Why You Must Know The Yin and Yang of Sound – And Embrace It

Yin and Yang in Stone

courtesy ell brown


Shortly after the new year I made a list. It was my sound effects new year’s resolution list for 2012.

There were a dozen things on that list. Some were mundane tasks that I needed to finally complete. Some were exciting ideas like creating field recording apps and new websites. Others were events I wanted to record like races or festivals.

It’s now mid-May and that list keeps growing.

What about you? Is your ‘to record’ sound effects list outracing what you’re editing? Do you look back on your work week exhausted but have trouble naming exactly what you’ve done? Do you wish you could be doing more?

All this has made me think about the role of productivity in sound.

When people say they’re productive they mean they get things done. Sometimes it means doing things faster or better. It’s crossing off lists.

It’s no different with sound pros. It could be finishing designing the sound concept of a video game character. It could be capturing a 300 sound effects a year. Perhaps you need to deliver a completed TV episode by Friday.

I’ve been thinking lately how productivity applies to sound effects libraries, field recording and sound professionals. It’s actually a bit strange. I think sound pros face a unique challenge when trying to be productive.

In today’s article I’ll explain why. I’ll write why productivity works differently for sound effects field recordists and editors. I’ll share some ideas on how you can boost productivity and achieve goals.

In the following weeks I’ll offer specific tricks and tips for getting sound tasks done faster and better.

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Techniques and skill and even a point of view are often handed down, formally or not. It’s easier to get started if you’re taught, of course.

But art, the new, the ability to connect the dots and to make an impact–sooner or later, that can only come from one who creates, not from a teacher and not from a book.

- Seth Godin

How to Use Filtering to Record Better Sound Effects

Selling sound effects downloads is a rewarding experience.

It allows you to share your creations with the world. With any luck, a sound clip you’ve crafted will appear as part of someone else’s vision in a film, video game or viral YouTube video.

Of course, supporting yourself with something you’ve created is satisfying too.

Those are tantalizing ideas.

However, sharing sound fx takes time and effort. Launching a sound clip website can take months of work. I know one Web shop owner who is still building a store after two years.

The problem? It’s easy to lose perspective during this time. You’ll be struggling with HTML, CSS, databases and payment gateways. What does this have to do with field recording cool sound effects? Nothing.

Creating a downloadable sound effects Web shop means that a large portion of your attention is diverted. Often for months. Sometimes for years. It’s even worse when it leeches unnoticeable slivers of time every day.

Do you ever feel that running a Web shop is stopping you from creating more great sounds? It’s often the case even if you’ve hired someone else to build or run your store. Are you tied up responding to email and Tweets when you would rather be recording race car sound effects? Are you hesitant to create a downloadable sound effects store because of this?

How do you keep creating sound effects when you have other responsibilities?

Maybe for you it’s more general. Perhaps you’re stuck in your edit suite deciphering a deal memo when you’d rather be cutting.

The idea can be applied to any task that takes you away from creating what you love.

This week I’ll share one reason why this happens and what you can do about it. I’ll have suggestions for Web shop owners but the concept can be applied generally too.

I’ve also included one trick I’m using that helps me get away from my desk and into the streets field recording more sound effects.

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Field Report: Museum Gallery Crowd Sound Effects

Winter Woods by Lawren Harris
Last week I visited the Art Gallery of Ontario for two sound-related reasons.

The AGO, as it is commonly referred to, is Toronto’s largest art museum. It’s known for a large collection paintings created by The Group of Seven, a collective of Canadian artists who worked earlier last century. The painting above, Winter Woods is by Lawren Harris, one of the group.

I needed a creative recharge so I decided to take my own advice and find inspiration from something different than audio.

As readers of the Airborne Sound blog have noticed, I’ve been reviewing the Sony PCM-D50 portable recorder and comparing it with the Zoom H4n.

I’m still getting a feel for the new pocket recorder. So, I also wanted to try the D50 in another situation: recording stealth art gallery crowd sound effects.

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Q and A: Travel Recording, A Career in Sound FX, Giving Credit

It’s always a good surprise receiving email from readers. Often I’m asked questions about selling sound effects, which gear to buy or field recording techniques.

It’s started good conversations, and I’ve met many cool people this way.

It’s interesting, though. A small handful of questions are popular. It makes me realize that there’s just not enough information about some aspects of field recording.

It’s also made me think that the answers to these questions would help others. So, starting today I’ll begin a Q and A series to answer the questions I receive the most.

I’ll continue to post common questions and answers every few months.

In this Q and A I’ll write about:

  • what sound effects are good to record while travelling
  • whether a career in field recording and sound effects is possible
  • how to give credit when using a sound library

I’ll also pepper these Q and As with responses I’ve written on forums like gearslutz.com and socialsounddesign.com. I’ve had more thoughts on those questions since the original posting, so I’ve expanded on the answers I’ve written there. I’ll link back to those posts so you can hear from other voices in the conversation.

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Accessory to Help with Stealth Sound Effects Recording?

I’ve mentioned before that I prefer stealth field recording when gathering sound effects.

The idea of stealth and guerilla field recording is to capture your surroundings as intact as possible. You don’t want to create a ripple in the environment with your presence. That would tinge the recording and make it a bit less realistic.

Damaging the original environment happens when:

  1. the environment changes when reacting to your presence
  2. your equipment doesn’t capture the environment realistically

Because of this I’m always looking for new gear and testing tricks or techniques that help capture ambient sound effects with the lightest impact as possible.

Part of this is being unobtrusive with your gear and physical presence. It often involves disguising your gear.

I just discovered a new accessory that may help.

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Field report: Hospital Sound Effects with a D50 External Microphone

Toronto Western Hospital Emergency

So, your wallet is light but you need to record the best sound effects possible. These days there are dozens of portable field recorders priced as low as $200.

But will a pocket audio recorder capture rich, evocative sound effects?

In the last two weeks I’ve been testing a new portable field recorder, the Sony PCM-D50, to answer this question.

I’ve been comparing how the D50′s field recordings respond in various environments: quiet and thick, saturated and sparse. I’ve been recording both atmospheric ambiences and specific sound effects.

Most of those recordings have appeared in my stealth and guerilla field recording review of the Sony D50 on the Airborne Sound blog. I have a microphone shootout planned for next week, so I’ve been contrasting the Sony D50′s built-in microphones with the onboard mics of the Zoom H4n recorder.

In this post I’ll try something a bit different. Instead of using the D50′s built-in microphones, I’ll see how the recorder pairs with an external microphone, Sonic Studio’s DSM binaural mic.

At the end of the post I’ll have some field recordings of hospital ambiences. You can judge if a budget recorder paired with an exterior microphone can capture good sound effects that are worth the cost.

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Website Update: Sony D50 Review on Airborne Sound Blog

Another quick update: I’ve written a review of Sony’s PCM-D50 audio recorder on the main Airborne Sound blog.

I look at from the perspective of stealth recording, specifically.

I’ve broken it down into three posts. The first examines key considerations. It also has free sound effects samples you can download and analyze yourself.

The next post looks at more finicky details, and that will be coming the following week.

A final article will be a recorder shootout between the Sony D50 and it closest competitor (in popularity, anyway), the Zoom H4n.

Head on over and check them out!

Recording Perfection Pitfalls 3: 5 Tricks To Beat Perfection Traps

Toronto Skyline at Dawn

You record golden sound effects with flawless technique that everyone likes.

Sounds ideal, right?

However we’ve seen that expecting perfection can lead to two problems: perfect but generic and bland clips and the numbers trap which can affect quality.

Has this happened to you?

  • Are you overwhelmed by getting started? Don’t know which microphone or recorder to choose, or how to use them with flair? Maybe you’ve read all the articles on how pros record cars, guns and animals but things aren’t connecting during the shoot.
  • Perhaps you’re sharing your sounds on your blog, store or a forum and you’re unsure how people will respond to your library. Maybe you’re wondering what sounds people will appreciate and need ideas for what to record next.
  • Maybe you return to the studio after a day’s shoot and you’re not fully satisfied with the results.

If you’ve experienced any of these you’re likely becoming trapped by perfection.

I’ll explain why this happens, and how to solve the problem.

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Website Update: Improved RSS Feed Now Live

We have a new RSS feed, and it’s far better than the last one.

It’s an improved way to receive and view new sound effects articles from our site.

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