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Sound Design

Tascam Tutorial

Has 3 batteries on back

  • Hold "home" button down to turn on

    • make sure tascam is not in "hold" position​

  • At the bottom of the screen there is a bar that says TASCAM _#_ . wav

    • Means that there is a file on card​

  • How To Erase a File

    • Quick -> Delete​

    • (to erase all files)Menu -> Others -> System -> Quick Format

  • Record modes: 

    • Stereo - Two mics plugged in​

    • Mono - One mic plugged in

    • Duel - Saves two files(can adjust the quietness of second one)

      • ***Make sure that mics are on the external setting***​

    • Also has internal mics(will not usually use this)

  • Recording:

    • External mics are plugged in on the side of the tascam​

      • Shotgun mic:

        • condenser mic

        • needs phantom power​

    • Hit "Record" Once = Standby mode(red light blinking)

      • In standby mode set levels for recording​

        • Input mics on side. + or - depending on levels​

    • Hit "Record" Twice = Record mode(red light solid

    • When you want to stop recording hit HOME,

      • Hitting record will bring you back to standby mode/will not end file​

    • Always record at 16 bit depth and 48 sample rate.

      • Menu-> Record Settings​

  • Change Name of File

    • Menu -> Others -> File Name​

  • To Hear What You Recorded...

    • Use right and left arrow​ keys and hit "play"

  • Hold down "home" to turn off

Sound Production

  • Sound Design can make or break a film

  • ​Good sound design goes virtuously unnoticed in films

    • the audience is feeling it instead of hearing it​.

  • Sounds Recorded on Set:

    • Dialogue​

    • Wild Sound

    • Room Tone

  • Two main Microphones on a film set: 

    • Boom Mic

    • ​Body/Lavalier Mic​ (Usually Omnidirectional or Cardioid)

  • Characteristics of Microphones:

    • Windscreen - to muffle the sound of air​

    • Microphone Patterns - The shape around a mic indicating where it picks up sound best.

      • Omnidirectional​ - All directions

      • Bidirectional - Useful for interviews/duets

      • Cardioid - Recording lines of one person at a time, up close

      • Subcardioid - A little wider than cardioid

      • Super-cardioid/Hyper-cardioid - Picks up individuals when a group of people are huddled etc.

    • Shotgun Mic(Lobar) - Very precise sound/from far away​

  • Sound design team on a set consists of 2-3 people

    • ​Sound Mixer - head of team​​

      • Provides sound equipment and is responsible for recording all of the sounds on a set​

    • Boom Operator - second in command

      • Holds boom mic while filming​. Captures sound from everyone and everything in the scene. Must know blocking/script well. In charge of slate?

    • Utility Sound Technicians

      • Equipment maintenance, mic placement, keeping everyone quiet on set, etc​​​.

  • Production sound design - audio gets sent to sound mixer, where he/she can adjust levels

  • Post production sound design - sound editors must choose which sound takes are the best, and make it into the film. sometimes they have to sync audio and video because the best sound take might be different than the best video take

    • Automated Dialogue Replacement(ADR)

    • Sound Designers, Sound Mixers, and Foley Artists work together

    • Composers work to create music for films. Often the finishing pouch of post production

My Sound Design Project

               I had a lot of fun doing this project. I learned a lot and feel as if i have a new found appreciation for the process of sound design. At first i struggled with getting the video onto final cut, but figured out that I could use Clip Grab to embed it and detach audio. I started searching for audio by searching for ambient noise of a small town, as that is what i thought the landscape looked like on this film. I had to cut up the sound effect because every once and awhile a car engine could be heard. From then it was pretty easy to find the first few sound effects. I soon realized though, that i often needed multiple types of the same noises (i.e. Horse sounds, footsteps) in order to make it sound authentic. After awhile it became frustrating, as I would finish a class having only added sound to 20 seconds of the film, but I believe it gave me a hightened sense of respect for the people who do this type of thing as a career. It was difficult to find sound effects that sounded exactly like i wanted it to in my head, but every once in awhile, I would rely of the sound effects provided by Final Cut Pro to help me with this process. Towards the end, I decided that I would add and element of fun to my video, so I added some silly cartoon sounds to make it more entertaining for my to work on. When I finished I was proud of the work that I had done and found myself looking forward to the working with sound design and editing in the future.

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