Recording ambient sounds

L

LuckyMovie

Member
Hey everyone,

I'm about to start work on a feature film, and I'd like everyone's opinions on which microphone to use for recording ambient sounds such as quiet streets, crickets in the night, etc.

I plan to purchase the Rode NTG-2 shotgun for exterior, and Oktava MK-012 hyper cardioid for interior. Of these two microphones, would either be suitable for my atmosphere sounds?

Thank you all in advance!

-Gary
 
for ambiance, you may want to consider a stereo mic like the Rode NT4 or the Audio Technica BP4025. Feel free to email me if you wish to discuss pricing.
 
I'm going to assume that you want to record sounds for audio post.

Either one would be okay; in fact, if you use both you will have a choice of which mono sound you prefer.

I still use my old AT822 (stereo) to record ambiences. Not the greatest, but does a decent job. Here's a few samples of things I have recorded with the AT822 onto a Sony minidisk. (The AT822 and the minidisk was about the smallest affordable "kit" I could put together ten years ago before the advent of FR2-LE, Zoom and similar field recorders.)

http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=32891

http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=32888

http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=32884

http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=32879


BTW, Freesound is a great resource for free sound effects. You do, however, have to give credit where credit is due. A sound from the site was used in "Children of Men" and received the appropriate credits in the film.
 
I'll second having stereo ambience tracks is very helpful and the NT4 is great for it.

Keep in mind though, that on low level recording preamp quality becomes a big issue. Grab a Sound Devices 302 if you can.
 
I have a Shure VP88 stereo mic that I use for a lot of ambient recording. I also have a Zoom H4, and the built-in XY stereo mics, while not nearly as good as the Shure, are perfectly suited for stereo ambient recording that will be in the back of the mix. (Note: the Zoom's mics are really suceptible to wind - even light breezes - and the included windscreen is nearly useless.)
 
Thank you all for your advice!

tallrd - PM'd
unclebob - Thanks for the links, and freesound is an amazing site.

To everyone else, I've taken into account using a stereo mic for my ambiance recording, but am probably unable to afford one until after principal photography. I DO however, have access to an Audio Technica ATR-55, which I think (?) has the option of recording stereo... I know this is probably sacrilege to many.

Also, I've always wanted to ask this question during my studies here at DVXuser:
Can I safely conclude that it's optimal to record dialogue with mono (shotgun @ exterior, hyper cardioid @ interior), and stereo for ambiance?
 
Don't forget mono recordings for ambience; IMO they're perfectly acceptable also. Why? because I'll take the mono recordings and place them into the L/R sonic landscape where I think they will help the story. These recordings become elements of the larger audio illusion. Stereo recordings can also be helpful for their proximity perspectives. I've gotten some great stereo perspectives of explosions bouncing off hill-sides miles away; no amount of tweaking can reproduce it so far ... at least I can't get anywhere near replicating such. Each type of recording has its place.

Speaking of mini-disc recorders: I took out my mini-disc recorder the other day and have to say these little guys are pretty great! Mine captures at 44.1 kHz. I've gotten some nice recordings out of it --- it's sometimes hard to imagine such a small unit can do that. Of course my main recorder is much nicer but a lot bulky to lug around.
 
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