Recording Background Sounds

[Chip Hitchens]

I'm doing some sound work for a friend's amateur movie, and he's asked me to record some background noise to put in a few scenes. For example, the sounds of traffic in a busy city or the murmur that you hear in a restaurant.

Any ideas on what kind of mic I should use? I have some generally cheap CAD large diaphragm and pencil condensers as well as the usual collection of SM-57s and 58s at my disposal, and the director has a short shotgun that I can use. I'm hoping that I can get away with using dynamic mics because I don't know how I'm going to get phantom power out on the street, but I'm open to anything. Thanks...

 

[Dr. Bell]

Shotgun mics are pretty much the standard, from what I understand. Of course, you will want a pretty good wind screen on it. I wouldn't mess with any regular studio microphones, unless you're doing any recording in a very controlled environment.

 

[mgraffeo]

for condensers, you could try the Rode NT-3, which will operate off of a 9V battery. I have one, and it is certainly a respectable mic. I think that the AKG C1000S also does, but I'm not sure. Depending on what you're going for, you might like the added sensitivity of a condenser...

-mg

 

[Chip Hitchens]

Thanks for the responses.

I'm not certain, but I think a shotgun is the opposite of what I want in this situation. We used the shotgun almost exclusively when shooting dialogue, since we were trying to isolate the actors' voices, but what I'm trying to do here is just record the entire background sound, like what you'd hear if you were walking down the street in a major city.

mgraffeo, those are pretty good mics (better than what I have, anyway) but I was hoping to not have to buy anything new, especially since what I'm trying to record is going to basically be an incidental effect.

I'm just looking for general theory here...would I be better off with a condenser of some sort or a dynamic mic, or perhaps a couple mics in stereo? That sort of thing. Thanks again.

 

[kid klash]

I use a portable DAT recorder and either a pair of omni dynamics (EV 635's are amazingly flat, and "hear" everything around you), or a small AT stereo condenser. Personally, I think you'd be much happier in the long run with stereo tracks instead of mono tracks; if there's a chance of mixing the project in stereo or 5.1. Plan on using a foam wind screen on your mics too when you're doing location recording.

 

[morte sicura]

pzm

You could just use a pzm / boundary mic for this... especially indoors. get one from radio shack, stick a battery in it and plug it into a minidisc recorder or small dat and you can go anywhere. just stick the mic on the floor under your table in a cafe and don't stomp your feet!