Sound recording on Two Tree Island

Following our meeting with Mark Bridges, the Two Tree's warden, I've been out there couple of times to try different recording techniques. The first recording session used video as well as sound (in connection with research for another piece of work), and there was no way I could use the vibration feedback pads. However, it gave me an opportunity to become more familiar with the island's layout, and also to become more aware of the difference between recording information based on visual input (when I see a sound; for example a plane passing overhead, which then comes up on the final recording), and using the vibration feedback set up where there is a direct relationship between a sound which is recorded and the vibrations I am experiencing in real time. The latter setup makes it much easier to understand what is happening on the final recording, as it is possible to remember the vibration patterns to some extent.

We've also attempted to develop a parabolic dish to cut down on some of the wind noise experienced on the first trial recordings (thanks to Rob G. for this suggestion). A parabolic dish can "be used for concentrating energy in the form of sound to make a highly senstive and directional microphone." The model/template we've used can be found at http://freespace.virgin.net/ljmayes.mal/var/parabola.htm which was chosen because the design "allows free choice of focal length, aperture and overall size" so was adaptable to our needs and our equipment. It also came with a downloadable Excel spreadsheet for making the calculations, which is a big bonus if you're not so mathematically minded. Apparently this model is also suitable for building a solar cooker; "A cardboard paraboloid a metre or a metre and a half in diameter can easily gather enough infrared rays from the sun to cook a sausage (or your hand - be careful)."

However, whilst our first attempt works very well in studio set up, (see picture) it doesn't fare so well in a strong wind in the open air. This seems to indicate that whilst the structure itself works, the materials we have used (card - just to see if it worked - and also recyclable if it didn't) are too flimsy for windy conditions, so we'll call our first attempt a maquette for a more sophisticated model (time permitting). The maquette is also rather unwieldy and may be too large for the microphone and stand, so the ideal material would be both light and rigid - possibly something built on to a skeleton framework based on the maquette structure - and possibly also slightly permeable to the wind (so that it doesn't become an "umbrella" and take off the wind catches it, although it would make an interesting kite and could be a curious variation on the spy kiting phenomenon). Would kite materials work? Alternatively we can try creating an external skeleton to add to the card maquette.

There are also some practical difficulties with the recording set up, which are about trying to use your hands for listening while at the same time using your hands as your hands; if you're setting up the microphone whilst wearing the feedback pads on your hands, it's easy to pull the amplifier wiring out or break it, and additionally there are problems with feedback. I'm sure hearing people would also experience practical problems if they were trying to turn a microphone on with their ears.
Stuart has now downloaded the resulting recordings and we are examining these to see what can be used within AWSoM. There are some interesting results which show how different it is for me as a deaf person making live field recordings and how my experiences of sound influence the end result. For example, on some of the recordings you can pick up the sound of the arm of my coat rubbing against the side of my coat, something I'm not aware of as a "sound", but which is obviously something I feel as it happens, but my brain doesn't register it even as "feel sound" , although it has a tactile aspect. An interpreter I worked with recently mentioned something similar happening when a deaf speaker - who was wearing a lot of jewellery - was addressing a deaf audience creating a jingly sound throughout her talk, which was no distraction to her or the audience. It may be that over the course of making the recordings for AWSoM, in addition to capturing the sounds of the island, there will be a large body of accidental sounds relating to the process, which hopefully I can use in another work.