EDTC 5340 SOUND BASICS Abel Kalum Jennifer Dennis

EDTC 5340: QUALITY SOUND PRODUCTIONS- KINDS OF MICROPHONES: Boom mics- good as sound travels to the front and above from the speaker, can use a broom stick! Lavalier mics- attached to shirt/ blouse collar, not as good as boom mic

EDTC 5340: QUALITY SOUND PRODUCTIONS Shot gun mics- good, only picks what is in front of them, can be attached to a boom In-camera mics-easy to use but not good quality

EDTC 5340: QUALITY SOUND PRODUCTIONS TIP 1 – USE AN EXTERNAL MICROPHONE First, if possible, use an external mike. Unfortunately, the microphones built into most camcorders are not very good. Even worse they are omni-directional will pick up sound from EVERYWHERE to the sides and behinds as well as in front.…..mumbling, heavy breathing, and other extraneous noises.

EDTC 5340: QUALITY SOUND PRODUCTIONS TIP 2 – USE A WIRELESS LAVALIER FOR RECORDING TRAVEL Simple pin the wireless lavalier and its transmitter to the guide’s label or jacket and then the sound of their voice will be transmitted back to the little receiver unit that is mounted on your camcorder. Sony ECM-HW1 wireless mic costs about $130

EDTC 5340: QUALITY SOUND PRODUCTIONS TIP 3 – GET CLOSE If you don’t have a good shotgun mike, or can’t afford a good wireless microphone get close If your camcorder doesn’t have an audio input jack, then get close. The closer you can get to your subject the better they will sound. Simple physics!

EDTC 5340: QUALITY SOUND PRODUCTIONS: Getting close cont… In most camcorders the AGC or Automatic Gain Control automatically adjusts the sound recording level so that the camcorder will hear something, no matter how faint it is. The further you are away from your sound source, the more the AGC has to magnify the sound. The more it amplifies the audio, the more it also amplifies the surrounding noise as well. If you are a distance away and the audio source is faint, the camcorder may adjust the AGC pick-up sensitivity so high that it picks up the sound of the camcorder’s motors and gears. Getting close will not only make your audio sound better, it will make your video look better.

EDTC 5340: QUALITY SOUND PRODUCTIONS TIP 4 – RECORD CONTINUOUS SOUND OF EVENTS OR PERFORMANCES  When you record a performance or event, make sure you record and capture the sound as a continuous event, without any breaks.  While the camcorder is rolling, capturing the sound, you can be zooming in and out, getting different shots, shooting close-us, etc.

EDTC 5340: QUALITY SOUND PRODUCTIONS TIP 5 - MONITOR YOUR AUDIO TO MAKE SURE IT SOUNDS GOOD By using headphones or at least an earphone, you can check to make sure that the sound is actually working. This is very important when using external mikes where a dead battery or a disconnected mike plug or cable may spell disaster. Especially when recording in tricky audio situations like concerts and performances. Even though you don’t want to be recording where the audio levels are too low, you also don’t want audio that is too loud or distorted.

EDTC 5340: QUALITY SOUND PRODUCTIONS TIP 6 – PORTABLE AUDIO MIXERS On many pro camcorders, this mixer and volume control system is essentially built into the camera. Some camcorders allow the operator to record, control and monitor up to four different audio tracks. Azden CAM-3 Mini Audio MixerAzden CAM-3 Mini Audio Mixer amazon.com

EDTC 5340: QUALITY SOUND PRODUCTIONS- AUDIO MIXERS Alesis MultiMix 4 USB Four-Channel USB Mixer amazon.com) Zoom H2 Handy 2-Track Digital RecorderZoom H2 Handy 2-Track Digital Recorder buy.com)

EDTC 5340: QUALITY SOUND PRODUCTIONS TIP 7 – CAPTURE ROOM TONE If you plan on editing your videos after you shoot, a very good technique is to capture a minute or two of what is known as room tone or the ambient sound of the location when nothing is happening. By recording this background tone and using it while editing, you will be able to insert it into your video to cover any gaps in your audio recording. By cross fading from the good sound to the background tone, the loss of audio won’t be as jarring as going from voices and singing to deafening silence.

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REFERENCES 1. How to Get High Quality Audio for Your Home and Travel Videos: es_2008/022208_AudioTipsandTricks.ht m es_2008/022208_AudioTipsandTricks.ht m 2. Surviving Without Your Sound Man: es_2008/041308_RecordingSound101.ht m es_2008/041308_RecordingSound101.ht m