Sound Around

Sound Around

Ambience: Dawn Chorus, Mariposa Grove Yosemite

Just as a photograph can document the way a place looks at a moment in time, a soundscape recording is a dynamic reminder of how it sounds. I’m Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet.

Dugan: A soundscape recording can be used aesthetically for its beauty, or it can be used scientifically for counting the species that are active in that area.

Dan Dugan is an inventor and an engineer who has been recording soundscapes for over 20 years.

Dugan: I’m a technical nerd and I love equipment and engineering, and nature sound recording combines art, science and camping. What could be better?

This is one of Dan’s recordings of a dawn chorus of birds in Yosemite National Park. We’re hearing it in stereo, but it was recorded in Surround Sound.

Dugan: Well, nature is all around, so it makes sense to record it in at least stereo, and since we now have a legacy of technology coming from the movies, we can record nature in surround sound, which is the way nature actually is. It’s all around. The minimum set up for surround sound would be four channels. You’ve got a left front and a right front, and a left surround and a right surround. So you need a four channel recorder.

More on soundscapes in future programs. I’m Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet. You can hear this and previous programs on our podcast.

Sound Around

Documenting the sounds of nature.
Air Date:10/13/2017
Scientist:
Transcript:

Sound Around

Ambience: Dawn Chorus, Mariposa Grove Yosemite

Just as a photograph can document the way a place looks at a moment in time, a soundscape recording is a dynamic reminder of how it sounds. I'm Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet.

Dugan: A soundscape recording can be used aesthetically for its beauty, or it can be used scientifically for counting the species that are active in that area.

Dan Dugan is an inventor and an engineer who has been recording soundscapes for over 20 years.

Dugan: I'm a technical nerd and I love equipment and engineering, and nature sound recording combines art, science and camping. What could be better?

This is one of Dan's recordings of a dawn chorus of birds in Yosemite National Park. We're hearing it in stereo, but it was recorded in Surround Sound.

Dugan: Well, nature is all around, so it makes sense to record it in at least stereo, and since we now have a legacy of technology coming from the movies, we can record nature in surround sound, which is the way nature actually is. It's all around. The minimum set up for surround sound would be four channels. You've got a left front and a right front, and a left surround and a right surround. So you need a four channel recorder.

More on soundscapes in future programs. I'm Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet. You can hear this and previous programs on our podcast.