Building a custom preamp
Wildtronics SAAM Microphone
An older dual head, Rode Nt1-A Microphone
Wildtronics Parabolic Microphone
I have used a lot of different equipment for recording natural soundscapes over the years. I have continuously improved all my recording gear to achieve the most life-like ambient natural sounds. Finding equipment for recording natural soundscapes has always been difficult. Audio equipment is mostly designed for studio or close subjects. Therefore, I have made a lot of my own equipment and modified things to work for the incredible difficult task of recording natural sounds. I actually started out using custom preamps connected to tape recorders, then to minidisc recorders, then to 24-bit recorders, now I sometimes use 32-bit recorders. I have increased the quality of microphones, progressive finding the lowest noise microphones I could find. I have used Sennheiser mics and Rode NT1-A microphones which most of the currently available recording have been made with. Currently, I use products I helped develop, as the owner of Wildtronics. I specifically designed Wildtronics products for recording the natural world so they work better than any other microphones for the purpose of capturing nature soundscapes. My main ambient microphone, since 2020, is the WIldtronics SAAM-L microphone, which provides wonderful stereo separation and is incredibly low noise. I occasionally use parabolic microphones from Wildtronics, as well, to capture single species. As of 2024, I haven't yet released an album using this new equipment because I have been so busy at Wildtronics.
Another important aspect of producing the best natural soundscape recordings is editing the raw recordings using computer software. Just like a good photographer edits their images to perfection, an audio engineer must also process the raw audio files to get the best sound.
You can have the best equipment, but you have to know where to go and when to record. This takes a lot of research and trial and error. There are many noise sources that will ruin any recording, like traffic noise, jet traffic, wind, and even effects of barometric pressure. Once you find areas with good soundscapes that are away from noise sources, you have to know when the best time of the year and best times of the day to record your intended subjects.
I have a lot of secret recording places that I have found over the many years of scouting around the USA and Canada. I have done a lot of backcountry camping and overlanding. Today, there are mapping resources of bird migration that are helpful. There is also map data showing where airline traffic is lower. All this information changes over time. Some places I used to have great success recording are now very weak in bird population and over burdened with jet traffic. It has gotten much harder to find good locations to record. Bird populations are rapidly declining and are receding to more isolated pockets of the most preferred habitats. Recording nature sounds has always been one of the most difficult recording tasks.
Artist selection of a sound environment is an art form. How does an area sound, is the creek too close, are the bird sounds located to give a spacious feeling, are the rock walls adding a nice reverb effect, or how can I place the mics to get a nice echo from the surrounding hills are all something to be considered when recording. We don't always have choices where one records, but I have to keep these kind of things in mind, always searching for the best locations.
Immerse yourself in the untamed beauty of nature's symphony. Let the wild embrace you.
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