[Stephen Muir]

I believe that would be an “accessory shoe.” In the past, I’ve used a lightweight camera tripod as a mic stand by using a thread adapter to attach the shockmount to the screw on the tripod’s mounting plate. You may be able to do something similar to that: use a thread adapter to attach the accessory arm from your photo to a standard boom pole, then attach the mic as you normally would.

However, if you’re commited to the DIY route and don’t want to spend the money on a propper boom pole, you could try using a particulary long telescoping monopod. Back in the day, I was obliged to do this on a student film. I can tell you that while it does actually work, the brutal weight of the contraption and the mechanical noise made by the “piano key” section locks on the monopod made it a rather unpleasant experience. The day after the shoot wrapped, I ran out and bought the VdB carbon-fibre pole that’s been by my side ever since.

The bottom line is that I’d rather use a $200 mic on a $500 fishpole than ever have to make do with DIY boompoles again, and you may be only one 15-hour shooting day away from joining me on that matter.

[Stephen Muir]

Belkin makes a telephone interface that plugs into a telephone handset and terminates in an unballanced 1/8″ plug. I’ve used it on a couple of occasions, and have been quite happy with the results. Best of all, you can buy one at the local Business Depot for around $15. Note that this will record both ends of the conversation, which could be a problem if you want the interviewer to have a nice clean studio sound. A bit of judicious editing can resolve that issue, though.

[Stephen Muir]

It seems unlikely that the distortion would be coming from an overdriven mic, given that the mic in question was a `416. That is, of course, assuming that the mic has not been damaged in some way.

The smaller sony cameras tend to have pretty dodgy mic preamps, which frequently distort on hot mic signals before reaching the gain control (manual or automatic). My reccomendation is to use a small 2-channel ENG mixer with a limiter, bypassing the PD170’s preamp altogether and going in line-level. Keep your headphones plugged into that PD170, though.

[Stephen Muir]

Nuclear Explosions, eh? Your best bet is to start with a handful of stock explosions and mix them to fit your purposes. I agree with Matte that SoundDogs.com is probably your best starting point.

If you’re looking to build it from original elements, you should consult a pyrotechnician before blowing anything up. Of course, one old trick is to use the sound of a steady blast of air-in-a-can indirectly hitting a mic for the sound of a rocket takeoff. You could probably sculpt that into a convincing atomic blast. Just don’t aim the air stream directly at the diaphram; scatter it off of the palm of your hand and leave the windscreen on your mic, being careful not to damage the delicate mic components.

I’ve found that for explosions, sometimes the debris sounds will sell the effect more that the kaboom itself.

Good luck.

[Stephen Muir]

I’m not familiar with the software you mentioned, but if you’re looking for a way to synthesize new sound design elements, take a look at MetaSynth (mac-only, but the OSX version now supports 24-bit files). It’s a handy program, once you get used to the interface.

However, I haven’t had much luck using synthesis to generate complex real-world effects such as explosions. What other types of effects do you want to generate through software?

[Stephen Muir]

I’ve used the AT 835b on a couple of documentaries, and agree that it’s better than most mic’s in it’s price category. That said, it’s far below the Sennheiser ME-66 in quality, and Michael’s original post expressed dissatisfaction with the ME-66.

Personally, I have found no better boom mics than that old workhorse the Sennheiser MKH416. There are a few arguably better-sounding mics (such as some of Schoeps’ higher-end models) and many mics with a lower self-noise, but most lack the durability and resistance to humidity of the `416. They’re also found in almost every ADR and foley facility, so you can keep the mic characteristics consistant throughout production and post-production. They aren’t cheap, though, and you’ll still need a shockmount and a windjammer.

For documentary work, especially ones involving noisey exteriors, you may want to look at the more directional MKH816.

[Stephen Muir]

1) Try your Azden EX-503 with other mixers or recorders. If the resulting sound is satisfactory, then you can be reasonably sure that the mic is not the problem.

2) Try plugging another mic into your iRiver. As with the above suggestion, this would rule out the iRiver being the problem.

The fact that the mic is mono is probably not the issue. It’s still pretty rare to see stereo microphone kits used to record production sound, and especially so for dialogue. As a rule dialogue is a center-panned mono track in the final mix, with the stereo or surround imaging provided by sound effects, music, foley, and reverb proccessing. Rarely is any dialogue imaged anywhere but the dead center of the stereo image, since anywhere else can prove problematic when the sound is played back in a mono environment (such as most inexpensive televisions and VCRs).

Often, the two audio tracks are used to record different microphones (eg. Lav 1 on the left and Lav 2 on the right). This can be a handy way of avoiding microphone phase issues. However, when such tracks are taken to post, each side must be isolated and center-panned. Rather than “doubling up” the mono tracks in post to provide a centered mono sound, use your software to isolate the side of the stereo track with the mono sound on it(eg. “Take Left” or “Take Right” in Adobe Premiere) and center-pan the new mono sound.

I’m familiar with neither the iRiver nor that particular Azden mic, but I took a look at the specs on the respective websites. I didn’t see anything on the iRiver site about microphone conectivits, so I’m wondering if the iRiver even has a mic preamp. If not, then you’re not going to have much luck unless you use a portable mic preamp such as Sound Devices makes. Even if the iRiver can accept a mic input, don’t bother with it. I have only used a handful of prosumer camcorders that had even passably functional microphone preamps, and have never seen an mp3 player that can record a clean mic-level signal.

As for the microphone, you may have a mic powering problem. According to the website, your mic requires a 5-9VDC bias voltage to opperate. This may be the source of your buzz.

Keep in mind that trying to record dialogue with the equipment you’ve described is rather like trying to paint a watercolour still life with a toothbrush. Video production is hard enough without trying to make the gear do that for which it was never intended. If you want to use your mp3 player as a backup, feed it a -10dB line level signal from a mixer or the camera’s line output. While your at it, save up for a mic that terminates in a balanced XLR connection. You’ll be glad you did.

[Stephen Muir]

I’ve had an FR-2 for about a year now and have only a few complaints. One of my biggest annoyances with the device is that the screws that attach the neck strap to the chassis are prone to working their way loose. When pricing the FR-2 be sure to take into account the cost of a portabrace (don’t bother with Fostex’s field bag, since it blocks access to all the top-panel controls as well as the battery cover). As has already been mentioned by another poster, the FR-2 eats AA’s like popcorn. I found that rechargeable NIHM AA’s provided a longer lifespan than alkalines, but you’ll eventually want to go for a more rhobust battery system, such as an NP-1.

I recently had mine fitted with a timecode card (which finally became available almost a year after the FR-2 hit the shelves). I was annoyed to find out that the first few production runs of the FR-2 (such as mine) needed to have modifications made to the power systems before they could physically accomidate the card. Fortunately, I was able to get the modifications done locally rather than sending the unit to Montreal. I’ve been told that the newer models will accomidate the cards without any resoldering. Of course, now that the card’s in there, it’s been working fine.

I’ve only once encountered file system problems. After filling up a 1GB compact flash card, I deleted the first few files and resumed recording. After powering down, I found that it would not reload that particular CF card. The card worked fine in my mac’s CF reader, and worked fine in the FR-2 once I downloaded the contents and cleared them from the card. I would reccomend that you avoid deleting files and fragmenting the data contents of the drive, and that you always carry spare cards.

The preamps on the FR-2 are better than most other recorders in the price range. Personally, I prefer to use my PSC M4 mkII mixer’s preamps since it’s pots are easier to work with and I can provide an additional output to the camera when we’re not shooting on film. Additionally, I can connect the FR-2 to the M4’s 12V power output, and run the whole ball of wax on the M4’s internal NP-1. The M4 also provides additional inputs, stereo linking, independant phantom power switches for all channels, M-S decoding, and a comprehensive selection of headphone monitoring options.

I’ve heard reports of wireless recievers picking up RF noise from the FR-2, so you should definately test it with your wireless mics first.

While you’re comparing recorders, though, you should check out the Sound Devices 722 and 744T. I recently used a 744T on a video shoot of a live musical performance, and was duly impressed. One rather neat feature is that it used the same batteries as my Sony handycam. Still, the endless menus of the 744T quickly became very anoying, and I wouldn’t want to have to use one without a SD 442 on the front-end (since channels 3 and 4 on the 744T have neither mic preamps nor limiters).

I haven’t used the Edirol R-4, but the lack of a timecode option (a drawback shared by the SD 722 and the Marantz PMD671) severly limits it’s potential flexibility. I also find the presence of built in reverb effects makes me vaguely uneasy about it.

[Stephen Muir]

As Thax pointed out, “Assuming everything works as it should.”

Mics are pretty delicate instruments, and you risk inheriting someone else’s problems whenever you don’t “try before you buy” used gear.

That said, the package in question should certainly get you started. I’ve always found the ME66 to be one of the better mics in it’s class.

[Stephen Muir]

Only when I was shooting single-system and the cameraman took it upon himself to turn up the gain on the camera’s inputs during a take.

I’ve always found that once I set proper recorder levels and switched on the limiters the SD302 was a pretty solid and reliable mixer.

Have you been experiencing unexplained signal distortion with the `302?