have remained the same.
        Regarding other interesting blogs – I recently discovered this. But being an American yourself, you might already be aware of it. If not, I think you will like it.
        https://stanmeyer.com/blog/category/field-recording/

        1. Thanks for the link to the blog; I was unaware of it, and indeed it is very interesting. If you haven’t yet, check out the Nature Soundmap. Perhaps there are some other recordists in India that you could network with.

      2. The Ric Viers book arrived the other day. I like the writing style but for the basics it’s entirely geared towards the foley artist. But still it is useful. Thanks once again for the suggestion.

  2. I love the NSS folks. A trip to their Yuba Pass gathering in (?) 1996 was a crucial part of my turn toward sound and listening and the launch of EarthEar. Paul Matzner (designer of the Oakland Museum habitat soundscapes) and Jason Reinier were central folks then; Jason ended up doing Day of Sound with EarthEar. I went back one other year as well, and always like seeing Dan and Sharon when I’m in the Bay Area. I’m glad you got to meet and enjoy them all!

    1. Hi Jim. It was great to meet Dan and Sharon and the other sound folks. I find it interesting the number of different paths that led people to nature sound recording, as well as how they go about it.

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