I got an AudioMoth and wrote a bit about my recent experiences with it. Here’s one of my first recordings, made while I was asleep.
https://disquiet.com/2023/06/23/backyard-soundscape-recording/
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Hi Marc, I left a comment on your blog post re: some potential approaches for summarising and locating key events/trends in reams of audio data. It involves data science, but it might be of interest. 
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Thank you! I have, by no coincidence, been reading up on your blog on this topic.
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Hi!
Tomorrow, the socks and tights factory in my village will cease its activity permanently after more than 100 years.
I have asked permission to enter to make some field recordings.
I have in mind to use my binaural/stereo omni mics (primo EM172) and maybe a contact mic.
Any tips or suggestions?
Thank you so much.
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timp
2035
Defintiely a contact mic, or two if you have them, but ideally with sync mics as well. Quick rule of thumb: touch a surface with your finger, if its gently vibrating then its a good candidate. In industrial/dirty situations its also worth using a clip/clamp (rather than double sided sticky tape or blutak) - I always carry a couple of sizes of clips for exactly this reason - this is big clamp (smaller ones are like office supplies used to hold 30 A4 pages together)
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Thank you so much. Unfortunately, I didn’t bring the contact mic in my backpack last Wednesday, that was the last day the factory was working on. However, I did some interesting recordings (more than 3 hours of raw material): the operation and shutdown of different types of machines and turbines, general environments…
I’ll share with you the results as soon as I edit them properly.
Thanks for the tip!
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Hi - just a quick noob question, Logic has kinda given me a push to use my iPad a lot more for music, so I’ve been considering rather than buying an interface of the iPad getting something like a Tascam DR-40x or Zoom H4n and also start exploring field recording too. But I’ve scanned the thread and it seems like a few people have mentioned noisy preamps.
Aside from mics, guitars and synths will be the main sources I’d want to record, suppose I’ll probably need to DI them. I figure that you get what you pay for with this kind of stuff, so I’m not expecting pristine quality or anything like that, so long as they’re basically usable? Grateful for any views.
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xmacex
2038
Are there any audio recorders which do something with MIDI? I’m not super sure what it could be, but I feel this would make sense somehow. Start/stop recording, send level, spectrum or stereo field information, change settings, playback…
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sns
2039
It’s not MIDI but Sound Devices Mixpres (6 series also but with an adapter) can be controlled remotely (bluetooth) from their Wingman app, really useful for controlling levels and to quickly enter metadata (scene/set/name etc.), they can also natively receive TC from an HDMI signal to sync recording start/stop to a camera.
I know Zoom have something similar at least for their H3VR recorder, but never used it.
I agree that’d be a great thing to have an open standard for communicating with recorders via midi or OSC, but I think most of them are oriented towards syncing with video gear.
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Can I please ask if you’ve done any recording using the very high sampling rates of the AudioMoth? I’ve been looking for a device that could “slow down” bird song without too much of a loss in “quality” and this looks very interesting.
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I haven’t but I’ll try this week
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Short walk to nearest powerstation with priezor.
A few good percursive clicks near the end.
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The newish Zoom F3 is a handy relatively cheap high quality field recorder and 2 channel audio interface you might want to take a look at - not sure how it would work with an iPad though as I don’t use one for music 
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The F3 works beautifully with an iPad as it’s USB class compliant. Especially nice and easy if you have an iPad Pro with USB-C. I use mine regularly with the iPad, both as an audio interface for recording, and as a storage device.
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Thanks for sharing — some really nice, almost metallic, overtones happening!
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You want to swing priezor by the cable (check the handle grip is tight). You’ll get some nice morphing drones.
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Hey , thanks, very kind of you!
@alanholding this is especially the case if you’re looking to record and transpose ultra high frequency sounds - such as bats. Definitely upgrade the resolution to 96 kHz and beyond.
The only drawback I’ve found with AudioMoths is negating the signal to noise ratio in quieter environments and if enclosures for the device are involved. It’s reliant on a pinhole mic after all. However, if the acoustic energy of the sound you’re documenting is strong enough, then this shouldn’t be an issue.
I haven’t done this yet, but modifying an AudioMoth with an external microphone would be another way of a) getting the mic out of the enclosure; b) improving sound quality; and - in conjunction with a focused acoustic apparatus (such as a parabolic reflector) - c) isolating the sound your interested in documenting. Here’s a link to DIY project I came across the other day: AudioMoth with external microphone – nocmig
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Yes, great tip. The thing is, it all sounded like hum from ground loops most of the time, I had to aim very deliberately an carefully to get more variety, even very slight shift in position and I was back to dull humming. But I’ll try letting it rotate hanging from the cable next time.
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That’s the nature of the EM field these substations create, they are large and stable. If you find the end of chain distribution net and point priezor at it you’ll get a drone at the exact Hz the grid at your country runs, here’s 60Hz, quite massive.
Regarding swinging priezor, you are effectively changing the position of capture, and also creating rotation over its axis which is very interesting since you only capture sounds from direction of the normal of the heptagon, so you are basically crossfading through different fields.
For me this was the point when I realized field recording doesn’t have to be passive, the most exciting part was to perform over what’s given by the medium. I have to point out a guy moving weirdly holding an antenna with headphones on is quite the sight.
The most interesting sources for me:
- defibrillator station (sounds like an electric cicada)
- car panel and front, starting up, idle and revving the engine. Got a 3 octave chord somehow.
- bus ride. You can tell exactly the time the driver is pushing the throttle.
- subway ride.
- fire alarms and other security building boxes.
- intercoms at building entrace, with a numpad and so.
- screens are fun, lots of micros at high Hz you can explore across the surface.
- induction stoves.
- wireless Qi chargers. Idle you get a beat, add a phone and fun things happen.
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