I am aware that many of you run your own field recording blogs and many more would like to do the same; so as a parting shot to the old year I thought it appropriate to share some statistics about the attractions of field recording by publishing the 2011 annual report for this blog, prepared by the WordPress.com stats helper monkeys as follows:-

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 27,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 10 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

Have fun!

I would like to wish all subscribers, fellow field recordists and visitors whoever or wherever you are  ‘A Very Merry Christmas’, and for those of you who do not celebrate Christmas….. ‘Have a Happy and Healthy New Year for 2012′.

 非常に特別な幸せで健康な新年 to my Japanese followers and friends with whom I have enjoyed working with on the collaboration project. I am also indebted to you for the inspiration provided in gaining a much better insight into field recording, its understanding and subsequent use of captured audio. So what sound or noise do you love?

This time of the year always seems to jog my memory, causing me to reflect on past events, occasions and locations visited during my lifetime, and this year is no exception.

‘I often listen to my earlier recordings made several years previous and despite the limitations of the gear I had and the lumps and bumps of inexperience, they still act as a powerful trigger, transporting me back to the original place. Audio field recordings are more powerful than any image captured on camera and even surpass those caught on video – they are quite magical!’

So with field recording in mind I thought about the tremendous difference between some of my earlier recordings and those made nowadays. Apart from the obvious difference between availability and portability of modern digital equipment, there is also its much better audio quality and availability of fault-correction software. However these advantages may to a certain extent be offset by those less obvious differences of lifestyle and family values.

 So have a listen to the following recordings made nearly 40 years apart – to be precise 38 years, with the first recording made during Christmas 1973 at Oak Street, Fakenham, Norfolk.

The gear used to record Christmas 1973 was a secondhand Sobell reel-reel tape recorder successfully purchased with some reels of crinkly used tape and crystal microphone at the local auction (no Ebay back then). I wouldn’t wish to torture you with the full hour-long recording of an obviously musically challenged family, so have therefore selected some of the more interesting clips; needless to say the family has more than it’s fair share of storytellers!

Christmas 1973

Although Christmas 1973 was at the dawn of the electronic revolution, family values and lifestyles were much slower to change from previous generations of self-made fun, both indoors and outdoors, despite the harsh weather as seen in the  ’1954 Ice Slide’ photo below:

or the ’1954 Impromptu Football’ photo.

Once the electronic revolution changed to the digital age, those last remaining traces of self-made fun and games all but disappeared, having been ousted by personal players and games machines such as the Nintendo DS and Wii, together with commercialised ‘buy an instant party’ – so is it still fun or challenging? Well I cannot judge that, but look at the excitement and interest shown by the youngsters below!!

So next is the recording made this year with an Olympus LS11, some 38 years after the Christmas 1973 recording above.

The differences are striking not only in the size and portability of the gear, but also in audio quality and content. Gone are the sounds of self-made fun and enjoyment from those earlier lifestyles and family values; replaced instead by the incessant electronic sound loops emitted by limited bandwidth personal Nintendo DS game machines, Wii machines and accompanying televisions and computers.

The Nintendo DS Personal Game Machine

So these are the most likely sounds to be heard this Christmas………….

Have fun!

View across the Market Place

I made a visit again the other day to the market town of Diss, Norfolk. The locals were getting ready for the annual Christmas lights switch-on which is supposed to provide a bit of festive cheer for the shoppers and other visitors during the Christmas season.

Well at least this busker brought some cheer to the shoppers whilst competing with sound of delivery vehicles serving the shops. Recording location arrowed on map above.

Whenever I hear the words ‘Christmas lights’ and ‘Diss’ mentioned together, it always brings a smile to my face, as it tends to bring out not the Christmas spirit and cheer, but more like the ‘diss-spirit’ and ‘diss-content’ amongst the locals. This is usually as a result of either the lack of sponsorship, volunteer help or organisation! However, despite this annual ritual of uncertainty, the Christmas lights end up being fitted, sponsorship attracted, volunteers come forward, and the party gets organised with everyone happy – I think!

View looking South along Mere Street

It was late afternoon when I arrived and the light was fading, but I managed to take some photos to capture the atmosphere of this small market town during  daylight, then later as it got dark.

The Town Council employees and stall-holders can be heard in the next audio clip (seen in the photo below) fitting traffic bollards and setting up stalls as the last of the shoppers go about their business, whilst the busker keeps them entertained further down the street. This recording was captured whilst walking down the street – listening back to this, it reminds me of the opening theme to the ”Third Man” which was played on the zither.

View across the Market Place

 View looking North along Mere Street towards the Market Place and church

Some last-minute lighting adjustments

Anyone for a cup of tea

Looking North along Mere Street

Some nice looking joints of meat here!

Whenever I go to Diss I always try to have a word with my friends on the Mere - the ducks. This time they were quite excited at the thought of plenty of food coming their way from a nearby barbecue stall; but they were also concerned about the noise from the generator and more importantly whether the stall had BBQ duck on the menu!!

This is what they had to say…..

……………………

‘Watch out – moketo…moketo…. you’ll ged bid’   

[65-year-old man]   ‘What did you say?’  

[8-year-old boy] ‘Are you deaf?   ‘I SAID, watch out – mosquitos – mosquitos - you’ll get bit’

[65-year-old man] ‘Ok no need to shout – I can hear you  -  cheeky little bugger’

[25-year-old man] ‘No you didn’t – you said mosquito, mosquito, you’ll get hit -  so just clear-off and play somewhere else’

[8-year-old boy as he runs off laughing] ‘You’re both deaf ’

[65-year-old to 25-year-old men both scratching their heads and waving their arms around] ‘ These damn mosquitos bite hard – I’ve never seen so many’

This all leads nicely into the next subject……….

Recording Formats:

 There seems to be an ever-increasing need to record at higher and higher sample rates and bit depths, a trend fuelled by audio equipment sales hype, which is then taken up by the many Hi-Fi buffs who expound their theories on the many audio forums about the pros & cons of purchasing the latest equipment to hit the market……. it’s a form of anti-ageing cream for the audiophile.

You may have already picked up on my repeated reference to ageing, a fact of life that can be ignored but unfortunately not avoided – even by the aforementioned self-proclaimed experts. If you watched the video above, you may now be aware of your own hearing limitations – but don’t be disheartened by your findings as it’s a fact of life – we all succumb to it sooner or later!

The acknowledged range of human hearing is 20Hz – 20,000Hz, but, and this is a big BUT, it reduces quite dramatically as a result of age-related hearing loss, which can start anywhere between the ages of 8 and 20 years. For instance, a 65-year-old male tends to have a hearing loss of 77dB at the reference frequency of 6000Hz and for the same frequency this loss is 25dB for a 25-year-old male. These losses mentioned are considered as being just within acceptable audiometry limits.

In general (I’m not interested in whether you can or not, or what the highest frequency is that you can hear) the upper limits of hearing for different ages groups are as follows:

Age                            Upper Frequency Limit (kHz)

Under 24 years                 20

Under 30 years                 16

Under 40 years                 15

Under 45 years                 14

Under 50 years                 12

Under 60 years                 10

Above 60 years                7-8

We’ll return to this later.

Advances in digital recording technology has brought with it a large range of recording modes available for use in digital audio recorders; unfortunately this large choice can be overwhelming for the novice and may result in an inappropriate format and mode being chosen. In order to avoid this, a basic understanding of these figures specified for your particular recorder is essential, prior to getting out in the field and pressing that ‘record’ button.

As field recordists, we must keep reminding ourselves that we are operating at the front-end of the recording chain. We are responsible for capturing those analogue sound-pressure waves, by means of our microphones, which then convert them into an electrical alternating current which flows down the cabling to the recorder. The recorder then amplifies this weak electrical signal and then converts it into a digital signal by means of an analogue – digital converter (ADC). The digital signal may then be further processed if required, or merely stored in cells on a flash memory card.

Our choice of recording mode and format basically controls how the ADC is to analyse and convert the analogue electrical signal sent by the microphone  – it’s a very important decision to make, as it not only affects the basic building blocks of the final digitized signal, but also how it will be stored and subsequently accessed.

Here is a typical manufacturer’s specification  showing the recording modes and formats available for a modern portable recorder; which includes three of the most common recording formats currently in use. There are other less common formats to be found, but these tend to be manufactures’ proprietary ones for use with their particular equipment; to simplify matters we will stick with the commonly used ones shown here.

Recording Modes & Duration for an 8 GB Memory Card:

WAV (PCM) Format
96kHz / 24bit                3 h 50 min
96kHz / 16bit                 5 h 50 min
88.2kHz / 24bit             4 h 10 min
88.2kHz / 16bit             6 h 20 min
48kHz / 24bit                7 h 45 min
48kHz / 16bit                11 h 45 min
44.1kHz / 24bit             8 h 30 min
44.1kHz / 16bit            12 h 45 min
Mono                              25 h 40 min

MP3 format
320 kbps                        56 h 50 min
256 kbps                         71 h 05 min
128 kbps                         142 h

WMA format
160kbps                          111 h
64 kbps                          278 h

Only one of these may be considered as an uncompressed digital file, that is the WAV (PCM) format. All others are subject to processing by means of compression algorithms which basically reduce the size of the audio file by stripping out non-essential audio or bits of data. The benefits of compression are two-fold, that of being able to use smaller recorder memory cards with lower data transfer rates and the ability of the recorder to operate for longer periods and with lower power consumption. Unfortunately these benefits are offset by the reduction in audio quality, as these compression algorithms strip out sections of audio frequency considered to be non-essential for the average listener.

The WAV (PCM) format:

The WAV format is what is termed a container format, which can hold compressed file formats, but normally holds uncompressed linear pulse code modulation (LPCM normally identified as PCM) data. This format also holds additional information enabling cross-platform use allowing these files to be played on most audio players. The different modes available with this format are identified by 2-components, its sample rate and bit depth.

Let’s consider the standard audio cd WAV format of 44.1kHz/16bit. The 44.1kHz represents the sample rate at which the audio data is digitized, in other words there are 44,100 samples taken every second (44.1kHz) and the audio volume for each of those samples is then measured. How finely the signal volume can be measured or resolved for each sample depends on the bit depth available to store the information. In our example we have used a bit depth of 16, so the volume can measured and stored in the audio file as 65,536 separate bits of information. If we had instead chosen to use an 8bit WAV format then there would only have been 256 separate bits of volume information available for storage; in other words the resolution of the signal would have been much lower compared to 16bit recording.

Without resorting to complex mathematics, the sample rate of 44.1kHz immediately tells us that the maximum recordable frequency for that particular mode is about 22kHz (simply halve the sample rate) and being 16bit it will be able to record a dynamic range of 96dB (simply multiply its bit depth x 6).

Let’s repeat this simple exercise for the highest sample rate and bit depth mode, comparable to DVD audio quality (WAV format: 96kHz/24bit) specified for our recorder above:

The sample rate  of 96kHz  will enable us to record up to a maximum frequency of 96kHz x 1/2 = 48kHz

 The bit depth of 24bit will enable us to record with a maximum dynamic range of 24bit x 6 = 144dB

For those unaware of the term ‘dynamic range’, expressed in decibels(dB); it is simply the difference between the loudest and quietest sound pressure levels (dB SPL). For human hearing the dynamic range is 120dB, where 0dB is the quietest sound (threshold of hearing) and 120dB the loudest ( threshold of discomfort); but consider this, 130dB is the threshold of pain.

So looking again at the results of our 96kHz/24bit recording mode – we’re obviously pushing the limits here by recording at a frequency which is more than double the frequency heard by those youngsters with excellent hearing and probably six times higher than that which most people can hear! ………..and to top it all with a dynamic range which can inflict severe pain and damage to the human body.

As a comparison, take a check of the dynamic range of your own audio system, you’ll be surprised how low down it comes in this order of dynamic range.

http://www.audiocheck.net/audiotests_dynamiccheck.php

Apart from the obvious implications stated above, recording at sample rates and bit depths which are unnecessarily high can have a profound affect on subsequent archival file storage and in some cases the inability of other hardware and software being able to read or process the resulting audio files. Although not shown for our particular recorder, some recorders are capable of recording in a WAV format of 192kHz/24bit. This high rate can be problematic when recording direct to compact flash card as few cards can sustain the necessary write speeds for reliable recording at that rate.  

The following illustrates the large difference in file storage requirements between a few of these recording modes for a typical 30 minute recording:

Approx.
File Size (MB)                               Recording Mode &  Format

1000                                                  96kHz/24bit stereo WAV(PCM)

300                                                   44.1kHz/16bit stereo WAV (PCM)

75                                                      WMA, VBR Quality 100, 44 kHz, 2 channel 16 bit

28                                                     MP3, 44.1kHz, 128kbps Stereo

3                                                        11.5kHz, 16kbps Mono

The other two recording formats mentioned, the MP3 and WMA are both compressed audio file formats and have recently seen an upsurge in use with the introduction of personal digital audio players with access to online music stores.

The MP3 (MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3) format:

With this format, the audio file is compressed down to approximately 1/12 that of a WAV file, making them much smaller, economical to store and easy to transfer online; hence its popularity for online music distribution. The downside of these compressed files is the poor audio quality compared to uncompressed WAV files.

The WMA (Windows Media Audio) format:

This is a proprietary Microsoft compressed audio file format  which can support digital rights management for copyright protection. Although this format uses even higher compression ratios than the MP3 format, it supposedly yields better audio quality than the MP3. Its use is gaining ground over the MP3, especially for small personal digital audio players, where memory is at a premium and there is a need to store a library of music files. The WMA format is more advantageous to use than the MP3 format when used at the lower bit rates such as 64kbps.

The different modes of MP3 and WMA compressed recording formats are identified by their data transfer rates known as ‘bit rate’, in kilobytes per second (kbps), rather than sample rate and bit depth as with the uncompressed WAV format. The larger the compression – the smaller the bit rate.

Hence it will be seen from the above manufacturer’s specification that the 128kbps MP3 mode will be twice as compressed as the 256kbps MP3 mode. Although as just stated, the higher the compression – the lower the bitrate, we can also add, the lower the audio quality, but this only applies when comparing like for like formats; we cannot assume this applies when comparing different formats. It may well be that a more compressed 64kbps WMA has a higher audio quality than a less compressed 128kbps MP3 format – it tends to be subjective due to the psychoacoustic principles used in the compression codecs.

So now we know some of the basics behind the commonly used recording modes and formats, how do we make the choice of which to use?

The key to this decision is by asking yourself a few simple question: -

1. Will the audio file be archived for prosterity?

         Yes – then go to 4             No - then go to 2

2. Are you recording for high quality audio?

         Yes – then go to 4              No – then go to 3

3. Will the recording be copied for conversion to other file formats?

         Yes – then go to 4             No – then go to 5

4. Use WAV (PCM) format

If there are no specific recording requirements then make your own choice based on file storage requirements. If you know beforehand the frequency and dynamic range likely to be encountered whilst out recording, then use the simple rules of thumb mentioned above to work out the best WAV mode to cover these. Don’t get carried away by using unnecessarily high sample rates or bit depths. CD Quality WAV(PCM) 44.1kHz 16bit Stereo is a useful audio benchmark to remember, as it encompasses the full range of human hearing with respect to both frequency and dynamic range.

5. Ideal for use where file storage and transfer speeds are more important than high audio quality. The choice between the various MP3 & WMA recording modes will be influenced by the need to balance audio quality against file size.

The choice of format for use on personal players may be limited by its ability to recognize certain file formats, otherwise it’s purely subjective, based on personal preference. There are millions of music lovers around the world quite content listening to downloadable music with bit rates of either 128kbps or 192kbps in WMA or MP3 format.  At this point it might be appropriate to refer you back to the start of this post – how good is the YOUR hearing?

As a guide:

MP3 128kbps  or WMA 160kbps Stereo may be considered for higher quality internet audio.
MP3 56kbps or WMA 64kbps Stereo may be considered for medium quality internet audio, note taking etc.

If there are no important criteria to influence your decision, or you are simply uncertain, then play safe and record at the standard CD WAV(PCM) 44.1kHz/16bit format.

A word of warning: There are many good file conversion programs available capable of converting from any conceivable audio file format to another, but do not use these for converting between compressed file formats, as the resulting audio quality will be much lower than expected for the new format. If you need an audio file in some other format, then where possible always convert from an uncompressed WAV (PCM) file to the new format.

Best of luck and have fun!

 ……………

Beginner’s Guide Part I

Beginner’s Guide Part II

Rain
Some of the best field recordings can be captured whilst out in the rain, especially those incredible atmospheric sounds of nature – the thunderstorm, but it should be understood that rain, similar to wind does not produce any sound by itself; it requires some other object to interact with, for sound to be produced. There’s nothing more satisfying than recording out in the rain – if there was an ultimate field recording challenge, then it would be to satisfactorily record from outside, a fully blown thunderstorm with wind and torrential rain!

Even the lightest of rain produces a unique ambience, dependant upon the type of surface it strikes. However, if not treated with the greatest of respect, it can prove costly, resulting in damage being caused to any unprotected electronic equipment, especially microphones.

With the exception of hydrophones; microphones and water just do not mix, so it’s essential that adequate protection is provided, not only from rain falling directly onto the microphone, but also indirectly from splash-back and air-borne moisture. The first indication of water or damp damage to the microphone is that feared ‘plopping’ sound to be heard in the recordings. This can be faintly heard in the following recording as a repetitive plop, more like a dripping tap!. This fault may in its early stages be obscured whilst recording in noisier environments and may even be confused with handling noise or vibration of the tripod when recording in quiet locations. I have amplified and filtered the audio so that the defect can be more easily heard.

 The best way to avoid this damage, apart from seeking shelter underneath a non-drip cover (avoid sheltering under trees especially whilst Field Recording Thunderstorms) is to provide suitable protection – available in many forms, depending upon the size of the microphone array and how you wish the raindrops to sound in the recording.

Here are a couple of examples demonstrating how the recorded sound can be affected by different forms of protection and its proximity to the microphone.

The closer the protective cover is to the microphone, the lower the tone and more pronounced are the sounds of the raindrops. In the first recording below, the rain was falling directly onto the showerproof basket-blimp cotton cover without the umbrella being deployed as shown in the photo below.

The next recording was made with the umbrella deployed as shown above, thereby keeping the raindrops further away from the microphones, producing a much more pleasant sound.

There are times when even the gentle ‘pitter-patter’ of rain falling on a ‘hard’ protective cover is far too obtrusive for the level of ambience being recorded. In those situations a ‘soft’ cover may be used, either directly on the umbrella or by suspending it well above the microphone array. This is demonstrated by fellow field recordist Yasuo Hijikata in his photograph shown below. Apparently he always carries a large towel around with him whilst out recording in the Japanese rainforests. The advantage is that it is easily carried and capable of being rigged up within 5 mins, if required.

Yasuo Hijikata’s Towel

Looking at Yasuo Hijikata’s rather bedraggled wombat-covered blimps reminds me how essential it is to thoroughly dry out all equipment as soon as possible after recording. It’s best to remove any microphones from within blimps and place them as soon as possible in a non-humid, dry atmosphere so that any build-up of moisture has a chance to evaporate away. This of course also applies to recorders, preamps, carry bags and cases; they all tend to become moisture laden in damp/wet recording locations. Often overlooked are the cables, especially those long XLR lengths (10m+) as these are the most exposed, tending to become soaking wet, coated in mud, wet grass etc. Although this does not necessarily harm the cable itself; the cable ends, connectors and solder joints tend to suffer from corrosion through water ingress – so remember wipe and dry them out. 

I have included a short mix below to give you an idea of just a few of the many sounds that rain can produce by hitting different surfaces at varying distances from the microphone.

…………………..

Some of the information contained within this guide has previously been discussed as separate posts within the Blog. You may find this useful:

Audio Recording in the Rain
Field Recording Thunderstorms

Beginner’s Guide Part I

Beginner’s Guide Part III

Unbeknown to the beginner, there can also be a detrimental side effect to this wealth and availability of quality field recording material, as it may well encourage the setting of targets which are far too high for the beginners’ limited experience both out in the field, and later back home during the conversion process from raw audio to the desired final format.

Understandably, most experienced field recordists are reluctant to admit to having failures, least of all posting them on the internet for everyone to hear. The problem therefore is the lack of suitable material from which the novice can learn about the problems, faults and their causes. Without that knowledge, the learning curve will be that much more difficult and faults will keep popping up unannounced during subsequent field recording and post production sessions, causing frustration and increasing the likelihood of the novice simply abandoning the hobby.

In this first part we consider a few of the many common problems encountered, together with the best methods of dealing with them:-

Wind

This is one of the most common of all the problems to be encountered which often confuses the novice, mainly due to the belief that the foam covers supplied with their newly purchased recorder or microphone are suitable for the task – they are not; they are totally unsuitable for field recording.

These are the effects heard as a result of insufficient wind protection. The rumbling sound heard cannot be effectively removed in post-processing without seriously affecting the audio quality of the recording:

Garden Ambience, Diss Norfolk. Recorded 21 May 2008 19:09hrs. Mid-side stereo array Rode NT1A & NT2A(Fig. 8 pattern) microphones fed direct to Edirol R-4 recorder. Original 44.1KHz, 16Bit, 2-channel.

The solution is simply to provide satisfactory wind protection to the microphones in the form of a suitable windjammer, often termed ‘dead kitten’ for use in low velocity winds. In the case of more higher velocity winds and more extreme conditions, a blimp system may be used which not only provides greater protection against direct wind blow, but also isolates the microphones from wind buffet and handling noise from the supporting structure (including the hand); by supporting them in an elasticated suspension system within the blimp. Where unusual microphone arrays are deployed, it is sometimes better to homebrew your own system to suit the particular array as shown here with the basket blimp.

Handling Noise

Most beginners sensibly make a start with the smaller handheld or portable recorders, making use of the recorder’s own in-built microphone system. Although much can be said for the portability and extremely high audio quality of the current models to be produced, they all tend to have an inherent problem of being susceptible to the slightest re-positioning or movement within the hand or operation of controls whilst recording is in progress. This is due to the manufacturing difficulty in providing suitable isolation between the microphone elements and recorder controls and casing. I must stress that handling noise is not limited to portable or handheld recorders, in fact it is encountered with external microphones as well – they all tend to pick up handling noise, some more than others. As an example the following audio, despite being protected within a sophisticated suspension cradle still picks up handling noise.

Walking Through Dry Grass. Recorded 03 June 2010. 14:36hrs. Rode NT4 XY microphone in blimp system mounted on monopod. SD702 recorder. Original 48KHz, 24 Bit.

The only way to be 99.99% certain of avoiding handling noise is by not touching or moving the microphone system whilst recording, that means laying it down somewhere or mounting it on a tripod. If you must hand-hold the microphone and cannot afford the expense of extra equipment then at least provide some form of isolation such as wearing a glove or wrapping faux-fur around its barrel. Where portability is required whilst recording, such as in the recording above, then a shock-mount, sometimes termed a cat’s-cradle will be required, or better still one already incorporated in a blimp suspension system as shown above. If you are wondering why the mention of 99.99% certainty; that is because vibrational noise can even be induced by wind and traffic into a tripod mounted microphone.

Power Supplies

The Scout motto immediately springs to mind here – Be Prepared, although not quite as all-encompassing as their motto; nevertheless, the field recordist should always be prepared with respect to recorder, preamplifier and microphone power supplies, in particular their failure. There is nothing more dispiriting than making that special field recording trip out only to be thwarted by a last-minute failure in power supply. The consequences could be that much worse if failure occurs part-way through a digital recording, resulting in the corruption and complete loss of memory with some recorders – be warned! Removable batteries pose the least problem, just remember to take plenty of useable spares. In-built batteries are more unpredictable and have the habit of just failing at the most inappropriate moment. Make certain their charge is maintained and continually monitored, even when not in use. Last of all, if you rely on battery-powered microphones rather than plug-in, or phantom power supplied from other sources, make sure you carry spares for those as well.

Sorry, but no audio recording sample for this – it just drops out!

Clipping & Distortion

Keeping it simple – clipping is caused by overdriving the recorder’s amplifier stage beyond its handling capability. This results in the louder portions of a signal being truncated, producing distortion of the audio signal.

Digital amplifiers work best and at lower levels of self-noise, when operated at high gain levels; the aim therefore is to record with gain levels set as high as possible without exceeding 0dBFS. Fortunately most digital recorders possess a limit or clipping indicator which flashes whenever the manufacture’s preset recording limit is breached. The safest method of operation is to keep your eye on the recording level meter and lower the recorder gain setting if clipping is indicated; failing that, the recorded audio is likely to be distorted, the ‘take’ lost, and your time wasted. There are post-processing computer programs capable of repairing marginally clipped files, but as with most post-processing, audio quality is lost. This loss of quality can be quite noticeable where clipping repair work has been carried out and often results in a recording having limited dynamic range.

Setting correct recording levels is one of the more difficult aspects of field recording, often being dependant upon the predictability of the sound source and whether or not there will be further opportunity for repeat ‘takes’.

Where the recording is a ‘one-shot take’ with no opportunity for preliminary test recordings, there is a need to err on the side of caution when it comes to setting levels. However, there are some useful tricks of the trade available in order to help reduce noise by maximizing recorder gain levels and at the same time reduce the likelihood of clipping. This will be discussed in a subsequent part of the guide.

Watton High Street. Recorded 28 September 2011 16:07hrs. Soundman Classic OKMII with A3 adapter mounted in spectacle case fed to Olympus LS-11. Original 48KHz, 24 Bit.

In the above sample the recorder gain levels were set for the ambient traffic noise with enough caution built in to satisfactorily record most unexpected sounds as well, without clipping, such as the nearby motorcycle alarm encountered. However, as with most things in life, an element of luck tends to be involved in field recording; unfortunately this luck has a habit of running out at the most inopportune moment, as was the case here, when the loudest of all vehicles roared off down the street, resulting in quite severe clipping and distortion in the recording. In fact the recording is so badly distorted that it’s impossible to determine whether it was a motorcycle or some other type of vehicle.

Screenshot of the recording, with clipped area indicated by arrows.

Faulty Cables & Connectors

These faults can be some of the most frustrating to deal with as they have a habit of occurring at a critical point in the recording session, or when time is at a premium.

For the beginner, possibly dealing with shorter lengths of cabling and just a few connectors, the problem tends to occur less frequent than at a more advanced level when dealing with multi-channel recorders and cable lengths of 10m or more. These longer cables tend to be more prone to damage both out in the field or when packing and unpacking the equipment.

One of the main causes of cable failure, apart from being chopped in two by a sharp object, is due to repeated incorrect coiling and uncoiling between recording sessions. I have included a very useful video below, which demonstrates the correct manner in which cables should be coiled.

There are other reasons for cable failure in addition to mechanical strain, such as the breakdown of its dielectric insulation. This damage is less common, so will not be considered here.

Cable failure can also occur at its junction with the connector, often caused through incorrectly fitted strain clamps, poor soldering, shorting inside the connector between adjacent tabs, or through stray wire filaments etc.

So let’s hear a typical cable failure:

USAF Refuelling Tanker Landing USAF Mildenhall, Suffolk UK. Recorded 14 May 2010. 10:14hrs. Rode NT1A & NT2A (Fig 8 pattern) mid-side stereo array mounted on tripod with faux-fur windjammers fed via 10m XLR cables to Edirol R-4 recorder inside vehicle.

The cable failure was in the signal feed from the Rode NT2A  (Fig 8 pattern) microphone serving the side channel 2. It progressively becomes worse and fails completely towards the end of the recording.

This colour coded text has been bookmarked for more detailed consideration later on in the guide, once the principles of recording are more fully understood.

Beginner’s Guide Part II

Beginner’s Guide Part III

So in between appointments I walked down to the Mere (a lake) (shown on the Google map above), sat down on one of the bench seats nearby  for a short while and switched on the recorder.

I’m pleased I moved house, away from Diss, everyone there (humans & animals) were in an argumentative mood – the seagulls with ducks and the humans both with themselves and with the ducks – poor ducks they seem to get a raw deal!

So here’s the argument between seagulls and ducks and some of the same between humans and ducks. I haven’t included the argument between humans themselves, as that’s not worth listening to, you can hear that most times of the day and night nowadays!

Apart from the obvious; the most noticeable background sound was the drone and clanking noise from an excavator undertaking construction work.

Recorded 15:40hrs. 20 October 2011. Olympus LS-11 recorder using in-built microphones with faux-fur windjammer over foam covers. Originally recorded at 48KHz, 24Bit, converted to mp3 for this blog.

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Have fun.

Introduction & Mission Statement

The Collaboration Project between Sonic Fields and Nature Sounds Society Japan (NSSJP) was formed by fellow recordists having a common interest in promoting the art of field recording in an educational but fun sort of way. The mission is to produce two interesting but distinctly different textured albums of field recordings, designed to provide a sonic indication of what Field Recording is all about and what can be achieved with a variety of both cheap and expensive equipment.

Method

The method adopted is in the form of a friendly challenge, with both parties initially releasing a basic sampler album to which the other party responds with their own developed and where possible enhanced version – a form of ‘beat that!’

Background Information

Nature Sounds Society Japan (NSSJP)

SOME OF THE NSSJP MEMBERS

There has been two field recording booms, both inspired in a major way by the innovations of the well-known Japanese Sony Corporation. The first boom, called “Nama-roku” (raw recording/ field recording/ on-site recording) started in Japan during the mid 1970s, spurred on at that time by the introduction of the first portable professional tape recorder developed and manufactured by Sony. The second more recent boom started just after the start of the new millennium, again by Sony, but this time with the introduction of the NetMD Walkman minidisc recorder; however this second boom has been more sustained and universal, as smaller more portable high resolution audio recorders are continually being developed and marketed by various manufacturers, together with a wealth of pc based audio processing software.

As a result of this more recent boom, a need was identified by like-minded field recordists to share audio files, information on recording techniques, equipment reviews and scheduled location recording workshops; as a result the Nature Sound Society Japan (NSSJP) was formed on 01 May 2011.

The NSSJP mission is to enjoy field recording by capturing sounds from the great outdoors; sharing and listening to them and making them available for others to enjoy.

Current membership of NSSJP includes students, hobbyists, musicians, sound artists, DJs and professional sound engineers from around Japan, with all members having equal responsibility. Membership is open to everyone with no recording restrictions applied; the only requirements being that members should make field recording contributions available to the Society, and generally promote the art of field recording.

The Society has three administrators each elected for a one-year term. Currently (Year 2011) they are  Takatomo Miyasaka, Rocky Araki, Yasuhiro Miki

http://naturesoundsjp.org
info@naturesoundsjp.org

Sonic Fields

LAWRENCE BARKER

The ‘Sonic Fields’ blog resulted from a need being identified to promote the art of field recording in a more educational manner than that provided by the many dedicated field recording websites, blogs and forums. Although these sites make recordings available to download, they do so without any form of accompanying descriptive content of instructional value to the novice or newcomer interested in taking up the hobby. In the case of online forums, there can be too much information, much of which is opinionated, biased and of dubious quality, unsuitable for educational purposes.

This blog aims to redress the balance by providing descriptive and photographic content illustrating the techniques and equipment used, together with the field recordings captured, to encourage and instruct both the novice recordists and those interested in taking up the hobby.

Authored by myself, Lawrence Barker, this blog commenced with its first publication on 19 April 2010 and currently (November 2011) contains over 59 published posts with a steady month-on-month increase in worldwide visitor numbers and subscribers.

My approach to field recording differs somewhat from other recordists with respect to ambient and natural sound. Whereas many, especially nature recordists avoid all forms of man-made sound and where not possible to avoid, will process any such sound out of the captured audio; I however consider us humans, together with our activities, as part of the same ecosystem as the flora and fauna which inhabits the Earth and as such I will include all these sounds within my recordings. This may be just one of the reasons for the difference in sonic texture between the two albums produced in this project.

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You are welcome to join us on this educational but fun project, as we share with you our thoughts, interpretation, and progress made towards project completion and the final released albums. Hopefully these will encourage more interest in the art of field recording and be useful to aspiring field recordist by providing an insight into the many different types and textures of sound available for recording and demonstrating how wide-ranging a subject it is. 

We start with our initial samplers, composed and arranged with what we considered to be interesting subject matter as follows:

A Journey of Spiritual Enlightenment – Recorded and arranged by SonicFields is composed of field recordings carried out mainly in the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. UK over the past 30 years. This sampler represents an audio journey from the despondency of dark, gloomy confinement, through to the freedom and joy of open space.

[This sampler track has now been deleted and replaced by newer releases.] 

I often listen to my earlier recordings made several years previous and despite the limitations of the gear I had and the lumps and bumps of inexperience, they still act as a powerful trigger, transporting me back to the original place. Audio field recordings are more powerful than any image captured on camera and even surpass those caught on video – they are quite magical!

Sound Portrait Sampler Vol​.​1 – Recorded and arranged by NSSJP is their response to my album above. This clearly demonstrates the different textures of sound through their own arrangement of travelling by ear, having been recorded at different locations, different times and with different equipment.

=== The above album is Revised v2 / 2011-10-24 Add 2nd part ===

What sound or noise do you love?

Here is a lovely ‘behind the scenes’ production slide show which illustrates some of the recording locations and equipment used by NSSJP

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Initial Bandcamp statistics indicate that listener captivation can be somewhat limited where field recordings are concerned:

Complete Plays 26-28%

Partial Plays 34-36%

Skipped Plays 36-39%

Complete Plays are those listened to for at least 90% of the album,Partial Plays are those listened to from 10% – 90% of the album, whilst Skipped Plays are those listened to for only the first 10% of the album.

There could be several reasons for the high percentage of ‘skipped plays’, apart from the album being a load of rubbish! One of the main reasons perhaps relates to the genre of ‘Field Recordings’. This can mean different things to different people, with a large following preferring music composed from processed field recordings and instrumental mixes. The ‘Field Recording’ tag attracts this following of listeners who quickly realise the audio content is not what was expected and immediately stop the audio-player.

There are other reasons of course and the following sampler release is designed to test the market with shorter more varied audio tracks designed to hold listener attention. The statistical results for this will then be analysed.

[This sampler has since been deleted and replaced by one with a modified format]

Village Storm:

This release is designed to test audience appreciation of a 60 minute single-track single-subject album as opposed to multi-track or single-track multi-subject albums – see poll below.

‘Village Storm’ is a field recording of an actual thunderstorm which passed just to the north of the village of Roydon, Norfolk, UK at 17:36hrs on 15 June 2009. The storm lasted for just over an hour causing widespread damage from lightning and flooding.

This natural recording starts with the first spots of rain as the storm approaches and continues through until it slowly recedes into the distance. The recording includes the sound of rain, thunder, excited nearby children and the faint sound of a whimpering dog, a blackbird in full song; some light traffic may be heard and the distant sound of an emergency reponse vehicle siren as it attends to storm damage.

Original field recording by Lawrence M. Barker [Sonic Fields]

The following updated album ‘Sound Travel’ has now been released by NSSJP, having additional content and revised format as a 5 variable track length album with total time of 42:53min.

Of special mention is Track 3 ‘Higurashi, Summer in Japan’ [Higurashi is a common term for a species of Japanese cicadas] recorded by Takatomo Miyasaka.

…..and my final release is a 62:27min album called ‘Images of Sound’ 

 As with all the above Bandcamp embedded players, the full album details may be viewed by clicking on the player artwork/photo.

Take Our Poll

Due to the nature and fluidity of this ongoing project; any of the above albums or individual tracks may be modified or deleted without prior notice.

Please subscribe to this post to receive the latest updates.

 Unfortunately  many novice field recordists attempting to use this type of recorder outdoors quickly become disappointed with the results; especially when compared to the many pristine recordings  to be heard via the internet. This results in many either giving up the hobby, or labelling the recorder unsuitable for the task of field recording – a decision often influenced by forum chatter which is so often biased or inaccurate.

It has become apparent from various feedback, comments and questions received, that one particular stumbling block so frequently disheartens and confuses the novice and at times even the unwary, yet experienced recordist, that is the problem of wind effect on the microphones.

Often the novice attempts field recording as an extension of experience gained within the sheltered and protected environment of the home, recording direct to the computer. Any unwanted, hum, rumble, or other unwanted background noise easily being removed by a click of the mouse in post-processing.

So when the novice does eventually acquire the latest all-singing all-dancing high-resolution portable recorder complete with batteries, flash card, hand-strap, carry-case, computer patch-leads, manual and……..and…….err……… windshields…….. yes……WINDSHIELDS ….. no problem; with a bit of setup configuration and help from the manual, it’s ready for recording in the great outdoors.

AGHH! the results are terrible, most of the recording is clipped and there’s that terrible sound of wind rumble. With several years indoor experience,  the novice can do most things with audio files so heads straight for the computer DAW. These files can be stretched, compressed, filtered denoised, EQ’d, pitch-shifted, de-essed, inverted, reversed -  in fact they can be converted into something completely different; the biggest problem is  remembering what the original recording was about in the first place. So after several attempts at twiddling the buttons, the wind rumble and clipping just cannot be removed without either cutting the affected sections out completely, with but little recording left, or filtered to the extreme, ending up with an unrecognizable recording. So not to be beaten, with novice thinking it a one-off, first time and all that, goes out again; this time the wind drops, with only a very slight breeze, it must be a good take. Back inside, and guess what – yes that damn rumble is still there. This procedure is repeated over a period of one or two months, and in the meanwhile the novice does a bit of research on the internet with respect to that particular recorder and its problems. Unfortunately, bad experience pre-conditions the brain into accepting adverse commentary, resulting in the confirmation that the particular recorder purchased had useless preamps, terrible in-built microphones and completely unsuitable for field recording……Ok, so not to be outdone an internet search swings into action for the best portable field recorder (I’m not joking here - this blog actually records the search terms used by visitors directing them here and that term is one of the most frequent used)

The problem described, is one of the most common, yet least understood by the novice; not helped by the assumption that adequate microphone wind protection has been included by the manufacturer  in the form of foam covers. Let’s get one thing straight – those supplied foam covers are only suitable for light draughts encountered indoors and will not provide any form of protection, even against the slightest of breezes outdoors. It should be understood that the effects of wind on microphones such as rumble and distortion cannot be satisfactorily removed in post processing.

The problem however is simply resolved by the use of a windjammer, dead kitten, dead wombat, or whatever other term you wish to use. Unfortunately the novice then encounters a further problem; that of expense – I never cease to be amazed at the exorbitant price charged (currently £35-£50) for such a basic piece of kit. So this is how a windjammer can be made for less than £5 (make three out of a £5 sheet of long pile faux fur)

This is how I made one for the pocketable Olympus LS-11

Don’t be too concerned about the developed shape shown above, this one can certainly be improved on; it’s more about the principle than anything,  just have fun and experiment. During fitting it was necessary to trim a bit more off the top and bottom edges of the development shown above. Make certain all stitching is done with the sheet turned inside out, it’s impossible stitching from the long-pile side. Start by stitching together the sides of the ‘V’ seen on the right-hand side, followed by trial fittings as the other edges are stitched together.

Above and below photo shows the stitched windjammer as seen from the stitched side

Then turn the windjammer outside in and fit over the foam microphone covers. The provided foam covers add extra efficiency to the protection by maintaining separation between cover and microphone.

It looks like a bad hair-day, but works well!

Hey presto! -  Olympus LS-11 complete with windjammer fits into the supplied carry case – just be certain to smooth the long pile into the case when pulling the zip round to prevent the pile jamming the zip.

Here are two sample raw recordings with no processing, carried out from the same location in a slight breeze:

First recording: Olympus LS-11, no windjammer, just supplied foam microphone covers

Second recording: Olympus LS-11, with windjammer shown in photos above, fitted over supplied foam microphone covers

 As with all forms of wind protection – there are limits within which they work. As an illustration, my Rode wombat-covered blimp system only just copes in blustery wind of approx. 30mph; so don’t expect miracles with these simple mini-windjammers. At least it will enable that major stumbling block to be overcome, allowing the capabilities of those wonderful little portable/pocketable recorders to be appreciated; providing the incentive to improve and continue with the hobby of field recording.

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