Advanced Wildlife Sound Recording

This two-day course with Chris Watson aims to explore aspects of field recording in more depth. It is particularly aimed at those who have already taken our Wildlife Sound Recording course, but if you already have good experience of sound recording in the field it may also be suitable.

The bulk of the course will be taken up with recording in the field - experimenting with different techniques and microphones, including hydrophones and surround sound systems - and then analysing the results back at base.

The course is taught by Chris Watson, one of the world's top wildlife sound specialists who regularly works for the BBC, and assisted by audio specialist Jez riley French.

The location is Whitwell Hall Country Centre in the centre of Norfolk, UK. Accommodation is shared rooms (or there are nearby bed and breakfasts/hotels if you prefer), and there will be excellent home-cooked food.

It is expected that you will bring your own sound recording equipment for working in the field although of course you will also be able to use some of the provided specialist equipment.

Itinerary

Day 1 : Aim to arrive by 6pm, directions will be sent when you have booked your place.
7pm - evening meal served
8pm - introductory chat - who we are, who you are, and what we will be doing over the next two days.
Evening walk around the grounds in preparation for the morning chorus, possible also some evening chorus and night time recording. Weather dependent. Rigging microphones for the dawn recording.

Day 2:
Dawn (3-6am) - recording of dawn chorus in the grounds of Whitwell Hall.
Breakfast and break.
10am - a discussion about the sound recording fieldcraft and techniques we will be practising. This will include the selection of appropriate microphones, microphone placement, rigging and cabling, mono, stereo and surround sound techniques and the use of hydrophones and contact mikes. This will be followed by practical work in the grounds of Whitwell Hall and analysis of the morning's dawn chorus recording.
1pm - lunch (followed by a rest break for those dawn recorders!)
4pm - tea and cake
4.30pm - further fieldwork including the use of hydrophones in ponds
7pm - evening meal served

Day 3:
3-6am - option of night-time recording and/or recording of dawn chorus in Foxley Wood - Norfolk's largest ancient woodland.
Breakfast and break or further practical
1pm - lunch
2pm - critical analysis of recordings made over the weekend
4pm - course ends

Staff/Tutors

Chris Watson - experienced sound recordist specialising in wildlife - Chris also runs courses in wildlife sound recording and post production at the BBC Natural History Unit, and lectures internationally on location sound and sound design. He has worked closely with two of the most high-profile natural history presenters in the business, David Attenborough and Bill Oddie. He is Oddie's favourite sound man and the TV veteran says of Watson: "I don't know anyone who is so intense yet so splendidly frivolous." Chris became a sound recordist in 1981 when he joined Tyne Tees Television and is now widely regarded as one of the most creative sound artists in the business. His recent credits include the hugely popular Springwatch and Autumnwatch, and he received the Wildlife Film Asia Award for the BBC's Galapagos: Born of Fire. Watson also creates for the radio, with credits including Soundscape: The Sea Swallow, Watersong and The Estuary all for BBC Radio 4. See www.chriswatson.net

A selection of superb natural sound CDs by Chris Watson are now available from our Wildeye Shop at www.wildeye.co.uk/chriswatson.html.

Jez riley French is a composer, artist & audio specialist whose output involves elements of intuitive composition, field recording (using conventional & extended methods) photographic images (including their use in photographic scores) and improvisation. He has performed, exhibited and had his work published widely across the world and also lectures in both field recording and intuitive composition as a guest lecturer. Recently he has been artist in residence at organisations in Japan, Korea, Italy, Belgium, the Czech Republic & the UK.
Jez also makes & sells his own hydrophones and contact mics (http://hydrophones.blogspot.com/) + runs the ‘in place’ project with a website exploring various aspects of field recording & related work. In recent years Jez has been working closely with specific architectural spaces, capturing a sense of place that is both highly personal and yet offers the audience a fascinating opportunity to look and listen anew to the environments in which we spend our time. http://jezrileyfrench.blogspot.com/

Piers Warren - Principal of Wildeye - Piers is well known throughout the wildlife film-making industry as the editor of Wildlife Film News and producer of wildlife-film.com, which he created in the 1990s. With a strong background in biology, education and conservation, he has had a lifelong passion for wildlife films and has a wide knowledge of natural history. He cut his teeth in the industry as a sound engineer and multi-media producer, running a studio for many years. He is one of the founders of the international organisation Filmmakers for Conservation and was Vice President for the first three years. Piers is the author of many magazine features and several books including Careers in Wildlife Film-making and Go Wild with Your Camcorder - How to Make Wildlife Films.

Booking Information

Costs: £295 per person
This includes tuition, accommodation, and meals.

Dates:
18-20 May 2012

To be informed of future courses please add your email address in the column on the right to receive Wildeye Bulletins.

Booking: If the home page shows that there are places available for the course of your choice - please complete the online application form and send in your deposit/fee as detailed.

Advanced Sound Recording Staff and students May 2011

Thanks to the following companies for loaning equipment for the training:

Korg - MR-2 1-Bit Portable Recorder
Olympus - Linear PCM Recorder LS-11
Rycote - windshields, windjammers etc
SCV London - Fostex recorders and microphones