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room tone and ambience
Hi. This is a simple question for many of you guys. I’m a little confused about the difference between ambience and room tone. From descriptions I’ve heard, room tone matches the posistion of the mic when you recorded dialogue but in my head all these recordings of many different perspectives do not help to continuity in sound when editing. Why you just don´t record one ambience track with a stereo mic as background to match all shots of the camera? In that way you guarantee continuity…
I’d just like to know how it actually works.
many thanks
alejandro
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4 Replies
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Hello Alejandro,
Stereo ambience can be used to mask the problems of different mics used at different times in different parts of the same space (interior or exterior).
Still moment by moment changes in the sound of the space may require tweeking.
Regards,
Ty Ford
Cow Audio Forum Leader
Want better production audio?: Ty Ford’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide -
Hi Alejandro,
When recording room tone, you want to have the mic where it was when recording dialog so you get the same sound as when the actors were speaking. This should really be done at every setup or shot. If the actors were moving or maybe you have to do a lot of cueing during the scene, then record the room tone with the mic in the position where the background noise (or room noise) is at it’s loudest.
Room tone refers to the way a room sounds without anyone speaking; ambience is really the sounds you would expect to hear in a given scene. I think of it as more what’s added in post-sound editing but, it can be recorded at the time of shooting.
Best,
Dave J
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Thanks so much Ty
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Thanks so much Dave
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