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Recording background without distinct conversations
I’ll be recording an event where we want to capture and utilize only general background noise such as crowd reactions, applause, and general volume level of an event. In the past this has been a problem because people get too close to the microphones get picked up and often their conversations aren’t appropriate for the video.
The location will be a typical large hotel ballroom/meeting room with 1 to 2 hundred people.
I have limited hardware to try things out and usually rent the good stuff just when needed.Any suggestions on how to just pick up room noise without the specific conversations?
Thank you,
Jonathan Beam -
9 Replies
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Hello Jonathan and welcome to the Cow Audio Forum.
Any good condenser mic kept away from people will do.
Regards,
Ty Ford
Cow Audio Forum LeaderWant better production audio?: Ty Ford’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide
Ty Ford Blog: Ty Ford’s Blog -
[Ty Ford] “Any good condenser mic kept away from people will do.”
Thanks Ty. Unfortunately I can’t seem to get a mic far enough away from people all the time. Even two mics mixed together didn’t work. My only thought left is to get a directional mic and point across the room or upwards to try and capture a bounce off the ceiling. Would you have any experience with either of those setups or have any other ideas on capture?
Are there any post processing techniques that would distort conversation enough to make it non-understandable while not making the overall recording sound strange to the ear?
Thank you,
Jonathan Beam -
Are you asking about recording REAL crowd sounds on location in real-time?
Or are you asking about creating “walla” for sound editing?https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walla
https://www.filmsound.org/terminology/walla.htm -
Real crowd sounds in real-time please. I thought about the other, but just doesn’t feel right. Good to know the term walla though.
Thank you,
Jonathan Beam -
A couple of mics in an XY (if you want stereo) at least 2m in the air on a mic stand and facing UPWARD.
If Mono is good enough then a cardioid mic would be suitable….. But get it up high and face it UPWARD.Upward facing mics are often used in sporting crowds for TV broadcasts, it give a broad wash with very little defined Fx., more defined FX like field Fx can be added in the mix.
DoNot us a MS stereo mic for this sort of thing as the fig 8 mic is facing sideways toward the sounds you don’t want.
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[Brian Reynolds] “If Mono is good enough then a cardioid mic would be suitable….. But get it up high and face it UPWARD”
That makes a lot of sense. With the pattern of a cardioid mic in that position the sounds “underneath” (and thus nearby) should be mostly ignored in favor of other sounds. I’m embarrassed I didn’t think of that.
Sorry Ty if that was what you had in mind with a condenser mic. I just didn’t understand it.
Thanks to everybody and I’ll give it a try in a few weeks. I’ll let you know how it turns out.
Thank you,
Jonathan Beam -
yep, no problem.
Thanks for the refinement, Brian!
Regards,
Ty Ford
Cow Audio Forum LeaderWant better production audio?: Ty Ford’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide
Ty Ford Blog: Ty Ford’s Blog -
The reason professionals use “walla” is because recording REAL crowds in REAL-time is very difficult and resource-consuming to get it to sound “perfect”. Good luck.
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While the conversation is about ‘upward’ facing mics… A local sporting venue in Adelaide was re-vamped and upgraded and just by chance I found a very odd acoustic thing, at 2 (and only 2) of the many camera locations there is a ‘slap delay echo’ of about 1/2 a second. I suspect there may be other spots as well but it would be difficult to get a mic mounted there.
So in other words if you face a mic (cardoid or short shotgun) toward the roof the crowd acoustically sound much larger than it actually is. A 10K crowd sound like a 20K and a 20K sounds like 40K.
BUT it is a wash with little in the way of defined groups or individuals.
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