HAPPY LAND update

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Mikdog
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Post by Mikdog »

Ooh.

I have a basic computer microphone, but it's not that great. It's what I recorded the voices with, but I spent a LONG time removing fuzz and mastering it.

Say I get a good microphone...what type to you recommend I get? I know you can get directional, drum mics, etc...I have no other way of knowing what a quality mic is from a bad mic.

Also, my PC only has LINE IN and MIC inputs for the sound card. What adapter do I need to get? Most mics I've seen have that huge round plug with about 4 little male plugs inside.

Thanking you greatly.

I'm using AUDACITY for recording. It seems to be a great open source audio package.
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slowtiger
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Post by slowtiger »

OK, basic audio recording 101: *ggg*

The mic input on an average PC soundcard is not a really good piece of hardware. Better is an audio interface which has a) different input jacks for every kind of microphone b) a microphone amplifier c) a good D/A converter, better than most soundcards. This is called an audio interface with USB or firewire. Stuff like this starts at about 150 € here, but I don't know the prices of equipment at your place.

Next is a microphone. In order to get even tiny little sounds recorded, I prefer a condensor microphone with a big membrane. Those need an interface with a phantom power, they don't work just directly plugged into a PC. Those mics start at about 150 € here, I have one which was about 300 € and works perfectly for singing and everything. Don't by a 3000 € one. But any other condensor mic should do as well, you can always get the consumer models with a battery inside, which are good enough.

It is not necessary to buy all this - you may as well rent it, or ask somebody with a home recording studio to use his stuff for an evening.

It is not even necessary to do the recording directly into the PC. If you own a decent cassette deck, use it! (ChO2 tapes and Dolby necessary.) Yoo can later transfer that into PC through the line in jack, the levels are high enough to get a decent quality.

Even cheap microphones can give a good result. It's mostly a matter of how to use them. Place it at about 10 to 20 cm distance to the sound source. Place it on some kind of tripod, or let it hang down from the ceiling. Take care that the cable doesn't move. Now build some sound walls, I use thick blankets hanging from strings I attached to my bookshelves across the room. Next is the correct level: the sound should go as much to full level as possible, but never beyond. Exeriment a bit, do several takes with different levels. Too high distorts sound in an ugly way, that's why professional studios always use limiters when recording digitally. Too low needs too much amplifying of the recording and increases noise level.

But first of all you should start with a list of all sounds you think you'll need, and then think of a way to do them ...
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Mikdog
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Post by Mikdog »

Thanks,

I actually had just ordered an expensive PC mic, but quickly cancelled that upon reading this. That's cool info.

Think I'll borrow my buddy's mic and see how that works. Thinking of crushing corn flakes for walking sounds, etc...

Could be fun I suppose.

Thanks again for all the info. You're a g*dsend.

Mike
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slowtiger
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Post by slowtiger »

Hey, it's just fair. I have learned a lot from other people when I was a beginner, there were experienced people around whom I could ask. So it's just giving back a bit.
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J. Baker
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Post by J. Baker »

Condenser mics are good for very quiet areas, such as a sound booth or something. Dynamic mics are good if you are recording next to your pc because of the fan(s) noise and so forth.

I have a M-Audio Buddy (mic pre-amp) and a AKG dynamic mic and a M-Audio Aries condenser mic, myself. I use both but the condenser does take more editing to get rid of unwanted noise. But I'm working on building a sound booth.

Anyways, a dynamic mic will work fine, just try to get a decent one, doesn't have to be expensive. And a mic pre-amp does a world of difference. It's better to run a pre-amp into the line-in on your sound card then it is to run a dynamic mic in your mic input on your sound card. :wink:
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slowtiger
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Post by slowtiger »

J. Baker wrote:And a mic pre-amp does a world of difference.
Definitely.
Condenser mics are good for very quiet areas, such as a sound booth or something. Dynamic mics are good if you are recording next to your pc because of the fan(s) noise and so forth.
Personal preference here: since I record very tiny, silent noises, a condensor is better for me. Outdoors a dynamic is good for traffic, explosions and such.
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Mikdog
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Post by Mikdog »

Thanks. I see those condensor mics are pretty expensive at my music shop. Think I might have to borrow my buddy's passive mic.

A pre-amp and ghost powered mic would be awesome, though. I figure I have about 25 sound effects to make. Started on the music. So far so good. Made a couple songs, but still not happy with them.

One attempt with a riff my buddy came up with on guitar:

http://www.bruandboegie.co.za/work/theme_8_small.mp3

Busy doing the outro sequence. getting a nice walk:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71cnvNfxe9Y

Ahoy.
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jhbmw007
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Post by jhbmw007 »

A professional V/O friend of mine recommended a Blue Snowball Mic (professional USB mic). They can be had for around $100. I've had mine for a couple weeks and the results are outstanding.

The other thing he suggested (really funny, but it works) is, if you don't have an acoustic chamber to filter out extraneous noises and prevent echoes, etc, to go into a full coat closet. You'll get the same effect.
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Mikdog
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Post by Mikdog »

Ooh.

Looks and sounds good. (downloaded some samples from a blog) Thanks.

http://media.libsyn.com/media/insidehom ... est_PC.wav

http://media.libsyn.com/media/insidehom ... st_Mac.aif


Going to order one.

Read a couple reviews. Looks good-ish. Some issues with gain, but they have a firmware update for that.

Looks funky.

Image
Image

Wondering whether I should get the windshield thing, or whether a stocking stretched over a bent coat hanger will suffice.
Last edited by Mikdog on Tue Oct 30, 2007 5:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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jhbmw007
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Post by jhbmw007 »

Wondering whether I should get the windshield thing, or whether a stocking stretched over a bent coat hanger will suffice.
That's a good question. I don't seem to have any problems unless I speak to close to it- but the stocking idea sounds good. (might have to go ruin a pair of my wife's lol). I didn't want to wait for shipping, so I went down to my local Sam Ash and they had them in stock.

Before that I had a NR cheapo radioshack mic. It was horrible- sounded like I was talking through a telephone. Luckily I was able to return it.

BTW, be careful hotlinking images if you don't own the site they're from. I accidentally did that on an ebay listing I had that got around 100k page views. The site that was hosting the images (I thought they were on a free site) had a daily limit of bandwidth. Let's just say it was a costly mistake on my part... :(
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Mikdog
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Post by Mikdog »

ta. have rehosted image.

the stocking thing works really well. I used it with a el-cheapo computer mic. Gets rid of the breathing and the pops, t's and clicks.

I got the bottom of a round plastic CD spindle, cut another circle out so I was left with a wide plastic ring the size of a CD, then got an old stocking and stretched it over the ring.

Works super.
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Mikdog
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Post by Mikdog »

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Mikdog
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Post by Mikdog »

Testing out some motion blur.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_U_6Fuah5U

Could be even more ramped up.
Samb
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Post by Samb »

heyho,
the motion blur is a bit overused. you should only activate the blur on fast character and camera movement. like when the camera moves to the island.
if you tweak that, we could call happy land the "anime studio nearly perfection" :D

oh, and thanks to jhbmw007. that's a nice USB-mikrophone. I'll definitely check it out :)
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DMacstudios
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Post by DMacstudios »

Is it my imagination or has the links and youtube access to this project been removed? I would just like to know what everyone has been talking about.

Thanks.
~If you can keep your head while around you all others are losing theirs, you have not understood the situation~
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