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Re: Recording dialog plus nature sounds simultaneously

Subject: Re: Recording dialog plus nature sounds simultaneously
From: "Mitch Hill" wa1ykn
Date: Sat Feb 12, 2011 5:05 pm ((PST))
At 12:42 AM 2/13/2011 +0000, you wrote:

>I'm new to recording nature sounds, and have a specific use in mind where 
>I'd be recording dialog, on location, with (ideally) a deep and rich 
>natural soundscape. I want the listener to feel like they are there.
>
>I have a Sony PCM-D50 which I gather from the archives is OK as a recorder.
>
>What I'm not sure about is the optimal microphone or microphones I should 
>use to capture both voice and nature sounds at the same time. My 
>preference would be to use the PIP on the Sony, instead of carrying a 
>separate preamp.
>
>Is there such an "all-in-one" microphone that will do the job?
>
>Am I better off using two recorders, one with quiet mics for the 
>soundscape and the other cardioids to capture voice ... and then mix the two?
>
>I'd like to carry as little gear as possible, so an all-in-one solution is 
>definitely my hope.
>
>Has anyone done something like this? Any ideas?


Michael,

Welcome to the group...  You will get good answers here...

While I have not done specifically what you ask, I can tell you this, You 
do not need two recorders to do what you want, one recorder will do it all 
nicely.

Its the microphones that will give you the sound that you want, the 
microphones are the most important part of the recording scene...  While 
there are some good PIP microphones available I think you will find a far 
wider choice of mic types apropriate to your needs with internal batteries 
for power. Mainly the Sennheiser ME/K6 series which are my favorites... 
R0DE also makes mics with internal battery powe and I am sure there are 
other makers however I find the Sennheiser ME/K6 series suits my needs best 
so don't stray far from that brand...

I'm not familiar with the Sony PCM-D50 other than to know it is a popular 
model and should work fine for what you want...  Based on my own 
experience, I would use a pair of either ME62 or ME64 mics for ambient 
sound recording and an ME66/K6 for the vocal recording however I would add 
one box to the setup, a Sound Devices "302" 3 channel MixPre with three 
microphone inputs. One input for each of the ambient sounds, the third 
input for the vocal mic...   There are other less exotic ways of doing this 
however I the SD 302 MixPre is is the best way to go, its my solution to 
wanting to use more than two microphones with a two track recorder...  One 
of my setups is a pair of 302's with a 2channel SD MixPre (they are 
designed to be linked) which gives me a total of eight very high 
quality/low noise mic inputs into a Marantz PMD-661 with I think is 
comparable to your Sony PCM-D50...

The Sound Devices MixPre units are about the same size as the recorder and 
have an internal battery pack for AA cells... They are ideal field units...

Hope this helps provide some thought fodder...

--

Thanks,
Mitch & Shadow...

http://www.4shared.com/dir/UTASxktL/wildlife.html

Shadow's area: http://www.4shared.com/dir/ecfWjyZb/Shadow.html









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