Fundamentals of Audio Production. Chapter 14

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Fundamentals of Audio Fundamentals of Audio ProductionProduction

Chapter Fourteen:Chapter Fourteen:

Field RecordingField Recording

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Preproduction planning

• Field recording requires additional planning as back-ups are not on-hand

• Redundancy in equipment, batteries, cables, recording media

• Checklists help avoid missed items

• Patience is required as field recording nearly always takes longer than expected

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Acoustics in the field

• The acoustic environment in the field differs greatly from the studio

• Eliminating unwanted sounds requires the use of hyper-cardioid microphones

• Controlling wind noise requires windscreen accessories for microphones

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Windscreens

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Recording music

• Recordings may be made from pre-fader sends from the FOH console sent to a recording device

• Recordings may be assembled from parts of several performances

• Click tracks played through monitors keep musicians playing at the same tempo during each performance

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Recording music

• Remote trucks offer the benefits of the control room on the location

• Trucks come in all shapes and sizes

• The microphone signals are split at the stage box and sent simultaneously to the remote truck and the FOH console

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Remote truck

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Stereo recording

• Binaural dummy heads provide the most accurate stereo imaging– Microphones are placed inside the head’s

“ear canals”– The stereo imaging is heard most effectively

when listening through headphones

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Stereo recording microphone set-ups

• Pairs of matched microphones may be used to achieve excellent stereo imaging using one the following techniques– X-Y– Blumlein– Mid-side– Near coincident– ORTF– Spaced pair– Decca Tree

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Stereo recording microphone set-ups

Variations on the X-Y technique using cardioid microphones

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Stereo recording microphone set-ups

Blumlein technique using two bi-directional microphones

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Stereo recording microphone set-ups

Mid-side technique using one bi-directional and one cardioid microphone

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Stereo recording microphone set-ups

Near coincident ORTF set-up using two cardioid microphones

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Stereo recording microphone set-ups

Spaced pair technique using 2 cardioid microphones (left) & 2 omni-directional (right)

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Stereo recording microphone set-ups

Decca tree using three omni-directional

microphones

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Stereo recording microphone set-ups

Boundary effect microphone

Gap to capture audioGap to capture audio

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Stereo recording microphone set-ups

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Parabolic microphones

• Parabolic microphones are useful for capturing wildlife sounds – bioacoustics

• Parabolic microphones are used for capturing sound effects and field sound at sporting events

• Sound is focused by the parabolic dish into a microphone at the dish’s focal point

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Parabolic microphones

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Parabolic microphones

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Location recording for screen

• The boom or “fish pole” allows the operator to place the microphone near the talent without being on-camera

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Fish poles

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Location recording for screen

• For decades, the recorder of choice for film sound was the “Nagra” reel-to-reel recorder.– The recorder could be synchronized with the

camera using SMPTE time code.

• Digital tape and solid state recorders now offer the same capabilities

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Location recording for screen