What is the best way to record sound fx. Portable Sound Booth?

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Deer Film

Well-known member
I want to make some sound effects. Everything from hammer hits, to maybe a cricket. So my question is when I am outside or inside, is there a way to isolate the sounds you want. Like maybe some sort of DIY portable sound box.
The normal way I would do it is get the mic closest to the subject. For indoor, I have recorded in my clothes closet to minimize sounds. But out in my garage I can hear birds during the day and frogs at night. The best time is the dead of winter when it is very quite to record sound fx.
Just curious to hear your experiences.
 
This is an extremely deep topic, but in short: Welcome to the core challenge of sound effects recording. You should read Ric Vier's Sound Effects Bible and head over to socialsounddesign.com to start your journey.

Yes, close-miking is helplful, but beware of the proximity effects that amplifies low-frequency sounds and of making sounds that are so up-close that they don't sound realistic or mix well (an eternal balance). Picking the right place and the right time of day is part art, part science, and a metric $#&@-ton of patience. The perceived loudness of the sound source also determines the difficulty: Hammer hits are easy to get clean compared to nature sounds in isolation or subtle cloth movements for foley. However, you didn't mention one very important factor: The sensitivity pattern of your microphone. Omnidirectional, cardioid, hypercardioid, shotgun/interference tube...the options are legion, and each is good at some things and horrible at others. Also realize that many professionals use sound reduction tools like iZotope RX in post to clean up their recordings.

As far as a sound baffling/isolation box, it'd have to be pretty big and you'd limit the size of prop you could record. [I made one myself, folding foamcore and foam, and it helps with reverb/reflections but not stopping background noise.] I doubt that it would cut down on exterior sounds, though any sort of baffle would help dampen a point-source sound or reflection in a room. Moving blankets can be used to dampen down reflections in acoustically bright spaces, but in order to stop sound waves, you need a fair volume of extremely still air - you need to stop the propagation of sound waves through air molecules. Vocal isolation booths CAN be good tools for recording clean SFX, but they're not always appropriate, and are rarely portable. In my opinion, you'd be better off with a more directional microphone and having the sound source in front of the mic predominant noise source behind you (but some mics have rear pickup lobes - something to watch for, so check the polar patterns in the mic's documentation).

This stuff is hard! But super fun! :-)
 
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Wow, you know your stuff. Thank you for your comments and directing me to those web sites. I have many different kinds of mics, so like you said, I will have to experiment. Thanks again, it was very helpful.
 
I think it is courageous that you want to do this for yourself considering that it is an entire field of specialty on its own within the industry. If you lose your courage, consider buying sound effects libraries. There are a bazillion out there, so if you can find what you need, you can plug (it in) and play. Libraries aren't free (mostly), but the value in them is relative to how you value your time and your end goal.

Grant
 
I make my own fun videos, and when I put them on youtube, I don't want any trouble from anyone on ownership rights. And it feels rewarding to try and do most of the work yourself.
The more I make and record sound FX, the more alive my videos become. Lets face it, when you watch movies these days, most of the monster growls are sounding very similar. So maybe I can come up with something new.
I have the H4n zoom, do you think that is a good enough recorder to use or the Zoom H6. I don't like the fact I have to increase the volume more when using external mics. They claim the H6 is better.

Curious thought, with micro photography we are getting amazing new discoveries all the time with marine fish and insect life. What if we did micro-recording and able to hear the clicks and clacks of ants and spiders. I assume it is being done, but most wildlife shows make up a lot of sounds to go with their nature documentaries. I want to hear the real deal. Of course not spend a fortune at it.
 
Deer Film, in reverse order:

- Infrasound and ultrasound are extremely expensive to capture. Realize that many nature documentaries are filled with foley - that's right, people performing natural sounds by hand. But if you want experiment with such things, search online for DIY contact microphones. That is much cheaper and can capture similar sounds through transduction as opposed to moving through air.
- The H4n is widely used, but it's self-noise (in my opinion) is too high for nature and ambience recording. The only better handheld recorder is the Sony PCM-D50, which is an incredible device...but, mics can only get so small before getting noisy. I use my PCM-D50 all the time and carry it with me 24/7, but if I know I'm going to record nature ambiences, I'm bringing a kit tuned for that task that is 8x the price of the PCM-D50 (mid-side mics and a bag recorder).
- I'm super thrilled that you recognize the power of audio as a filmmaker, and that there is still a lot of room for innovation in the sound realm. I 1000% agree.
- I'm also glad that you want to have original sounds from your own library, and the idea of having captured things yourself is something I identify with in a major way. And yes, you can do wonders with a Zoom H4n. Just realize there's a whole other world BEYOND that kind of thing, and that you just need to use the tools for what they're good for. In your case, you can record TONS of stuff in terms of up-close, fairly loud sound sources, and if you pair that with a decent audio editing application on your computer, you can do a ton. When you're ready to move on to more detailed, nuanced, or difficult subjects, your gear and technique may need to evolve a bit.
 
Hey thanks a lot, and I checked out your website www.noisejockey.net/blog
Very cool, it is going to take me some time to read all your material and how to's.
I can see you like doing this, pretty exciting.

Here is a little video I made 2 years ago. It was the start of my sound fx collection. It is not prefect, but I am ok with some results I am getting, I am sure I will get better after reading your web site and the sound fx bible and just keep experimenting and playing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kd4a60F7fxI

Thanks again for your time.
Jeff
 
I couldn't agree more about the exciting and fun part, it's the time part that is my problem unless it is something pretty simple. In the history of film, it is simply amazing all the strange stuff that has been used to create sound.

Grant
 
First as obligated it's Foley not foley, and you don't shoot Foley in the field so that is always done on a Foley stage.

Field recording is mostly about knowing what you need to record. And the aforementioned metric tons of patience.
N
ature recording is really it's own specialty and while film folks will use nature recording sometimes film FX recording is generally quite different from nature recording.

In nature recording you are trying to capture as accurately as possible a natural environment. It's going to be used as is with maybe a little noise reduction.

FX recording on the other hand is aimed at post and is ALWAYS (I'm talking feature film with a budget not ENG) going to be layered up and altered. So you are looking for an element of an environment that you will construct in post.

Other than backgrounds you can almost never get too close, well you can but practically you usually can't because there is only so close you can physically get and survive. It is not too hard to add distance in post it's almost impossible to remove it. That said you generally want to get a few distances if you can.

But remember you are not trying to get that "door open" just as one sound. You want it as a stand alone for when it's kind of a toss-away FX but you also want to get in close and get hinge squeaks and ECU of the door handle and any locks. While your at it get some door shakes, slams, soft opens, knocks, etc. That is called "coverage" and you should always go for as much coverage as you can.

That door collection you just recorded is good for a door that looks like that door, maybe bigger with some pitching. But you now can make it a scary door or ??? You can mix and match the parts and make a ton of doors.

I have never seen an FX recorder use any kind of isolation device out doors. Mostly (probably) because of the practicality of it. You garage is acting like you recording studio and that you will need to sound proof or you will go crazy trying to get your sounds in between other noises. It can be done we did a stack of national ads and a feature film recording FX mostly with out a quiet studio, but it wasted a LOT of time.

For outdoor material part of your job is to go scout out places where it's often quiet enough to record. I moved from the Bay Area and I know where there is a great place to record cars, and a couple of places where you can get quiet nature/ backgrounds. And that is a pretty densely populated major metro area so I know you can find some around where ever you are. Go there, set up the recorder and listen with headphones with your eyes closed. After you have been doing this awhile you can just go and listen but to start off use the headphones. It bypasses to some extent your brains ability to "tune out" what it doesn't think is important. The down side is once you get your brain trained to listen for "what you don't want" it's hard to turn that off. Other peoples conversations at parties can get distracting ;~)

For the "micro recording". There are two, well three, ways to go. The old way and one that documentary folks frown on is to just create it all from FX recordings. A step up (maybe) is to do a lot of Foley. The third is that you can actually record some of this stuff. Contact mics are good for bigger sounds and specialty contact mics that are extremely sensitive can pick up things like insects walking. In reality it's near impossible to record that while shooting it so I would be very surprised if any has ever used "production sound".

BTW that YouTube video is interesting. The problems I see are that A) you were using a pretty noisy recorder (I can say that I own one) so those are going to be??? recordings, and you weren't monitoring!
And B) you are recording it in a plastic box. Even on my computer it sounds like a plastic box.
So IF you want to use it for a bug trapped i a plastic box your in the gravy, but if it's supposed to be bugs flying around your SOL.

The way I did something similar was to go to a quiet park in the hills and set up on a picnic table. Mic on a short stand, good length of cable, and part of my sandwich on the table. Back off aways and set up your camp stool. If your going to be doing field recordings go get a camp stool now and keep it in your trunk, you will thank me for that bit of advice. Sit with the headphones on and eat the rest of your sandwich and wait. Hit record when the yellow jackets and fly's start to check out the food on the table. You get lots of buzzing and fly by's etc. By the time you have finished lunch you will probably have a LOT of material.

Actually I may do the plastic box think too. I don't actually have something like that!
 
Oh I though I would add a couple of practical/ safety considerations.

Since 9/11 you have to be careful about where you record or at least go talk to someone in uniform so they can kick you out instead of arresting you.

I got a bunch of great close train by's, back when. Once the train drivers realized I wasn't going to jump in front of the train (it was a new craze in Bay Area suicides) they were cool and would honk for me as they went by. Since I was technically on train property and close to the tracks I would never get away with this today. I also recorded in a huge water tank, another thing that is not allowed. I put contact mics on the Golden Gate Bridge once. I don't think that is technically illegal but I know I would be getting a grilling if I connected anything to the bridge today. I did record under it, but I went up to the guys with the automatic weapons and showed them my equipment and explained what I was doing . A mic in in a zep with a pistol grip looks a bit like a weapon, so just be safe.

The other side is that always try to think a bunch of steps ahead. Some things you will want to record can be dangerous. Car skids and such can be lethal. But even stupid stuff can be dangerous. I almost ran over my partner with a hybrid we were recording because going slow he didn't realize how close it was. Engine compartments are great but they are also full of spinning things and some very high voltages.

we inflated a volley ball once to try and get the seams to split (trying to get a match to the visual). Instead it exploded and dislocated two of my fingers (actually "hyper extended" is more accurate). No permanent damage but it took nine months to get full mobility back in those fingers. In that case I had thought ahead but I made an assumption that after the fact was obviously wrong. I'm pretty lucky, that and tearing my instep stomping across a metal bridge are the only serious injuries I've had recording. We did do some undercarriage damage to a car once.

Anyway ask some folks who have done it before you try the more dangerous things because there are tricks that can make it a LOT safer.
 
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I have done LOTS of sound effects recording in the field. It's all about knowing what you want and getting the coverage of what you are recording while you are there. You need to know what your gear needs are ahead of time. Make a "shot list" of sounds you absolutely need, and get coverage as time allows. It's all about planning ahead, and bringing extra gear in case something gets damaged (depending on what you are recording).

If you are recording stuff outside, you have to deal with nature and man made stuff, like cars, freeways, airplanes, and the like.
 
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