Field Report: Diesel Train Sound Effects with Microphone Comparison

July 26, 2011 in Field Recording, Field Report with 10 Comments

Courtesy of Buddahbless

Train Sound Effects

Train sound effects are one of my favorite field recordings to capture. Whether they are subway sounds, monorail sound clips, trams or streetcars, high-speed trains or electric train sound effects, I find that trains or “rolling stock” offer endless different sounds to record.

Similar to construction vehicles (like the drilling rig sound effects I posted), trains are mechanically specialized and incredibly complex. This means that they have potential for unique and interesting sound effects.

Some things I like to think about when field recording trains are:
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Selling Sound Effects: ISPs To Punish File Sharing By Blocking Customer Browsing

July 13, 2011 in Articles, e-Commerce with Comments Off

An article in the New York Times from July 7 caught my eye.

Hollywood, the music industry and major American internet service providers (ISPs) have agreed to impose penalties on people who pirate or share music or movies. This includes other digital content, such as sound effects libraries.

File sharing and piracy always leads to heated discussions. Whatever your attitude toward file sharing, this agreement is significant because it means that there will be a fundamental change in the way we receive movies, music or sound effects.
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Field Report: Drilling Rig Sound Effects

July 6, 2011 in Field Recording, Field Report with Comments Off

Toronto Skyline

Construction Sound Effects

Background

Capturing clean sound effects field recordings for Airborne Sound in an urban environment isn’t easy. Common challenges for capturing sound clips can be:

A few weeks ago I stumbled across a semi-pro tennis tournament. You could tell from the sound alone that the games were evocative and powerful. About five pairs of women were really blasting the ball down the court, complete with tortured grunts and yelps of exertion.

Despite the courts being tucked away from Toronto’s grumbling traffic drone, every few minutes I could hear a distant yet loud and reverberant metal banging and rattling.

Recording tennis wasn’t going to work but now my curiosity had to be satisfied.

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Selling Sound Effects: 6 Mistakes You Want to Avoid – Part 2

June 28, 2011 in e-Commerce with Comments Off

In my last post I wrote about three mistakes you can avoid when recording sound effects for publishing.

Here are three more points to keep in mind to ensure things run smoothly. At the end of this post I’ll also include some general ideas about watching for and fixing mistakes.

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Selling Sound Effects: 6 Mistakes You Want to Avoid – Part 1

June 22, 2011 in e-Commerce with 6 Comments

I have been field recording sound effects for Airborne Sound since just a bit before the dot com boom. There was no manual for how to survive as a field recordist. There definitely wasn’t an explanation for selling sound effects on line.

Field recording can be an incredible, immersive art. Collaborating recording sound effects is a great experience. When field recording and selling sound effects is brought into the world of online publishing and e-commerce you have to be more thoughtful though, as with any business. When creating and money mix, situations can easily become tricky.

Here are a couple of lessons I’ve learned or witnessed along the way. I’m sharing them to help beginners avoid mistakes when starting building a library or sharing sound effects downloads online. Keep them in mind to stay positive and keep things smooth.

In this post I’ll start with three mistakes. In my next post I’ll talk about three more. I’ll also discuss some general principles to keep in mind when looking out for and resolving mistakes.

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Creativity in Sound: Why How You Record Matters

May 5, 2011 in Creativity, Field Recording, Sound Reflections, Technique with Comments Off

Recording World Cup reactions from the street in Paris


I was originally going to write about field recording international ambiences for airbornesound.com today. But as I started writing, the post turned into something else. I realized that I needed to cover another way I find creativity first.

I’ll get back to international sound effects later.

In my last post I wrote that blending your passion with field recording can produce excellent and creative sound effects.

Today I want to suggest another way of bringing more creativity to your field recordings. I find that two things can make recording more creative:

  • what sound effects you record
  • how you record the sound effects

I’ll use international field recording as an example. Of course, you’ll have your own preference. The basic ideas should apply to any sound you want to record.

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Creativity in Sound: Investing Yourself in Sound Effects

May 4, 2011 in Creativity, Field Recording with 4 Comments

I wrote a post last month about investing your yourself into your sound effects recordings. I suggested that pro equipment was mostly irrelevant. I felt it mattered less to the recording than the field recordist themselves. Infusing your personality, desires and motivations was a way, I suggested, to ensure your sounds were evocative and compelling.

But how exactly can a field recordist do that?

In this post and the next I’ll discuss one specific way of making certain your sound effects are more creative, expressive and absorbing.

This post is not a step-by-step guide. Creativity doesn’t work with checklists anyway. It’s more about how a different perspective can help you record better, creative sound effects.

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Outstanding Apps That Will Increase Your Productivity – Part 2

April 28, 2011 in Resources, Reviews, Software with Comments Off

In my last post I wrote about a few useful apps that help me get work done and return to field recording quickly. I covered sound converters, writing apps and administrative apps.

This post we’ll look at more apps that can help you work better, organize your sound effects library and get back recording faster. I’ll highlight utilities, internet, website coding apps and social media apps.

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Outstanding Apps That Will Increase Your Productivity – Part 1

April 26, 2011 in Resources, Reviews, Software with Comments Off

I’ve spent almost 15 years recording sound effects for Airborne Sound. On any given day I’d rather be out in the world field recording but the necessity of digital audio means field recordists need to work in dark rooms with computers.

I’ve made a list of outstanding apps that help me work better and return to field recording quickly. This list doesn’t specifically apply to sound editing. If you’re working with a sound effects library on a computer you’ll likely need these kind of apps at some point.

I chose these programs based on:

  • productivity – does they save me time?
  • usefulness – do they fill a need?
  • aesthetic – is the app designed with the user in mind? Is it easy on the eyes, making for a more smoother, pleasant experience? I’m a sucker for the ‘Mac look’ and interface.

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6 Reasons Why You Need to Scout Before Recording Sound Effects

April 19, 2011 in Field Recording, Technique with Comments Off

White Sands National Monument

Scouting as an essential step when field recording sound effects, especially ambiences. I scout every location before I shoot. It may seem like a waste of time to visit an area first to scout and then return to shoot. I find that it in fact saves an immense amount of time.

What is scouting?

Scouting, also known as a ‘walkthrough’, means the field recordist patrols the location before actually committing to recording the sound effects.

The purpose is to find how to best record the target sound effect. Since locations are often out of a field recordist’s control, knowledge of the environment and challenges will make the job easier. This means the recordist will capture better sound effects without interference.

Usually the field recordist walks through the location unencumbered. I personally don’t bring any equipment at all so I can travel quickly and unobtrusively.

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