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I've been spending time experimenting with creating sounds from movies like the Transformers, like big stomps and lasers and shit. Does anyone else do this sort of thing? It doesn't have to be specifically Transformers, just any little tricks you have to get some common sounds and maybe some extreme ones.

I'm personally having trouble with big loud slamming sounds, like the SFX in the intro to this video (don't mind the actual video, it's just the fastest example I could find):



I've googled and found that slamming a big steel door can get these sounds, but I don't have a big steel door, suggestions?

Also, what type of mics are best suited for recording this type of stuff? So far I've gotten that shotgun mics are the best, but I don't know.




inb4thelock

http://designingsound.org/
far as mics it depends on the environment you're recording in and what sounds you're trying to highlight
most foley guys (and creative recordists) have a wide arsenal

Holy shit.

Just posting to thank Deadly for the link. Will be very helpful, so thanks bro.
Pity can't watch that video, work

deadly habit wrote:http://designingsound.org/
far as mics it depends on the environment you're recording in and what sounds you're trying to highlight
most foley guys (and creative recordists) have a wide arsenal

How do I go about recording outside my room? I know professionals can't be using portable recorders, or do they? They look like pro mics.

ChadDub wrote:

deadly habit wrote:http://designingsound.org/
far as mics it depends on the environment you're recording in and what sounds you're trying to highlight
most foley guys (and creative recordists) have a wide arsenal

How do I go about recording outside my room? I know professionals can't be using portable recorders, or do they? They look like pro mics.

Come on Chad, try a little harder.

Of course they are using portable recorders. It's not magic. Search for the Field Recording threads on here. Try Google too

So those mics with giant fluff bags on them are portable?

Chad, I've added a section on Field Recording to this thread - http://www.dubstepforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=199401

Looking into this myself, recording devices that is. Will be doing a little research about whether it's worth it for me right now on the budget i'm on.

Some reading material on recording:
http://www.trubitt.com/field_1.html
http://audio.tutsplus.com/tutorials/rec ... ding-pt-1/
http://audio.tutsplus.com/tutorials/rec ... ding-pt-2/

The key to those big slamming impacts is layering, clever layering. I've been experimenting with it a bit and i've found that you don't even need a big impact to make something like this, sure they make it easier, but its not needed. I've recorded some smaller impacts/hits myself and got a pretty interesting result just by layering the same sample in different pitches, spread over 4 octaves. To make it more interesting you could for instance layer different hits, do some processing (especially reverb!) and even add synthesized or granulized sounds on top. It's mosty about experimenting and finding out what works best and in what situation, trial & error.

ChadDub wrote:So those mics with giant fluff bags on them are portable?

yes that would be a windscreen you're referring to
common outdoor mics are boom and shotgun mics as well, but like i said it depends on what the recordist is after

i'm doing a module on audio post production at uni. for mics you want a shootgun, a stereo pair, a nice condenser and a dynamic that can take high SPL (sound presure level) the last one is what you would use to record guns and other loud stuff.

for recording outside get a laptop and M Box.

Does anyone know how to go those bass drops that go on in movies? For example:



It has more character than a sine, and I've tried having detuned sines pitch dropped, and then time stretching that, but it's not as good.

ChadDub wrote:

deadly habit wrote:http://designingsound.org/
far as mics it depends on the environment you're recording in and what sounds you're trying to highlight
most foley guys (and creative recordists) have a wide arsenal

How do I go about recording outside my room? I know professionals can't be using portable recorders, or do they? They look like pro mics.

At a certain point, when you buy a truly nice field recorder, the recorder itsself stops being your concern, the mic's that are plugged into it do... Make sense?

There are lots of methods if you explore....

I have been making contact mic's from buzzers that I get in Maplin for about 80p. all you do is wire them up to a jack plag or guitar lead and it works! you clip it or tape it to a surface and it picks up all vibrations
perfect for impacts and 'found' sounds. If you cover it with some liquid latex you can use it under water also!

To get perfect lazer impacts and shots, clip this contact mic to the end of a slinky, stretch it out and hit it!

if you dont believe me, search DIY contact Mic, Hydrophone or DIY spring Reverb.....

a while ago I posted links to a bbc doc where someone had mic'd up all this fencing and telephone cables and when the wind blew it created this spooky, etheral string kinda sound....


Also, cheap portable recorder? I bet your phone could do something? or if you like it Raw then get an old Dictaphone! bout £2 and battery lasts ages!

http://designingsound.org/2010/04/field ... -wide-web/

follow all of the blogs linked in that post.

This: http://www.sonic-terrain.com/ is a great website dedicated to field recording (mentioned by some in this thread)

yea man you can make your own hydrophone and contact mics easy, i mean once you have a recorder that has phantom power, or a portable phantom power box, and the proper cables and inputs the sky is the limit
loads of sites about kits people take for field recording, i was gonna do a guide awhile back on my old blog, just never got to it
maybe will revive that idea again

Foley != film sound != field recording!

Foley is always done INSIDE a studio with a big screen and a crapload of junk.

Most foley studios use either a shotgun or just a generic cardioid condensor. And they don't record in stereo.

I've spoken at length with Mike Broomberg, the foley artist behind Watchmen, 300, Sucker Punch, The Tourist, Surf's Up, and a crapload of other movies. His absolute favourite toy is a car door. But not one still attached to the car He uses that thing for everything. But he's particularly fond of using it as a resonant surface. When he's banging things together, he'll often put one object on the door so that he gets a thud and a metallic ring from the door. He also has a little metal basin about a meter across on wheels. By putting that thing upside-down on top of the car door and spinning the wheels with a stick (and pitchshifting it all), he did the train sounds for August Rush.

He's also way into pitch shifters. He's quite clueless when it comes to gear, so I haven't been able to determine *which* pitch shifter it is, but it's a rackmount unit. Often when he's trying to make droney sounds (like a drawn-out creak, or the sub element of a long explosion), he'll scrape a stick or something along the door and shift it down a few octaves.

Gunshots are never recordings of guns. Nor are explosions. If that stuff is done in foley (which is not always), it usually involves a couch, a car door, some dowel rods, a leather jacket, and/or cutlery.

Speaking of, here's how world-renowned foley artist Broomberg does punches: put some cheap plywood on a couch, spread a leather jacket over it, and whack it with a bat

henrebotha wrote:
Gunshots are never recordings of guns.

http://www.dubstepforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=175626

4min10s - they appear to be recording guns being fired to get the gunshot effect?