25
That's ridiculous.
I don't agree with that comment at all. Just because you're using sounds that you didn't personally record doesn't mean that you're not making creative choices. Very seldom will library sounds work perfectly for the project you're working on, and it's up to you to mold and shape those sounds and make them your own.
Should everyone be ...
15
I'm with Jay on this one. Nice answer, Jay.
I personally do not think that was right for him to tell that designer.. Kind of ironic that he'd be out of business if everyone recorded their own effects, but that's beside the point. I also think that one sentence from Ric might be being taken out of context a little here and I do see where he is coming from. ...
12
A webcam mic is going to be nowhere near good enough to record infrasound.
Most mics, good or bad, aim to capture sound between 20Hz & 20KHz [the approximate absolute limits of human hearing]. The cynic in me would say that roughly, the higher the price, the closer to achieving that they may get.
Then there are specialist mics - made by some very ...
10
I wonder what would have happened, had the sound designer lied and said 75%...
I think perception is all the matters in the end. Recording your own fx can let you follow your sound-vision more accurately; but library FX search/selection/placement is an art that's often looked down on. You'd think that people in an often under-appreciated industry like ours ...
10
IMO loud sounds require many channels of audio. Its very difficult to get a good recording of a loud sound with just two tracks because of how many parts a loud sound can be broken into (each requiring a different gain setting and mic perspective)
I typically try to evaluate and cover the following parts:
low end - how much low end is the sound generating ...
9
When I am designing sounds, I would be incredibly happy to admit that I recorded 20% of the source I'm using. But, more often than not, I'm pulling from libraries. We just don't have the time/budget to record everything we need for a project. You can try recording stuff between gigs and building your library, but even those become "canned" effects that ...
9
It matters less if all parts are being played in tune and on time, but in multitrack recording scenarios, this is rarely the case, so the logic is thus:
Record drums first to give all other parts a temporal and metric reference.
Record bass next because it typically plays on strong metric pulses, and because harmony is grounded in the lowest note in the ...
8
That depends... In Sweden we call ambiances "atmospheres" which I think is a better word for describing the function of ambiances.
An ambience tells us where we are and what we should feel like.
When I started out working with post sound I used to think ambiances was all about putting a lot of stereo recordings on top of each other to create a fill... Now ...
8
Threshold is the point set for when the compressor actually starts compressing once the volume of the program or track reaches above that level. Note that it's a static volume, so if you have a voice or instrument that is all over the place due to levels, you might want to do a pre-leveling with a fader/volume automation to even it out so it's always hitting ...
8
I'm stuck in San Francisco, but my wife commanded me to walk her through setting up my rig over Skype. Can't wait to hear what she records for me!
UPDATE: She chickened out :p
8
To reflect on your first question, Randy is referring to a psychoacoustic principle that falls under something called "scene analysis." I don't know that he's necessarily read a ton on psychoacoustics...but whether or not he has, the different effects are something that you begin to pick up on after a certain amount of experience. Basically, what's going on ...
8
What you are looking for are called "stems" or "raw tracks" and are generally only made available by artists who actively want to promote remixes of their works.
Some good sources are:
Weathervane Shaking Through
Real World Remixed
Nine Inch Nails Remixes
Mike Senior's multitrack downloads library
mixoff.org
8
Have done a few scenes like this before. Not sure what you mean by broken though, is that a state other than flickering? Most scenes like this seem to be variations of flickering.
It's definitely worth recording some as the 'plink' sound you get from them all is different, as is the buzz and and hum. For the long tubes you can use some worn out starters to ...
7
Short answer: of course!
If you're worried about reflections indoors, well it's part of the space and perspective/realism. So don't worry about that. People see a big room, they except it to sound like a big room. Obviously there are limits, but until you're dealing with higher budget stuff, I wouldn't worry!
The times where you simply can't use a ...
7
From my observations, these are the most used MS pairs in field recording:
Sennheiser MKH 40 or 50 (or 8040 or
8050) paired with an MKH 30 or MKH 800
Schoeps CMC bodies with MK4 or MK41 capsules paired with an MK8
Schoeps CCM4 or CCM41 paired with a
CCM8
Neumann KM100 bodies with AK40
or AK50 capsules paired with an AK20
There are also single stereo MS ...
7
Hi guys, well here's a tip for you. Ive been using a Nuemann KMR81i for 90% of foley recording. Been doing foley for more than 25 years, so have tried it all. The 416 was the standard many years ago but it does have a nasty kick around 3k which really bites with chains, keys or foot grit, the KMR 81i is much warmer. The 416 is what I use for location foley ...
7
I put up a bunch of recordings yesterday if you want to check some of them out. It was quite a night. http://sepulchra.com/blog/?p=1959
7
Deep and resonant with less sharpness sounds like you want to put the mic underneath the piano pointing up at the sound board. You'll probably want to move it around down there and experiment with how it sounds in different places pointed towards different parts of the sound board. I'd start off pointed toward the bridge in the middle of the board, ...
6
The numbers you give seem to me to be when (post-prod) mixing. That's where I aim voice levels to be in a soundtrack. Talking purely about recording: I record dialogue as high as possible, obviously with safety. I aim to get the best wanted signal (voice) to noise (background) ratio. So the loudest moments will be just below 0. Depending on performance, ...
6
The first is that he said that one of his huge trade secrets in sound design are sounds that continually change in pitch just slightly. This way, they clash less with music and dialog and can be heard better through the mix because they're constantly changing. This makes a tone of sense and is genious. The question is...what would you use to do that?
I ...
6
By no means a canonical list, but what I've found has become most useful to me, in situations like yours (recording SFX in a controlled interior as opposed to field recording):
Know your polar patterns. Shotguns vs. cardioids vs. omnis, etc. etc. - they all have unique advantages and disadvantages that indoor conditions usually amplify.
Know your room. This ...
6
Hey Young George, emails aren't contracts. And getting someone to sign a contract is usual business practice, so go ahead and do it without feeling uneasy about it.
You can tell him it's how you always work, if you fear it will create distrust, but it never happened to me in the past. And if he doesn't want to sign it that's a huge red flag.
6
There are two main elements to this answer-
1) Room- This is VERY important. I recorded an actor screaming (should've brought my earplugs!) in a wardrobe room. The room was small but not too small and the hanging clothes worked pretty well for difusion. We checked out a few different rooms and found this one to be the best. Not too dead and not too ...
6
Sell your Pro Tools license and equipment and buy Reaper.
It's cheap, good and functional.
With whatever left of this trade off you can buy some decent recording equip.
You can also get a UAD soundcard for heavy duty processing and analog emulation.
In short: If you have a limited budget you don't need Pro Tools.
Now, the rest of it - equipment, ...
5
I also don't agree with this sentiment - Sound design is about telling the story and creating the emotion, especially for a show reel. I love hearing fresh and exciting newly recorded sounds but that is only one aspect of the whole sound design process, ultimately the only thing that is important is what comes out at the end, how you get there is totally up ...
5
Seconded on the details selling it. I had to design a bunch of train car impacts a while back and ran into similar problems with getting things to sound massive. Don't think that your pitch-shifted layers will make the entire sound - they can provide some low body, but all that high tinkly, full-res stuff is also really important.
My quick tips in addition ...
5
A couple of thoughts. Go to a trade show like AES or NAB. Many of the dealers have mics set up on the floor feeding a preamp with headphones. Also, a few dealers will lend out demo mics for you to check out.
That being said, field recording and sound design is such a niche field, that there is no way to check out all of the gear before you buy. I bought my ...
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