Field Recording

[Eddie K. wannabe]

I'm a theatrical Sound Designer, and with almost every project i work on, I need field recordings. I almost always get requests from directors asking for enviormental sounds like pubs, streets, resturants,etc. In the past i would just borrow my friends portable tascam dat recorder and a 58 and head out into the world to capture whatever sounds I might need. But now my friend's moving away and of course so is my free DAT recorder. So i need to find a portable recorder, but i don't have don't a lot of money. I've been thinking about getting a portable minidisc recorder and a stereo mic, do any of you have recommendations for getting good inexpensive field recordings? I don't want to spend more than $300 on a mic and recorder.

[Nine Spine]

I found a set of 13 CD's full of sound effects and ambient noise at a pawn shop of all places. They had no idea what they were and sold them to me for 50 cents a piece. Ever since then I have looked in used CD stores for things like this and occasionally score some interesting loop cd's and stuff. You might try this, if for nothing more than an excuse to get into more cd stores. Other than that I have no suggestions for portable gear, I love my Tascam DAP-1 dat, but it was like 1000 bucks when I got it. Decent mic pre's, maybe you can find a used one?

Good Luck.

[Frank S]

I use a Sony M1 portable DAT machine, and Sonic studios binaural mics, but that combo will set you back a bit more than your budget allows. I guess you could scour ebay for an older DAT machine but I have no idea how much they're running these days.

You should look at some of the minidisc recorders out there - some even have functional built in microphones. The sound quality has definitely improved on the latest models, and they're very cost effective.

In a pinch, I have also used my old powerbook G3 with the sonic mics and PT free to do location recording when latency isn't a problem. But you'd have to have an old powerbook laying around.

[Larbabe]

I used to be a theatrical sound designer. You know, because your trying to capture ambient sounds, you don't need a terrific signal to noise ratio on your recordings. Why not just save the bucks & get a good portable audio cassette recorder? [img]images/icons/cool.gif[/img]

[Jamble]

I've had a blast recording with MD over the years. They're so easy to use as well. I like the Sharp units as the one I have has a really nice variable record level feature.

[lancebrwn]

check out
www.sonicstudios.com

the website is convoluted but a great resource for portable recording. the mics they make are fantastic! i've used them for several feature film projects. leonard (owner/designer) is quite knowledgable about the mini-disc recortders as well.

good luck!

lance

[seven_baseballs]

If you're looking for great location recording info you can't go wrong with Jay Rose' advice. This guy is a veritable guru of video sound! He is not only knowledgable but also very intuitive about answering specific questions - he gets to YOUR point! Check out... http://www.dv.com/db_area/cgi-bin/fo...&number=3&Days Prune=60&LastLogin=

Cheers!
S.

[seven_baseballs]

Sorry, this URL will work.. http://www.dv.com/db_area/cgi-bin/fo...tions&number=3

S.

[Doc]

I was very skeptical of the MD format due to its use of compression. But recently, I had the chance to experiment with a MD recorder I was repairing for a friend. It was a Sony model with optical in and out so I connected it to my 001 and did some A/B listening tests. I must admit to being VERY surprised by just how good this unit sounded.
In fact, I have just purchased a portable Sony MD recorder to use for recording live mixes and location work. This decision was spurred on by the recent death of my portable CD player (replacement laser is dearer than the unit [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img] ).

[Eddie K. wannabe]

Awesome, you guys are always such a great help. I'm going to go with a used Sony mzR37 recorder, there seem to be an unspoken Minidisc standard here in Chicago with regards to storefront theaters. Now I want to get a good stereo mic for ambient recordering, do you know how much those sonicsolution mics go for? They look really cool! Can they plug directly into my minijack mic input on my SonyMD recorder? I'm psyched about getting to use my lightpipe on my digi001 for once. I'm also pysched about delivgering 24bit stereo mixs on minidisc to my theaters instead of 16bit CDRs. Thanks again [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]