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Daan_Audiomotif
Hello everyone,
I am new to these forums, and I signed up for a specific reason: seeking advice from electricians about how to record electric sounds.
I am a sound designer based in Brighton, UK. My job basically is making sound effects for video games and film. Due to the nature of my job I am always looking for new sounds to record, with the intention of using this material as source for creating sound effects.
One of the 'holy grails' in sound effects source is good electrical sounds. Electric sounds such as sparks, arcs, buzzes, noises - well everything related to electricity really, can be really inspiring building blocks for creating all sorts of special effects.
So I am looking for ways to record this kind of audio in a safe way, because safety is obviously a main concern here. Another thing would be how to avoid electrical interference/arc'ing with the recording equipment.
I don't really know anything about electricity so it's a bit hard for me to come up with the proper questions, therefore please forgive me if I am going to ask a stupid or obvious question here and there
Some points from the top of my head that I am seeking advice on:
- How to avoid or deal with interference between the recording equipment and electric source that's being recorded? Is this a matter of keeping your distance? For instance, I would love to be able to hold a microphone as close as I can to sparks etcetera, to get a nice, up-and-close, clean recording.
- On a similar note, how likely is it that in a situation described above (me trying to get as close to the source as I can, whilst holding a portable recorder and a microphone), this creates arc'ing between the equipment and the electric source?
- On a creative note: how can one safely create lively sparks and other electrical noises? I imagine I would certainly have to do a recording session together with an electric engineer who knows what to do to create all sorts of varied noises from electric devices, cables, etcetera - without being electrocuted in the process...
- What kind of clothing would be advisable for a session like this?
- If anyone here has a bit of knowledge about sound equipment... Would there be a difference in using for instance solid state SD card recording devices, or devices with a hard disk, or something else?
- Would I need specially uber shielded cables?
- Microphone choices... Condenser microphones rely on a fixed constant voltage across the plates (48V phantom power, powered by the recording device). Dynamic and ribbon mics are different in that respect - is this something important to consider?
My apologies for this lengthy post which is, well, obviously of main interest to myself, but surely not directly in sync with the interests of the people here on this forum... I only hope that perhaps some people here are interested in a project like this, seeing you have very relevant experience in the electrical field, but this here is not the daily application of how you employ your skills
My other hope for posting here is to perhaps find (a) local engineer(s) with whom I could collaborate on this project, as soon of course I have a better understanding of what I am trying to do
Kind regards, and thanks for reading,
Daan Hendriks
I am new to these forums, and I signed up for a specific reason: seeking advice from electricians about how to record electric sounds.
I am a sound designer based in Brighton, UK. My job basically is making sound effects for video games and film. Due to the nature of my job I am always looking for new sounds to record, with the intention of using this material as source for creating sound effects.
One of the 'holy grails' in sound effects source is good electrical sounds. Electric sounds such as sparks, arcs, buzzes, noises - well everything related to electricity really, can be really inspiring building blocks for creating all sorts of special effects.
So I am looking for ways to record this kind of audio in a safe way, because safety is obviously a main concern here. Another thing would be how to avoid electrical interference/arc'ing with the recording equipment.
I don't really know anything about electricity so it's a bit hard for me to come up with the proper questions, therefore please forgive me if I am going to ask a stupid or obvious question here and there
Some points from the top of my head that I am seeking advice on:
- How to avoid or deal with interference between the recording equipment and electric source that's being recorded? Is this a matter of keeping your distance? For instance, I would love to be able to hold a microphone as close as I can to sparks etcetera, to get a nice, up-and-close, clean recording.
- On a similar note, how likely is it that in a situation described above (me trying to get as close to the source as I can, whilst holding a portable recorder and a microphone), this creates arc'ing between the equipment and the electric source?
- On a creative note: how can one safely create lively sparks and other electrical noises? I imagine I would certainly have to do a recording session together with an electric engineer who knows what to do to create all sorts of varied noises from electric devices, cables, etcetera - without being electrocuted in the process...
- What kind of clothing would be advisable for a session like this?
- If anyone here has a bit of knowledge about sound equipment... Would there be a difference in using for instance solid state SD card recording devices, or devices with a hard disk, or something else?
- Would I need specially uber shielded cables?
- Microphone choices... Condenser microphones rely on a fixed constant voltage across the plates (48V phantom power, powered by the recording device). Dynamic and ribbon mics are different in that respect - is this something important to consider?
My apologies for this lengthy post which is, well, obviously of main interest to myself, but surely not directly in sync with the interests of the people here on this forum... I only hope that perhaps some people here are interested in a project like this, seeing you have very relevant experience in the electrical field, but this here is not the daily application of how you employ your skills
My other hope for posting here is to perhaps find (a) local engineer(s) with whom I could collaborate on this project, as soon of course I have a better understanding of what I am trying to do
Kind regards, and thanks for reading,
Daan Hendriks
