All Things Audio -- topics from 2002 thru 2004

[Mike Rehmus]

If you have an option, feed both channels from one input. You can then set one channel to operate with high or automatic gain control and the other to a low manual setting.

That way you get both the high and low level sounds. You can slice and dice the audio channels in post to create the best sound.

[Curt Kay]

Hey everyone-

For my senior project in high school, I am writing a 10 page paper about independent films. I am turning to all of you for your help. I need to conduct an interview and I figured the easiest way is to post the questions on the dvinfo board. There are 4 different set of questions; feel free to answer them.

Topics:
Marketing in Films - http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=17508

Sound Importance - http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=17507

‘Hollywood’ Films vs Independent Films Questions - http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=17509




These questions are specifically aimed at sound production.


What is sound so crucial to the outcome of a film?

What is the common sound equipment used for an indie film maker?

How important is position of the microphone when recording?

Does it matter what type of a microphone you use for different scenes?

Do you think independent films will have the same quality as ‘Hollywood’ films soon?

Is there an unseen force behind sound?

How does sound show the mood in the film?


Thanks a bunch guys!

[Robert Knecht Schmidt]

You might start with a bit of book research on some of these questions. Easily available and eminently referrable is Tomlinson Holman's Sound for Film and Television--that'll get you off to a good start.

(About the author: While Holman worked at Lucasfilm, he developed the technologies that led to THX, which is named after him. These days he's a USC professor with appointments in both the Cinema-Television and Engineering schools, and he teaches the introductory sound production course, most of the material of which is covered in his book, the [or one of the] texbook[s] for the class.)

I suggest this because, while all of the questions except perhaps the mystical penultimate one are good ones, they will yield deeper and more satisfying answers if they are first honed and focused with just a modicum of knowledge about sound production for film, the nature of which is at once too rudimentary and too involved to fritter away interview time covering. For example, one question would seem to indicate you already understand that different microphones are useful for different recording scenarios, so why ask such a question in this its most ingenuous form?

You'll come off as a more prepared interviewer with a little bit of homework first.

Another book I can recommend is Feature Filmmaking at Used Car Prices, by Rick Schmidt (no relation). There are several revisions; the older, the more obsolete as far as sound equipment goes. My copy informs me I should rent an analog Nagra!

(...Sound is an unseen force, an oscillating shock wave that propagates through a medium...!)

[Rob Lohman]

Perhaps this can help you a bit. Most reviews seem to be for
the 5.1 sets from the two companies.

[Michael De Florio]

Hello, I did a shoot in a nightclub not long ago.....ok, last week. I went with all my new fandangle connections ( as in XLR to rca,to phono, joiners etc) as l was caught out once at a live recording of a band and figured, hell, l am in control, l know what l am doing......l have been around .....l have worked on commercials, rock clips etc.....oh my...how wrong l was. I must admit though, l am not a cocky person but for the sake of this excersise l will make myself one...!!!
OK, here l am..months later with all these new connections, as that night went very bad, you see, the band was a very well known band but the engineer was very young and couldn't give me an output...so fast forward to last week.....here l am, nightclub scene, shooting a hair show with all these connections and just to add fire to the fuel, l broke a cardinal rule...I GOT THERE LATE WITH 20 MINUTES TO SHOWTIME.....
Ok, my question is this ( ok, if you have read this far then it must have got your attention so here it is...lol...)
The DJ of the city's major nightclub coculdn't give me a signal out of his mixer as the connections l had were right but wouldn't fit behind the desk as they were XLR....so....ok ok, if l got there early then l may have had a chance to sort it out but i didnt so what is the best way to mic a live show..very loud music with intro's and outro's and is it better to get a feed from the mixer or get two mics and get a stereo effect as l had to go with the mic on the pd-150 and those that know would understand and be pushing the cheeks to the forehead in a " oh my god" sort of look....but it is sort of ok and will do...as it will have to do...ok l know l went around the long way to tell you this but why be boring...regards MIchael

[Bjørn Sørensen]

I need a professional speaker to speak the commentary to a new compagny presentation (english/british). Do anyone know such a company?
There must be studios that can have my text emailed and then speak the text and email it back to me as audio files.

[Len Feldman]

Here's a company to try: InternetJock (http://www.internetjock.com/). They did a ton of voiceovers for us a few years back. They're fast, inexpensive and high quality. Also, they have voice talent available from the U.S., Britain and Australia, as well as Spanish and Portuguese speakers. Sorry for sounding like a commercial, but Bob Ancheta and his team did a great job for us! Good luck!

Sincerely,
Len Feldman
Riverbend Entertainment

[Rob Lohman]

Please try to formulate your questions orderly, this is very hard
to read.

Basically the best way would be to record the original signal
from the desk *AND* the sound from the floor so you can get
the cheers etc. If you only record from the floor with a mic you
do have to be careful with the levels to not get bad sound.
Ofcourse it will probably always sound as recorded music in
a room.

[Mike Bridgman]

Just wondering what the difference in sound quality is between the two? I've heard good things about the 2X and wondering if the $150 1X would be a smart buy...

[Ben Lynn]

I own a 1X and I have no complaints about the sound quality. In fact, I bought it because I liked that it was a medium range and not the long range of the 2X with the barrel. I think that the medium range is a more workable pattern and I've had good results with it. I also saved a $100 by going with the 1X as opposed to the 2X.

Ben Lynn

[Danny Tan]

what are the reviews of this mic?

[Miquel de Pablo]

It's a nice little mic, useful for live music and ambient sound recording. It comes with a small stand, so you can set it on a table or chair. I wouldn't use it for interviews unless you can hold the mic close to the speaker's face. The stand has a large threaded whole which is supposed to fit a normal mic stand, but I haven't found a mic stand that cat fit that. As far as sound quality goes, it's not as good as an AT 825, but better than a GL2's built-in mic.

[Arthur To]

Hey on my xl1s i used a external vocal mic for thsi one project i had to do for school , i use the ma-100 to plug in the xlr, but in the audio levels reader, only my Right or Left signals showed audio (dpending on which XLR plug i plugged it in with)

is there a setting i need to configure or a change in the menu or a hertz/channel option that i have to alter?

i hate mono

thx

-arthur

[Jay Massengill]

As far as I remember, the XL-1 and MA-100 don't have any ability to send a mono signal to both input channels.
You can however fix this easily while editing. (At least you can fix it as well as possible without using a stereo mic.) It will depend on which Non-Linear Editing software you're using, but most will allow you to duplicate a left or right track onto the opposite side. This will give you 2-channel mono, which isn't true stereo but will at least have the same sound coming from both speakers. For dialog and most other sounds in video that need good clarity and don't require directional (left/right) info, this is actually the way to go.
You could also use a "Y" connector between the MA-100 and the camera's RCA inputs. The Y would have one female end and two male ends and would be connected from the output of the MA-100 that matches which side your mic is plugged in. The two male ends would go to the camera inputs. This will cut your signal level though and may introduce too much noise into an already poor adapter (the MA-100). If you can't fix it in editing though, this is about the best you can do on the cheap and dirty side.

[Steve Lehman]

Does anyone know about, have or use the Mackie DFX 6?
Looks like a good mixer for a reasonable price ($190) - any thoughts?
This will be used for events with several mics - weddings, etc.