Urban Birder

Sound Recordings

spiny-cheeked honeyeater NR example

in

This clip is a after and before comparison of the use of noise reduction on nature sound recordings. While the Izotope RX denoiser plugin is quite effective at eliminating background hiss examining the clip using a sonogram shows that some fine detail in the recording is also lost.

Spiny-cheeked Honeyeaters at Round Hill

in

This chorus of Spiny-cheeked honeyeaters was recorded at Roundhill NR in NSW just before sunrise. A spotted night-jar also makes an appearance close to the start. Red-capped Robin can be heard through the later part of the recording.

The original recording has a heavy layer of hiss which is probably due to the recorder running on close to flat batteries - they died completely shortly after I finished record this. I've used a demo copy of the Izotope RX noise reduction plugins to reduce some of the more prominent hiss and ApEQ to reduce the low frequency wind rumble.

Early morning on Bennets Gorge Track

in

This recording was made at Gundabooka NP shortly after dawn. I'd initially positioned the mikes in a spot that had few birds calling so I moved the mikes about 100m to a stop just off the road to Bennet's Gorge where Grey Shrike Thrush were calling. Species that can be heard in the background include Crested Bellbird, Rufous Songlark and Blacked Eared Cuckoo and Horsfield's Bronze-Cuckoo.

The recording was made with an Oade Brothers modified Tascam HDP2 and a pair of Audio Technica AT3032 omnidirectional Mics.

I've added a short 7 second section of predawn stillness to the end of this recording to give an idea of the level of noise generated by the recording chain.

Gilbert's Whistler

in

Gilbert's Whistler recorded New Years Eve morning at Terrick Terrick National Park, roughly 230km north of Melbourne. Conditions were somewhat windy and not especially conducive to recording.

  • Artist: Paul Jacobson
  • Title: Gilbert's Whistler
  • Length: 3:52 minutes (4.25 MB)
  • Format: MP3 Stereo 44kHz 153Kbps (VBR)

Eungella Honeyeater

in

Recorded at Gamma State Forest, Near Eungella, Queensland, in fairly windy conditions.

  • Artist: Paul Jacobson
  • Title: Eungella Honeyeater
  • Year: 2008
  • Length: 0:55 minutes (1.42 MB)
  • Format: MP3 Stereo 44kHz 217Kbps (VBR)

Mount Samaria Dawn Chorus

in

This is an edit of a 18 minute recording of the dawn chorus at made at the Spring Creek camp ground, in the Mount Samaria State Park. The morning was cold (approx. 0degC) and clear. Birds that can be heard in this recording include Superb Fairywren, Scrub Wren, Eastern Whipbird, Gang Gang Cockatoo and many more....

The recording was made with a pair of AT3032 mics, a diy stereo mic preamp and Sony Minidisc recorder.

After waking to find the power switch on the mic preamp had been bumped when loading into the car and I had to change batteries in freezing cold conditions I decided that a recorder with built-in xlr mic inputs and phantom power was the only sensible way to go....