Recording in the Field


One of the great things about podcasts is that they can be created anywhere. With some simple tools and basic techniques, you can record a podcast in the park or the local coffeehouse as easily as in your studio. With a headset microphone plugged into your laptop computer's sound card, the world is your studio! We have recorded simple podcasts in airports, on airplanes, in conference rooms, and on the back porch. The real fun, though, comes when you want to take advantage of your remote location's unique qualities, rather than merely creating a standard podcast from a non-standard location.

When you get out of the studio, you really begin to take your listeners to places they couldn't go without your help. Rather than simply telling them about a street festival, you can let them walk along with you, hearing the sounds of the crowds and vendors, and talking to the artists and neighborhood leaders who put the festival together. Instead of reading the names of the winners at the Friday night dirt-track races, you can take them into the stands to hear the roar of the engines and the thump of dirt clods landing around youand you can ask people in the stands who they're rooting for and why they come to the races every week.

Moving your podcast into the field changes the basic dynamic of the recording and the experience you create for your listeners. While great content is still the most critical ingredient in a successful podcast, using the right tools and techniques are the equivalent of a writer's well chosen wordsthey can make the experience dramatically more vibrant, immediate, and real for those listening to the podcast.

Your headset mic and laptop soundcard can allow you to record a vocal track in spite of a remote location. Working with remote locations can take a different approach to recording, and a different set of tools. In many remote sites, for example, a laptop computer is too large and unwieldy to make a useful recorder. If you'll be standing or walking around with your recorder in your hands, for instance, a laptop computer is almost impossible. In the same way, if going "on location" involves talking with other people for your podcast, the headset microphone loses in efficiency far more than it gains in enforced intimacy.

As with your studio setup, you'll need a recording device, a microphone, and a way to listen to your recorded piece. Depending on the specifics of the situation, you might want a way to edit your recording, ways to insulate the microphone from the environment, and a camera and notebook to document the session. If remote recording is something you'll do more than once or twice, you'll also want some way to carry your studio around.

It's worth taking a moment to talk about your carrying case; you want something that protects your equipment, is easy to carry, and won't come between you and what you want to record. Depending on your equipment, you might choose something as small as a waist pouch or lumbar pack: a bag designed to carry 35mm camera equipment can be ideal (see Figure 6.10). You might, on the other hand, choose a backpack with partitions you've cut out of high-density foam to organize and protect your gear. Regardless of the case you choose, make sure that the contents are protected against the shocks, drops, and insults of the real world.

Figure 6.10. Carrying cases for your portable studio can range from small, inexpensive waist pouches to full-sized hard-shell backpacks.


As with virtually every aspect of podcasting, there are many options for each of these pieces, depending on how much money you want to spend and which aspects of field recording are most important to you. Let's take a look at the pieces you can use to build your portable podcasting studio.

Portable Recorders

Portable recorders for podcasts can take many forms, depending on the criteria that are most important to you. Does small size trump all other considerations? Is it important that your portable recorder perform other tasks? Are you looking to create audio documentaries that feature the highest-quality sound quality? A "Yes" answer to each of these questions leads down a different path for a possible recorder.

Pocket Recorders

Many pocket recorders, of the sort doctors and executives use to dictate notes and memos, generate sound files that can be downloaded to a personal computer through a USB or FireWire cable. When it comes to pure portability, this is the champion, as many models from Panasonic, Minolta, or Sony are comparable in size to small cell phones. The small size is often accompanied by very long recording times, and models that include four, six, or more hours of recording time are common.

Digital voice recorders also tend to be inexpensive, with models starting around $50.00 and going up to around $250.00. While the combination of small size and low price might make these seem the perfect all-around answer, this class of recorder tends to have a couple of limitations that take it out of consideration for many podcasters.

tip

The reduced sound quality of a pocket recorder can add to the "live" feeling of a field interview when it's contrasted against a studio-recorded intro and wrap-up. Make sure, though, that the quality of your recording is good enough to not get in the way of your content.


In order to achieve the long recording time, most pocket voice recorders sample at a low rate, providing a recorded voice that is perfectly intelligible but which lacks the quality heard in larger recorders. This is compounded by the microphones built into these machines, mics that are optimized to pick up the average human voice. It sounds like a good idea until you listen and discover that voices that are quite high or very deep don't record with the richness we'd like, and that ambient soundsthe sounds that let the listener get a feeling for where we're recordingmay not record realistically at all. Pocket recorders are great "just in case" devices that you can keep in your pocket, purse, or briefcase for spontaneous interviews, or as backups for a more capable system should something break in the field. For most podcasters, though, the quality of the recording made with a pocket recorder won't match the quality of the content.

MiniDisc Recorders

MiniDisc recorders are one step up from the pocket recorders in size, and a quantum leap ahead in potential sound quality. With the 160 megabyte storage space of a MiniDisc that provides about 74 minutes in audio mode, these players can record at a much higher sampling rate than is possible with the smaller handheld devices. Unfortunately, MiniDisc players, which some observers believed would take over from both standard audiocassette records and CD players, are considerably more expensive than most pocket recorders, with prices in the $200$600 range. Many MiniDisc players, such as the one shown in Figure 6.11, have a built-in microphone that may be of little better quality than those found in pocket recorders. With a high-quality external microphone, though, they can be very acceptable field recording choices. Journalists tend to like MiniDisc recorders very much, though their lack of mass-market acceptance can make the recorders and their disks a little hard to find in some markets.

Figure 6.11. The pocket recorder (left) is the most portable recording option. The MiniDisc recorder (right) brings higher quality at a significantly higher cost.


MP3 Player with Recorder

If multi-purpose devices are your requirement, then your MP3 player may be an ideal solution. Some MP3 players, such as those from Creative Labs, iRiver, and Sony, have microphones and recording menus built-in. As with so many small devices, the quality of the built-in microphone will limit the ultimate quality of the recording, and players with smaller memories will be significantly limited in total recording time. Players that will accept an external mic, however, can be used to make very good recordings, and are being used by many successful podcasters. Even Apple iPods can be used as field recording devices with the addition of a small accessory that includes a microphone, external mic jack, and circuitry to provide input to the iPod through its accessory jack. There's a nice symmetry to using an MP3 player to record a podcast, though many users will find the user interface less than acceptable for recording jobs that involve any complexity at all.

Portable Multi-track Recorders

For podcasters who value recording quality and editing flexibility above other concerns, a portable multi-track recorder from a company such as Zoom, Korg, or Tascam is the answer. These portable studios, designed for traveling musicians to record song ideas and demos, will feature input jacks for commercial-quality microphones, high-quality audio conversion and digitizing circuits, and the ability to mix multiple recorded sources into a single final file. Depending on how important portability is, devices with various capabilities are available in sizes ranging from paperback book to large laptop computer, with the number of tracks, on-board storage capacity, control size, and simultaneous input circuits increasing with device size. An average-sized unit, balancing portability and functionality, is shown in Figure 6.12. If recording remote podcasts is a serious interest of yours, you'll want to look seriously at a portable multi-track recorder for the ultimate in quality and flexibility.

Figure 6.12. An MP3 player (left) can record interviews in the field. A portable multi-track recorder (right) is tops in recording quality and flexibility.


Accessories for Field Recording

Just as with recording in your studio, there are things you'll want to do to make sure that unintentional noises and artifacts don't get in the way of your content, and that you're able to capture all the sound required to create a compelling podcast. Let's look at some of the accessories you'll want to keep in your bag to make your podcast content sparkle.

Whether you're recording in the great outdoors or a hushed conference room, wind is the enemy of good recording. You'll definitely want to make sure you've got a good windscreen (or two), made for your type and style of microphone, in your bag. If you're recording outdoors, make installing the windscreen part of your pre-recording checklist. Indoors, you'll still want the windscreen installed if you're going to using a handheld microphone that you move back and forth between yourself and interview subjects. While you will have experimented to learn the best distance and angle at which to approach the mic, your interview subjects aren't likely to have the same experience, and so are likely to move closer to the mic than is necessary. You can even out volume in editing, and a windscreen will help keep breathing noises off your recorded tracks.

tip

A reporter's notebook or stack of 3x5 index cards fits into your pocket and is critical for writing yourself notes about the location, interview subject information, and directions for editing when you get back to the studio.


The microphone-passing trick makes you look like a television journalist, but since no one on the listening side will be watching, that's not such a great benefit. Instead, try to have a microphone stand to minimize the thumps and bumps of microphone handling sounds in your recording. The stand may not be practical if you're walking around to record at various places, but small, tabletop stands are inexpensive (usually less than $10), have vibration-isolating rubber feet, and make a real difference when it comes to keeping the sounds of your fingers, rings, and clothing out of the recording.

Microphones for Field Recording

Depending on exactly what sounds you're trying to capture in your podcast, the same microphone used in your studio may be perfect in the field. It may be, on the other hand, that you need an entirely different set of mics to make your podcast happen.

The first situation that might lead you to a new microphone is trying to capture sounds that are several feet to many yards away from you. For this, you need a highly directional microphone; either a shotgun mic, or a parabolic reflector microphone, both of which are shown in Figure 6.13. If you've seen professional football games on television, you've probably seen someone standing on the sidelines holding what looks like a small television satellite dish. That dish is a parabolic reflector that reflects sound to a focal point where the microphone element sits. If you want to podcast on birdcalls, alligator grunts, or other natural sounds made by animals difficult to get close to, then a parabolic mic may be your only choice. Most parabolic mics are professional-grade equipment, so make sure that you've chosen a dynamic microphone (rather than a condenser) so that phantom power isn't an issue, and that you have the necessary cable adapters to connect the mic to your recorder. They can be expensive, and they're certainly not unobtrusive, but nothing matches them when it comes to pulling in the sound from distant sources.

Figure 6.13. Parabolic mics (right) use a dynamic element with a parabolic reflector to capture sound across distances. A shotgun mic (below) uses a specially-designed element to do the same thing.


tip

The range of frequencies picked up by a parabolic mic is directly related to its size. For handheld parabolics, that means a frequency range that makes it far more suitable for bird songs than for male human voices. Shotgun mics have a far wider dynamic range that makes them much more useful if you're trying to record people speaking.


If the source of your sound isn't quite so far away then a shotgun mic is your ticket. These long, skinny microphones (their shape looks rather like a shotgun barrel, hence the name) have a reception pattern that is the opposite of omnidirectionalit is very directional, and extends far from the end of the mic. Shotgun mics are sometimes used as the boom mics on film shoots, as the same pattern that pulls in distant sounds makes it less likely that they will pick up sounds from surrounding sources. Those same qualities make them common accessories for video cameras, and their popularity for this use makes less-expensive models relatively easy to find.

Shotgun mics come in a wide range of both price and quality. Those intended for film shoots can be hundreds of dollars (and weigh several pounds), while those aimed at the consumer market tend to cost less than a hundred dollars and weigh only a few ounces. Most podcasters will be more than happy with the consumer models, and the money saved compared to the professional models can be used to buy even more podcasting equipment.

Of course, it may well be that your studio mic is exactly what you need for recording your in-the-field podcast. The only true exception would be a ribbon microphonewhile superb for vocal quality, the ribbon element is so fragile that a strong gust of wind can dislodge its seat and wreck the microphone. Both condenser and dynamic mics should be just fine, though, especially if you equip them with a windscreen before heading out to your session.

Windscreens

Here's the thing about the great outdoors: It's outside. That means that things like the wind become part of your studio. Since even a gentle breeze can produce a thundering roar in a microphone, a windscreen is an absolute must for in-the-field recording. There are many different windscreen types, and you can easily choose the best one to match your microphone and your needs.

The most common windscreens are simple foam wrappers that surround the microphone element housing. These can be very effective for gentle breezes, but they tend to be much less effective in even slightly stronger winds. You might be tempted to try saving money by wrapping a sheet of household foam packing material around the mic, and it's a trick that you can try in an emergency, but the acoustic qualities (how much sound they pass, and at what frequencies) of the packing foam are much different than those of the microphone windscreen. Foam windscreens aren't expensive (ranging from a few cents to a few dollars), and the sound quality is worth the money.

For stronger breezes and more sensitive shotgun mics, there are large fleece windscreens. These make your mic look vaguely like it's been swallowed by a sheep, but they are much more effective at cutting wind noise while maintaining the fidelity of the recording. These windscreens are frequently used in location shoots for film and television, and their cost reflects that professional association; they can cost from a few tens of dollar to well over $100, but if you've made the commitment to high-quality field recording equipment, they will be worth the money.

It's important to note that there are winds strong enough to make even the most expensive professional windscreens of little effect. When the zephyrs howl around you, it can be a sign that the time has come to work on in-studio podcastsunless, that is, you're working on a "my time in a wind-tunnel" project.

Cameras

Okay, so a camera is not, strictly speaking, part of the equipment of a podcast. You're not going to use one to make a sound recording, and podcasts are about sound, right? Well, while a podcast is an audio activity, packaging, supporting, and documenting your podcast can take many forms. Photographs to aid in remembering who you've talked with, the situations about which you've podcasted, and the places in which you've recorded will make your podcasts, and the description on the website that surrounds the podcast, richer and more vibrant than they could be without the supporting material.

The nice thing about the camera required for documenting your podcast is that it doesn't have to be the same quality as a camera required for, say, scrapbooking or photojournalism. The resolution that's acceptable is that websites use a much lower resolution than is required for print. The resolution required for an image that appears on an MP3 player's screen to accompany your podcast may be even lower. These two viewing situations mean a small, inexpensive camera, such as the one in Figure 6.14 that tucks into your portable studio bag, is all you need to support the podcast.

Figure 6.14. The camera to document your podcasts can take up practically no room in your portable studio bag.


Many digital cameras come with video capabilities but, for most of us, they won't be necessaryall you need is the simple ability to put a basic image on your website to set the stage for your podcast. The level of expectation for the camera in this situation is lowand the price of the camera necessary to meet the expectation is similarly low.

When you take the role of the camera a bit further, you enter the realm of one of the more fascinating parts of podcastingsound-seeing.

Working with Ambient Noise

Sound-seeing is taking the listener to a particular place at a specific time, allowing them to hear the sounds of a situation as though they were walking alongside you. Sound-seeing is all about making the most of the ambient sound, highlighting the aural landscape of a location to make the place seem real and immediate to your listener. In most cases, an omni-directional microphone is the best option because it "hears" sounds from nearly every direction, just as your ears do when you're walking through a location.

tip

Recording your narration of the sound-seeing podcast in your studio gives you time to listen to the ambient sounds and plan what you will tell your listeners. It's easy to record the narration in pieces that refer to the photograph you post, the sound recording you've made, and links to other websites.


The difficulty can come when you're trying to narrate the ambient sounds as you present them. If you want to narrate as you're walking through the scene, you'll need to make sure that the microphone is close enough to you, and oriented properly, to ensure that the narration is louder than the ambient sounds, and distinct enough to be easily understood by the listener.

Since it can be difficult to walk around, narrate a podcast, watch relative levels, and monitor a recording all at the same time, you will probably want to record your narration after you've recorded the sound-seeing ambient tracks. This gives you the opportunity to think about what you've heard and record a great narration in your studio. You then get to edit the tracks together, using a program such as Audacity or Propoganda, adjusting the relative levels of the narration and ambient sounds for greatest impact and intelligibility.

Of course, sometimes you're recording in the field but you don't want to focus on the ambient sounds. It may be that you're trying to interview someone or focus on a particular sound, and you don't want to include every surrounding sound at the same level. In these situations you'll want to think about using a cardioid mic (for close-in vocals), or a shotgun or parabolic mic (for focusing on particular long-distance sounds).

Figure 6.15. Sound-seeing podcasts can give your listeners a real sense of a placeit's an exciting programming option to experiment with.


Regardless of how you decide to handle the ambient sounds, they are the critical component that separates field recordings from studio recordings. In the studio, ambient sounds are reduced to non-existence, while they are the critical component in a field recording. Learn to listen in 360 degrees, focusing attention on the sounds around you, as part of your preparation to take your podcast recording into the field. The result will be a podcast that's more interesting to far more people.



Absolute Beginner's Guide to Podcasting
Absolute Beginners Guide to Podcasting.
ISBN: B001U8C03Q
EAN: N/A
Year: 2004
Pages: 167

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