Project #1 - Documentation for Uncanny Dynamics

Patience is a virtue, a virtue that must be paid due diligence in the practice of field recording. What is uncanny is what happens, or does not, while field recording, especially with a new microphone.

Three times this summer I travelled to the Dell Diamond to attempt to record fireworks which are usually on Friday night home games. I did not get started early enough the first time, traffic was heavy on the interstate, and the game was shorter than I predicted; I arrived at the stadium at the same moment the fireworks began. Too late for setup. On the next trip, I discovered that my estimated preamplifier gain settings were too high, resulting in a badly distorted recording.

I built a panel with four analog VU meters with switches to select channels 1-4 of the preamplifier, set for my experimental tetrahedral microphone (refer to Soundscapes), and preamp channels 5-8, set for my TetraMic. This will facilitate a faster adjustment of the preamplifiers which, for an ambisonic microphone, need to be matched within 0.1 db.

The fireworks recording from a very successful third attempt is the segment used in this project. I recorded with both microphones on that trip to be able to compare their outputs (which is another potential project of its own). I decided to continue recording after the fireworks while waiting for traffic to clear, a lucky choice I really discovered after I was back home.