For Chorus and Cuisine Namibia , Sabine K mper embarked on a culinary journey through the African country and its lodges, recording the staff choirs as she went. That perhaps sounds a little unusual at first, the author said, but not when I tell the story that led up to it. In 2008, I was at The Fort' lodge in the Onguma Game Reserve in the Etosha National Park. After an excellent dinner, many of the female guests begged the chef to reveal the recipe for his soup. He did so, and everyone was happy. I can understand them, as I'm also a passionate collector of recipes when I'm travelling. I also like to buy CDs of the typical music of the country as a holiday souvenir. In Southern Africa, it is customary on many of the lodges and guest farms for the kitchen staff or even the entire team to perform a few traditional songs after the meal and that was the case in Onguma That was the birth of Chorus and Cuisine'.
Safari feeling between the covers of a book
In 2012, Sabine K mper and her partner Detlef Overmann finally set off for Namibia to visit a total of 18 selected lodges and to record the staff choirs, collect recipes and photograph the dishes. It was clear to me, of course, that I would have to do a lot of improvising when it came to the audio recordings we could expect to be recording in all different kinds of rooms, from libraries to laundries. For that reason, we needed microphones that guaranteed good recordings whatever the situation, and so I turned to Sennheiser's experts for help, said K mper. They recommended that she used MKH 8040s not least because of the high temperatures at the location, as K mper was also planning to make outdoor recordings for another project.
In the end, we never actually needed to record in a laundry, K mper recalled. Most of the time, we somehow managed to squeeze the choir into our lodge room or we were able to record in the kitchen. Once, the lodge manager even let us use his living room. We used an ORTF arrangement for the recordings and fed the sound from the pair of microphones directly into a computer via a small Mbox2 interface. This lightweight and compact audio system provided us with excellent recordings. After the rough cut, I asked the audio engineer what he had done to the recordings to make them sound so perfectly rounded', and he said: Not much. I only put the songs in the order you wanted
Soundscapes in the Kalahari
Sabine K mper and Detlef Overmann also used their journey through Namibia to make recordings for a second project. For Soundscapes , they recorded typical sounds of the country, which Namibian artists could then use as a basis and background for music compositions. For the atmospheric sounds, for example, I thought of the barking gecko in the desert, the dawn chorus of birds and the sound of antelopes at a waterhole. I wanted to record village sounds or simply the rushing of the Atlantic waves, Sabine K mper said. A major challenge in all of these recordings was wind noise, as it can often get quite stormy in the desert in the evening. The author also worried about the microphones being constantly exposed to fine sand dust.
The Rycote windshield prototype was just what I needed, and the equipment turned out to be extremely sturdy. I was able to record really wonderful natural background sounds, and the production with the artists is scheduled to begin in 2013, said K mper. The microphones were simply fantastic. On the very first recordings in the bush in the Kalahari, I always noticed a kind of buzzing and whizzing sound that I couldn't explain. The interface was OK, the headphones were fine, the microphones were working perfectly as always, and there was nothing wrong with my ears In the end, I found out that I had recorded the wing beats of some weaver birds on a tree some distance away. Well, I'd already been fascinated by the MKHs, but now I was absolutely in love with them!
MKH microphones from Sennheiser
The MKH microphone series from audio specialist Sennheiser works on the RF principle that the company has been using for more than 50 years and has refined to absolute perfection. The benefits of this microphone principle are high climatic resistance, low inherent self-noise and the wide frequency range of the microphones, making them ideally qualified for even the most unusual applications.
About Sabine K mper
Sabine K mper is a freelance journalist and author. She is a great fan of radio and audiobooks. Her publishing company kuduhear takes up the African tradition of narrative and oral culture in a modern way. It presents documentation and stories from and about Africa. Each audiobook is a small journey on the African continent. They feature a mix of original sounds, interviews and music; the recipe books come with a CD with accompanying music. These will soon be complemented by readings of safari stories and novels. Chorus and Cuisine Namibia (ISBN 978-3-942143-03-5) has German and English texts and is now available at amazon.de. www.kuduhear.com.
Download full press release
Link to PDF (view & download)
Link to PDF (view & download)
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
When Canada qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2026, OneSoccer knew this wasn'...
04/07/2026
Celebrates company's 80th anniversary
Rhodes have recently revealed that they will be producing a limited run of electric pianos in celebration of their...
04/07/2026
Blackmagic Design Cameras Empower Youth Broadcasting Program
Brie Clayton July 3, 2026
0 Comments
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro and Blackmagi...
04/07/2026
iZotope Joins Boris FX
Boris Yamnitsky July 3, 2026
0 Comments
iZotope, the team behind RX and Ozone, is joining Boris FX. A letter from founder Boris...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
03/07/2026
New bundle & three Single Packs
Continuing to expand their already sizeable orchestral collection, VSL's latest release introduces three new Single Pack...
03/07/2026
Venue installs new ATC-equipped control room
LSO St Luke's, a unique music venue that also serves as the home of the London Symphony Orchestra, have rec...
03/07/2026
Caden Pearson appointed new Commissioning Editor for NITV
3 July, 2026
Media releases
National Indigenous Television (NITV) has strengthened its commitment...
03/07/2026
1 February 2023
SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
Munich, Germany, 1st February 2023: Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software technology for digit...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Death Star
Andy Marken July 2, 2026
0 Comments
Look, I can't get involved. I've got work to do. It's not that I like the Empire; I hate i...
03/07/2026
Berklee's New Visual Identity: Honoring Our History, Building for What's...
03/07/2026
Scripps Research scientists awarded $2M to advance global disease surveillance Two Gates Foundation grants will expand wastewater surveillance and AI-driven dis...
03/07/2026
Joan Pulupa joins Scripps Research faculty to study the organization of DNA in brain cells and its links to neurodegeneration Using smell-sensing neurons and ad...
02/07/2026
Entering her senior year, this hometown girl is paving a career in live sports production gaining experience in replay and audio and as a TD
In the live-sports...
02/07/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
02/07/2026
BLAST, a competitive entertainment company focused on esports, has announced more than $133 million in revenue for 2025, representing more than 40% year-over-ye...
02/07/2026
Riedel Communications has announced official SKAARHOJ panel support for SimplyLive production workflows, enabled through the SimplyLive 2.1 release. The integra...
02/07/2026
The Fire Rescue Service of the Czech Republic has deployed LiveU video-over-bond...
02/07/2026
Gravity Media USA has announced the appointment of Brittney Boston as Head of Business Development, effective July 1, 2026. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, Bosto...
02/07/2026
TwelveLabs, a video intelligence company, has announced $100 million in Series B funding co-led by NEA and NAVER Ventures, with participation from Amazon, Radic...
02/07/2026
The Pro Padel League (PPL) has announced a broadcast partnership with USA Sports that will air five PPL championship matches on CNBC during the 2026 season, the...
02/07/2026
LiveLike, a digital fan engagement platform, has announced eight confirmed FIFA ...
02/07/2026
Cobalt Digital has received Future's Best of Show Award, presented by AV Technology at InfoComm 2026, for its blueCORE family of standalone signal processor...
02/07/2026
Synamedia has announced the appointment of Dr. Tzvi Gerstl as Chief Executive Officer. Paul Segre, who has served as CEO for the past six years, will transition...
02/07/2026
The Esports Foundation (EF) and Sony Group Corporation have announced an expanded collaboration for the Esports World Cup 2026 (EWC), taking place in Paris, Fra...
02/07/2026
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. ( Z') has announced exclusive broadcast and digital rights for the Bundesliga in India for five years, beginning with the...
02/07/2026
An effort uniting News, Sports, Local, and Telemundo, the 50+-camera live produc...
02/07/2026
Zoey Deutch, John Slattery, Ken Marino, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, and Ben Wang appe...
02/07/2026
Stammering, stuttering, strangulated tones
The Crow Hill Company's latest creation promises to be the most original sound set they've produced to d...
02/07/2026
A new era in unmixing and spectral editing
The latest version of Steinberg's spectral audio-editing software has just arrived, building on the strength...
02/07/2026
Aims to simplify additive synthesis
Sine Machine is the debut launch from Melatonin, a Vienna-based developer who have spent the past six years creating wha...
02/07/2026
Products to remain fully active & supported
Following the news of Native Instruments joining the inMusic brand line-up, Academy and Emmy Award-winning visua...
02/07/2026
What you missed!
Last weekend, Saturday 27 June 2026, saw the debut of Sound On Sounds new GearExpo UK event, the largest dedicated pro-audio event to take ...
02/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/07/2026
Following the successful launch of its inaugural APAC Mentoring Programme last month, the Rise AV APAC Regional Council will bring the conversation around mento...
02/07/2026
Blackmagic PYXIS 6K Used to Shoot Director Takahisa Zeze's Cry Out
Brie Clayton July 2, 2026
0 Comments
Highly mobile camera supports tense and de...
02/07/2026
Broadcast Solutions acquires BFE, expanding its lead in European broadcast, medi...
02/07/2026
Berklee Alum and Faculty Perform at Boston Public Library's 250th Anniversar...
02/07/2026
Broadcast Solutions GmbH, a leading systems integrator and provider of innovative solutions for the broadcast media industry, is acquiring BFE Studio und Medien...
02/07/2026
Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has extended the ingest facility at leading Brazilian sports company LiveMode, work...
02/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/07/2026
Standalone processors acknowledged for the innovation and value they bring to Pro AV
Cobalt Digital, a leading designer and manufacturer of signal processing ...
02/07/2026
Synamedia announced today the appointment of Dr Tzvi Gerstl as Chief Executive Officer. Paul Segre, who has served as CEO for the past six years, will transitio...
For Chorus and Cuisine Namibia , Sabine K mper embarked on a culinary journey through the African country and its lodges, recording the staff choirs as she went. That perhaps sounds a little unusual at first, the author said, but not when I tell the story that led up to it. In 2008, I was at The Fort' lodge in the Onguma Game Reserve in the Etosha National Park. After an excellent dinner, many of the female guests begged the chef to reveal the recipe for his soup. He did so, and everyone was happy. I can understand them, as I'm also a passionate collector of recipes when I'm travelling. I also like to buy CDs of the typical music of the country as a holiday souvenir. In Southern Africa, it is customary on many of the lodges and guest farms for the kitchen staff or even the entire team to perform a few traditional songs after the meal and that was the case in Onguma That was the birth of Chorus and Cuisine'. 
