Showing posts with label Sound Recording. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sound Recording. Show all posts
14.4.10
Open Music Archive - Music in the Public Domain
Open Music Archive is a collaborative project to source, digitise and distribute out-of-copyright sound recordings. The archive is open for anyone to use and contribute to. A useful resource if you are looking for public domain music for your films. Public Domain means that all intellectual property rights have expired and that the work may be used by anyone for any purpose.
3.6.09
SoundsSnap Sound Archive
SoundsnapFrom BBC Click
If you are a music producer and are looking for some interesting new sounds to use in your work, then soundsnap.com will be a goldmine for you.
We love free stuff, especially if it helps us become a little more creative, and here you can download all sorts of sounds for use in music, video and audio productions.
It even has some funky sound effects for your website or presentation.
Once you have registered and confirmed your address, you can start downloading or uploading samples straight away.
Use the buttons on the opening page to jump to the categories. There are animal noises, comic sound effects and classic musical samples such as drum loops and much more.
These sounds are royalty free to use worldwide. But make sure you read the terms and conditions carefully before uploading anything to the site.
From BBC Click
2.2.09
Barnaby goes to Bangla: Composing for the Natural World
If you're interested in how composers make the music for wildlife films, take a look at this 10 minute film called Barnaby Goes Bangla on the BBC You Tube site.
It's a short companion film to the latest Natural World called Man-eating Tigers of the Sundarbans about how Barnaby Taylor composed an original and emotional score for the film with Bangladeshi musicians and their traditional instruments.
With funding from BBC Music Publishing and the Natural World, Barnaby was sent out to Dhaka to record the music accompanied by cameraman/editor Steve White.
It's a short companion film to the latest Natural World called Man-eating Tigers of the Sundarbans about how Barnaby Taylor composed an original and emotional score for the film with Bangladeshi musicians and their traditional instruments.
With funding from BBC Music Publishing and the Natural World, Barnaby was sent out to Dhaka to record the music accompanied by cameraman/editor Steve White.
16.1.07
Microphones Tips and Tricks
Microphones for a basic natural history recording kit:
* Coat Hanger Microphone - special contraption used on Life in the Undergrowth
* Radio Mics
Also
* Parabolic reflectors - for pinpointing sound
* What is Stereo Sound? A/B and M&S Stereo.
The coat-hanger set-up:
This is simply a rig of two personal mics (like Sony ECM 77s, ~£400 per mic, quite weather-proof) on a coat hanger. He used 2 in order to record in stereo. Each one had a small Rycote windshield (£20 for a pair of little black ones) - well worth getting.
Personal mics are omni-directional, so are great for very natural sounds, but bad if you have background noises like traffic or people. They pick up base/low frequency sounds well.
For small animals (ants) or small spaces (zebra rib cages) you can reduce the distance between the mics (bend the coat hanger). Then, when you play the recording back through speakers, it ‘opens up’ the sound - a good thing.
Radio mics:
Never put the word ‘radio’ on a carnet (including radio video links). Instead call them ‘remote’ microphones. Anything that transmits a signal can get you in trouble!
British radio mics are only licensed in the UK. There are specific channels and frequencies that you are allowed to use. In the USA hire special US licensed radio mics, or you will be breaking the law. Richmond Film Services in the US are good for this, and on average the radio mics will cost £22 a day. If you use an unlicensed frequency you can have other people using it (such as taxi drivers and bootleg radio stations!). In very remote places you could get away with it.
Parabolic reflectors:
These are basically gadgets for acoustic amplification, and the closest thing we get to a ‘zoom’ microphone. The ‘dish’ is cleverly made to focus all of the sound made by one animal into a mic, thus amplifying the signal. If you are pointing the parabola at a group of animals, you can place a stereo mic in the middle. Generally it is mono though.
Technical stuff:
You can record at two different sample rates: 44.1 kHZ (like a CD) or 48 kHZ (like digital cameras, DATs and digis).
A higher sample rate (48 kHz) means that you sample MORE, so is better - lower sample rates reduce the quality of the recording (but check which one your production will use to make post production go more smoothly!)
Recordings from the same place (with the same mics) over time can give a time-lapse effect.
What is Stereo Sound?
Stereo can be ‘A&B’ (Left & Right) or ‘M&S’ (Middle & Side). These two techniques use different microphones, so you need to decide how you want to record sound when you order the equipment! A&B is the most standard (and recommended by Chris). M&S is more technical and needs some real thinking about. However, it can be very cool as, by boosting the ‘S’ signal alongside the ‘M’ signal, you can effectively ‘open up’ the sound to stereo, in sync with a camera move (to realise that one person talking is actually in a crowded room). This is how the laughing hippos were recorded.
* Coat Hanger Microphone - special contraption used on Life in the Undergrowth
* Radio Mics
Also
* Parabolic reflectors - for pinpointing sound
* What is Stereo Sound? A/B and M&S Stereo.
The coat-hanger set-up:
This is simply a rig of two personal mics (like Sony ECM 77s, ~£400 per mic, quite weather-proof) on a coat hanger. He used 2 in order to record in stereo. Each one had a small Rycote windshield (£20 for a pair of little black ones) - well worth getting.
Personal mics are omni-directional, so are great for very natural sounds, but bad if you have background noises like traffic or people. They pick up base/low frequency sounds well.
For small animals (ants) or small spaces (zebra rib cages) you can reduce the distance between the mics (bend the coat hanger). Then, when you play the recording back through speakers, it ‘opens up’ the sound - a good thing.
Radio mics:
Never put the word ‘radio’ on a carnet (including radio video links). Instead call them ‘remote’ microphones. Anything that transmits a signal can get you in trouble!
British radio mics are only licensed in the UK. There are specific channels and frequencies that you are allowed to use. In the USA hire special US licensed radio mics, or you will be breaking the law. Richmond Film Services in the US are good for this, and on average the radio mics will cost £22 a day. If you use an unlicensed frequency you can have other people using it (such as taxi drivers and bootleg radio stations!). In very remote places you could get away with it.
Parabolic reflectors:
These are basically gadgets for acoustic amplification, and the closest thing we get to a ‘zoom’ microphone. The ‘dish’ is cleverly made to focus all of the sound made by one animal into a mic, thus amplifying the signal. If you are pointing the parabola at a group of animals, you can place a stereo mic in the middle. Generally it is mono though.
Technical stuff:You can record at two different sample rates: 44.1 kHZ (like a CD) or 48 kHZ (like digital cameras, DATs and digis).
A higher sample rate (48 kHz) means that you sample MORE, so is better - lower sample rates reduce the quality of the recording (but check which one your production will use to make post production go more smoothly!)
Recordings from the same place (with the same mics) over time can give a time-lapse effect.
What is Stereo Sound?
Stereo can be ‘A&B’ (Left & Right) or ‘M&S’ (Middle & Side). These two techniques use different microphones, so you need to decide how you want to record sound when you order the equipment! A&B is the most standard (and recommended by Chris). M&S is more technical and needs some real thinking about. However, it can be very cool as, by boosting the ‘S’ signal alongside the ‘M’ signal, you can effectively ‘open up’ the sound to stereo, in sync with a camera move (to realise that one person talking is actually in a crowded room). This is how the laughing hippos were recorded.
Notes on Sounds Recording
Notes on sound recording.
THE BASIC RULES:
* Something is better than nothing. Even if it is not technically suitable for broadcast it can provide a valuable guide to the dubbing editor as to the sound that was there.
* Record: An ATMOSPHERE – background sound of a place. Record in Stereo for 2 mins if poss.
Recording individual SPECIES. record in Mono . Point mic directly at a person, animal etc.
* Can use a DAT, a DV recorder with mic extended away from camera or latest flash recorder.
* Label the recordings verbally before or after and on file or on tape box.
DONT GET TOO CLOSE! Always think about safety.
The essential constituent parts of a sound track are:
* Atmospheres
* Habitats
* Species-featured sound
If you can provide the post production team with these things them your film will sound superb!
ATMOSPHERES:
(a.k.a: “wild track” or “buzz track”)
Always try to record a good 2 min chunk - more if possible.
Record it in stereo (to give a sense of space)
The dawn chorus is a good example here (or a loud frog chorus)
Atmospheres usually have a small dynamic range (no loud noises jump out)
This is the invisible background that you don’t notice (unless it isn’t there!)
When you play an atmosphere back, it should be played at the level you would hear it in the wild. (But record it in the field as loudly as you can). Atmospheres are like a wall of sound that don’t get higher or lower (but can be loud).
To record an atmosphere: use a directional microphone and point it at the space in a room/location (not at a specific person/animal), to capture the acoustic (eg: echo-ey train station hall). Always listen with headphones to the sound that you are recording.
HABITATS:
These have wide dynamics, and are the sound, or ‘voice’ of a place. They provide ‘light & shade’, such as in the kittiwake colony (general cliff top atmosphere, interspersed with loud, dominating kittiwake calls).
The dynamic range describes the spectrum of noises you can record (a wide dynamic range will have some very loud, and some quiet calls in it). The dynamic range is measured in BITs. A CD has 16 BIT (equivalent to about 90dB), but technology is improving to 24 BIT, and some computers transfer sound at 32 BIT, which is similar to the dynamic range of our ears. The more BITs the better, as without changing any settings you can record someone talking quietly and an aeroplane taking off noisily. Eventually we’ll get rid of Gain and the need to adjust the recording level.
If you have a recording option, opt for the highest BIT rate (ie: 16 BIT not 8 BIT on the Z1 camera)
SPECIES-FEATURED SOUND:
Usually recorded in mono. This can be drama, dialogue, gunshots or even a piece of paper hitting the floor! Normally when put with the picture, you will have an atmosphere underneath, plus other elements like music.
When you play a mono voice back through stereo speakers, you get a ‘phantom’ image - and it appears that the person will be speaking from between the two speakers.
You can record this sound with split track (different sounds on different tracks). But don’t use two mics when just one will do!
THE BASIC RULES:
* Something is better than nothing. Even if it is not technically suitable for broadcast it can provide a valuable guide to the dubbing editor as to the sound that was there.
* Record: An ATMOSPHERE – background sound of a place. Record in Stereo for 2 mins if poss.
Recording individual SPECIES. record in Mono . Point mic directly at a person, animal etc.
* Can use a DAT, a DV recorder with mic extended away from camera or latest flash recorder.
* Label the recordings verbally before or after and on file or on tape box.
DONT GET TOO CLOSE! Always think about safety.
The essential constituent parts of a sound track are:
* Atmospheres
* Habitats
* Species-featured sound
If you can provide the post production team with these things them your film will sound superb!
ATMOSPHERES:
(a.k.a: “wild track” or “buzz track”)
Always try to record a good 2 min chunk - more if possible.
Record it in stereo (to give a sense of space)
The dawn chorus is a good example here (or a loud frog chorus)
Atmospheres usually have a small dynamic range (no loud noises jump out)
This is the invisible background that you don’t notice (unless it isn’t there!)
When you play an atmosphere back, it should be played at the level you would hear it in the wild. (But record it in the field as loudly as you can). Atmospheres are like a wall of sound that don’t get higher or lower (but can be loud).
To record an atmosphere: use a directional microphone and point it at the space in a room/location (not at a specific person/animal), to capture the acoustic (eg: echo-ey train station hall). Always listen with headphones to the sound that you are recording.
HABITATS:
These have wide dynamics, and are the sound, or ‘voice’ of a place. They provide ‘light & shade’, such as in the kittiwake colony (general cliff top atmosphere, interspersed with loud, dominating kittiwake calls).
The dynamic range describes the spectrum of noises you can record (a wide dynamic range will have some very loud, and some quiet calls in it). The dynamic range is measured in BITs. A CD has 16 BIT (equivalent to about 90dB), but technology is improving to 24 BIT, and some computers transfer sound at 32 BIT, which is similar to the dynamic range of our ears. The more BITs the better, as without changing any settings you can record someone talking quietly and an aeroplane taking off noisily. Eventually we’ll get rid of Gain and the need to adjust the recording level.
If you have a recording option, opt for the highest BIT rate (ie: 16 BIT not 8 BIT on the Z1 camera)
SPECIES-FEATURED SOUND:
Usually recorded in mono. This can be drama, dialogue, gunshots or even a piece of paper hitting the floor! Normally when put with the picture, you will have an atmosphere underneath, plus other elements like music.
When you play a mono voice back through stereo speakers, you get a ‘phantom’ image - and it appears that the person will be speaking from between the two speakers.
You can record this sound with split track (different sounds on different tracks). But don’t use two mics when just one will do!
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