Workshop Descriptions

We are preparing to cover these topics as time and interests dictate. If you are planning to bring equipment that could interface with or expand upon these topics, let us know on your reservation form and we'll fit it into the activities.

Topic	Location	Description

Sound Ecology	Camp A	Selecting habitats for recording dependent upon species, season, time of day and weather conditions. Particpants will assess a number of sites by autromobile.

Parabolic Dish Stereo Sound Recording Techniques	Camp A	Use and popular designs of parabolic dishes for isolation of sound sources at a distance.

A/B Omni Location Ambience Recording Techniques	Camp G	Use of MBHO 603a/KA100DK and Panasonic WM-61a capsule mics for capturing the qualities of local acoustics. Recordings made during this session will be analyzed and equalized during the Equalizing Field Recordings Workshop.

M-S Stereo Sound Recording and Mixing Techniques	Camp G	Use of Sennheiser MKH-30/40 and Rode NT1-A/CAD M-179 Mid-Side Pairs. We'll mic a variety of sounds and use a laptop to explore M-S matrix mixing.

Equalizing Field Recordings	Cabin	Use of digital equalization apps like Equim to improve the resulting transparency in a field recording.

Stereo Editing and Multi-channel Layering/Mixing Basics	Cabin	Use of freeware and commercial multi-channel editing softwares and principles of stereo imaginig and track layering.

Surround Sound Field Micing Techniques	Camp G	A location will be scouted and mic'd with six channel recording with Rich Peet's laptop surround recorder based on an inexpensive PC laptop, 8 ch RME Hammerfall Multiface/QuadMic and modified Sennheiser mkh-110 mics.

Surround Sound Studio Mixing Basics	Cabin	Using surround recordings made during the current and previous workshops, the exploration of spatial imagining using Logic Audio with a Dolby 5.1 with full-range matched speaker array.

Live in the Western U.S.? Another workshop will be held on the same weekend in the Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, Shasta-Trinity, CA Sponsored by the Nature Sounds Society.

“Surrounded by Sound” -20th Annual Field Workshop
Friday - Sunday, May 21 – 23, 2004
Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, Shasta-Trinity, CA
This year’s workshop features a change of venue to the beautiful Shasta-Trinity area outside Redding, co-sponsored by the Oakland Museum of California/California Library of Natural Sounds and in partnership with the National Park Service. The theme, “Surrounded by Sound” refers to a dual goal of the workshop: awareness that we are surrounded by sound of some kind in every aspect of our lives, and the technical focus of the workshop on surround sound recording and playback. Featured speakers include Lang Elliott, nature sound recordist, author and producer; Sam Easterson, videographer whose work is now focusing on capturing nature from the point of view of animals and plants, in his work with “Animal Vegetable;” Michael Stocker, acoustician, musician and naturalist who has been advocating on behalf of healthy ocean soundscapes; Jim Cummings, nature sound producer and acoustic ecologist/activist; and Dan Dugan, sound engineer, on the latest technology in field recording. Additional workshop session leaders will include Rudy Trubitt, sound engineer and recordist and Arlyn Christopherson, master teacher and retired Education Director for the Oakland Zoo. Topics for the event will cover the field of bioacoustics, biology, music, and other related areas; field trips with experienced sound recordists and the opportunity to use a variety of different kinds of equipment. The event will be held at NEED Education Camp in Whiskeytown NRA, a modern facility on the banks of beautiful Clear Creek. Registration for the workshop may be made on the attached PDF and faxed or mailed to the museum. Cost is $185 members, $210 non-members. Contact events@naturesounds.org or (510) 238-7482 for further information, or to submit your registration by fax, complete the registration form (pdf) and fax it to (510) 238-3393.