Boosting Field Recorded Audio

I was out at 4 am a few weeks back recording coyotes in the outback here in Arizona.  The recording on my Edirol R09 at 24-bit/48-kHz was good, but the recording level was very low at -39dB.  I couldn't get the volume level anywhere near my target of -12dB in my DAW, so in order to boost the signal boosted I went with a hardware solution.

So I ran a line-out from the Edirol R09 to a Rolls Promatch MB15b, which converts consumer stereo level signals to professional line level signals and provide audio amplification.  Then to further amplify the signal, the output from Rolls Promatch was directed to a Behringer U-PHORIA UM2 2x2 USB Audio Interface.  The UM2 has a preamplifier and dedicated output level control.

The output of the UM2 was send via USB to my computer and imported using Magix's Audio & Music Laboratory.  I was able to achieve the volume increase, but I was somewhat disappointed in the signal-to-noise ratio.  However, the next step will be to filter out the noise and then work to create sound-design with the coyote yelps.

MZUNGU's Last Edit?

It has been ten years since I was in Africa traveling and filming MZUNGU.  It has been ten years that I have been working on the 'digital film' MZUNGU.  And that's exactly how long it needed to take. Below is a list of possibly the last editing notes from reviewing current version of the film.  I feel I'm finally 'there' both from the artistic side and working with the technical challenges.  

CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE

For MZUNGU, my goal on the technical side was to develop 480P digital video and mini-DV tape (mid-2005 consumer imaging technology) in order to express its full potential from that era - while at the same time scaling-up the image to current HDTV technology.  Coincidentally, this type of vintage footage was ideally suited for artistic expression to convey a perception what I experienced in Africa. These textured images invoke dreamlike environments that mirror stages of sleep and consciousness.

RWANDA - OCTOBER 2006

THE DOME

Adam Ray out of Tucson is crafting an artistic film "THE DOME" about the structure which features a dome that I am constructing with cob in Arivaca, Arizona.  This earthen structure will be my post-production studio and environment for film-making and other media projects.

Due out in early February 2017, this work will be produced by Taxman Entertainment with additional production and distribution by Psychotropic Films LLC.