Photo journalist Martin Edström and National Geographic have explored Son Doong cave in Vietnam’s Phong Nha-Ke Bang national park. Edström and his team of six took photos and recorded the sounds with Sennheiser stereo and shotgun microphones. The content was used to create an immersive online experience of the location.
Edström chose an SPM 8000 stereo microphone, an MKH 8060 short gun microphone and an MKH 8070 long gun microphone. All three products are part of Sennheiser’s MKH 8000 series radio frequency condenser microphones, which have resistance to unfavourable climatic conditions, such as moisture, dampness, cold and heat.
Regarding the microphones Edström said: “The SPM 8000 stereo microphone was always on recording duty, it was great for capturing the atmospheric audio. We used the MKH 8060 short shotgun microphone about 50% of the time, when we wanted to highlight a sound, for example the singing of birds, or some sounds of the river that flows through Son Doong.â€
Edström summed up: “Sound is as important as the images because it really transports you to the place. Listening to the sound gives the website visitors exactly the same feeling as we had in the cave. 360 degree panoramic views combined with the fantastic soundscape perfectly recreate the atmosphere that we experienced in Son Doong.â€