Getting started in recording sound.

[GingeUK]

Although I want to make my own films, a chance I have for the next 11 months due a contract I am currently on, I am looking for a part of filmmaking I can fall back on so that I can still stay within the film/TV industry.

Sadly my Uni course merely glanced over all the different aspects of filmmaking bar editing and how the camera works, but one stage that has always been an interest for me is sound. If I didn't want to make my own films for a living I would love to be a foley artist.

However, I was looking into being more than just a foley artist and into being an on set sound recorder. So I was wondering what the basic set up I would need to start achieving this, be it hardware or software?

[miker]

Foley's pretty specialised and not so "easy" to get into as sound recording. Having said that ...

1. Have a car and a clean driving license.
2. Join BECTU and attend their meets.
3. Lurk or sign up at http://jwsound.net/SMF/index.php
4. Know why 24-bit is better than 16-bit.
5. Know why anything above 48kHz is pretty pointless for production sound.
6. Understand SNR.
7. Have a thick skin. It's okay for camera to fuck up and take half a day to set up, but if sound fucks up suddenly it's the end of the world and you better get used to being that coiled spring ready to be rolling at the director's whim.

There, lucky 7 to start with.

As for kit, angle for paid gigs and get them to hire. To know what to hire, lurk or post at jwsound.

[GingeUK]

I was hoping you would post Miker [img]biggrin.gif[/img]

Thanks for the tips. I have an idea about what the answers to 4,5 and 6 and I will take a look at that link.

Although I would more than love to get other people to rent the equipment for me, I would like to get to grips with it first before on my own films so that I can learn the basics etc. and not mess up on a paid job. Hence the reason I need to buy my own stuff, practice makes perfect and all that.

Other than the obvious mics, boom poles, zeppelins , wind socks and XLR cables what is the best kind of hardware to record to and what software to edit it on?

[miker]

I bought my own (basic) kit. This allows you to "rent" it to yourself and bill the client on top of your fee.

There are basically two types of production:

1. Those that use the double system ("old school" using the clapperboard to sync seperately recorded picture and sound).

2. Those that don't.


As more and more indies are starting to use video, 2 is becoming very popular (much to my personal dislike). Basically the camera becomes the end-point for your sound recording and any seperate recording you may make along the line is merely backup.

My kit is geared up for the double sysem and is based around a Fostex FR2 which records onto Compact Flash. If I was buying today I'd seriously consider the Fostex FR2LE which isn't out until June (if ever) and reportedly has even better pre-amps than its bigger brother. My kit list is on my homepage http://www.harp28.com/

I'd really like to add a SQN mixer for non-double system work and some wireless Lectrosonic kit but all this stuff costs a lot of money. And you can never have enough mics (I only have 5).

If I ever go fully pro (right now I'm kinda part-time and doing it mostly for fun rather than money) I'd like to switch to using my MacBook for acquisition with the FR2 as backup.

In terms of software, first get a Mac. It's just the right thing to do. I used to hate smug Mac users, but once you "get it" the Mac is just great.

Software I use a lot:

BoomRecorder (mostly with the BlueSnowball USB Mic for narration work, but could easily be a MacBook field recorder with the addition of a firewire audio interface and is much much cheaper than Metacorder).

Apple Soundtrack Pro

Audiofile Engineering Wave Edit and Spectre

Wave Arts PowerSuite 5 AU plugins

The Sound Guy SFX Machine Pro


Another thing I should mention is that I'm geared up as a field recorder, to record dialogue, wild track and spot effects only. Although never say never, you won't find me recording a multitrack concert or anything musical.

New stuff is expensive. Use eBay and check the seller's history.