GREGORY CHAMMING’S

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https://www.gregorychammings.com/

My name is Grègory Chamming’s, I was born in May 1970, in the middle of spring,
in the midst of nature’s explosion!
I live in Lozère, at the foot of the Mont Lozère, south of the Massif Central, my house at 1000m alt
Since I was very young, I collected a lot of wild animals’ droppings, feathers, fallen nests, moulded the traces with plaster… I had even set up a small “museum” in the family cellar, and my parents’ friends who came by for aperitifs or meals, had to go through the cellar first, where I would explain them my little “treasures” collected!
I was very quickly immersed in a serene family climate, also and above all helped by my grandparents, who had a deep love of nature…

The seed was planted. My future naturalist was taking shape!

Quickly too, the world of “sound” was there:
I remember, I must have been 5 or 6 years old, my father playing the guitar and singing songs in the style of Georges Brassens. In front of him, a dynamic microphone and a big PHILLIPS tape recorder were recording him.
I enjoyed watching him press the big buttons to rewind, advance, play the tape… Then, he made his edits…
A wonderful world opened up.

My first audio cassette recorder was offered to me at Christmas 1978, at the age of 8. I did some research, I think it was the ” ITT SL 58 Super “.

From then on, no more “serious” family conversation escaped me, equipped with my magic recorder!

It was not until 1989 that I took up sound again, with a friend, with the Sony Walkman WM-D6C, and Sony ECM-MS 907 stereo microphone.

What a joy… I remember, I think, all the places and atmospheres in which we “walked” this K7 recorder!

Then came the Minidisc… It was the turn of the Sony MZ-R 35, still equipped with the same Sony stereo microphone.
Here, field recording took on another dimension. Digital is born

Today, Nagra ares BB+, Rolland R26, Zoom and Olympus equip me.
But, after having carried kilos of XLR cables, batteries, microphones and parabolas of all kinds, I go out lighter and lighter!
I now run a few introductory “courses” in “Audio Naturalism”.

I like above all the retranscription of the “sound moment”, whatever it is…
The listening of my “sound capsules” of 20 or 30 years ago, reproduce a lot of natural sounds
Those of today, far too many “anthropophonic sounds”…

“50% of the sounds of nature have disappeared in 50 years” Bernie Krause

I am a Naturalist Guide, concerned with our Environment, and the health of our Planet
I have been involved in Ethology for many years now
Our future generations must find the quietude of our Earth…
Man, find his true place, at the rhythm of Nature

“A photograph is worth 1000 words… A sound ambiance can be worth 1000 photos… »
Bernie Krause

Here a fantastic recording performed by Grègory using a parabola with stereo Baffle (see the above photo): two robins alternate duet in song!
Zoom H1n recorder

Here another great recording performed by Grègory using a parabola with stereo Baffle (see the above photo), a Song Thrush.
Zoom H1n recorder

See also here (middle to bottom of page) for an impressive recording performed at a vulture carnage. Beautiful and exciting the passage in flight, appreciable listening to headphones

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Here two recordings on 30 May 2022, at the Col de Finiels, on the Mont Lozère massif, Lozère, France. 19h30 We can hear 3 Turdus torquatus males, territorial, fighting, singing! What an atmosphere! Also, in the background Fringilla coelebs, Periparus ater, Columba palumbus, Erithacus rubecula, Certhia familiaris, Regulus igniacapilla, various dipter flies… What else…?
Zoom H2n, Mini SASS naturesound.it.

Final think of Grègory Chamming’s about the “ADVANTAGES OF SMALL RECORDERS, AND SMALL MICROPHONES” – January 2023.

Very portable weight (- for Pro systems, XLR cables, batteries…) – Simple power supply with LR6, AA batteries… – Mini size ! You can carry it in your pocket ! – Overall size – Quality, almost, or even equal now, to the “Pro” systems… – PRICE ! For a couple of Omnis mini, count about 150 to 200€ ; for a couple of Omni ” cigar ” Pro (ex. Sennheiser MKH 8020 ) count 2400€ the pair… That is more than 10x more… – Reduced visibility of small equipment, by animals and people! Ex: Installation of a PPAS, the “mini” combo is hidden very well, and is not very visible, which is not the case of the “Pro” combo -So, less risk of theft, and especially, if there was theft, material of 300 to 500€ in “mini”, against approx. 2000 to 3000€, and more, in “Pro”… – Weak wind resistance with the “mini” – Discretion, less “aggressive” to the eye, the small combo causes less fear, if you record a person, a group – Possibility of being able to “record on the fly”, thanks to the internal microphones of the mini recorder, the “Pros” not having integrated microphones… (If you forget your microphones in “pro”, don’t laugh, it happened to me…, no possibility to record…!) – More practical, and quicker, installation of the “mini” combo…

Why did I choose the Zoom H2n recorder? – 2 main reasons : The autonomy (More than 24h with 2x AA batteries!) the competition is 10 to 15h maximum. The ” intuitive ” keys, even at night, or in the pocket ! And…: Small / Well built / Price 150€ / Integrated and protected microphones, 4 modes, good quality / Good sound, with external microphones in PIP. Volume control for recording ! Lightweight and compact / 2 x LR6- AA batteries / Stands on its own!

Zoom H2n

GRèGORY CHAMMING’S IN THE STORM