10
votes
Accepted
Why Are Professional Sound Libraries So Noisy?
I want to tell the story from the designer perspective and I totally agree with Rene's answer. I do sound design for video games. I always prefer non-edited files even if they require some extra work.
...
- 724
10
votes
Why Are Professional Sound Libraries So Noisy?
Library producer here (echo collective, echo collective:fields)
regarding cleaning background sounds -
All background fx cleaning is destructive and alters the source in some way. The reason this ...
- 10.7k
7
votes
What type of microphone is best suited for recording ambient sounds?
Since you need natural sounding stereophonic sound, you would need two cardioid mics set up as a near coincident pair.
There are actually two ways of doing this, the French (ORTF) and the Dutch (NOS)...
- 1,563
5
votes
How would you design the sound of a submersible propeller?
That cinematic soft "fwup-fwup-fwup" of a large sub prop element might nice with a low speed fabric-blade fan against upholstery. A small compressor with a long tube might be good for sustained bubble ...
- 11.1k
4
votes
Wav file matching
If you use or have access to a mac, Similarity should be able to help with this. The free version may be sufficient for your needs.
From the site:
Similarity rapidly scans your music collection ...
- 305
4
votes
Wav file matching
How is your coding? You could put together this functionality using an acoustic fingerprint library such as http://acoustid.org/chromaprint
- 61
4
votes
DIY contact microphone
Here is a nifty preamp circuit that provides a FET buffer and balances the signal, which deals with all the issues you are discussing. The circuit is based on the work of Alex Rice.) You attach the ...
4
votes
Are there any significant differences between using a dedicated audio interface and a field recorder with audio interface capabilities?
I have both devices and to be honest I wouldn't buy either of them. Haven't used H4n as interface and have used 2i2 for recording only in some rare situations, so I'll just list pros and cons.
H4n:
+...
- 606
4
votes
How would you design the sound of a submersible propeller?
I'm a big fan of the pitched down pool toys. I did a bunch of that stuff here. They aren't pitched down in the library though.
http://rabbitearsaudio.com/product/hydrophonic/
But @noisejockey is ...
- 968
4
votes
How would you design the sound of a submersible propeller?
What about not using a hydrophone, but just a contact mic instead? Since the sound transmission through water is not the frequency response you're seeking, perhaps using the drill or other electric ...
- 6,029
3
votes
Field Recording: Stereo vs. Mono
The answer is MS, or Mid-side. There are 2 types of "ambiance" situations that are very different. The first is dialogue recording with mono mics. Mono ambiances from those mics are needed to patch ...
- 131
3
votes
How would you design the sound of a submersible propeller?
There are these pool toy guns that are just long water cannon tubes, but hovering them at different depths in and out of the water and also just blowing the empty air tube into different tubs makes ...
- 1,126
3
votes
What type of microphone is best suited for recording ambient sounds?
Some past links that may be of help to you:
Binaural Recordings
Mics for ambience recordings?
How do you record your ambiences?
(This forum is a wealth of accumulated knowledge, so remember to ...
- 15.5k
2
votes
Sony PCM-M10: safety track?
I don't know that equipment, so this is not really an answer
but... even though hitting the limiter would not allow it to go over-meter, it's not going to sound nice. You'll hear it suddenly flat-...
- 7,902
2
votes
Editing field recordings
Welcome, good question!
If your recording atmospheres why are you recording only 1-3 minutes? An atmosphere develops over time and has interesting changes in it's sound, I'd advice to at least record ...
- 2,926
2
votes
Creating very heavy subwoofer sound effects
Full rattling is as Tetsujin said a matter of adding something to the mix, potentially a field recording or synthesis. However, you can get a lot closer to what your looking for by using a ...
- 758
2
votes
Field recording databases
This is a Community Wiki answer, feel free to add your finds...
Field Recording Databases
Freesound >> http://freesound.org/ (added by yunque)
+ Search by license, format, bitrate, sample ...
2
votes
Field recording databases
here's another one:
freeSFX
+ Easy to navigate thematic organization
+ Curated generally useful incidental sounds
+ Free commercial use, provided not main focus (full license)
- relatively ...
- 721
2
votes
Accepted
Is there a difference in quality of sounds recorded with different zoom field recorders ?
Out of the three, the H2n is the newer model, so has a few extra features than the others (in-built M/S and 4 chan recording). It might have quieter preamps than the rest, too - perhaps somebody who's ...
- 101
2
votes
microphone distance in spaced omnidirectional field recording
I think its a matter of personal preference - mine being roughly shoulder-width apart. Since you're experimenting with spaced omni's, be sure to look into the Jecklin Disk technique.
- 21
2
votes
Does zoom record multiple tracks seperately as different files?
The recorder supports 3 different recording modes:
Stereo: either the build-in mics OR external inputs)
4CH: a stereo file for the build in mics AND another stereo file for the external inputs)
MTR: ...
- 3,712
2
votes
Neumann RSM-191 - Can I use a Sound Devices 302 as a substitute for the MTX Box?
The MTX isn't just a matrix box that you could do on a mixer but actually the power supply of the microphone. Think it like two neumann km100 bodies for two ak20+ak40 capsules. The signals that the ...
- 69
2
votes
Niche areas of Sound Design -- Are there any?
not sure I would classify them as niche but there are different areas that don't necessarily overlap with each other and depending on where you are in the world (and your unique skills) there will be ...
- 1,304
2
votes
Are there any significant differences between using a dedicated audio interface and a field recorder with audio interface capabilities?
If you're using a smaller interface with one or two inputs, there's little difference.
One thing to consider are that the field recorder on its own is going to be running on dc power from the battery ...
- 21
2
votes
Is it possible to use a M/S microphone as a mono mic?
SOME M/S microphones provide discrete access to the Mid and Side outputs, but most provide only the matrixed Left and Right derived signal outputs.
Your question cannot be definitively answered as ...
- 1,869
2
votes
recording city sounds
Manually adjusting the gain during the recording is never a great idea. Your reactions are sluggish, so you'll probably have some seconds of clipped sounds that you'll have to throw away anyway, and ...
- 293
2
votes
Recording ants: mic recommendations?
Have you looked into condenser microphones? Instead of the dynamic mics, condensers are used for more intimate sound recordings. Additional, the Sanken brand makes some microphones for such needs. "...
- 21
2
votes
What is the best microphone type for recording natural outdoor sounds?
What is needed for recording outdoor sounds:
a high sensitivity low noise microphone
a windjammer, shock-mount, stand or boompole
a field recorder with low noise mic preamp
If you want to make ...
- 2,783
2
votes
Accepted
8 channel pass through on Behringer XAir XR18
This is a non-starter I'm afraid.
Your best bet is to simply acquire or make 8 passive splits and split the input channels prior to the XR18. Send the splits to the FOH/Monitor engineer.
- 8,695
2
votes
Recording ambient sound while minimizing phase issues
Phasing issues only occur if you are putting two sound waves together and the waves cancel each other out (e.g. summing a stereo recording to mono.) If you are recording stereo then there won’t be any ...
- 990
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible