God quality dialog recording in small interiors

G

gabrielbordas

New member
Helo, y need some advice about shooting in small apartaments, coridors, bath rooms. We use a Sanken CS1 shotgun and a Tascam HD-P2 recorder.
Here are the questions:
We need to sound treat the location and how?
I use a generic XLR cable, there is a big improvement over a high-end profesional cable?
Beter to use the low-pass filter on the recorder or in the post-pro? Any advice in how to work with the compresor and all the rest filters/plugins?




Thank in advance, Gabriel Bordas


 
Shotgun mics are NOT recommended indoors. For the very reasons you are complaining about. You could spend a truck-load of time, money and supplies sound-treating your locations, or you could just use a more appropriate microphone. It could VERY well be that in some really problematic acoustic situations, booming isn't really a good option at all.

No, except for mechanical ruggedness there is NO significant difference between the cheapest XLR cable and the most expensive one. Moving your microphone 4 inches will make a bigger difference in the recorded sound than all the cables on the planet.

Use a low-pass filter if you have lots of low-frequency noise. There is a lot of energy in low frequency noise, and in some cases it "swamps" the mic preamp and sometimes even the microphone itself, preventing proper operation for picking up, amplifying, and recording the sounds of interest (dialog, etc.).
 
A relatively small anechoic VO box can be purchased or made. I don't have any links though. They're not obscure, so a search should be easy.
Compression? as much.. OR better yet, as LITTLE as needed. Same goes for the other processing' unless for a 'special effect'.
I would NOT recommend a bathroom for VOs even with a VO box, though more than a few major hit vocal tracks were recorded in them.
Use the 'deadest' room available. carpeting, plush furniture, draperies, etc.
HPF? Depends on what's available. I would use one the mic.. however, if its to high, or steep , use one down the line, and then I'd wait for post, unless plosives or other LF content is causing distortion.
Mic cables? Any 'decent' will do the job, despite what some advertisements and self proclaimed 'golden ears' tell you.
You may want to consider a large diaphragm condenser (or dynamic) mic. Shotgun type mics in general are usually not a first choice for narration, though some big name VO artists like a 416... but it's usually 'the voice' that makes the most difference.

PS, the grey font color is difficult to read.
 
I think God's voice would be loud and booming. Just have your talent speak very loudly in said small rooms, the natural reverb should help.

Or perhaps I misunderstood the question. I am a cinematographer after all, audio isn't my thing ;)
 
I wouldn't do anything to record with reverb etc. It will make editing hell.

The Sanken shotguns (not sure of your model) used a very forward capsule in the center so they generally work OK indoors, YMMV.

I would close mic in a dead room. If your on a budget you can use some tricks. You can record in a closet with a lot of clothes in it, or on a bed with a comforter over your head, hang a lot of blankets on two sides of a corner and put the actor in the corner.

In post you probably want some compression maybe some EQ and maybe reverb - really depends on what you think it should sound like. "god like" is not a set sound, people will all have different opinions about what sounds "right".
 
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