Bad audio

[Thaxter Clavemarlton]

Sorry, no.

That’s why you must take special care in recording the audio correctly at the location.

An “on-camera mic” is seldom the proper choice for recording dialogue.

You must get a good microphone, on a boom (or use a lavalier mic) as close to the subject’s mouth as possible.

A reverberant room can be deadened a bit with sound-absorbing blankets.

And always (always) wear a good set of over-the-ear headphones, thoughout the shoot, to monitor the quality of any audio that you will be using in a production.

[James Williams]

Thanks for the advice. I use an excellent Sony external mic with cord attached to the camera. The mic was set-up on a table just under the speaker. The audio is not bad. Is there some sound processing that you know of that might help with some of the echoing.
J. Williams

[Ty Ford]

No. This is your first lesson in audio 101. 🙂

You audio can not be fixed. Next time, please use headphones so you can hear the audio as it’s being recorded. I suggest Sony MDR7506 headphones.

Regards,

Ty Ford

Ty Ford’s “Audio Bootcamp Field Guide” was written for video people who want better audio. Find out more at https://www.tyford.com

[Peter Groom]

Its like a cup of tea (well I am English)
Once youve put sugar in then all you can do is make another cup if its too sweet.

If I had a pound for every time someone has called me with this sort of problem.

There is little you can do (although mixing in some music may distarct the ear a little) but be careful
Peter

[Ty Ford]

Well put,

Ya know. There is actually a way to lessen the effect. I didn’t mention it because 90% of the time, the cure is too expensive for the amount of correction.

George Massenburg designed a noise reduction box with six faders for Disney a number of years ago to retrieve some audio from old film stock. It did have a capability to remove some slappy artifacts, but that was not its intended use.

The folks at CEDAR evolved that design to a noise reduction system of their own. It has similar capabilities, but, again, this was NOT designed to be an ambience canceller. I don’t remember the model number of the CEDAR system.

I don’t know if the Massenburg system is even available anymore. I think the CEDAR system was aboout $8k.

My review of the Massenburg system is in my OnLine archives.

I saw Ron and Kathlyn yesterday here at NAB. Great show. I am on assignjment, so I don’t have a lot of time, but If you’re out here and want to talk audio, try my cell; 410.960.0689.

Regards,

Ty Ford