bird bed at DVinfo.net

Josh Bass · October 20th, 2006, 12:31 AM

Here's a new one:

I want to have, kinda throughout a whole scene, the sound of birds chirping, as if outside someone's room (scene takes place in a bedroom, supposed to be a dream, birds are for happy cheerful ambience). I can find individual bird sounds, but is there a trick to layering them together? It sounds stupid, but it's harder than you might think to make it sound "right". I tried this before and gave up early on 'cause it didn't sound quite right, and I was in a hurry.

Any tips?

Guy Cochran · October 20th, 2006, 12:13 PM

Not sure if this will help, but recently I had a customer buy a pretty "high-end" mic. A Sennheiser MKH-30 (figure 8 pattern). I asked what he was going to be recording and he said, "Nature sounds." So we got to talking and he turned me on to this http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/geotagsView.php
Pretty dang cool. You should be able to find some bird sounds in there. The really cool part is that you can see where in the world the sound was recorded using Google Earth. Most of the folks also mention what equipment they used to record with.

Josh Bass · October 20th, 2006, 12:42 PM

Thanks.

Actually, it wasn't the sounds so much I was having issues with, as it was the technique for layering/mixing them together to have it sound real and natural. What I mean is, how far apart should chirps be, that kinda thing.

Abe Dolinger · October 21st, 2006, 10:08 AM

I would use 1 audiotrack per bird (and probably not more than 2 or 3 if it's just going to be in the background). Pan them differently, probably not hard stereo, maybe 25%R, 20%L, 75%L. I think it would sound best with about 1.5-2.5 seconds of silence in between chirps, puncutated by short bursts of 3-4 chirps at a time. Ideally you would have 8 or more samples to work with for variety, especially if you want more than 3 birds.

Josh Bass · October 21st, 2006, 12:10 PM

Thanks.

Would you still recommend the panning even if everything else in the project is equally stereo'd?

Abe Dolinger · October 21st, 2006, 01:42 PM

Now that I read your post again I would probably pan them at a tighter range because they're supposed to be coming in through a window. I wouldn't put them all at the same spot, but within maybe 20% of each other.

Josh Bass · October 21st, 2006, 04:36 PM

Even given that nothing else in the project is panned a certain way?

Jarrod Whaley · October 23rd, 2006, 02:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Josh Bass

Even given that nothing else in the project is panned a certain way?

That would make it more or less a mono soundtrack (unless you recorded using a stereo mic or matched pairs or something), so I fail to see any reason why panning the bird songs would be necessary in this particular case.

Steve House · October 23rd, 2006, 04:12 AM

Remember too that a substantial number of your viewers won't be hearing it in stereo anyway. Even if you provide the track in stereo, it will often get collapsed to mono somewhere along the way. Even if it stays in stereo all the way to the viewer, a good number of viewers will be watching on TVs with built-in speakers that are on either side of the front panel or the sides of the case, far too close together to produce any signifigant stereo imaging.

Josh Bass · October 23rd, 2006, 08:06 AM

Yeah, and I'm not quite dedicated enough to get that anal with the sound.

October 20th, 2006, 12:31 AM	#1
Josh Bass Slash Rules! Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Houston, Texas Posts: 5,472	bird bed Here's a new one: I want to have, kinda throughout a whole scene, the sound of birds chirping, as if outside someone's room (scene takes place in a bedroom, supposed to be a dream, birds are for happy cheerful ambience). I can find individual bird sounds, but is there a trick to layering them together? It sounds stupid, but it's harder than you might think to make it sound "right". I tried this before and gave up early on 'cause it didn't sound quite right, and I was in a hurry. Any tips? __________________ The Bass' camerawork The Bass on IMDB

October 20th, 2006, 12:13 PM	#2
Guy Cochran DVCreators.Net Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 892	Not sure if this will help, but recently I had a customer buy a pretty "high-end" mic. A Sennheiser MKH-30 (figure 8 pattern). I asked what he was going to be recording and he said, "Nature sounds." So we got to talking and he turned me on to this http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/geotagsView.php Pretty dang cool. You should be able to find some bird sounds in there. The really cool part is that you can see where in the world the sound was recorded using Google Earth. Most of the folks also mention what equipment they used to record with. __________________ Guy Cochran DVinfo Sponsor, Cool Gear - DVeStore!

October 20th, 2006, 12:42 PM	#3
Josh Bass Slash Rules! Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Houston, Texas Posts: 5,472	Thanks. Actually, it wasn't the sounds so much I was having issues with, as it was the technique for layering/mixing them together to have it sound real and natural. What I mean is, how far apart should chirps be, that kinda thing. __________________ The Bass' camerawork The Bass on IMDB

October 21st, 2006, 12:10 PM	#5
Josh Bass Slash Rules! Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Houston, Texas Posts: 5,472	Thanks. Would you still recommend the panning even if everything else in the project is equally stereo'd? __________________ The Bass' camerawork The Bass on IMDB

October 21st, 2006, 04:36 PM	#7
Josh Bass Slash Rules! Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Houston, Texas Posts: 5,472	Even given that nothing else in the project is panned a certain way? __________________ The Bass' camerawork The Bass on IMDB

October 21st, 2006, 10:08 AM	#4
Abe Dolinger Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Brooklyn, NY Posts: 111	I would use 1 audiotrack per bird (and probably not more than 2 or 3 if it's just going to be in the background). Pan them differently, probably not hard stereo, maybe 25%R, 20%L, 75%L. I think it would sound best with about 1.5-2.5 seconds of silence in between chirps, puncutated by short bursts of 3-4 chirps at a time. Ideally you would have 8 or more samples to work with for variety, especially if you want more than 3 birds.

October 21st, 2006, 01:42 PM	#6
Abe Dolinger Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Brooklyn, NY Posts: 111	Now that I read your post again I would probably pan them at a tighter range because they're supposed to be coming in through a window. I wouldn't put them all at the same spot, but within maybe 20% of each other.

October 23rd, 2006, 04:12 AM	#9
Steve House Inner Circle Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada Posts: 5,742	Remember too that a substantial number of your viewers won't be hearing it in stereo anyway. Even if you provide the track in stereo, it will often get collapsed to mono somewhere along the way. Even if it stays in stereo all the way to the viewer, a good number of viewers will be watching on TVs with built-in speakers that are on either side of the front panel or the sides of the case, far too close together to produce any signifigant stereo imaging. __________________ Good news, Cousins! This week's chocolate ration is 15 grams!

October 23rd, 2006, 08:06 AM	#10
Josh Bass Slash Rules! Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Houston, Texas Posts: 5,472	Yeah, and I'm not quite dedicated enough to get that anal with the sound. __________________ The Bass' camerawork The Bass on IMDB