Jesper Magnusson Posted December 28, 2011 Report Share Posted December 28, 2011 Hello! I've posted a few times before on questions regarding booming, and damping a set, and recently had another thought that I would like to discuss with more experienced people. I recently looked up some portable booths popularly used for song in less than ideal locations, such as the ones in the pictures, and started to think about if you couldn't make something similar for location sound. So, my question is if it wouldn't be possible to take damping material and for instance make a sort of blimp of it - or maybe just put it around an actual blimp - open at the front. This would of course increase the weight quite a lot, but it would probably still be ok for short close takes, or of course for putting on a stand. If I could I would test it myself just to find out, but I don't have the possibility at the moment. So, does anyone see an obvious flaw of something like this, other than weight? Maybe it wouldn't make much difference, or maybe interfere with how certain mics cancel out sound from the sides and rear? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Visser Posted December 28, 2011 Report Share Posted December 28, 2011 I bet an interference tube mice like a shotgun would sound pretty horrible in such an enclosure. It is my opinion, that devices like that just plain sound bad to begin with. I've used things like the Se Reflextion filter with pretty poor results. I'm not sure that it improves the sound, or at least is a tradeoff for rejection of off-axis sounds versus odd sounding artifacts. Properly positioned gobos and real room treatments will always trump these little poorly designed devices, but like anything, a little bit of experimentation could prove useful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Wexler Posted December 28, 2011 Report Share Posted December 28, 2011 I agree with Tom that the results and "benefit" would be minimal and certainly unpredictable at best. There is one procedure we routinely use that resembles in part what you are presenting here. That is, when using a plant mic that is unfortunately up against a hard, reflective surface (like the dashboard of a car where a plant mic may be placed), we will put a piece of cloth, a piece of foam or something to "soften" the reflected sound coming in to the back of the mic. This allows the normal front to back attenuation (directionality) of the microphone to perform better. The acoustic box that you have pictured here seems like it would drastically alter the sound entering the back of the mic (maybe this IS the goal) which would certainly disrupt the directional characteristics of the mic in use. For voice over work (which it appears this sort of box is designed for) and close speaking into a large diaphragm mic, the directional characteristics of the mic are not so important. Typically in our work, the directional capabilities of the mic that we rely on would be seriously compromised. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Perkins Posted December 28, 2011 Report Share Posted December 28, 2011 I look at that box and think "cavity resonance". You gotta do what you gotta do on location, but having any surface near a mic is usually a bad idea. phil p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesper Magnusson Posted December 28, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2011 Thanks for the quick responses. So, there seem to be a big chance that it would do more harm than good... I guess the only way to really know how it would work would be to test it. I'll try to remember to do that in a few weeks when I've got access to some equipment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg sextro Posted December 28, 2011 Report Share Posted December 28, 2011 These products are intended for people doing VO work at home that are too lazy/cheap/lacking the ability to properly treat a room acoustically. Yes, they are cheap, easy to make yourself, etc...but the reality is that this type of a product will only help a little with reverb issues, and will not do much of anything for blocking background sound/noise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiomprd Posted December 28, 2011 Report Share Posted December 28, 2011 " the only way to really know how it would work [ for your purposes ] would be to test it. " It doesn't usually work for most of our normal purposes... if doing field VO's, I'd really prefer to have sound blocking behind my speaker, to reduce noises and reverb getting in the front of the mic, thus a full booth... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soundtrane Posted December 28, 2011 Report Share Posted December 28, 2011 << Se Reflextion filter >> POS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesper Magnusson Posted December 28, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2011 Reflection filter - thanks for the proper name Vin. It seems enough of you think it's not worth it, so I'll probably not be going to any great lengths in my testing. I'm still qurious though as to what effects it would have, so if I'm left with the time I'll make a quick comparison (always good to have one more trick up your sleve). Thanks everyone for your input. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harris K Posted December 29, 2011 Report Share Posted December 29, 2011 I built one of those for VO a while ago, and took it apart later. It sounded bad. I agree with the Senator on damping behind the actor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.