I feel like mine is overkill. Neuman TLM 49 or Blue Mic Blue Berry => Avalon VT737SP or SPL Channel One => Apogee Ensemble into Pro Tools etc. My sound production background makes me want to use the warm tones from my external pres...but i'm thinking that maybe I should treated like a camera image and record it neutral through the pre's on the ensemble.
What equipment do you use for ADR vocal chain
- Thread starter cinebuddy
- Start date
JordanBlock
Well-known member
Good ADR should go unnoticed by the audience. The closer you can get the tonal quality of the ADR to the production sound the better it will blend in. While you're using great mics, they're very different tonally from the shotguns and other small condensers used on set. If at all possible, use the same mics as the production. Record the takes as cleanly as possible.
Steve House
Veteran
Jordon's spot on. One needs to take care to distinguish ADR, where you're trying to record dialog that is "in the scene" conversation between one character and another, replacing production sound for some reason or the other, from voice-over and narration that is outside of the scene and is a conversation directed to the audience by the person speaking . The psychological space one is attempting to achieve in two types of recording is totally different from one to the other. ADR needs to intercut seamlessly with production sound and fit into the screen space. VO needs to stand apart from the screen space and engage the audience more intimately.
Noiz2
Sound Ninja
Mostly agree with the above. The "must use the same mic" school is not one I'm a part of for a lot of reasons. First your delusional to think that anything recorded in a nice quiet dead vocal booth is going to match production, just not going to happen. So since I (the editor) am going to have to mess with it to get it to fit I want all I can get, i.e. the best mic around. Where I do agree is that you don't want it close miced, perspective is very hard to futz. If your recording the ADR your job is to get as close to Sync as the talent and time will allow and to get great clean full tracks recorded at 12" or so from the actor. You should not be trying to match the production BG or worry too much about matching the sound quality (as long as your better not worse ;~) ).
Oh and this is my opinion, others will have theirs. As long as they have done it and it worked it's valid.
Oh and this is my opinion, others will have theirs. As long as they have done it and it worked it's valid.
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Steve House
Veteran
Agreed - the ambience will (should) come from laying the ADR over an ambo track from the location. When I mentioned matching the sound, I meant in terms of the overall timbre of the voice recording itself so it can be intercut with other location dialog.
I generally use my Sennheiser 416P shotugn or an AKG/Neumann Condenser through a tube preamp like that of Universal Audio or Avalon, limited with a UA Comp/Limiter direct into Cubase or SoundTrack. For me the key is getting the distance right for the shot and the Ambience track recorded in the field (I hope).
Rippie
Veteran
Being that there aren't too many field mixers out there with tube pre's
i'd personally try to stay away from coloring the sound in an ADR session like that.
I'd go with a more neutral sounding pre.
But thats the wonderful thing about sound, its not brain surgery and no one is
going to die if someone does something different.
