Sonic Stories: In Motion Audio
This time we chat with Cal from In Motion Audio to find out how he balances capturing sounds naturally and the types of sounds that benefit from having different microphone perspectives.
What’s the most difficult environment you’ve had to record in while still trying to get a clean, usable result?
About a year ago I recorded in a hotel in Spain, and it was harder than I expected for more reasons than one. Getting clean corridor ambiences was a battle in itself: the moment I hit record, guests would head out of their rooms and cleaners seemed to appear out of the woodwork on every floor. On top of that, the kids’ animation team would put music on at random, unannounced moments throughout the day, which ruined a lot of takes. I had to time my recordings carefully just to get what I needed.
The worst by far, though, was the third bedroom I used as my studio for a while after we moved house. When we moved in, the busy road outside was eerily quiet because of covid, but as things went back to normal, traffic started bleeding into everything I recorded. It also bounced around the room, so it wasn’t only in the recordings. It made them much harder to edit and clean, and harder to focus on the key details.
How do you balance capturing a sound naturally with getting close enough to reveal the small details people normally wouldn’t hear?
It depends on the purpose of the session and what I’m recording.
For sound effects, I do test recordings at different distances to find what sounds best. I want enough proximity to capture the detail, but also a slight amount of the room so the sound sits properly in a mix without being too distant to use. It’s a fine line, so I mostly go by ear.
For ambiences, I stand further back to capture a wider space, I press record and listen. Sometimes I’ll record for a few minutes and then move if something is affecting the recording, or if there’s a sound I’d like more central. It comes down to recording, listening, and being happy with what I’m capturing.
At the moment I’m experimenting with multiple mics and positions, so I can capture close detail and natural space at the same time and have a bit of everything to choose from in the edit.
Have you ever had a recording ruined by something completely unexpected, and were you able to salvage it?
I get recordings ruined by unexpected things quite a bit, especially in the field. There’s always a plane, a car or a person that can affect a take. I always record more than I need, so I can make aggressive choices about cutting audio rather than spending time trying to salvage it.
One of the most memorable was at an airshow. My levels were fairly low anyway, but a Typhoon suddenly ripped across the sky and completely clipped my mics. I managed to rescue it with RX De-clip it sounded great considering.
What types of sounds tend to benefit most from having several different microphone perspectives?
I’m currently experimenting with this myself. I’ve only ever used a single mono mic or a stereo pair, but I recently recorded a violin with an NT1A for close detail and my Clippy EM272 as a room mic. The two complemented each other well: I had the detail and the width of the room in the same recording, which made it feel fuller and grander.
Footsteps are next on my list to try. I’m still working out my own answer to this question, so I may have a better one in time.
How do you approach recording movement, such as footsteps, vehicles, doors, or mechanical actions, so the performance feels natural?
I try to keep the performance relaxed and natural, because we’re not stiff when we do everyday tasks. Whether it’s footsteps, a door or a mechanical action, I want it to feel like the real thing happening, so I’ll often run a few rehearsal passes first and treat the early takes as warm-ups.
Recording purely naturally can sometimes leave a sound lacking detail, so once I have natural takes I’ll record again at different intensities, with a little more weight or force. The heavier takes can bring out qualities and details a natural performance won’t, and I end up with a range of options to choose from later.
I’m also experimenting with combining the source sound with a resonant body to add depth. The right mic at the right distance helps sell the sound, but it always comes back to the performance feeling natural.
What’s a sound you’ve recorded that surprised you with how often you ended up using it later?
The sound that’s surprised me most is a car door I recorded. I was searching through Soundly for a car door and came across one that sounded really nice, and I didn’t realise at the time that it was one of my own recordings. Once I did, it became the car door I reach for first. It has the right balance of everything, and while it doesn’t work every time, it’s been used on a few projects.
Room tones I recorded in my own home have also been used on pretty much every film I’ve done SFX edits on. They capture the room, but also a bit of energy from the outside world, which helps them sit naturally in most scenes, even when the location isn’t a home.