Has anyone done stealth recording in airports? the reason why im asking this because the permission in my city cost a lot 1 lakh rupees for an hour thats approximately 2000 usd.
So does anyone got some nice ideas to record airport ambiance?
Kindly share Please.
Bala
I´ve done some stealth recordings with a pair of Soundman OKM plugged to a Zoom or some portable recorder that you can have in your pocket or bag.
They look like ear plugs and the quality you can get from them is surprisingly good! Totally recommend!
I use a stereo pair of DPA 4060s clipped to the outside of a bag (this ensures they are about 40cms apart) going into a Sound Devices 302 mixer into an Edirol R09 recorder, both of which are inside the bag.
These are the clips I use:
http://www.dpamicrophones.com/en/products.aspx?c=Item&category=271&item=24768
I haven't used this setup specifically in an airport but I have used it in various other public spaces with restrictions on recording. It's very stealthy, unless someone happens to look inside your bag whilst you're adjusting levels, and you get very high quality recordings.
I have used the Edirol R09 on it's own in airports, which gives decent enough recordings but they don't have much width or depth.
One thing to note, which I'm sure you haven't overlooked, is an airport has to be one of the worst possible places to be caught recording illegally in. The main reason I haven't used my stealth recording rig in an airport or on a plane is that I generally don't want to be seen fiddling with a bag full of wires and flashing lights in those places.
A short article on my technique.
Stealth Recording Marantz PMD661 with Rode NT4
In the past few weeks I was getting familiar with stealth recording techniques. I managed to record sounds in crowded areas like malls, banks, markets, post offices and so on. During recording I didn’t use the in-built mic of the Marantz but I plugged a Rode NT4 stereo mic with a piece of thin black cloth as stealth device. This microphone records in better quality than the in-built one. The piece of cloth doesn’t filter the wind so this method works mostly in wind-free, closed spaces. The set was hidden in a small camera bag with only the end of the mic hanging out. At the target area I took the bag and the mic in front of me with the device turned on (the mic still hidden in the bag) and I tried to find the proper position to be able to record the best material. Unfortunately this method doesn’t provide a chance for live monitoring. It’s also pretty interesting to stand or sit still for 5-10 mins at the scene and just look out of your head :) I attached some pictures of the set and a little sound demo can be checked out too. http://debsound.com/?p=800
