Setting levels
Gain is set before the first sound of a session, with the wind or rain already running. The aim is a peak about eighteen decibels below full scale in the loudest channel, which leaves room for gusts that arrive without warning. Once set, gain is not changed. If a level has to be changed during a session, the session is ended and a new file is started, so no file contains a mid-take gain change.
Positions and wind protection
- Arrays are placed at a height of about 1.5 metres on open ground, and lower on harbour walls.
- The position is marked on a sketch in the log.
- Positions are never moved during a session.
- Every capsule has a windshield suited to the site.
- Ridge sessions use a large furry shield over a basket mount.
- Harbour sessions use a smaller shield, because a large one catches the chain noise.
- Rain sessions use a cover over the array, with the gap to the roof measured and written down.
Logs and time stamps
Each session has a log that starts with the gain values, the position sketch, the weather and the wind direction. During the session, the recordist speaks a time stamp into a separate track every ten minutes, and the log records anything unusual with the time. The stamps make it possible to find an event in a six-hour file by its time without listening to the whole session.