Good resources and info. on sound mixing and recording?

[matt5791]

Hi there,

Does anyone know of any good books or web sites dealing with film sound recording, mixing etc etc. I really need to read up and get some practice in here.

I already have Practical art of Motion Picture Sound by Lewis-Yewdall (if I remember the name correctly). This is a great book with some excellent stories and written in a wonderful style.

However I am having a bit of "Information overload" with it and feel I need something more basic before graduating to it.

Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Cheers
Matt

[S8 Booster]

I was tempted to suggest "All You Need Is Ears" by George Martin but there is nothing about sound mix there I think. Never read it.

However - been here?: http://www.filmsound.org/

Basics:
http://www.filmsound.org/marshall/index.htm

R

[studiocarter]

It's really not all that difficult or expensive. My web site outlines a procedure I follow using a cheap PC mic..
http://www.16mmoviemaking.com/sound.htm
It sounds great, great enough that is. No popping of P's or breath sounds. It is used to dub films and should work great. Now I use Nero Wave Editor.
If location sound is added, without camera noise, on a Premiere sound track there will not be any camera noise; there wouldn't be any camera noise even if they were recorded at the same time. One would need to hide the mic from the camera, though.
Some day, I'll have to put all this research together into a production of some sort or other........

[matt5791]

Thanks for these - certainly getting me going

Matt

[mattias]

It's really not all that difficult or expensive.

what isn't? film sound recording and mixing? i know almost all the hows but still can't do it, and my brother who knows even more and has seven years of experience as a music producer and engineer, still is far from being great at it. if all you want to do is record voice over on your pc and drag and drop sound files to the timeline in premiere you don't need a book.

/matt

[Scotness]

It's really not all that difficult

Hmmm I used to think that too - then I tried my movie....... :oops:

Two books I've just come across are - I think I'm going to buy one soon


http://www.dplay.com/book/app/index.html
http://www.dplay.com/book/pgs2e/index.html


Scot

[S8 Booster]

Proper sound is difficult and even more so with digital HQ systems more or less avail for free.

Here is one application seemingly usable for film sound & (post?) sync avail?

http://www.luxuriousity.com/audiomac.htm

Select your audio in a format that specifically applies to your project format. Formats include:
min:sec
sec
film frames 24 fps (frames per second)
PAL frames 25 fps
NTSC frames 29.97 fps
cdda min:sec:frames 75 fps
samples
min:sec
sec
min:sec+samples
sec+samples
cdda sectors+bytes

Did some tests with my multi track Garage Band studio on the MAC recently and voice recordings were incredibly good even with a Canon 514XL s mike!
Totally noise free. Took me away.

R

[Lunar07]

Hi there,

Does anyone know of any good books or web sites dealing with film sound recording, mixing etc etc. I really need to read up and get some practice in here.

Matt

This 3-part essay/review that I read long time ago changed my life, in a sort of speaking, when it comes to understanding sound mixing and recordin. These files are on:
http://www.buzzmachines.com
It may not be what you are looking for. But I promise you that you won't regret reading it.
These are the links that take you directly to them:
http://web.hibo.no/~mva/viewreview.php?id=59
http://web.hibo.no/~mva/viewreview.php?id=60
http://web.hibo.no/~mva/viewreview.php?id=61
This 3-part review deals specifically with using instruments in a particular music program (BUZZ). But the treatment is pure class in its simplicity -
Specially the Eq and Compression sections in parts 2 and 3.

[mg]

That luxiourousity is just a rebadged version of Audacity, which is free. Google for it (I think it's on sourceforge, but I'm lazy). It's a pretty good program.


mg

[soundboy]

Guys my advice stick to what you know and find a friend or someone cheap to record and mix your projects. A decent mix on a short film can take a day or two maybe a week if you need lots of added sound and ADR.

Learning sound for film and TV booth sound recording and post is a looong process, much steeper than video editing.

But if you really want to do it, get your self off to a school the specializes in Film and TV sound so you can learn on decent gear.

If you can't afford that and you really want to mix your sound get Nuendo or Pro Tools LE with the OMF option, a couple of studio MIC's from RHODE or Nuemann, and proper set of Active Studio Monitors. You will also probably need a mixer or atleast an I/O box with mic preamps.
For ADR jobs a plugin called Vocal Align will save you some time.
try and get involved in as many projects as you can , read up on filmsound.org if you get stuck and buy a copy of Modern Recording techniques. http://www.audiomasterclass.com/books.html

The old saying with Film and TV sound is 10 percent of the project 90% of the problems...

cheers.

[rollemfilm]

Soundboy has the right idea. Start by learning how to record basic location sound. You will amazed at the amount of dedication it takes to do this well.

I would suggest that you spend the some extra money and do your post production sound at a local studio. Even if the studio you choose may not mix much cinema, they will be of great help understanding how to edit sound.

I have been doing location sound for years and just when you think you have all the answers, pOw! And as long as I have been involved with recording, I would never think of doing my own post production, even though I direct edit sessions, I know where to draw the line.

[Lunar07]

Guys my advice stick to what you know and find a friend or someone cheap to record and mix your projects. A decent mix on a short film can take a day or two maybe a week if you need lots of added sound and ADR.

True, but it is nice to understand the principles. It is nice to be able to have an idea when someone mentions dynamic range, noise, normalization, volume amplitude vs. loudness RMS power, equalizing, limiting and compressing. In addition to other things.

[mattias]

when will they release pro tools free for mac osx? it's the best piece of audio software i've ever used and for basic film audio the free version's 8 track limit isn't that limiting. one thing it has that no other free tools like garageband and audacity does is synced movie playback. either in a window or you can even smtpe sync your deck to it if you want.

/matt

[T-Scan]

It's really not all that difficult or expensive.

what isn't? film sound recording and mixing? i know almost all the hows but still can't do it, and my brother who knows even more and has seven years of experience as a music producer and engineer, still is far from being great at it. if all you want to do is record voice over on your pc and drag and drop sound files to the timeline in premiere you don't need a book.

/matt

No books just free downloads! if your going to start somewhere and be a hack, then start and be a hack. i've been getting my toes wet with audacity to record and clean up recordings.. drag and drop. nothing fancy but it can work OK.. too bad last weeks concert recordings sucked beyond software.. I may need to hook a jumper cable to the sound board, but thats another story :?