Hi, I wanted to record sound FX separately from my camera and wanted to know the cheapest, most effective way to do so. I mostly want to capture sounds in my apartment and neighborhood, ie. dogs barking, water faucet, coffee maker, etc. I have a radio shack voice recording mic that I connected to an Olympus digital voice recorder via an adapter, but it creates a hiss. Is there a better way to go about this?
Record audio cheaply
- Thread starter SDBenassi
- Start date
You'll have to spend somewhere in the neighborhood of $200 to $300 for something will sound passable.
Zoom H2
Zoom H4
Zoom H4N (This is the one sound guys use as an on the fly field recorder and on-set back-up unit)
M-Audio MicroTrack 2
Tascam DR-1
Tascam DR-07
Zoom H2
Zoom H4
Zoom H4N (This is the one sound guys use as an on the fly field recorder and on-set back-up unit)
M-Audio MicroTrack 2
Tascam DR-1
Tascam DR-07
I hate to say it but if you want a good quality sound, your need to avoid zoom and other similar brands. you need at least a 6 channel digital recorder, but what is most important is the preamp and a compressor. What happens easily is the audio you are recording will clip (distort). a compressor two channel cheapo is $150. It will allow you to limit the input without clipping. It will automatically reduce the volume of the peak, but that means you can only record two channels safely. What ever you go with (I recommend KORG) just remember you need levels at the loudest possible input without clipping (you can always turn down the volume later). In order to record around 6 channels at a time you will be looking at 300-600 dollars for compressors and maybe 1000 for a (decent) digital recorder.
I don't understand why one would need 6 channel of input to record simple foley. Hire a nice shotgun mic (hyper cardoid/cardoid) and a cat's tail (wind shield) if you are wanting outdoor sounds. I have had good results recording straight to MiniDisc via a simple channel pre-amp. Once I recorded some great foley using a fairly cheap dynamic microphone (SM58) straight into a MD, without preamp! That's the nastiest set up, yet with care the results can work if you're willing to spend a bit of time cleaning up the samples later.
Just gotta be careful of unwanted ambient noise (sirens, machinery hums, traffic, etc).
Just gotta be careful of unwanted ambient noise (sirens, machinery hums, traffic, etc).
Yes, you don't need 6 channels, but being able to record multiple channels at a time from mic's facing all sorts of different directions you can put together a very nice stereo mix. Now finding digital mixers that have less then 6 channels that are made with a decent quality can be a little tough, but they are out their. You don't need compressors or preamps but the louder you can record the signal the better the quality will be. The best way to turn the level up without clipping is with that equipment.
Anything can be recorded with a mic and some kind of recording base. But if you want to get away from the buzz and clips and low quality, you need to look into certain auxiliary pieces of equipment. Granted it may not be cheap, but it is really not expensive.
Anything can be recorded with a mic and some kind of recording base. But if you want to get away from the buzz and clips and low quality, you need to look into certain auxiliary pieces of equipment. Granted it may not be cheap, but it is really not expensive.
I would have thought a compressor would increase the risk of background noise problems? I would never use a compressor in the signal chain while recording on location... a pre-amp, yes, if the microphone requires the power.
If you use the compressor or preamp to boost level you will boost background noise. If you use the compressor to limit the level when it reaches peaking signal you only turn the effected peak down. Their is no boost in the signal at all, so noise will not be increased or reduced. You would basically only use the compressor to limit, not to compress.
now from what I am learning it would perhaps be best not to use a compressor at all (although I would be afraid of clipping, when that happens you cant fix it.) I will test it out in the field and see if having a limiter will make any difference at all.
now from what I am learning it would perhaps be best not to use a compressor at all (although I would be afraid of clipping, when that happens you cant fix it.) I will test it out in the field and see if having a limiter will make any difference at all.
Correct in theory, but for some reason doesn't seem to work that way on the set.
95% of the time I'm only using one mic. Depending upon the scene one channel if the camera or audio recorder is set at "normal" levels and the other is turned down in scenes where there will be loud sounds/dialog or turned up where there will be very quiet sounds/dialog.
That sure helps. Looks like I only need to dump about $500 to get started. Thanks again for all of your help.