Just posted an excerpt of the field recordings I did in North India earlier this year. Using SoundCloud for the first time for this.

Recorded with a Sennheiser MKH8020/ MKH30 MS stereo microphone configuration to a Sound Devices 702 recorder. MS converted to AB stereo at the recorder stage.

SoundCloud uploads are transcoded to 128 kbps mp3 format for streaming. That’s still twice as good as MySpace.

Beginning of next month I will be going on a recording trip to Corbett National Park in North India. On the trip also will be Chris Watson.

Corbett is situated in the foothills of the Himalaya mountains in the Nainital and Pauri Garhwal districts of Uttaranchal at altitudes ranging from 400m to 1100m. The forests, jungles and grasslands feature some of the richest wildlife in the Indian sub-continent.

Mammals are typically Rhesus Macaques, Langurs, Leopards, Jungle Cat, Leopard Cat, Fishing Cat, Dhole, Jackals, Red Fox, Sloth Bear and the Black Bear. Near to 600 species of birds can be observed and reptiles are typically the Gharial Crocodile, the Muggar (Marsh Crocodile) but also the Indian Python, Viper and the King Cobra.

This will be a unique opportunity once again to work with Chris and learn from the master in wildlife recording.

My recording kit so far looks like this:

Sound Devices 702 recorder
Sennheiser MKH 8020/ MKH 30 mid side kit
DPA 4060 spaced omni kit

Going to Italy next month travelling through Tuscany and then setting up near the small town of Gubbio. I was there last year. So being more familiar with the surroundings should make things easier. 

Being mobile and travelling light is not exactly compatible with trying to make as high as possible quality recordings. The stereo rig will be a Sennheiser mid-side setup but I also plan to do as much hydrophone recordings as possible. Part of the trip will be following the River Arno upstream out of Florence. Let’s see how that goes.  Pelican cases to the rescue.

Gear:

Sennheiser MKH 60
Sennheiser MKH 30
DPA 4060
Aquarian Audio H2a-XLR hydrophone
Sound Devices 302 field mixer
Nagra ARES-PII+ recorder

The DPA’s will find their place in Chris Watson’s tried and tested sonic coathanger setup. One of the things I learned when we were with him last December.

The Nagra continues to amaze me. No other recorder delivers such high quality in so small a package. You can put it in the inside pocket of your jacket. 2-track only but such great preamps, phantom power and 24 bit resolution.

2 field trips are upcoming that will be the source for interesting recordings I hope.

First it’s off to Aix-en-Provence and the Camargue region in southern France. Hope to catch atmospheres on the salt flats over there. Proper wind shields will be a must I expect. 

Then it’s off to Gubbio and environs in the Umbria region in Italy. Nightly summer ambiances to catch. This will all be a good opportunity to put the Nagra Ares-PII+ to the test. Still figuring out which microphones to take.