The Immoral Mr Teas

53 minutes ago, Michael Render said:

You are right. The 7 series has mono pod functionality, but the 5 does not.

Just looked at the specs on (a seller's site, not Siriu) and it says "extendable and removable centre column" so unless they're wrong it should come out (it just wouldn't be classed as a monopod when removed).

I may have just been lucky with my (pretty old fashioned) Gitzo tripod legs and boompoles, as the larger fits the second largest section of my Avalon aluminium boom and the smaller my (mark one or two) Canford carbon fibre perfectly. The Avalon I use purely with the heavy Gitso as 'cathedral stand' setup - it is heavy, stable and goes quite high with the boom. The Canford I just pull off the rubber end cap and use it with tripod when desired.

Thanks again for pointing out the 5C, it looks pretty good all round for size, weight and price. Roland, also, yes I had already seen how you mount a boom to a tripod (I've read quite a few reviews and things on your site recently and I would recommend others to look through it), so if the Siriu wasn't a good fit for any of my booms I might fashion something similar.

I still like the idea of being able to (temporarily but easily) fix a super-small and light-ish tripod to a small/medium pole for FX gathering - even just for being able to stand it up relatively safely when doing some other thing ... the weight (860g or even less without centre section) isn't even an issue as I prefer a 'hodges' counterweight anyway.

Jez

On 2/28/2023 at 4:19 PM, jimmycat said:

Anyone had experience with a pair of 6061s for the same task?

No I haven't, but my earlier reply concerning 6060s to 4060s should apply just the same as 6061s to 4061s. I would trust DPA's specs.

Yes, thank you for bringing this model to our attention. It looks to be of quite decent quality at a welcome price (and it's good to have a recommendation from somebody using it for sound and not picture). My heavy/sturdy setups are based on Gitso legs with boompoles and my light/travel tripods are stripped/modified cheap aluminium creations - this seems a very interesting, relatively hardwearing, middle way without being of the price of the top level carbon fiber 'travellers'.

Does the middle 'boom' section easily remove? And is the diameter sufficient for any smallish boompole to replace it? For FX gathering I'd rather like to find a set of 'occasional legs' to keep attached to the bottom end of a medium boom and these look like they might provide that possibility.

Jez

12 hours ago, Calsun said:

The Rycote 089130 (AT825) windshield seems like the best solution for the BP4025 but it is not expected to be available until May 2023 at the earliest. Same cost as the BBG windshield but a much better design in every respect.

Could you give us more information? The 089130 seems to be a Small Cyclone, available now and considerably more expensive than a BBG. Thanks

Thanks very much for posting this, I didn't actually know he had this website. Do you mind me asking how much it was (and postage too if you remember ... is he still based in Paris or France himself)? Thanks

Jez

I'll chime in with a really simple solution since it's even simpler and cheaper than what's already mentioned. I often record rain (or ambiences when it might rain) with just a couple of DPA 4060 lavs - and with these I just thread the mic through a 'washing up sponge' - that is a sponge with a thin layer of scouring pad on one side - suspend so the mic is an inch or less below the sponge, and pop on a lav windscreen (DPA, rycote, bubblebee, whatever). Have the sponge side on top, the scouring side below (just above the mic capsule hanging below). One sponge, about 4x2 inches, cut in half will serve 2 mics. Just make a small slit in the centre of each with a stanley knife to thread the lav through. So small and light I carry a pair wherever I take a pair of DPAs.

Of course this is for lavaliers, but you could DIY say 4 or more together with cloth or glue to make slightly larger pads (depending on your windshielding) at a cost of virtually nothing.

Apart from that it is important to listen and learn to understand what environments are making what kind of rain ambience, as mentioned above, particularly Philip's post.

I've been asked for copies of some recordings by friends precisely for going to sleep!

Jez

On 2/8/2023 at 2:14 AM, Koyama said:

Are these real?

No, but one thing IS certain - its versatility made it a popular choice with recording engineers and producers.

Or just make sure to be very VERY quiet!

Cheers Philip and Fred. I agree it could do with some sorting out: my greatest bugbear is the super narrow scroll bar on the side, which I had tons of trouble grasping with the mouse - considering how much scrolling down (and pressing 'load more') I had to do just to see if a mic was in the database or not. As Fred says, the 'search' sometimes found what I wanted, sometimes didn't, even when the mic was there. It used to be strictly alphabetical (by manufacturer and model number) - it now half holds to this and half loads upon what I can only presume is 'most viewed' or something ... so I did (or tried to do) a lot of scrolling down and loading more mics (Sennheisers my first try, Schoeps my second, Neumann third ...) until I found what I wanted or it ran out of mics.

I will report my ideas to them (rather than here) when I've had more time using it. I'm very pleased to have it back however, and hope they manage to expand the library side of it to include the like of 'The Stereophonic Zoom' and vintage schematics ...

Jez

I got a nice surprise with my spam this morning, an email from John Anderson letting me know that microphone-data.com has been resurrected and relaunched as Micpedia.com

https://micpedia.com

(Note I just typed that out - it's not working for me at least as a link, but should be easy enough for any of you to type/find)

I haven't looked at it yet but the old mic-data was a very useful and much missed resource, particularly for comparing stuff at a glance (relative sensitivities between mics the like) and for vintage models. I hope this is as good, if not even better, and wish them the best of luck.

Jez

If the producers of Blacklist are reading I think you have the title of a new series right there Jon.

They all lost their hearing in the workplace, now they're mad and want to get even -

Sound Vigilantes!

Yeah, unfortunately, despite our best efforts we failed to (collectively) say in this thread, simply and concisely, what we intended to - and the thread ended up a bit of a mess with the original poster seemingly grasping much of what was said incorrectly and much of the rest not at all. I nearly had another go myself to straighten it out but had no time ... and thought also, "what could I do here to summarise - facts, technology, workflow - without just adding another layer of confusion"? A bit of a shame - it doesn't always work out as we would like.

Jez

13 hours ago, Grim Reaper said:

I have stories; Using a Nagra SN with a 416T-F while standing in the bathtub with the cameraman in a bathroom at Ronnie Hawkins' house filming Ronnie Hawkins and Robbie Robertson reminiscing while they alternately went off camera multiple times to snort from a small mountain of coke. I have more stories. 

Ha ha, something I'd like to watch certainly. Makes me want to watch that Scorcese doc on Steven Prince again too ... maybe along with Stardust Memories.

Re: original comment, I understand your lack of awe compared to (a non-user like) Adam Savage. Though whenever I have waxed lyrical to non-user friends about Nagra (reel to reels) it has been precisely their functional design (and to a certain extent the quality of build around this design) that has started me off. You pointed out both, cheers.

Jez

I wonder how fast they might reverse prevailing opinion if they were to bring out a fig 8 ?

Jez

8 hours ago, Grim Reaper said:

I was not in awe of Nagra recorders, they were well-designed and made tools I used to do my work.

 

Well as far as 'stories' from sound men go this one is short but I guess as good as any other!

Jez

Thanks for posting this John! I noticed that his 4 previous posts were about his recording wolves, which I'm looking forward to reading through when I get the time to do so. Out of interest I also recorded (and attempted to record) several different wolf and wolf pack sounds several years ago for a feature. I recorded the wolves managed by Hungarian Zoltan 'the Wolf Man' (he had a tv show about him sometime later on...), wolves which had already featured in the film. 'Getting to know' the 4 year olds (= 'teenagers') was an adrenaline experience, and the various, often ridiculous, methods I came up with with the handlers to get different sounds was highly entertaining. I'm looking forward to comparing notes ...

Cheers, Jez

Hi, ahoj, Humbuk,

I may be wrong / missing the point, but since the TC is just a TC Stamp on both the recorder(s) and (most probably) camera, could you choose 25fps then there will be at least a valid 'start' reference for sync (or the equivalent 'normal' framerate for whatever double speed rate you use)?

Have you searched for previous posts, especially in 'Cameras...' section for high framerates?

Best, Jez

Well, with the title,

"2 sides 1 mid ..."

I completely got the wrong end of the stick ... I thought you were talking about the (multi) M/S method (which is the basis of ambisonic M/S) ... but you weren't!

From what you ask, I would concur to focus on mono for the most part to hone your craft recording "mostly close proximity, focused sounds that I can process in post and experiment."

So your single 8040 will do you nicely for what you currently 'mostly' want to do. For the future ... under controlled close recording conditions you shouldn't get any real difference using a cardioid or hypercardioid (nor, beyond intentional proximity effect, from the two outer extremes of omni and on-axis figure 8...) - such mic choice is far more necessary when dealing with 'less controlled' recording conditions .... more distant FX out in the field, more unwanted ambient spill, or indeed capturing dialogue on a shitty drama set.

Personally my next purchase would be a second 8040 - so you can start recording 2 channel 'spread soundstage' FX, music, ambiences etc with a nice cardioid pair.

The most useful reading to understand relationships of 2 channel recording (coincident to spaced, including properly explaining the 'regulars' like ORTF, and across the spread of microphone pattern) is Michael Williams' The Stereophonic Zoom, available from Rycote 'support'

https://rycote-support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/6758019347485-The-Stereophonic-Zoom-Archived

(If you can't get the link to work, follow rycote support through its archived documentation until you find the pdf download).

Williams also wrote another very useful article expanding this to multichannel setups, although confined to cardioid mic pattern, although this doesn't seem to be available from rycote. If I find a current link I'll post it. It basically 'groups' the 360 degree recording area into interconnected sets of stereo pairs (so, 5 x 72 degree pairs; or 4 x 90 degree pairs etc) ... which would be a fine introduction/explanation of much of your original question of using a 3 channel LCR recording rig (which I've done a fair amount of, often specific to picture/scene) ... the maths works perfectly well for multichannel recording areas (or 'angles') of less than 360 degrees.

Jez Adamson

Again Roland, thank you, a very useful write up.

Jez

5 hours ago, Constantin said:

Strictly speaking this isn’t ORTF, but I get why you are calling it that. I am curious though, why for movie/tv audio you would choose to use a middle mic like that, as your dialog usually already sits in the middle. Wouldn’t actual ORTF be more suitable?

 

I can't speak for Vasi but I took his 3 mic setup to be probably a fixed stationary one where usually the 2 channel (ortf) of the 8040s was recorded/used/chosen and occasionally the mono forward facing channel 8050 if there was something interesting in front. Rather than a 3-channel ambience. But my interpretation is no doubt mistaken!! 

51 minutes ago, ronmac said:

Jez, I recently purchased this tripod as a compact support for my MS Cyclone kit while travelling via public transit. It isn't a particularly demanding task for a tripod, so low weight and basic functionality (not to mention low cost) was all I required.  It was the best cost/features/build quality I could find at that time. I would have purchased the CF version, but it wasn't in stock and only slightly lower weight. 

 

https://www.henrys.com/vanguard-veo-3-go-235ab-aluminum-tripod-with-ballhead/5637233136.p?color=Black&style=New

Thank you Ron

51 minutes ago, ronmac said:

I always record MS as separate tracks, for exactly the reasons you state. 

And thank you again from post!!

Jez

12 hours ago, ronmac said:

One of the features that attracted me to the tripod I selected (beside the low weight and form factor) was it having a removeable leg that can be used as a monopod or boom pole. It is perfect for being able to reach a bit higher/lower to catch water/tree noises or get closer to moving insects.

Ron, I think you may have detailed your tripod in the past but could you tell us again here what it is? cheers!

12 hours ago, VASI said:

Currently working with ORTF with 3 mics

So, Vasi, have you a single cable 7 pin running or a 3+5 or 3+3+3?

Presently in Corfu by the way and might well fly back via Athens in a couple of weeks. Must try to meet up if that's the case!!

8 hours ago, Richard Nault said:

… I ended up finding a workflow where I had a normal boom mic with an MS mic just above, so I could easily switch between mono and stereo.

[...]

Audio post DID find it easier to have me switch between a stereo mic and mono mic, without using MS, but out in the field, it really was easier to have a single setup that did mono AND stereo. 

Being a post sound person I like to have a clear idea when MS is being used and how: whether separate M and S tracks (generally preferable) or matrixed. If the former, and I understand one's workflow (of 'sometimes' MS), I would be perfectly happy to receive tracks where the M track was always present and the S track was often mute or blank: that's easy to understand and work with.

Jez Adamson

16 hours ago, Eve k said:

Silence (2012) is about a sound recordist in Ireland who is trying to find a natural environment with no man made noise to record. Available to rent on BFI

Interesting, thanks Eve. I'll look out.

In 2008 I spent several months in Himalayas and Qinghai Tibetan Plateau recording silent areas - a year or so later I met a bloke from Australia who recorded silences too and we traded.

On 5/20/2017 at 1:19 AM, Philip Perkins said:

It's a Nagra IV-S.  You clearly see how the two channel level knobs are linked when he adjusts the levels during his bootleg concert recording.   Wonderful film.  The excerpt of the opera "La Wally" from this film was a minor hit record at the time.  Besides being a stylish thriller it raised questions about the ownership of art and performances that are still very much in play today.

Ha thanks Phil, I realise I stood corrected back in 2017 and 5 years later had forgotten and reverted to my original bad memory (on the Nagra Stories thread).

Jez

Wonderful condition DT48s there too. A very lucky find.

Jez

Not a joke: you might find a pair of very old t powered MKH805s or even 815s which are more directional than the 416 for that money or even less; but beware, when they stop working they cannot be serviced by sennheiser any more.

(And Daniel, my dear friend, no t-jokes from you either please!!)

Jez

Likewise working fine on windows 10 - B or whatever i am on. I know it's not 11. In fact, remembering the original post a couple of years ago I had already had another look.

Jez