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- 36 replies
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I think we can agree that ALL of the equipment that we use on the set is important, and it is of equal importance that we fully understand how everything works and what to do if any of it stops working. I came into this industry and specifically into sound, not through any formal training in electrical engineering, audio or acoustics, and pretty much had to learn all the technical stuff "on the job." Even to this day I fall into the category of someone who knows and understands a whole lot of technical stuff but from the perspective of its practical use. Don Coufal, my boom operator for the last 28 years (actually, for almost the whole of my career) spelled out what he…
Last reply by larry long, -
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I am hoping someone might be able to clarify the intermodulation specs that Lectrosonics gives with it's wireless systems. Is it only an issue when blocks are next to eachother(ie. block 21 and 22, block 26 and 27)? or would it encompass ALL the blocks in a bag(ie 21, 26, 27)? I have one in block 21, two in block 26, and one in block 27. When coordinating frequencies among these blocks, am I only limited to the actually presets that Lectro has in their Frequency Chart? This seems to narrow the frequencies available down to only 8 usable frequencies in a block. Only 32 available according to this concept, negating the other 224 available frequencies. I am sure I am not und…
Last reply by SoundHound, -
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Yesterday on set I was booming two actors and started hearing this ticking noise. At first I thought it was one of the actors watches so I asked for it to be removed. Still hearing the steady tick tick tick I was a little stumped before one of the actors mentioned that he had a artificial heart valve, but had never had a problem with a boom picking it up before. He said sometimes that lavs did but that could usually be fixed by placing it on the other side of his chest. Unfotunatly with the time availiable I couldnt really try any other options except moving the mic, which didnt help cause I was still picking it up when micing the other actor 2-3 feet away. After we…
Last reply by SoundHound, -
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Do mixers who work in film or television face situations where an actor or personality wants to use a particular microphone because it flatters his or her voice? Do you ever proactively decide to experiment with microphones with an actor to see what might be most flattering? Are there other things that you do, at the recording rather than post stage, to model/flatter a particular voice?
Last reply by SoundHound, -
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OK you geeks, Jeff This forum rocks ! Better than Ramps for me. I've seen some great peeps here, lotsa good folks, Great info. I'm so grateful that we as sound people in all fields can share info without a cut throat mentality. I know many people in all different aspects of film that are so envious of us , that we have forums that we can share information with each other and the manufactures first hand. Is it because we are sound guys? and girls? We are true geeks? No one has this kind of open forum. I guess RAMPS started it all for us. Anywho I'm about buzzed and all of my professionalism has been drinkin' really heavy white Russians. …
Last reply by larry long, -
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hi,  i am mostly into doing production sound for Docs and Televison and gradually moving into doing production sound for films  would like to know from all whether it is very distinct, as in some people do only production sound or post or both,  are you expected to do both(production and post) or may do only production and not do post  i was told by some friends(who work in both) that the post crew are not very accomodative of production sound guys and try to run them down,  hope they are wrong  how does the production sound guys tackle these issues (with the directors and post people etc),or any similar people in the post chain   what are the adva…
Last reply by Philip Perkins, -
Pay rates
by Guest repete86- 8 replies
- 2.3k views
I'm just a beginner in this trade with a little experience and not alot of gear, but I think I'm getting better. In addition, I know some people who want me to record on their sets. So far I've only recorded no/low budget student films and one no-budget feature, but the project that's coming up this summer looks will be a paying gig (hopefully unless the finding falls through). How much do you think I should charge as a competant but not great non-union sound mixer? I will rent some equipment if the budget allows, but does anyone have any advice as to how much I should think about charging? Thanks, Pete
Last reply by Bartek, -
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Hi all, A quick question here...I was watching Garden of Good and Evil recently, and in the courtroom scenes it looked like they were using a Schoeps 641 as the podium mic for witnesses. On thinking about it, I thought this would be a great idea, because the mic is very well placed (or can be) and gives another fairly clean audio source. So, what I'm wondering is, in general, does sound approach the art department or does the art department approach sound in a case like this? Thanks! Phil
Last reply by SoundHound, -
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There are a lot of 442's & 302's out there and I'm wonder how all of you are using your limiters. Where do you set them for digital vs. analog cameras (yes analog is still used)! I understand that SD used a 20:1 limiting ratio which is pretty much a brick wall peak limiter, where as the typical reality Wendt X5 has a soft knee limiter which begins limiting at +8dbu and can still clip the mixer or recorder if pushed too hard. How are you guys peaking with your SD mixers in relation to your limiter settings ?
Last reply by SoundHound, -
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I was working on a scene last night on a Indy feature where the actress had a very very soft spoken line of dialogue. I was using a 416 overhead no more than 2 feet. I had to open the mic up far more than I wanted to just to get the meter barely moving, hearing a lot of system noise. I guess my question is should I be opening up the mic that much to get more level on a quiet scene or leave it be low and have barely any level registering on the meter ? Im new to the more dramatic and intricate dialogue of feature work. Rob
Last reply by SoundHound, -
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hi,  i am mostly into doing production sound for Docs and Televison and gradually moving into doing production sound for films  would like to know from all whether it is very distinct, as in some people do only production sound or post or both,  are you expected to do both(production and post) or may do only production and not do post  i was told by some friends(who work in both) that the post crew are not very accomodative of production sound guys and try to run them down,  hope they are wrong  how does the production sound guys tackle these issues (with the directors and post people etc),or any similar people in the post chain   what are the adva…
Last reply by soundwiz, -
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I would like to get some input from other mixers on how they monitor their mixes in the field with your typical 2 channel camera job. I have been monitoring in my headphones in a mono (mix) fashion and I feel that it is becoming a bad habit. It forces me to ride the faders harder to compensate for the comb filtering & physical phasing effects of multiple mics coming together. I'm constantly concerned about the mix (mono) picture because I don't trust that the editor will use the split tracks or just summ it all to mono. I have been working some of the reality circuit where we have 2 channels and anywhere from 6-15 cast members to mix. All of the fellow mixers I h…
Last reply by Philip Perkins, -
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- 1 reply
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Jeff: I saw your posting yesterday on the Deva user group site inregards to the 3.06 question and followed you here. May I say that this is the best thing I have found in regards to information exchange and just having fun on the web. I spent so much time on the site yesterday I was almost late for crew call. Like you I have been on set my whole life. My father was also a DOP. I used to go to set with him all the time as a kid. I never had a big enough ego to be in the camera department but I always saw this guy who sat in the corner and had lots of buttons to play with and I said that's what I want to do. So people have been paying me to record sound for over…
Last reply by Jeff Wexler, -
- 24 replies
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Let me say at the outset that this post is intended to generate amusement, perhaps at my expense. Recently, I told a salesman for an audio shop that I am interested in buying an Aaton time code generator and a Tascam HD-P2 recorder. The salesman said that while his company is an Aaton rep (they sell the Cantar), he can't sell me, or even show me, an Aaton generator. Why? Because time code generation is a camera department issue, not a sound department issue, which means that if I want to buy an Aaton generator to jam a sound recorder, I have to speak to a different company. This means that if I want to test an Aaton generator with the Tascam sound recorder,…
Last reply by Rob Braxton, -
- 2 replies
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I saw a photo from Scott Farr where he had 8 wireless mic receivers, 2 transmitters to camera and a IFB transmitter in a bag. Never having worked with such a large system, I am wondering how this would work without the RF energy of all the receivers and transmitters interfering with each other.
Last reply by Rob Lewis, -
- 2 replies
- 1.6k views
Hey Jeff, I noticed in the pictures of your cart that you're using Audio Limiteds. Have you found anyone reliable to send them to for service out here or do you use Vark Audio back east. And are yours the new diversity units? I have 2 RFS 2000s which I've owned for nearly 10 years now. Just wish they were more frequency agile now than just the 1 mHz jump. But in those pre HD broadcast days I could almost always just jump away from interference. I also really like them when I'm in ENG mode. So much smaller than my Lectro receivers!! BTW, I know you won't know me, since you were busy and I didn't want to interrupt and introduce myself but I was the mixer on th…
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I was looking at some photos taken on set in the photo section and remembered that in Toronto, the camera union IATSE 667 has a rule forbidding all still cameras on a film set except those of the set photographer. Does any other camera union have such a ruling on union shoots?
Last reply by Jeff Wexler, -
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This may seem like a strange question, but I'm wondering if anyone here knows if there is any equivalent to Rule One between SAG and IATSE. It looks like I'll be forced to join SAG in the next couple of months, but I really don't see a need (at this time) for me to join IATSE. So I'm wondering if there will be any problems with me working non-union sound gigs. Thanks! Phil
Last reply by Andrew Bellware, -
- 12 replies
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Hi all, I just watched a movie that was shot in 1996, and in the sound department there was someone credited as the multi-track recordist (this was in the same section of the credits as the boom ops and production mixer). Was this a short lived credit created after the Zaxcom's started showing up? I've never seen this credit before... Thanks! Phil
Last reply by Jeff Wexler, -
- 2 replies
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See the USA in your Chevrolet.... So the deal is I have two talent in a car for 10-14 days.  My guess is based on the nature of the shoot I'm going to have to wire the car up (Sanken Cub's I'm thinking) and record onboard with a HDD (Sound Devices 744 or 722) and also split this to onboard cameras (ala Taxicab Diaries) and wirelessly feed the lead/follow car/van/semi/megatrailer. Suggestions, ideas, good jokes? I haven't used the Cub before but everybodies write ups seem very positive. The car will NOT be a convertible (so far - Thank God) but of course there is plenty of time for production to change their mind. In the past I've used most…
Last reply by gformicola, -
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Hello all, this is an invitation to visit my new personal website.It contains several english pages and one french language page. Any suggestions for links to add to my website are appreciated . Thank-you. Joe Cancilla. www.sonvl-efpsound.com P.S. I realize that i have posted this in many other places, including Ramps,CAS.,Recording Arts forum etc.... my website is not a discusssion forum,it is more like a reading room,it will constantly be updated with new links.Happy Reading. P.P.S. Thank-you Jeff,i have learned many things from reading your posts in the forementioned websites.
Last reply by joecan, -
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http://whitewolf.newcastle.edu.au/words/index.html
Last reply by soundtrane, -
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   First, I would like to thank everybody for this forum and RAMPS. I'm learning alot from them. I'm a soundperson located smack dab in the middle of the US. I've been a sound person for over a decade learning on the old beta format. I've done it all from news to small movies. I've been doing sound on DAT's for film and straight to camera for video and HD is just starting to show up here. (The horses are slow and we roll up the sidewalk at night.)    I'm trying to decide where to go next. Film is beening used less and less and nobody has asked for back-up recordings yet. Once client has the Panasonic AG-HVX200, the other has the older 100's. I'm thinking of ge…
Last reply by Sergio Sanmiguel, -
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A question for people who deal with this question regularly... If you have a choice between recording at 16 bit depth and 24 bit depth, what considerations do you take into account in choosing between the two? I've read the ramps debates on this issue, and my sense is that they tend to be highly theoretical, which may explain why they are so inconclusive. I've tried to frame my question in a way that invites discussion based on real world practice; that is, what are people actually doing? Thanks.Â
Last reply by takev, -
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We have 45 registered members as of today which I find quite gratifying since this forum has only been up for a day. I do have a question which maybe can be answered by someone who has had a lot more experience than I have, participating in online forums and such. Why is it that so many people register with odd cryptic sounding names instead of just their own name? I know in the old CB days everyone had a "handle" ("what's up Big Rocker" and things like that) but i don't think that is the answer in the Internet age. I know there are some who definitly want the anonymity that the Internet can so easily provide, so maybe that is the reason? There may be some really good …
Last reply by Michael P Clark,
