除夕的陽明山夢幻湖 Menghuan Lake at Yangmingshan NP on Chinese New Year's Eve
2025-02-28除夕上午的台北陽明山夢幻湖 (Menghuan Lake at Yangmingshan NP, Taipei on the morning of Chinese New Year's Eve, February 28, 2025)
陽明山是台灣的國家公園，也是熱門的觀光景點，不論平日假日，遊客總是絡繹不絕。
而陽明山冷水坑附近的夢幻湖是台灣國家級溼地，在我開始接觸田野錄音不久就聽過它的鼎鼎大名，可以說是台灣自然音景的示範場所，所以我每次去夢幻湖錄音，有一半總是帶著朝聖的心態前去的。
以前沒有開始田野錄音時，到陽明山的目的僅是為了健行，雖然我會有意識的會駐足於偶然的自然靜謐之中，打開視覺以外的聽覺、嗅覺與觸覺，感受蟲鳴鳥語及樹影婆娑的聲音、青綠及泥土的氣味、微風輕拂過的輕柔。然而開始田野錄音將注意力完全集中於聆聽時，各種人為的噪音便無所遁形，對於期待純粹大自然聲音的聽者而言，無疑是個震驚的事實。也無怪乎只要是認真看待自然音景錄音的人，似乎不可避免的成為關注環境保護的一份子。
Yangmingshan is a national park and a popular tourist destination in Taiwan. Whether on weekdays or weekends, it is always bustling with visitors.
Menghuan Lake, located near Lengshuikeng in Yangmingshan, is a nationally designated wetland in Taiwan. I had heard of its renowned reputation shortly after I began exploring field recording. It can be considered a model site for Taiwan’s natural soundscapes, which is why every time I go to record at Menghuan Lake, I do so partly with a sense of pilgrimage.
Before I started field recording, my visits to Yangmingshan were purely for hiking. Even then, I was conscious of pausing to experience moments of natural stillness — opening up my senses beyond sight to listen, smell, and feel: the sounds of insects and birds, the rustling of trees, the scent of greenery and earth, the gentle caress of a breeze. However, once I began field recording and focused my attention entirely on listening, all kinds of human-made noise became impossible to ignore. For someone hoping to capture the pristine sounds of nature, this is an unsettling reality. It’s no surprise that anyone who takes natural soundscape recording seriously seems inevitably drawn toward environmental conservation.
回到正題，這次我選擇在除夕的上午前往夢幻湖錄音，希望可以將人為的干擾降到最低。
我想要取得比較開闊的音效，所以攜帶了全向式的SDC麥克風來進行AB錄音，但麥克風支架的選擇卻出了錯。我用3支K&M 23550組成的folding stereo bar，在使用迷你麥克風是很輕便的解決方案，然而SDC麥克風外加避震架及防風罩的重量會造成麥克風支架穩定性不夠，很容易就鬆動。思考各種解決方式都不可行後，不得以只好將麥克風掛在湖邊平台的看板邊緣，雙手拉著麥克風線不讓麥克風掉到水裡。
Back to the main topic — this time, I chose to visit Menghuan Lake on the morning of Chinese New Year's Eve, hoping to minimize human-made disturbances during the recording.
I wanted to capture a more expansive sound, so I brought along a pair of omnidirectional SDC microphones for AB recording. However, I made a mistake in choosing the stereo bar. I used three K&M 23550 folding stereo bars, which work well as a lightweight setup when using mini microphones. But the added weight of the SDC microphones, along with the shock mounts and windshields, made the stand unstable and prone to loosening. After considering various solutions and finding none feasible, I had no choice but to hang the microphones on the edge of the signboard on the lakeside platform, holding the mic cables with both hands to prevent them from falling into the water.
手持式AB錄音 (Handheld AB recording)
可能是冬季所以蛙並不活躍，夢幻湖只有零星的蛙叫聲。錄音中可以聽到來自右邊距離較近有一隻蛙叫，外加今天的風比較大，風噪聲比較顯著，而且我對人少的期待也落了空，遊客並沒有因為除夕而減少，聊天、汽車及飛機的噪音不斷地進入麥克風的收音範圍，最終我錄了1個小時左右就逃離似的回到冷水坑坐公車下山。
上一次我在夢幻湖是採用ORTF錄音，這次改用全向式AB錄音的效果我很喜歡，開闊的錄音讓我比較容易有身歷其境的感受，好幾次我坐在沙發上聽著聽著太舒服就不小心睡著了。
Perhaps because it was winter, the frogs were not very active, and only occasional calls could be heard at Menghuan Lake. In the recording, there is one frog call coming from the right side at a relatively close distance. Additionally, the wind was quite strong that day, so wind noise was more prominent in the recording. My hope for fewer people also fell through — the number of visitors didn’t decrease despite it being Chinese New Year’s Eve. Conversations, car engines, and airplanes constantly entered the microphones’ range. In the end, I recorded for about an hour before escaping back to Lengshuikeng to catch the bus down the mountain.
The last time I recorded at Menghuan Lake, I used an ORTF setup. This time, I switched to an omnidirectional AB configuration, and I really liked the result. The openness of the recording made it easier to feel immersed in the environment. More than once, I was listening to it on the sofa, got so comfortable, and accidentally fell asleep.
錄音筆記
地點類型：內陸自然溼地，海拔約870公尺
天氣：晴朗有風，氣溫約15度
錄音方式：AB60，麥克風高度約120-130公分、近距離面對溼地
使用器材
錄音機：Sonosax SX-M2D2, iPhone上的Apogee MetaRecorder
麥克風：Schoeps CMC1U MK2
錄音設定：+20dB pre-gain及+35dB gain、RX後期+6dB及20Hz HPF
Recording Notes
Location type: Inland natural wetland, elevation approximately 870 meters
Weather: Clear and windy, temperature around 15°C
Recording method: AB60, microphone height approximately 120–130 cm, positioned close and facing the wetland
Equipment Used
Recorder: Sonosax SX-M2D2, Apogee MetaRecorder on iPhone
Microphones: Schoeps CMC1U with MK2 capsules
Recording Settings: +20dB pre-gain and +35dB gain; post-processing in RX with +6dB gain and 20Hz high-pass filter (HPF)