Including ambient sounds at DVinfo.net

Travis Wilber · April 18th, 2012, 04:26 PM

I'm trying to include more ambient and atmosphere sounds in with my videos so its less 'music video' style with no real audio. Definitely tricky to do. Anyone have any advice with this? Do you ask people to shut off music during preparation times and such? Or simply try to edit out background music as much as possible.

Allan Black · April 18th, 2012, 07:31 PM

Spend some time and build up a sound FX library .. so there'll be times when you don't use any 100% fx, just mute everything and use your own.

You'll find as you go along, your fx will get better and better as you replace some that aren't really what you want. Number each one, so you say
'hey number 6 will be great here'.

Record the basic ones first, small happy wedding group indoors, then outdoors etc. Just 20 secs for each one will do, then loop it. Don't worry about repeating the same ones in other productions, it happens all the time on TV. Record fx in stereo too, you can just use your on camera stereo mic with the lens cap on.

eg: record some nice surf sounds right down by the waters edge, so when you have a beach wedding you can add some in for at-mos-phere.
Do this carefully so no one notices, that's the trick of it ;0

Cheers.

Buba Kastorski · April 19th, 2012, 08:01 AM

use original sound, especially when people talk, joking around an laughing, using sound library for that is impossible, and at the same time that's what make the video unique and less "music video" like;
just remember, when you're at the brides, or grooms houses to turn music off, cuz there is almost always boombox playing something loud, at least for the part when you need to get your sound, unless you will be using the same song for the highlights ant you'll be able to perfectly match two audio streams, but that's very tedious, i did it once, takes a lot of staging and as a rule there is no time for that;

Andrew Brown · April 20th, 2012, 03:21 AM

I think a lot depends on the type of music you're using.
If you're going for loud uptempo songs the ambient gets a bit lost, but with something a bit more mellow the ambient sound can sit nicely underneath.

The couple in this film went for a mellow folky type of soundtrack which allows the ambient sound to come through a lot more.
Once you get to about the 10 minute mark I really pushed the ambient levels up a bit to get a feel for the day.
All the ambient sound was captured by the camera and is the actual audio associated with the clip (no fx were used).

The bottom line is, it's just a case of getting the balance right and making it sound natural.

April 18th, 2012, 04:26 PM	#1
Travis Wilber Regular Crew Join Date: May 2011 Location: Boston, MA Posts: 68	Including ambient sounds I'm trying to include more ambient and atmosphere sounds in with my videos so its less 'music video' style with no real audio. Definitely tricky to do. Anyone have any advice with this? Do you ask people to shut off music during preparation times and such? Or simply try to edit out background music as much as possible.

April 18th, 2012, 07:31 PM	#2
Allan Black Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Sydney. Posts: 2,887	Re: Including ambient sounds Spend some time and build up a sound FX library .. so there'll be times when you don't use any 100% fx, just mute everything and use your own. You'll find as you go along, your fx will get better and better as you replace some that aren't really what you want. Number each one, so you say 'hey number 6 will be great here'. Record the basic ones first, small happy wedding group indoors, then outdoors etc. Just 20 secs for each one will do, then loop it. Don't worry about repeating the same ones in other productions, it happens all the time on TV. Record fx in stereo too, you can just use your on camera stereo mic with the lens cap on. eg: record some nice surf sounds right down by the waters edge, so when you have a beach wedding you can add some in for at-mos-phere. Do this carefully so no one notices, that's the trick of it ;0 Cheers. __________________ Drink more tap water. On admission at Sydney hospitals more than 5% of day patients are de-hydrated.

April 19th, 2012, 08:01 AM	#3
Buba Kastorski Trustee Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Toronto Posts: 1,414	Re: Including ambient sounds use original sound, especially when people talk, joking around an laughing, using sound library for that is impossible, and at the same time that's what make the video unique and less "music video" like; just remember, when you're at the brides, or grooms houses to turn music off, cuz there is almost always boombox playing something loud, at least for the part when you need to get your sound, unless you will be using the same song for the highlights ant you'll be able to perfectly match two audio streams, but that's very tedious, i did it once, takes a lot of staging and as a rule there is no time for that; __________________ I love this place!

April 20th, 2012, 03:21 AM	#4
Andrew Brown Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: UK Posts: 33	Re: Including ambient sounds I think a lot depends on the type of music you're using. If you're going for loud uptempo songs the ambient gets a bit lost, but with something a bit more mellow the ambient sound can sit nicely underneath. The couple in this film went for a mellow folky type of soundtrack which allows the ambient sound to come through a lot more. Once you get to about the 10 minute mark I really pushed the ambient levels up a bit to get a feel for the day. All the ambient sound was captured by the camera and is the actual audio associated with the clip (no fx were used). louise + harry /// let's stay together on Vimeo The bottom line is, it's just a case of getting the balance right and making it sound natural. __________________ www.memoriesonfilm.co.uk