Hella Solutions blog: "Document. Share. Inspire."

This Bay Area Women in Film & Media event sounds like it could be interesting. It appears to be geared to people newer to sound work but worth your time none-the-less.

THE MAGIC OF SOUND:
Creating & Using Sound for
Film, Video and All Other Media Projects

(THIS EVENT IS OPEN TO BOTH MEN & WOMEN)
A Rare Look at the Various
Elements of Sound

What technology and methods are involved in creating sound?
Why is audio such a key component to a great media project?
What technology is used in both major motion pictures and smaller projects?
What does it take to get any type of music (legally & in budget!) into your project?
What should media makers know about sound before they start shooting – the do’s and don’t’s of audio in filmmaking.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 21st
at Z Space/Theater Artaud
450 Florida Street, San Francisco from 7 – 9:30 pm

Check it out HERE.

audio equipment, audio events, audio tips, audio training, how to, internet broadcasting, internet radio learning, production training

With all these electronic devices being such a central tool in media work how do we keep them charged?! Batteries are fairly toxic and using one-use types is a poor environmental choice for everyday use. Here’s a link to a site that has some good advice on recharging:

http://www.batteryuniversity.com/partone-21.htm

Happy Charging!

audio equipment, audio tips, how to, the media buying batteries, free how-to, learning

I use a Tascam HD-P2 as my main field recorder and have a Sony MZ-M100 mini-disc recorder as a back-up. Of course both of these need plenty of battery juice to run (8 AA for the HD-P2 alone). I found re-chargeable batteries the way to go for both of these units but finding the best brand seems an ongoing journey. In the past I used Sony AA nimh 2500 mAh; which I found to perform decently but really don’t have the longevity and life-span that I would expect from a major brand (specifically, they don’t keep their charge very long and that is inevitably getting worse with age). In the last year I’ve been using PowerEx AA nimh 2700 mAh; at the same time that these give you a little more bang (mAh) for your buck they really seem to hold their charge much longer than the Sony brand. Of course I want to see how true this is in a year or so but up until now I can charge these up full and let them sit for two weeks and they will hold most, if not all, of their charge.

Where to buy batteries is a whole other issue but I’ve been very happy with the people and prices over at Thomas Distributing: Battery Supply and Electronics.

What is your experience?

audio equipment buying batteries, consumer review

Build a music studio in an apartment building – More DIY How To Projects

audio equipment, audio tips

I was browsing through my new favorite web site “instructables.com” and came across this really interesting demonstration for making your own microphone pre-amp. You see awhile back a friend and I started working on a project of making our own “piezo disc” microphone and a pre-amp from schematics provided by sound artist Richard Lerman. He’s done some really cool stuff so check him out. But we got a little bogged down trying to create the pre-amp from the directions Lerman offers. This leads me to this mornings find.

At Instructables.com is a demonstration (see below) that shows you how to make a cheap microphone pre-amp. This particular project came out of a test that an audio teacher did with his class seeing if people could tell which of 3 pre-amps was the most expensive and which was the cheapest (ranging in cost from $5-$1500). Can YOU tell? You may (or may not) be all that surprised by the findings. Hopefully this will get my own project back on course…

Build The $5 Microphone Preamp – More DIY How To Projects

audio equipment, audio tips, audio training

B&H has a new article up about being “green” in the area of field recording. Basically it’s a discussion of your various options with rechargeable batteries with some good product highlights. It’s worth a read.

audio equipment, audio tips

I came across the Vermont Folklife Center online this afternoon. They have some honest and straight forward reviews of audio recorders (past and present) and some good “how-to” articles. So, if you are interested in reading some helpful and interesting reviews on audio hardware and such head on over to:

http://www.vermontfolklifecenter.org/archive/archive-fieldguides.html

audio equipment, audio tips, audio training

This year is shaping up to be one of many milestones. First, in January I turned 40 years old! Yeeee-haaaaa! It feels good! I feel like I’ve lived one complete life and now another one awaits. A bit nervous but excited all the same…Second, I recently made a commitment to a specific microphone. If you’re in this biz of audio production and don’t have limitless funds you’ll know how difficult a choice this is. It’s daunting to say the least…do I get a dynamic or condenser, a directional or omni-directional, stereo or mono, blah, blah, blah…After much waffling I decided on making my marriage commitment to the one they call Sennheiser. More specifically, the Sennheiser K6/ME66.

Why and how did I finally decide on this one? Man, each person has their style and preference and at a certain point you just have to stop listening to all the advice you can receive and listen to your own self (many thanks, though, for those that took the time and gave great advice to me).

Anyway, it came down to these factors: I used this particular mic a lot and found that my best audio captures (voice and ambient) came from this mic; It’s actually a swappable mic in that the K6 is a particular power module that can also be used with other capsules besides the ME66 (and while I have no experience with these other capsules the idea of being able to expand on existing equipment was appealing); It’s a well made mic and has a very strong reputation. So, experience, variable, and reputation were key to me.

The criticisms that come with this mic is that it is very susceptible to handling noises (basically, it will pic up finger movements, taps, and other object encounters associated with handling it much more so than some other mics). However, in my experience, I really haven’t had any problems dealing with this and I’ve used this mic while walking on a farm and capturing people talking, walking and wind blowing. Okay, I did encounter a little problem with wind sensitivity (even with a Rycote softie) but nothing I felt was overly sensitive.

Another criticism is that it is not as durable as some other mics. This is true. Yet, I used one that traveled the world before my use and it came along with me as I traveled to South Africa. No problems. Just make sure you use a hard case to transport it. Otherwise – unless your prone to dropping things and tend to be rough with your equipment – it’ll handle many years of travel and use.

What I like most about it is the fact that it’s very ‘directional’. Meaning that, it captures what’s right in front of it really well and at the same time is able to ‘push aside’ sounds that come from the sides or behind it. I found this to be especially good for my style as I like to be out “on the street” and capturing life as it happens. And with this mic it is capable of capturing a specific spot even at a distance (leaving the extraneous noise at a tolerable background level while maintaining a strong central focus).

And finally, some say that it can sound a little odd when used in doors (especially small, somewhat “echo’ey” rooms…though, I’ve done interviews in just those types of surroundings and I didn’t find anything ‘wrong’ with the captured audio).

What should you consider when deciding on a mic? Well, be aware that each mic performs differently on different recorders. This was also one of the main reasons I chose the Sennheiser – I used it on my recorder (Sony MZ-M100 Mini-Disc) and liked the output. The other mic that comes with a lot of recommendation is Beyer but because I had never used one on my particular recorder and I got word that it can perform a bit softly with my recorder, I decided against it. So, if you’re going to get yourself a mic be sure to match it with your recorder and this is best done by working with as many mics and recorders as you can and that are in your price range and then thinking about each as you make your purchases (kind of like buying an engagement ring…you need to be aware that it should be able to fit both physically and stylistically with the wedding band). See what you like, what works for you and your style. Are you going to be mainly doing studio or indoor interviews? Or are you likely to be in more diverse situations?…the Beyer is supposed to be good for all of these and it is what the Kitchen Sister’s use (or at least Nikki does). But then the “This American Life” folks use shotgun mics like the Sennheiser (that’s at least what I’ve read). What will you use? Good luck and enjoy the process…

And as I await the arrival of my new partner, Sennheiser, I contemplate the big M…but I’ll leave that story for later .

Must read resource for choosing a mic:
Transom.org

Good Package deal on Sennheiser: B&H

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audio equipment

Yesterday (12/24/06) I went to the Christmas Eve service of the Rock of Ages Church in Witbank. I met earlier in the week with the Pastor of the church and got permission to bring in some mics and record his service. Unfortunately, I forgot the cable to transfer audio from my MZ-M100 or I’d post some clips. Anyway, the church is located in an old building that looks like it might have been a car garage. It is one large space that holds around 250 seated and about 50 standing comfortably. There is a stage to one side of the space where the pastor, choir and band are. The congregation is seated in three large groups on the front and two sides of the stage. The floor is a black, hard rubber/plastic substance of some sort. The church sits along a dirt road with a few houses around it and all are next to a fairly large township mainly that is made up largely of shanty houses and a few small sections of average, small, brick houses.

I placed a Sony MB-M100 Mini-Disc recorder connected to a PZM mic at the back of the room near the churches sound board. I didn’t have any time to test out locations for setting this mic up so my hope was to try and get the best overall sound from the service.

I had with me my Sony MZ-M100 connected with the Sennheiser “shotgun” mic with pistol style grip. I walked around the church and recorded from about every angle possible. The main problem I ran into was that it was sooo loud that I couldn’t tell what I was getting. The only time I could tell was if I stepped outside and stood a few feet from the entrance. I ran on hope for most of this job – hope that I’d get something usable between the two recorders.

After waking up around noon, I got to listening to the discs and found that I got some very usable audio. I think the strongest sections are of the songs that were performed, some sections of the Pastor preaching (in a truly Southern Baptist style and with great shout outs from the congregation). The Pastor only mentions HIV/AIDS briefly during one section where he is telling people that to stay strong no matter what ails you (something like that…I have only listened briefly for quality not content). So, I’m trying to figure out how I can mix this audio into the project. Spirituality, g-d and the church are not major players in this piece although they are brought up so I don’t think it’ll be too difficult to incorporate. It’s just that, well…this is a strongly “g-d” church service and everything is about g-d and my project isn’t necessarily taking the angle of a “g-d” paradigm. Spirituality does have a role; anyway I didn’t expect anything different and I’m very thankful for the opportunity to record there and the audio will be used in some shape or form. One idea I am thinking about is to insert some of the preaching and songs and then bleed into a mix of them with some beats and use them to connect sections of the project (I’ll have to get the help from the legendary KGB – a local DJ friend – for assistance on doing this).

I give many thanks to Pastor Zulu and his congregation for giving me the opportunity to record the service. It was an honor!

audio equipment, concert recording

I was a little late in getting my immunization shots but at last AND at least I did (Thursday of last week…almost a week before I set down…which should give me a few antibodies, eh?). It wasn’t procrastination either. Honestly, I think I was being a bit naïve and wasn’t really thinking about contracting diseases as I was getting my equipment and mind ready for the trip. But wow, if you haven’t read the travel immunization content on the CDC site you are lucky! Sheesh. It really doesn’t get you too psyched up for travel – as the world appears to be one large disease from their perspective. I reckon that’s their job, though. “Be cautious but don’t be afraid”…I think they need to push that message out front a little more. See for your self (http://www.cdc.gov/travel/destinat.htm).

Above is my final equipment check. The Sony ECM-MS957 has been the mic I’ve used most in my audio work and will be my central one for this trip. I find it to be the most flexible and is great for interviews as well as collecting ambient sound. I will also be carrying with me:

1. Sennheiser with a K6 power supply and 12v phantom power pack. I haven’t used this one a lot but Ira Glass, of This American Life, seems to tought “shotgun” mics as good all around interview mics. I just think it’s a bit difficult to get a good sound if you don’t have a lot of experience using this type of mic for interview settings. There’s a nice discussion of “shotgun” mics over at this site: http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/review_shotgun_mics.html.

2. A lavaliere (I forget the brand at the moment). I generally use these for my more formal sit down in an office interviews. You just have to make sure you explain the basic dynamics of the mic to the interviewee so that they don’t go fiddling with their shirt during the interview or talking off to one shoulder.

3. I’ll be using a Crown PZM30D Boundary Microphone for the first time. This is the flat rectangular item in the picture (to the right side). I think these are generally better for capturing really solid sound but I’m going to use it in the background as I do individual work with a different mic. I’ll leave this one hooked up to a second MD recorder in various locations. I probably won’t use this a lot but I’m curious about it’s application in audio documentary.

4. I’ve borrowed a second Minidisc recorder, a Sony MZ-B100 (an earlier incarnation of my MZ-M100). This is decent little recorder and I’ll have this mainly as a back-up. The biggest difference between the two models is that the MZ-M100 is what they call a Hi-MD recorder. That is, it can recorder in totally uncompressed linear PCM mode (a much higher quality level than your average MD recorder).

That’s my gear! Feel free to use the “comments” link below to ask any questions or leave your comments.

audio equipment