imgNew York, NY (May 1, 2013)—David Monacchi, an Italian researcher and eco-acoustic composer, is using DPA miniature microphones to record the sounds of the rainforest for his long-term environmental sound-art project.

Monacchi, who is Professor of Electroacoustic Music at the Conservatorio G.Rossini in Pesaro, Italy, is collaborating with various institutions, including Greenpeace, on the project, which involves traveling to some of the world's most remote areas of intact rainforest for a project entitled "Fragments of Extinction." "Its aim is to collect sound data and complex soundscape portraits of some of the oldest ecosystems on Earth, many of which are being damaged and are disappearing at an exceptionally fast rate," he says.

DPA's Italian distributor M. Casale Bauer supplied Monacchi's two Hi-Sens DPA 4060s omnidirectional miniature microphones with accessories.

"I use several microphone techniques in the field, most of which involve quite heavy and complex systems," Monacchi explains. "DPA miniature microphones are extremely lightweight and this makes them highly suitable to field work where I may have to hike long distances in extreme terrain."

"The DPA 4060 microphones are so small that, if appropriately arranged in a handmade stand, they can be used for self-worn binaural recordings," he explains. "Their dimensions are perfectly suited to being placed at the entrance of the ear canal. This feature is especially useful for binaural recordings where, in order to collect the three-dimensional information, it is important that all the sound reflections from the pinna are picked up in a linear way.

Monacchi adds, "They have very good tonal quality, linear behavior and immunity to infrasound vibration-driven noises-all of which are very positive characteristics in the field."

DPA Microphones