ADB Posted March 20, 2005 Report Share Posted March 20, 2005 A while back on the forum I posted a topic to find out about making Ambient Sound Recordings to add "atmosphere" to PTE shows. Thanks for all the recommendations and links.Since then I have been doing a lot of research and have decided on the following:-MICROPHONESFor the microphone to record the ambient sounds I purhcased a pear of tiny Binaural Microphones from www.soundprofessionals.com, these cost me around $29 US.The principal is that you place each microphone on either side of your head near your ears. You can attach them to a hat or pair of singlasses or you can even buy a headset that looks like a pair of head phones instead you have two microphones at each ear.When you then record using this setup you achieve a sound very similiar to if you were actually there. Sounds to the left of you are recorded louder on the left microphone because your head reduces/blocks the sound travelling to your right microphone. When you play back the recording you have a stereo recording fairfly faithful to what "each" ear heard.RECORDERI'm just really experimenting at this stage so I didn't want to spend a lot of money. I decided on a second hand Sony MiniDisc Recorder/Player MZ-R70 which I purchased on an E-Bay type site for around $40 US. You have to make sure you have a Mic In port on the Recorder/Player.One MiniDisc will record around 80 minutes audio and the whole setup weighs less than 200 grams.The few tests I have done have produced a VERY rich and natural sound and I am very pleased with the final result. To get the audio into my PC I will have to transfer using the Line Out from my MiniDisc to the Line In on my sound card in other words Digital to Analogue however I believe the new Sony MiniDisc's let you convert to Wav files retaining the full digital format.On Friday I'm off to UK and Italy for 6 weeks, so very exited about capturing images, panoramas and the sound that accompanies them. Even more excited about possibly coming back from holiday to find a Pan & Zoom beta going through the motions and making a PTE show using my newly captured material! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronwil Posted March 20, 2005 Report Share Posted March 20, 2005 I found that very interesting information Andrew, particularly about the microphones. No doubt on your visit to the UK you will be taking in Raynes Park and Wimbledon to record the squelch of the chewing gum. May see you around.Ron [uK] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADB Posted March 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2005 RonIf you see a guy pointing a camera at the ground with funny looking microphones sticking out of his ears ..... that's me!(For those that have looked at this post and wondered what the "record the squelch of the chewing gum is about" about three years ago I was in London and happened to look down one day and was amazed at how much chewing gum was stuck on the footpath and road, I made comment on this forum and I don't think Ron believed me. So from memory Ron went out and checked it out for himself and confirmed the phenomenon!)Ron I think this time I will have to make a short slide show of the chewing gum strewn pavements. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronwil Posted March 21, 2005 Report Share Posted March 21, 2005 My research site was on the corner of Cannon Hill Lane and Grand Drive, Raynes Park, opposite a school entrance, and did confirm the presence of the offending gum. There are other white blobs on pavements and even my patio which I understand to be a form of algae. I know it is not gum on my patio unless the pigeons have taken up the habit.However back to the original topic. I purchased a Sony MZ-N710 Minidisc Recorder last year and failed miserably when trying to make a recording using a Sony Mike. It was a fiddle setting it up and not hands free, but so far I have not made any further attempts. I checked out www.soundprofessionals.com the site mentioned by Andrew and I was impressed by sample recording and the use of the headphone set. The prices are marginally higher now but well worth considering. The headphone set is basically a dummy with the mikes embedded in the earpieces. It also suggests that you can place the headphones round the neck as though in the out of use position but still make unobtrusive stereo recordings. I am wondering if in that latter position one could record one's own voice.Ron [uK] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo Posted March 21, 2005 Report Share Posted March 21, 2005 I tried recording some night-time critter noises while I was down in Australia last month...big waste of time really, I didn't have the right equipment-or knowledge for that matter. While I was there someone gave me a home-made CD of those very noises and it is great...they said someone they knew had done it and it was a royalty-free, no-cost recording. It sounds very good but I do think that there's more animal noises on this disc than you would actually hear at one time/location unless it was a really popular watering hole for nocturnal party animals!. It works really well as a background for outdoorsy PTE shows. It runs for about an hour, if you want to hear it I can email you a 60 second MP3 representative sample.Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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