Is mixing mics okay in a scene?

harmonica44 · Apr 5, 2013

For sound effects sometimes a hypercardioid is better for some sounds, and a shotgun better for others, I have noticed in my practice so far. For example if an intruder is slowly unlocking a door, to try not to be heard, the lock sound, sounds better with the NTG-3 shotgun, but the door opening, sounds better with the 4053b hypercardioid.

Or for example if someone puts down a coffee cop, it sounds better from the hyper, but if someone snaps handcuffs, it sounds better with the shotgun. At least that's what it's sounding like in a lot of sound effects I have recorded so far. But is mixing mics okay, for an audience to accept? Personally I don't hear a problem with it. Like in Raiders of the Lost Ark for example, the punching sounds, sound like they were recorded with different equipment, compared to the voice grunts in the same fight. But I'm just guessing.

Will Vincent · Apr 5, 2013

NoiseNinja · Apr 5, 2013

IMHO use whatever mic sounds best for the sound you are capturing. It is very important to try to cut down room reverb so you have more options in post. If you cannot use a studio room, I recommend sound blankets on at least two walls at a right angle to each other. I do not like over treating a room. It is easy to go too far and have a dead lifeless sound. It is a good rule of thumb that you can always add a little reverb in post to match your scene but it is difficult to remove it. Zynaptiq has a De-Reverberation plug in but is costs $400 and it is always better not to process if possible.

http://www.zynaptiq.com/unveil/

harmonica44 · Apr 5, 2013

Okay thanks. I don't have a studio like environment right now, so I have been capturing sound effects in similar acoustic locations. My friends cannot tell the difference so far, that the sound effects were recorded in different rooms than than the dialogue as long as the reverb is similar. As far as recording with reverb for some reason some sounds are have more reverb in the shotgun mic than the hyper. Other sounds, don't have enough in the hyper and I need the shotgun, to make it sound better.

Another example is, if I kick a door open hard, it sounds too subtle in the hyper for some reason. The shotgun emphasized the hard percussion better.

Are their any other mics I should be using to capture certain sounds?

Will Vincent · Apr 5, 2013

I think you need to study foley sound.

Alex Paul · Apr 18, 2013

Will Vincent said:
I think you need to study foley sound.

!

Alcove Audio · Apr 18, 2013

Will Vincent said:
I think you need to study foley sound.

Its' Foley with a capital "F".

It's a proper name.

rayw · Apr 18, 2013

Is mixing mics okay in a scene?

DON'T DO IT!

AudioPostExpert · Apr 19, 2013

harmonica44 said:
But is mixing mics okay, for an audience to accept?

What an audience will accept is defined by the mixing process, not by the type of mic used to record the sounds! With dialogue, you can make the mixing process far quicker and easier by using the same mic but this is not true or not as true for SFX. For SFX you use the best mic for the job, depending on what sonic qualities you want the SFX to have. What sonic qualities you want the SFX to have is down to sound design aesthetics and which mic you use and how you use it to achieve those sonic characteristics is down to knowledge and experience of recording techniques and practises.

G

harmonica44 · Apr 19, 2013

Okay thanks. Well it seems that the hypercardioid mic, has more bass to it. So so far I have been using for impact sounds, such as punches or thuds, or something you want to have an impact. It also seems that sounds coming from smaller objects sound better to record with the shotgun though, such as the sound of a door unlocking, where you want to hear the internal sound of the lock.

But I am recording both for everything and then picking.

harmonica44 · Apr 19, 2013

Okay thanks. Well it seems that the hypercardioid mic, has more bass to it. So so far I have been using for impact sounds, such as punches or thuds, or something you want to have an impact. It also seems that sounds coming from smaller objects sound better to record with the shotgun though, such as the sound of a door unlocking, where you want to hear the internal sound of the lock.

But I am recording both for everything and then picking.

Still haven't decided whether voices indoors, sounds better with a shotgun or hyper. I'd say they are about the same so hard to pick. My one filmmaking collaborator says hyper is better for indoors, the other says shotgun.