#3 MY APPROACH WITH FIELD RECORDINGS
Field recordings are at the core of my creative practice: during the first months of the Covid-19 pandemic I spent a great deal of time exploring abandoned locations in Berlin and recording their sound. I documented my project progress in this other blog I created (link to https://debuggedatabase.carrd.co/) .
Every space has its own unique sound, and when it comes to large halls and warehouses, natural reverb has an important role in defining the sound. Itâs with the use of reverb (natural or added in post-production) that we can unleash illusions of space in the listener.
In this entry I will give you some tips for good field recordings and how to create illusions of space in the listener by modulating recordings with reverb, panning and special binaural plug-ins
Some people think that you need very expensive gear to have good quality recordings, personally I donât really agree with that, in fact all my recordings have been carried out with a very cheap field recorder (zoom h5n) and still sound great! Of course, having a professional field recorder would be ideal but not everyone has tons of money to spend on gear right?
Here are some tips for having some good field recordings:
Use a windscreen solution on your recorder, it can also just be a DIY solution (sometimes I end up using socks or any old cloth).
Set your levels carefully to avoid having unexpected strong peaks, I usually let the levels peak at around -12dB.
Record in a high quality format! I use 24 bit WAV 48 kHz, some people prefer using even higher sample rates like 96kHz, do some testing, listen to the recordings carefully and choose what the right sample rate is for you.
Listen to the signal coming through the device with Headphones (Monitoring), this is very important to properly understand if something is going wrong or if the levels are too high in order to avoid unexpected surprises in post production.
Be spontaneous!! If something seems and sounds interesting, donât hesitate to record it!
On top: Field Recording by Hollow Creature , Ink on illustration board
In spring 2020 I decided to explore and do some field recordings in the astonishing abandoned BĂ€renquell brewery in the Schoneweide district of Berlin.
During the last 25 years, degradation and dust have overwhelmed the ruins of what once was the home to one of the most popular beer factories in Berlin. However, I recently discovered that the space will host âšRevier SĂŒdost, the new venue opened by the owners of Griessmuehle, a well known club in Berlin whose doors had to close in itâs older location.
The amount of natural reverb and echo in the indoor sections of the brewery is incredible, and my recordings here are all very particular and have a âsanctuaryâ feeling, I processed them through different tools to create movement and play with perception.
To give even more illusion of space to the listener, I duplicated the audio file in 4 parts, left 2 channels in the center and panned one all the way right and the other one on the left. I then added an auto pan (Ableton stock audio effect) and a very intriguing free-download plug in by Sennheiser called Ambeo Orbit, a binaural panner plugin, designed to facilitate mixing immersive binaural content*. I then used another vst called Proximity to manipulate the âdepthâ and simulate distance in the 4 clips, and the waves J37 tape machine to bring some analog simulated warmth.
The final piece is a deep listening experience rich in movement and space; I close my eyes and listen to it on some good headphones or on a surround sound system. This makes my mind travel far and evokes some of the emotions I felt while exploring this magical location.