most recent 30 from http://socialsounddesign.com 2012-02-05T03:55:49Z http://socialsounddesign.com/feeds/user/270 http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.5/rdf http://socialsounddesign.com/questions/11443/request-mouse-squeaks/11461#11461 Haydn Payne 2011-11-19T11:05:22Z 2011-11-19T11:05:22Z

<p>I have got some good mouse squeaks by quickly sliding my fingers over a sheet of glass </p>

http://socialsounddesign.com/questions/10494/share-your-audio-jokes/10502#10502 Haydn Payne 2011-09-24T15:57:39Z 2011-09-24T15:57:39Z

<p>This is funny;</p> <p><a href="http://www.gearslutz.com/board/post-production-forum/497768-my-craigslist-ad-composer-looking-film-crew.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.gearslutz.com/board/post-production-forum/497768-my-craigslist-ad-composer-looking-film-crew.html</a></p>

http://socialsounddesign.com/questions/8916/mp3-gapless-looping-help/8925#8925 Haydn Payne 2011-07-01T16:49:56Z 2011-07-01T16:49:56Z

<p>I think it is because mp3 files contains data blocks of predetermined sizes, so if the length of your loop isnt an exact multiple of the block size then the mp3 encoding will add silence.</p> <p>The only tool i have successfully used for looping mp3 files is part of the Miles SDK, which is a game audio engine made by RAD Game Tools.</p>

http://socialsounddesign.com/questions/8404/ear-protection-while-cycling/8416#8416 Haydn Payne 2011-06-02T18:25:11Z 2011-06-02T18:25:11Z

<p>I cycle a lot and have worried about this before, I have tried wearing earphones to block my ear canal but I decided it was more dangerous because it makes traffic harder to hear.</p> <p>This looks like it could be a decent solution - <a href="http://www.slipstreamz.com/content.asp?subID=8" rel="nofollow">http://www.slipstreamz.com/content.asp?subID=8</a></p> <p>I think the company is based in South Africa</p> <p>I dont think they are designed with ear health in mind, but they claim it reduces wind noise to make you more aware of your surroundings. Have you ever put your hand in front of your ear to block the airflow while riding? it does make it a lot easier to hear things.</p>

http://socialsounddesign.com/questions/7838/extreme-wind-protection-100-km-h/7852#7852 Haydn Payne 2011-05-12T06:38:30Z 2011-05-12T06:38:30Z

<p>I think Rycote make 'Hi Wind covers' designed for more severe wind than just using their normal wind jammers, not sure if they make them for stereo baskets but its worth asking.</p>

http://socialsounddesign.com/questions/7280/setting-up-an-editing-suite/7285#7285 Haydn Payne 2011-04-12T15:56:59Z 2011-04-12T15:56:59Z

<p>I recommend not having the computers in the isolated rooms. The sound in the rooms could be much nicer if you keep all the computers in a rack in a seperate room and use extension cables to get speakers &amp; monitors etc into the editing suites.</p>

http://socialsounddesign.com/questions/6334/gdc-2011-san-fran/6689#6689 Haydn Payne 2011-03-20T02:39:24Z 2011-03-20T02:39:24Z

<p>I would have loved to have gone, but its too expensive for me at the moment :(</p> <p>The Game audio podcast did a great round up of the most interesting events - <a href="http://www.gameaudiopodcast.com/?m=201103" rel="nofollow">http://www.gameaudiopodcast.com/?m=201103</a></p>

http://socialsounddesign.com/questions/6539/field-recording-in-areas-you-absolutely-need-clearance-for/6542#6542 Haydn Payne 2011-03-15T19:05:52Z 2011-03-15T19:05:52Z

<p>If you wear hi viz clothing, a hard hat, &amp; a lanyard with an ID card, people may just assume you are meant to be there.</p> <p>I have done that a couple of times, but never anywhere really risky like inside a military base! ;)</p>

http://socialsounddesign.com/questions/3294/backgrounds-for-a-dead-city/5868#5868 Haydn Payne 2011-02-04T20:45:56Z 2011-02-04T20:45:56Z

<ul> <li>Slow creepy metal movement sounds (like metal signs swinging in the wind)</li> <li>Water Drips</li> <li>Wind chimes</li> <li>Alarms / telephones going off, depending on how long it has been abandonded for...</li> </ul>

http://socialsounddesign.com/questions/5707/how-will-portable-recorders-improve-in-the-future Haydn Payne 2011-01-24T20:16:17Z 2011-01-26T05:13:00Z

<p>Apart from the obvious stuff like preamp/converter quality &amp; size/weight, what useful new features should be invented in the next few years?</p> <p>I would like;</p> <ul> <li><p>Custom rules to stop &amp; start recording - e.g. when an input level above -20dB is detected between 3-4am, start recording until it goes below -20db for 10 minutes.</p></li> <li><p>Ability to take one mic input and route it to more than one preamp (so you can record a high &amp; low gain version of the mic source)</p></li> <li><p>GPS which writes your location &amp; altitude to metadata during recording, with regular updates in case you move. GPS changes the clock when you cross a time zone.</p></li> <li><p>Ability to create custom shortcuts/macros for the most easily accessible buttons</p></li> <li><p>Voice recognition to operate the recorder</p></li> <li><p>Ability to control every function remotely - via a smart phone app, a computer on the internet, a dedicated radio control (with level meters and a display)</p></li> <li><p>Wireless network interface (internet or lan) to transfer recordings to my computer, and to use remote computers as a recording medium.</p></li> <li><p>Ability to store metadata during recording which tracks every change of setting made by the user over time, including gain on the preamps. </p></li> <li><p>Monitoring delay function - e.g. when im recording loud impacts I could add a 2 second delay so i can hear the recorded sound without hearing the actual thing simultaneously. (like confidence monitoring i suppose but more customisable)</p></li> <li><p>Ability to charge mobile telephones &amp; usb devices.</p></li> <li><p>Measure air temperature &amp; humidity, and regularly stamp the info into metadata during recording (and warning messages when temperature is too high/low for the unit to work properly)</p></li> </ul> <p>Are there any devices that can do this stuff already ?</p> <p>If someone made a product with all those features I might give up my sound devices recorder.</p>

http://socialsounddesign.com/questions/5463/favorite-use-of-identifying-sound-for-a-villain/5476#5476 Haydn Payne 2011-01-10T08:08:28Z 2011-01-10T08:08:28Z

<p>The footsteps of the murderer walking upstairs in Rear window</p> <p>The motion tracker in Alien - It was used in Alien to create suspense when it was detecting something that wasnt an Alien (a cat), and the same trick was used twice in Aliens...</p>

http://socialsounddesign.com/questions/5334/lp-scratch-ssound-generation/5336#5336 Haydn Payne 2011-01-02T12:42:53Z 2011-01-02T12:42:53Z

<p>If your software has a scrub function it will allow you to move forwards &amp; backwards manually, e.g. In Nuendo I can use the mouse to control the forward/backwards speeds with the jog wheel or with the scrub playback tool.</p> <p>If youre talking about the actual sound of the needle scratching on the vinyl you could easily record that if you have an old record player. Otherwise plently of SFX libraries have that sound effect.</p>

http://socialsounddesign.com/questions/4925/how-did-they-do-that-vol-1-the-predator-clicks/4926#4926 Haydn Payne 2010-12-01T21:01:08Z 2010-12-01T21:01:08Z

<p>I think recordings of dolphins were the main ingredient for the clicks.</p> <p>I like a lot of the sound design in Predator, the clicky sounds were very original &amp; different to any other monster vocals Ive heard.</p>

http://socialsounddesign.com/questions/4800/which-shotguns-mics-should-i-consider-for-capturing-sfx/4804#4804 Haydn Payne 2010-11-25T13:16:27Z 2010-11-25T13:24:04Z

<p>Short shotguns I would look for;</p> <ul> <li>Sennheiser MKH60</li> <li>Schoeps CMIT </li> <li>DPA 4017</li> </ul> <p>all are around $2k as far as I know</p> <p>I would also try the Rode NTG3, apparently they stand up quite well to more expensive microphones &amp; could save you $1k+ </p>

http://socialsounddesign.com/questions/4555/guerella-gun-recording-without-a-budget/4560#4560 Haydn Payne 2010-11-15T20:21:23Z 2010-11-15T20:21:23Z

<p>I have only done one gun recording session but I got some decent results my first time thanks to the advice i got from places like this. I was with another sound recordist who used a Zoom H4 and a RODE NT4 microphone and he got some material that sounded really good and could be usable in a game.</p> <p>Most of our good recordings came from standing around 10/20 feet behind or to the side of the person shooting with the microphone aimed towards them. I have never used Zoom recorders but I think my friend was recording with a lot of gain on the preamps, so the input was clipping. Setting the recording level low enough to avoid clipping the loudest part of the sound might give you unimpressive results.</p> <p>I think live monitoring will be hard to do because the pressure waves coming from the gunshots at close range can overwhlem what you hear from headphones, either monitoring from distance or listening back to the recordings when it is quiet will be more reliable.</p> <p>Btw, a point n click Old Western game sounds fun!</p>

http://socialsounddesign.com/questions/4478/diy-windscreen-ideas/4483#4483 Haydn Payne 2010-11-08T18:57:18Z 2010-11-08T18:57:18Z

<p>Rycote sell small windshields which the NT5s would fit inside - check their website for NT5 compatible products, or Im sure you could use 2 Rode windshields.</p> <p>I recently made a windshield which I used with an NT4, ive been meaning to write a guide for a while;</p> <p><a href="http://www.haydnpayne.com/diy_windshield.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.haydnpayne.com/diy_windshield.htm</a></p>

http://socialsounddesign.com/questions/4307/that-escalating-illusion-remember-what-its-called/4310#4310 Haydn Payne 2010-10-27T21:32:37Z 2010-10-27T21:32:37Z

<p>I hear this in dance music a lot, didnt know it was an actual thing with a name!</p>

http://socialsounddesign.com/questions/4271/how-would-you-record-a-tesla-coil/4282#4282 Haydn Payne 2010-10-25T18:39:57Z 2010-10-25T18:39:57Z

<p>Im planning to record some of this stuff on Saturday too, but im expecting the guys who run the equipment to be able to advise on what is safe and not let us get dangerously close.</p> <p>I guess since it will be indoors recording closer will minimise the room sound so Ill probably use a a shotgun mic. I will also take a PZM &amp; a contact mic just in case there is any opportunity to attach it to something interesting.</p>

http://socialsounddesign.com/questions/4244/what-are-the-best-modulators-for-vocoders/4268#4268 Haydn Payne 2010-10-25T07:31:13Z 2010-10-25T07:31:13Z

<p>Traditionally the human voice, but the possibilities for sound design are endless</p> <p>It doesnt have to have a lot of harmonics, i have got my best results by having a carrier signal that is rich in harmonics.</p>

http://socialsounddesign.com/questions/2582/what-does-the-future-hold-for-video-game-sound-design/3630#3630 Haydn Payne 2010-09-17T17:13:24Z 2010-09-17T17:13:24Z

<p>Yesterday the CEO of Activision said that within a few years he expects to be selling 'films' for $20-30. Developers of big budget modern games often put a lot of resources into making cutscene fmvs which he apparently thinks gamers will be want to purchase without the actual game!</p> <p>So for some sound designers the future of game sound may be getting closer to sound for film.</p> <p>On the other hand, technology that allows the playback/synthesis of sound to change in response to user input will become more elaborate, that's different to film sound because a game's soundtrack can be very different every time you play it.</p> <p>There is a company called AudioKinetic which makes tools for game audio development, they have software called Soundseed Air &amp; Impact which use synthesis techniques to give sound effects different characteristics depending on the context (e.g. a weapon impact sound could be changed to sound bigger or smaller depending on the size of the character using it)</p>

http://socialsounddesign.com/questions/3020/whats-your-strategy-behind-192khz-recording/3538#3538 Haydn Payne 2010-09-13T21:05:11Z 2010-09-13T21:05:11Z

<p>I dont agree that sampling frequencies higher than 40kHz increase the accuracy of the recorded frequencies below 20KHz...</p> <p>Sounds are made up of sine waves and you only need 2 samples to be able to perfectly represent a sine wave since it is a mathematically perfect shape. If you store a million samples for one sine wave it will be no more accurately represented than with 2 samples.</p> <p>But hey, I could be wrong</p>

http://socialsounddesign.com/questions/3016/what-are-some-of-the-oddest-filenames-in-your-library/3262#3262 Haydn Payne 2010-08-30T11:36:41Z 2010-08-30T11:36:41Z

<p>These track listings from commercial libraries made me laugh (im easily amused)</p> <ul> <li>digi i7 - 99 - HUMAN - FALLING IN TO SHRUBBERY - FALLING IN TO BUSH</li> <li>digi c10 - 22.wav - HORSE - EATING POTATOES </li> <li>Digi J1 69 - Elephant playing harmonica</li> <li>DW02 - 65.wav - Space Vacuum Cleaner</li> <li>DIGI -C-08 51 HYDRAULIC MANURE TRANSPORTER</li> </ul> <p>And greatest of all;</p> <ul> <li>SI - 6037 Track 51 - 'Timer - Small Timer with Bell End'</li> </ul>

http://socialsounddesign.com/questions/2626/is-there-a-way-to-preview-the-sample-rate-and-channel-info-for-audio-files-in-win/2922#2922 Haydn Payne 2010-08-18T17:33:32Z 2010-08-18T17:33:32Z

<p>You can do this workaround in Windows 7 if you switch your folder view to 'details', right click on the bar at the top of the file viewer &amp; display the bit rate of the files. Then you need to memorise the bit rates of your commonly used sampling frequency / bit depth combinations ;)</p> <ul> <li>512kbps = 32kHz 16 bit Mono</li> <li>705kbps = 44kHz 16 bit Mono</li> <li>1024kbps = 32kHz 16 bit Stereo</li> <li>1058kbps = 44kHz 24bit Mono</li> <li>1152kbps = 48kHz 24 bit Mono</li> <li>1411kbps = 44kHz 16 bit Stereo</li> <li>2116kbps = 44kHz 24bit Stereo</li> <li>2304kbps = 48kHz 24 bit Stereo</li> </ul> <p>If you are using lots of non standard sampling frequencies for game sound effects then this might not be a realistic solution</p>

http://socialsounddesign.com/questions/2529/what-to-record-in-a-2-mile-tunnel/2534#2534 Haydn Payne 2010-08-06T08:41:14Z 2010-08-06T08:41:14Z

<p>You could get some good atmospheric scary monster screams, stand really far away from the microphones and try to make disturbing freakish vocal sounds (and hope there arent any other people nearby). </p>

http://socialsounddesign.com/questions/2443/what-does-foley-mean Haydn Payne 2010-08-02T12:26:58Z 2010-08-02T23:37:13Z

<p>We probably all know &amp; use the word Foley but everyone seems to have a slightly different understanding of what it means.</p> <p>From talking to other sound people &amp; watching documentaries I've heard a few different definitions;</p> <ul> <li>Just footsteps &amp; clothing movement sounds</li> <li>All character related sounds apart from dialogue</li> <li>Low priority sound effects that aren't spot FX or ambience</li> </ul> <p>My understanding is that Foley is the technique of watching a video whilst performing actions to create sounds in sync with the picture. So in my opinion it is a recording technique rather a type of sound, &amp; the subject of a sound doesn't determine whether or not it is Foley.</p> <p>From my experience footsteps &amp; movement sounds in video games are usually recorded/edited wild and synced later but still referred to as Foley. </p> <hr> <p>Definitions from a couple of books;</p> <ul> <li>'Foley is the art &amp; craft of designing and recording performed sound effects in sync to film'</li> </ul> <p><em>Vanessa Theme Ament (The Foley Grail)</em></p> <ul> <li>'Today the term describes general sound effects performed by humans, but not necessarily to picture. This includes sounds that are pulled from a sound effects library'</li> </ul> <p><em>Ric Viers (The Sound Effects Bible)</em></p> <hr> <p>What is your understanding of Foley? It would be interesting to see what definition is the most common.</p>

http://socialsounddesign.com/questions/2410/what-sounds-can-be-effectively-recording-using-just-one-channel-mono/2419#2419 Haydn Payne 2010-07-31T20:22:33Z 2010-07-31T20:22:33Z

<p>The vast majority of the sounds I put into computer games are mono. The game's audio engine determines how much of the sound is sent to each speaker, usually based on input from the player.</p>

http://socialsounddesign.com/questions/2385/an-alternative-to-a-blimp-a-small-pistol-grip-for-example/2409#2409 Haydn Payne 2010-07-31T09:16:49Z 2010-07-31T09:16:49Z

<p>I have used my NT4 inside my recorder bag to do some slightly covert recordings..</p> <p><img src="http://www.haydnpayne.com/pictures/nt4_bag.jpg" alt="alt text"></p> <p>Obviously it is susceptible to movement noise</p>

http://socialsounddesign.com/questions/2406/inline-m-s-manipulation-with-voxengo-msed/2408#2408 Haydn Payne 2010-07-31T08:22:35Z 2010-07-31T08:22:35Z

<p>I was under the impression that as long as you havent done any other processing to an MS recording you can encode/decode MS as many times as you like without any change in quality at all.</p> <p>Voxengo plugins are great, I use the free MSED &amp; Recorder a lot!</p>

http://socialsounddesign.com/questions/2359/re-recording-ultrasonic-frequencies/2367#2367 Haydn Payne 2010-07-29T08:08:17Z 2010-07-29T08:08:17Z

<p>The frequency response of the Sanken CO-100K microphone wiggles its way up to 100kHz</p> <p><img src="http://www.sanken-mic.com/upload/prd/img/img.php?photo=1000400_frequency_01.jpg&amp;type=freq" alt="alt text"></p>

http://socialsounddesign.com/questions/2216/designing-a-humongous-god-voice/2230#2230 Haydn Payne 2010-07-24T14:12:13Z 2010-07-24T14:12:13Z

<p>I have had some success using a subtle tremelo for a God voice.</p> <p>Maybe try some musical elements, harps or trumpets</p> <p>But I agree that the delivery is probably 90% the job.</p>

http://socialsounddesign.com/questions/3355/the-trailer-voice-over-this-summer-blah-blah-blah-don-lafontaine/3357#3357 Haydn Payne 2012-01-06T08:13:12Z 2012-01-06T08:13:12Z

You still hear that type of voice in movie trailers, strange that people are trying to imitate him so much but I suppose its a really iconic sound! <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVDzuT0fXro" rel="nofollow">youtube.com/watch?v=fVDzuT0fXro</a>

http://socialsounddesign.com/questions/10718/hey-new-yorkers-whos-recording-occupy-wallstreet Haydn Payne 2011-10-23T01:36:30Z 2011-10-23T01:36:30Z

Awesome recordings!

http://socialsounddesign.com/questions/10203/encoding-lr-to-ms-which-plug-in/10204#10204 Haydn Payne 2011-09-24T15:16:34Z 2011-09-24T15:16:34Z

i like this one because it gives you level control of each channel within the plugin

http://socialsounddesign.com/questions/9228/recording-an-airshow-any-tips-does-and-donts/9235#9235 Haydn Payne 2011-07-21T19:07:45Z 2011-07-21T19:07:45Z

A boat is probably the best way of recording sea side shows, like most airshows they are usually full of screaming kids, fairground rides, PA speakers etc. Plus the flying displays tend to be further away in my experience. If you found out what airport most display aircraft are operating from it might be worth going there instead to record them taking off &amp; landing.

http://socialsounddesign.com/questions/2410/what-sounds-can-be-effectively-recording-using-just-one-channel-mono/2419#2419 Haydn Payne 2011-07-02T09:33:05Z 2011-07-02T09:33:05Z

@Chris - I usually record in stereo (because it sounds so much nicer than mono!) and either merge both channels or just take the left or right to get a mono recording.

http://socialsounddesign.com/questions/8817/field-recording-in-tanzania-or-southern-africa Haydn Payne 2011-06-27T19:43:59Z 2011-06-27T19:43:59Z

Sorry i havent got any advice for you but that is an awesome idea, hope it goes well! Perhaps ask Chris Watson for advice if yuou havent already <a href="http://www.wildeye.co.uk/contact.html" rel="nofollow">wildeye.co.uk/contact.html</a> ?

http://socialsounddesign.com/questions/8687/mouth-only-sound-design/8688#8688 Haydn Payne 2011-06-15T22:03:30Z 2011-06-15T22:03:30Z

The only reason to watch police academy

http://socialsounddesign.com/questions/7335/nab-2011-findings/7352#7352 Haydn Payne 2011-04-17T14:07:42Z 2011-04-17T14:07:42Z

Sounds great! Did you ask Sennheiser about the MKH8030 ?

http://socialsounddesign.com/questions/6539/field-recording-in-areas-you-absolutely-need-clearance-for/6540#6540 Haydn Payne 2011-03-15T19:10:54Z 2011-03-15T19:10:54Z

Good advice! I often find that people assume im part of a film crew and they are lot more comfortable when I tell them I am just recording sound.

http://socialsounddesign.com/questions/4925/how-did-they-do-that-vol-1-the-predator-clicks/4926#4926 Haydn Payne 2010-12-01T22:18:29Z 2010-12-01T22:18:29Z

@Jay Jennings, its just my guess. A little while ago I spent some time trying to recreate these sounds and i got reasonably close using frog, whale, and particularly dolphin sounds.

http://socialsounddesign.com/questions/936/tips-on-recording-gunshots Haydn Payne 2010-11-08T21:48:57Z 2010-11-08T21:48:57Z

@Miles B. So the nagra was a tape machine? sounds like you had a great recording setup. What guns were you recording? I would be very interested to hear some samples. Haydn

http://socialsounddesign.com/questions/3020/whats-your-strategy-behind-192khz-recording/3538#3538 Haydn Payne 2010-09-16T17:59:12Z 2010-09-16T17:59:12Z

I /think/ that is web page is wrong. Only pure sine waves can be represented with 2 samples per wavelength, complex waves need more samples because they are made from multiple sine waves.

http://socialsounddesign.com/questions/3020/whats-your-strategy-behind-192khz-recording/3538#3538 Haydn Payne 2010-09-14T18:22:47Z 2010-09-14T18:22:47Z

Yes as far as I know all sounds are made up of sine waves, complex sound waves are made up of multiple sine waves at different frequencies. A French dude called Fourier discovered this about 200 years ago. Btw, your english is perfectly understandable! :)

http://socialsounddesign.com/questions/3020/whats-your-strategy-behind-192khz-recording/3538#3538 Haydn Payne 2010-09-13T21:46:30Z 2010-09-13T21:46:30Z

@Jay Jennings - yes sorry I was making a general comment about a couple of other replies, not really related specifically to what you asked. I think it's a tricky subject to understand, partly because there contradictory information from different sources.

http://socialsounddesign.com/questions/1425/parachute-sound/2910#2910 Haydn Payne 2010-08-20T06:33:30Z 2010-08-20T06:33:30Z

Thats a great idea, you would probably get a lot of noise from the car though wouldnt you? I might try and do this on my bicycle somehow, because i would be able to travel quietly &amp; reasonably quickly.