A Guide To Field Recording
A Guide to Recording in the Field
Practical Considerations When Field Recording
Download the full PDF HERE
PREPARATION Before you go to your location:
Hard Disk Audio Recorder (Zoom)
It’s a good idea to practise recording at home before you get into the field. Do some test recordings and listen back. Does it sound right? Is there crackling? If so, try to work out the problem. Look at the manual or watch a short YouTube video on the model of recorder you have.
Essential set up settings:
Insert and format SD if required
Set file type to WAV (lossless audio)
Set audio settings:
Sample Rate - 44.1khz
Bit Depth - 16 bit
Things to remember:
To turn a HD record on/off you need to hold the button down for a few seconds
Most recorders require a bit of menu diving to change settings
Ensure that the limiter is turned off. A limiter will squash sound so it doesn’t peak or distort, but if used incorrectly it can sound really bad, so I would suggest just turning it off.
Take spare batteries and SD Cards
Some useful resources if you are curious and want to know more about field recording:
A Beginner’s Guide to Field Recording Pt 1
A Beginner’s Guide to Field Recording Pt 2
A Beginner’s Guide to Field Recording Pt 3
Listen to come compositions that use field recordings:
Helpful things to have in a field recording kit:
Multi tool
Elastic bands
Electrical Tape
Bull/paper clips
Cable ties
Spare batteries
USB Power pack
Low noise clothing
Comfortable footwear
Sun/wind protection
Umbrella
Small bag with pockets
Dry bag/plastic bag
Some tips for capturing quality recordings on location
Setting the gain level: This may be the most important technical aspect of field recording. You want to make sure that the input gain on the recorder is set high enough to get a healthy signal, but low enough so that it doesn’t peak and distort. The metre tells you the dB decibel level.
Aim for between -12 and -6 dB for the peak (loudest sound)
Microphone Choice Different Mics will do different things. Below is a list of the microphones you have available to you for the workshop and what they may be ideal for. But feel free to do whatever you like! Playing around is always a great way to learn field recording techniques.
Microphone placement - play around with where you place your microphones. Sometimes places that seem less obvious can be more exciting. Listen back and make changes, don’t be afraid to experiment.
WIND is one of the biggest challenges in field recording.
Place microphones in sheltered locations. Sometimes your body can work as a windbreak. Also things like tree trunks, logs and fences.
Use wind jammers/dead cats on all microphones with a diaphragm
Be sure to listen back to ensure you have wind free recordings
Handling noise - Microphones will record sounds that they themselves generate if they are moved around. To avoid this, be sure that you are not moving microphones or mic leads around when recording, you might want to use a mic stand or tripod to secure the microphone/recorder during the recording period.
Listen through headphones to get a sense of what you are recording. The microphone and the recorder will mediate the sound.
Are you getting background noise?
Are the sounds that you are making present in the audio?
Keep an ear out for handling noise
Vocal markers - it’s a good idea to say the time, date and location at the beginning of recording so you know what it is when you go back to listen and edit.
Duration - it’s best to take recordings that are longer than 5 minutes depending on the situation. If you want a soundscape that sounds natural, you need to make sure that you have enough consecutive material for the duration of your piece.
Record - Make sure the red light is on if you are intending to record. It’s a common mistake to forget to press record, especially when learning. Take a second to do a check.