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The necessity to record room tone
I’m a faithful user of SoundSoap and it’s use has appeared in a few recent posts as one of the tools to help clean up audio. You can manually tweak the settings, but nothing makes that program sing like a good 20 seconds of room tone so it can learn the noise to be removed.
The second purpose of room tone is to fill in those gaps in audio and keep things sounding the same as you edit.
So be sure to get 30 seconds of appropriate room tone on each situation, sometimes 2 or more times during a lengthy interview where refrigerators and air conditioners turn on and off.
Steve
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9 Replies
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[Steve Kownacki] “So be sure to get 30 seconds of appropriate room tone on each situation, sometimes 2 or more times during a lengthy interview where refrigerators and air conditioners turn on and off. “
Agreed.
Now, if we can just find an effective way to keep everyone (especially the talent) to be QUIET for those 30 seconds at a time.
😉
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Thax,
I’ve found the only time talent don’t observe the request for silence is when using inexperienced talent.
I was on a shoot for Apple on which I repeatedly had to request that people turn off their cell phones because the interference was getting into the audio. I had to inform the director three times that the take was busted because of cell phone interference. Obviously, at least twice, someone turned their cell phone back on.
Regards,
Ty Ford
Want better production audio?: Ty Ford’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide
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TY: I had to inform the director three times…
That is a brilliant statement! While each crew member has their duties, knowing their place in the food chain is a good thing.
There’s another interesting thread on the cinematography forum https://forums.creativecow.net/thread/54/858663 about the audio guy.
Steve
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I totally agree and have recorded room tone consistently for years not just to help fix problems but if we have to bring the talent in to re record or update part of the audio the room tone mixed back in helps keep things seamless. It’s also a must to fill dead space when you decide to open a gap for pacing in the audio.
Mark D’Agostino
http://www.synergeticproductions.com -
Mark,
Unless you’re covering the space with music or sound effects, then room tone is not as important unless you have a really loud environment or very noisy audio gear.
Regards,
Ty Ford
Want better production audio?: Ty Ford’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide
Watch Ty play guitar -
I agree TY. I use this mostly when on location and ambient sound is an issue. I should have been more specific.
Mark D’Agostino
http://www.synergeticproductions.com -
Heck,
I’ve even had to get different room tones in the same room because the noise was different in different setups. Something a simple as a two person conversation over a desk can reqiure two different room tone tracks and you may have to mix them together to “dirty up” both a bit to get the audio for the reverse angles to match.
Regards,
Ty Ford
Want better production audio?: Ty Ford’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide
Watch Ty play guitar -
“Ty: can require two different room tone tracks”
Not to mention if you are using a combo of lavs and boom. And that the placement of everything in the room affects tone – you really do need the client and entourage to stay there ’cause the bodies absorb sound better than hard walls.
Steve
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Had one client who was fine when he was talking but when he stopped his breathing was wheezy and loud. I had to move him off set and put another body, me, in place to get RT…the art of ambiance.
Mark D’Agostino
http://www.synergeticproductions.com
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