Nature sound recordist Thomas Rex Beverly used a Sennheiser audio system to plunge beneath the Pacific Ocean to capture the songs of humpback whales.
Using a set of Sennheiser HD 300 PROtect headphones, MKH 8020 microphones, and a custom 3D hydrophone array, Beverly undertook two expeditions to capture spatialised recordings that no researcher had previously been able to make.
Beverly aimed to capture recordings that go beyond the typical whale song recordings which are optimised by scientists for ultra-long recordings of up to six months which are factually accurate, but not of high enough resolution to be used for spatialised sound or high-definition listening.
The HD 300 PROtect headphones are fitted with Sennheiser’s ActiveGard technology protects the wearer from sudden sound bursts without interrupting the audio signal, an additional safety feature that could prove critical for recording the varying pitch and volume of whale song. The headphones were used for long overnight sessions immersed in some of the ocean’s loudest and most dynamic soundscapes.
Beverly explained: “Not all environments benefit from a 3D recording, but the whales really do. They are spread around and often glide up and down, anywhere from 100-500 metres in depth, so capturing that dynamic was important. The hydrophones were custom-built. We got some cool, very dense recordings in Hawaii. It’s something that very few people have done, so figuring it out was always going to be tricky, but we learnt a lot of lessons.”