The soundtrack

(Part of Lee Prescott's rough guide to movie sound - go to page 1)

Dead Dog on a Stick

Sound enters the medium via a microphone. As a rule the inbuilt mic. on a camcorder is - UGH. It is better to acquire a good quality add-on microphone, which need not cost a fortune. It sits on the camera's shoe or, better, on the end of a boom (pole), held by a third party. This ensures it is close enough to pick up dialogue but not in frame range.

One of the major and most corrupting of sounds on many videos is wind noise. Inbuilt mics. on most camcorders are controlled by the AGC (Automatic Gain Control). This ensures that the loudest noise, often the wind, is the predominant sound - stupefying everything else including the listeners.

Wind Gags will stop this. Note these are not the sponge rubber type whose job is to stop the popping noises of spoken "Ps" & "Bs" etc. [Large wind gags are sometimes called "Hairy Harry"s or when on a boom, "Dead Dog on a Stick" - Editor.] Patented wind gags are better than the home made variety. The major manufacturer of these is Rycote Ltd. of Stroud, Glos. GL5. Many of their gags are very reasonably priced. Considering that these do stop wind noise - and only wind noise - they are a very good investment. Every self respecting camcorder user should have one, (or more), in his/her kit.

They are also made to measure so they don't flap about. You can even get them for camcorders with flat-face mics. inside a front grill.

Microphones

Mics. come in various types for various jobs:

· Omnidirectional pick up sound from every which-where.
· Cardioid (directional) pick up sound from an area within 90 degrees left & right of mic. centre line on a reducing scale.
· Hyper (or super) cardioid similar but with a tighter pick up pattern, more directional.

Mics. also come in variable scales of Frequency Response measured in Hz. (Hertz). The MKE300 rates 150Hz to 17kHz. A Roland super cardioid I have rates 10Hz to 18kHz. For recording music I'd use one or more Rolands.

It's what you do with it that counts

Microphone placing is extremely important. The best way of checking this, especially if inexperienced is trial and error.

Remember that walls, glass, tunnels, caves … everything solid reflects sound back at your mic.

Most decent add on mics. are monaural. For stereo you need at least two, or a monaural-stereo adapter. When buying a microphone take your camera with you and try it/them out in the shop to ensure it will match your gear and will work to your satisfaction before handing over the "readies".

Headphones

Always, always use headphones. Without headphones you haven't a clue what you are recording. Working without headphones is like photographing without a viewfinder: you're working blind, or at least deaf.

Always use closed-back, (no grill on the back), headphones since that keeps extraneous noise out of your ears. Make sure they cover your entire "shell-likes" and are a snug fit. If your camera isn't fitted with a headphone socket and you don't want to trash it - then check out Keene Electronics for their admirable headphone amplifier(s).

Page updated on 21 March 2008

Authors' views are not necessarily those of The Institute of Amateur Cinematographers

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