Gun Blanks and Microphone Damage

P

Paul Reichelt

Active member
Hey guys,

I recently purchased a Replica Blank Gun and bullets for a film. Just like any other blank gun its got the special "loud" blanks since you can use it for signaling,races, whatever.

In my case, using it for movies lol.

So, here is the issue. The bullets are loud, very loud. Standard gunshot loud at the very least (actors have to wear ear protection, loud). I'm somewhat familiar with microphones, but not enough to know if this will damage the DVX100 onboard microphone and/or other mics.

I'm doing some testing today to see how I want to place my AT835B mic as to not destroy it, but that will require me to gather some noise with the DVX.

Basically question is, can loud noises damage the mic. If so, would the sound of a gunshot do so (these are extra blanks, I'd say its equal to a hmmmm the sound of a colt 1911 if you've ever shot guns)

NOTE: Again, this gun is legal in NC and my locality JUST asking about the sound.

NOTE #2 :P The company where I purchased this gun did a superb job shipping to me fast, and at an excellent price point ($100 kit), not much more then an airsoft gun and 10x better. Just add the gunflare and sound in post and your done lol.

NOTE #3: Last one I swear, don't read this and then go out and buy a blank gun and blame it on me. These guns are very realistic and require permits in some, people have been shot for holding replica guns so this isn't something to be taken lightly TAKE CARE!

Cheers and thanks for the help~!
 
Paul,

I recomend you start doing some searching in the audio forum. You need to learn some basics if your asking a question like that.

First of all, sound pressure level (SPL) (loudness) varies with the inverse square rule. That means that loudness falls off as the square of the distance (twice as far = 1/4 as loud). So it depends on how far the gun is from the mic when you shoot it.

Every mic has a certain SPL rating that it can go to without distorting. The mic on the camera is not a world beater and will probably distort if you fire the gun close to it (say within 6 feet). One way to find out is to test it first. Start the gun fire at 40 feet from the camera and watch what happens to the DVXsound level meters. If they peg red you have to move further away. (Don't forget to make sure the audio limiter is ON).

If the levels are low than you move the camera closer. In any event, If you are actually using the onboard mic to catch dialog (and you have it set to that), the level of the gun will almost definitley peg the meters because dialog is normally between 65 to 80 db and gun fire is usually over 120 db if you measure at the same distance of about 3 feet.

Good luck,

Ken
 
Did this too, keep the mic far away from the gun, actually turn it away from the gun....Monitor audio and adjust it. You may have to blow off a few shots to get it just right. Then again you can always lay a sound effect in post...
 
Recording GUNSHOTS requires an Analog tape deck. Digital shuts down with overmodulation. Get a pawn shop cassette recorder, record your REAL sounds, dump it to media of choice LOVE IT....or steal it from Bonnie and Clyde or Dirty Harry(The best gunshots ever recorded, besides the film..Shane)
 
Haleyvision said:
Recording GUNSHOTS requires an Analog tape deck. Digital shuts down with overmodulation. Get a pawn shop cassette recorder, record your REAL sounds, dump it to media of choice LOVE IT....or steal it from Bonnie and Clyde or Dirty Harry(The best gunshots ever recorded, besides the film..Shane)
Click to expand...
It does? Granted I am not an audio god but... It does? I have the same setup as the original post (Paul Reichelt) and have had NO problems filming scenes with gunshots and my mic is still fine. Granted you should probably test and adjust your levels but there is NO reason to buy an analog tape deck. Also might want to have the recordist pull his headphones before you start shooting. The guns I use shoot 8mm blanks, not sure if that is what you (Paul) are using or not.


BTW, what's with all the disclaimers? You a lawyer or something?
 
I doubt it will actually damage the microphone or input circs.

Maybe if it was a ribbon microphone, or a crystal one...
 
What i do is to be safe that is and to get the best sound available is, I mute the camera and just show the eject of cartride and the blowback on the gun. This is cool because then u add ur own sound effect of the gun and u get the best ever. I Have balnks and had to modify them. Blanks are realy not worth it mainly because the muzzelflash comes of from the side of the gun which is not realistic at all. Now if u get a real gun and fire blanks its another story; but blanks they sell on the net in my use looks fake due to the muzel flash. I own a real gun and i can tell you its way diffrent. The blow back and eject looks the same but the muzzelflash gives it away.
 
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