Field Recording & Found Sounds In Berlin With Timo Preece

Field recordings and found sounds can be invaluable sources for getting unique results from sound design. Timo Preece shows how sound exciters help him capture the sound of Berlin.  

Some of the most interesting sound design comes not from fiddling with synthesizers but from actually going out with mics and recording gear, and capturing real sounds from your environment. And when you live in a city this can give you some really unique results. In this short video from the course Sound Design 102: Capturing The Sound Of Berlin, Timo Preece explores locations around Berlin and shows how he captures sounds for his productions. 

Timo shows how you can get the most out of your efforts by taking along props and sound exciters - things like drum sticks, violin bows and other items that can be used to strike or manipulate things you find to generate sounds. He also explains the best playing and recording techniques to help you translate these sounds into musical or atmospheric material back in the studio. Check out the rest of the videos in this course for much more on sound design using your environment!

Watch the full course Sound Design 102: Capturing The Sound Of Berlin in the Ask.Audio Academy | macProVideo | Ask.Video

Sound Design 102: Capturing The Sound Of Berlin

Timo Preece is a master sound designer. In this exclusive “docu-torial”, you join him on a audio journey recording objects found in a derelict Nazi ballroom and the abandoned, former Stasi counter-intelligence headquarters. With a camera crew and a cool collection of mics and field recorders, he records all kinds of strange and wonderful audio from old metal pipes, ghostly pianos to eerily reverberant former torture chambers.

Along the journey you learn all about field-recording with all of its technical challenges. Timo explains different kinds of microphone recording techniques using X/Y mic placement, ORTF, Spaced Pair and more. You also learn reamping and worldizing techniques that’ll turn any pre-recorded sound into a symphony of electro-acoustic goodness.

The final section of this course explains the science and art of creating your own impulse responses. Timo records the acoustic ambient fingerprints of these decrepit locations and then he shows you how to convolve them with any sound in your library. These convolutions, essentially, bring the essence of field-recording environments directly into your DAW enabling you to infuse any sound with the spaces that you’ve recorded.

This is more than a course. It’s an electro-acoustic adventure!

Watch the full course Sound Design 102: Capturing The Sound Of Berlin in the Ask.Audio Academy | macProVideo | Ask.Video

Hollin Jones was classically trained as a piano player but found the lure of blues and jazz too much to resist. Graduating from bands to composition then production, he relishes the chance to play anything with keys. A sometime lecturer in videographics, music production and photography post production, Hollin has been a freelance w... Read More

Discussion

Want to join the discussion?

Create an account or login to get started!