Recording Dogs and 1 cat ?

[firby]

I need to setup shop to record 7 dogs and 1 cat on this saturday and sunday. I am making really fantastic money so I need to be really professional with this gig. Apparently, I need to get 3 distinctive barks from each of the dogs along with a 'winny' from three of the dogs growls from 2 of the dogs. Then the cat I have to get all sorts of sounds from.

The sounds have to be sonically neutral so that the reverb/eq can be put in later. They need to be cut and built into a keyboard scale starting at c1 for the sound designer to use. Some of the sounds have to be repitched to the scale.

Apparently the handler has done this a bunch of times. He is telling me that he has a velcro harness to attach PZM microphones directly to the dogs. I queried him about what a PZM microphone looks like and it sounds like that is what they were doing.


This is pretty strange to me. I put down plastic in my live room and I am trying to come up with a good micing scheme to catch all of this insanity. The handler swears up and down that we just tape/velcro these PZM microphones to the dogs and that is how to do it. I have my own doubts that that is going to get a sound.

The handler also says that we have about 10-20 minutes a dog before we need to switch because they get distracted. So I want to get perhaps multiple mics setup and rolling and not be in their way too much.

So, what are good options for micing dogs ? The smallest (highest ?) dogs are chichuahas and the biggest dog is a irish setter.

I have a crown PZM30D and I figured I would use some C414 and Senn MD421s in some configuration I figured X Y with the 414s and then close micing with the MD421 and the PZM.

What do ya think ? I don't have a lot of mics in my locker but the money is there to rent a neumann or whatever.

I am a little stumped. But if I do well on this recording there will be several more sessions before the project is done. The money is big so I am excited to do a good job.

The dogs are recorded separately except for the growls which are recorded together.

Help ?

 

[Todzilla]

Is there something special about these mutts?

Otherwise, I'd google bark.wav, meow.wav and be done with it...

 

[bennychico11]

my first thought, is to get lavalier mics and tape them to the dogs head or just by the ear (or collar). taping a PZM mic might annoy the hell out of the dog since it's signifcantly bigger than a tiny lavalier. you might be spending most of your time trying to get the dog to stop biting at the mic and trying to get it off him.
might also just set up a wide stereo field. maybe something like a modified MS technique. That way you can cover about 180+ degrees of the rooom

 

[Reggie]

I've heard the U87 can get some good sounds from animals. Some people prefer a C12 for an 'errier sound. Don't forget to match it with a good preamp. I believe the API's have a good "bite" to them.



Sorry, I couldn't help myself.
I certainly hope you ARE getting paid well....

 

[firby]

The mutts are in a short movie about mutts. More info on that I don't have. I have the live room set up now. I think.

I hadn't thought about mid side technique. That might be a good ticket for this one. The handler is still all about the PZM though. What a freak. Why would anyone ever velcro a PZM to a chichuaha ? It's bigger than the dog.

 

[bennychico11]

i think you'll have to end up worrying more about getting the actual sound of the dog to happen and get it recorded rather than getting a perfect sound of it. yeah go for the best sound you can....but don't waste money on a high class Neumann just to record a dog that's going to sound the exact same way through a SM57. I mean, you're not recording a nice ass grand piano or anything....these are DOGS. The number one mic used in foley or location recording is a shotgun (usually Sennheiser). not the best sounding mic in the world, but it's about getting the job done.

 

[Neeps]

I'm sorry but this is funny!

Remember that you need to find the right mic/preamp combination for each the dog... each dog will have a distinctive timbre to their bark, try to get them to work the mic and possibly take a couple of steps back on very loud barks... I''d use a pop fliter to stop slobbering and polsives... and keep recording all the time through the warm up... the dog may bark their best bark when it doesn't feel under pressure to perform...

If these dogs are any good I might get them to do barking vocals on my album!

 

[gtrman_66]

I did some foley of my dogs for a local pet store radio spot a few years ago. I used a couple of PZMs on the floor in front of the dogs. I don't know why he thinks you'd need to velcro the PZMs to the dogs those things picked up equally well pretty much anywhere in the room. Anyway, if he has already done this and has his mind set on how, you might ask him if he removed the plates from the PZMs and just used the capsule part.

Good luck!

 

[Reggie]

Also don't forget a good poking stick or hot iron to really get them barking!
You should put up a camera so you can get this session on film.


Do let us know how it goes

 

[up-fiddler]

I think if you put the cats and dogs in the same room simultaneously, throw in a couple of birds and mice for good measure, and hang an expendable mike from the ceiling you'll get all the action you need.

PS Consider an iso booth for this application.

 

[Todzilla]

What ever you do, don't try the peanut butter slathered Neumann U47 technique that's so in vogue in cool studios these days.

 

[firby]

Thanks guys. All good points here. The handler says that he can make the dogs do their thing on cue. So, I am all set. I think. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[ecktronic]

dogs voices usualy need compressed and try and get real room reverb rather than plug in or outboard. EQ boost at 12k for air or so and at 120Hz to bring out the growl! record it outside in a park for a real true bark. Give the dog motivation to get a real good bark. just jokin

 

[deepwater]

Might help to treat the studio floor with newspaper.

 

[firby]

So. I recorded the mutts well enough to get another session in 3 weeks to do it again. Almost everything we used came from MD421 and C414s. The recording was no problem as the handler is able to give visual commands to make the dogs do just about anything on cue.

The Irish Setter was especially good. Definitely a star in the making. She was such a good girl. HA!

The hard part was not recording them in the live room but managing all of the animals not in the live room. But I ran the sweeper once and all seems to be well.

Now just to go and cash this check baby!