Ask Video - Sound Design 102: Capturing the Sound of Berlin (2016)

Join sound designer Timo Preece as he sonically explores Berlin’s abandoned structures while recording a plethora of unique sounds. Then, see how he transforms the audio in his DAW as builds an amazing sound library! 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.

01 Moving to Berlin (04:27)
02 Benefits of Recording Found Sound (03:10)
03 Goals & Strategy (02:37)
00 4DIY Affordable Professional Equipment (02:44)
05 Recording Equipment (02:38)
06 Microphones (04:36)
07 Sonic Props & Sound Exciters (03:04)
08 Ballroom Drum Rack (05:20)
09 Mono Recording (04:07)
10 Singing Bowl Instrument (04:53)
11 Stereo Recording & Phase Cancellation (03:03)
12 Stereo X/Y Placement (01:43)
13 Bowed Guitar Effected (07:09)
14 Stereo ORTF Placement (05:25)
15 Spaced Pair A/B Placement (02:07)
16 Granulator Gong Instrument (06:54)
17 Using Lavalier Microphones (04:04)
18 Lavalier Mic Processing (03:12)
19 Contact Microphones (03:04)
20 Reamping (03:34)
21 Worldizing: Pt. 1 (05:17)
22 Worldizing: Pt. 2 (04:14)
23 Convolution Reverb (01:55)
24 Recording Impulse Responses: Transient Method (01:46)
25 Recording Impulse Responses: Sine Sweep Method (01:54)
26 Impulse Measurement Tools (04:55)
27 Convolving Hardware & Software (05:43)
28 Creative Convolving (06:07)
29 Amalgamation: Combining IRs (09:33)
30 Adding Effect Processing: Pt.1 (06:14)
31 Adding Effect Processing: Pt.2 (03:28)
32 Conclusion (02:00)