Location Sound I

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Listening

http://soundess.wordpress.com/assignments/listening/

Properties of Sound

Back to basic physics…• When things vibrate, they cause air

molecules to move (sound waves). – If vibrations are fast enough, we perceive them,

with our ears and brain, as sound.– If they are slow enough,

we FEEL them,

not HEAR them.http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/5to14/resources/science/sound/solid.asp

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Properties of Sound

2. Amplitude (strength of wave)

- loudness/volume (intensity ~ light)

- dB measured in decibels

Sound is described with two measurements:

1. Frequency (speed of wave)

- Pitch (color ~ light)

- Measured in Hz (hertz)[sound waves demo]

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Range of human hearing: 20 Hz - 20,000 Hz (20kHz)

Human Speech:100 Hz - 3,000 Hz (3kHz)

Ocean waves: 20 Hz - 20,000 Hz

Properties of Sound

Pure tones, a single frequency

Noise - all frequencies

Human voice - numerous frequencies

This example: 200Hz , 250 Hz, 300 Hz, 400 Hz, 800 Hz, 1,600Hz

[sonic visualizer]

Room Acoustics

Sound travels spherically

Room AcousticsSound can get absorbed. - Carpets- Bodies- Furniture etc.

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Room AcousticsSound can be reflected

- hard walls, ceilings, floors Just like light reflects off mirrors

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Room AcousticsIn rooms, sound bounces off of things many times, and quickly. we perceive these reflections as reverb.

-gyms, bathrooms, and small Brooklyn apartment bedrooms are often very reverberant (why?)

Direct sound comes DIRECTLY from the sound source.-sounds ‘dry’, dead

Reverberant sound are the reflections.- sounds ‘wet’, foggy, smeared

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Room AcousticsWhen you’re on set recording sound:

Maximize DIRECT SOUND

Minimize REVERB

- Microphone close to sound source- Rooms with furniture and carpet- Sound blankets

Sound is Energy

• Beings as air pressure waves

• Microphones convert pressure waves to electricity (voltage)

• The 702T converts electricity (analog) to digital data.

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MICROPHONES!Mics have polar

patterns, or pick-up patterns. Many are directional.

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MICROPHONES!Polar patterns, or pick-up patterns

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Omni directional - all directions

MICROPHONES!Polar patterns, or pick-up patterns

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Cardiod: picks up sound from front and side, rejects sound from the back

MICROPHONES!Polar patterns, or pick-up patterns

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Mics reject different frequencies at different amounts

Shotgun: aka super/hyper cardiod QuickTime™ and a

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on/off axis response

CK91 and MKH 416

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(Beeps)

702T

• Peak Indicator (danger of overmodulating)• Ideal levels (for dialogue): average in yellow, peaks in the red

Review - what’s 48V? Headphone monitoring? Ideal levels?

In-class exercise: directional mics

Record with 2 mics: 416 (shotgun) and CK91 (cardiod)

Record a person talking from two positions, one position on-axis and the other position off axis, for both microphones.

Note if the person’s voice and/or the background sound changes depending on what angle the mic is pointed.

If you hear a change, what is the difference? Describe what you hear in your group’s last recording, which we will play back in class when you return (we’ll playback one recording per group).

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Sound Design: Role of Backgrounds & Ambiences

Backgrounds (BGs, ambiance, atmos)

‘provides the connective tissue for sound tracks,’ -Holman

‘the canvas upon which the entire motion picture soundtrack sit.’ -Yewdall

BGs, though usually not the focus, are always there.

Sound Design: Role of BGs

Utilitarian, provides a sense of:location time (day/night, modern day/period piece)Space/perspective

Storytelling, useful for:Setting moodManipulating the audience’s attentionForeshadowing an event (creates tension)

Assignment #2

http://soundess.wordpress.com/assignments/

• Read an article, forum post, blog entry, book chapter etc. about location sound recording or sound design.

http://soundess.wordpress.com/resources/

• Be prepared to tell the class one thing that struck you, or that you learned, in what you read.