How to record the sound of works of art Robert Hermann Diplom Tonmeister

1 ) does separate sound documentation make sense ?

2 ) sound and size of objects

1 ) does separate sound documentation make sense ? 2 ) sound and size of objects 3 )acoustic influence of the exhibition room

1 ) does separate sound documentation make sense ? 2 ) sound and size of objects 3 )acoustic influence of the exhibition room 4 ) basic types of microphones

1 ) does separate sound documentation make sense ? 2 ) sound and size of objects 3 )acoustic influence of the exhibition room 4 ) basic types of microphones 5 ) MS recording and decoding

1 ) does separate sound documentation make sense ? 2 ) sound and size of objects 3 )acoustic influence of the exhibition room 4 ) basic types of microphones 5 ) MS recording and decoding 6 ) useful and professional recording tools

1 ) does separate sound documentation make sense ? 2 ) sound and size of objects 3 )acoustic influence of the exhibition room 4 ) basic types of microphones 5 ) MS recording and decoding 6 ) useful and professional recording tools 7 ) the importance of post production

1 ) does separate sound documentation make sense ? ?

Three categories of importance of sound: 1 ) sound is an integrated part of the work of art and can be modified by the mechanical construction ( see example 1 ) 2 ) sound is an integrated part of the work of art and can not be modified by the mechanical construction ( see example 2 ) 3 ) sound is a random product of the mechanical construction

2 ) sound and size of objects, two examples location: TINGUELY MUSEUM BASEL recording date: june 2005

Example 1: small object Martin Walde "Potion" one stereo microphone perspective is able to show all details

Close microphone positions above every single pot give even more detailed information

Example 2: large object Christiaan Zwanikken: „Frantic diggers“ one microphone perspective can‘t show all details

Two audio examples of close microphone positions combined with corresponding photographies

main microphone position for an impression of the complete sound in the room

3 ) acoustic influence of the exhibition room - the room acoustics is always part of the sound we hear - interaction of sound source and room acoustics is very important for musical performances example 1: church organ without church example 2: church organ in gothic church

acoustic influence of the exhibition room - for the audio documentation of sounding objects we should keep the room influence as low as possible - therefore we need suitable microphones

4 ) basic types of microphones 4.1omnidirectional An omnidirectional microphone will pick up the same amount of sound and generate the same output signal independently of the direction of the sound.

4.2bidirectional A Figure-Eight type microphone picks sound from the front and rear in the same amount but phase reversed.

4.3cardioid The cardioid microphone shows a heart-shaped polar pattern and has the least signal output for sound sources directly behind the microphone.

5 ) MS recording and decoding Mid Side technique employs two microphones aimed directly at the sound source. The Mid mic can be of any pattern, but is most often of a cardioid or hyper cardioid design. The Side mic is a bi-directional or figure eight pattern. The M/S matrix takes the sum information M + S, and sends it to the Left channel, the difference information M - S, is sent to the Right channel the mono sum is M information only: mono = Left + Right = ( M + S ) + ( M - S ) = 2M

OK :-( but what’s the practical use of that ??

the signals can be matrixed in post production the relative gain of the two signals can be adjusted to provide varying degrees of stereo width you get two acoustic perspectives with a simple 2 channel recording

6 ) useful and professional recording tools

recording tools should be easy to use

recording tools should be easy to use.... easy to transport

recording tools should be easy to use.... easy to transport... and have professional sound quality

Sometimes you only have professional sound quality :-(

Recording equipment in Basel

But sometimes you have all of it :-)

High quality mobile recording equipment ( example ) digital recorder microphone inputs, 48V phantom power records on compact flash cards audio transfer to computers via USB audio resolution 24bit, 48kHz, standard WAV format

Integrated stereo microphone for MS recording Capsule 1: hypercardioid for mid / mono channel Capsule 2: bidirectional for side / ambient channel

7 )The importance of post production

microphones do not „listen“ the same way we do

7 )The importance of post production microphones do not „listen“ the same way we do careful improving of signal quality gives a better impression of the original sound

7 )The importance of post production microphones do not „listen“ the same way we do careful improving of signal quality gives a better impression of the original sound cooperation between sound and video documentation is necessary ( editing, DVD-authoring )

7 )The importance of post production microphones do not „listen“ the same way we do careful improving of signal quality gives a better impression of the original sound cooperation between sound and video documentation is necessary ( editing, DVD-authoring ) international standard for storage media would be helpful