THE ART OF FIELD RECORDING

Today we welcome Paul Virostek. For over 20 years Paul has been Field Recording for film, television, game audio and sound publishers. He has worked on the sound effects for the Michael Mann film Ali and continues to add to his sound library of 25,000+ sound effects.

Paul Virostek Field Recordist at Airborne Sound

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When did you realise you had a passion for field recording? One of my first gigs was working as a sound FX assistant for Canadian television series. Of course, major feature films may have time and a budget for field recording signature sound effects. Schedules for television at that time were pretty tight. There wasn't much time or a budget to provide fresh sound effects for the shows. So, for these projects, the best decision was to draw on CD library sound FX for the soundtrack.

In my second year, I assisted Toronto sound editor Rob Bertola. Rob was always eager to capture fresh sound effects beyond just the plot-dependent signature clips of race cars, guns, or wild animals and so on. We would take a morning away from the studio to record more standard or foundation sound FX like snow impacts and movements, Doppler horn passes, and city ambience. These sounds are widely available in sound libraries; however, Rob believed that using fresh sound FX recorded yourself invigorates a soundtrack, and invests an editor more deeply into the project. Everyone ends up affected by that: the editor, the mixers, and hopefully the listeners as well. That idea made a huge impression on me.

I bought my own kit, and began recording sound effects as a hobby outside of work. After doing this for a while, I began to see sound effects differently. Before, I viewed them just as a tool to fit into a soundtrack to get the job done. When I began recording the tracks myself instead of sourcing them from CD libraries, I began to see capturing sound effects as a form craftsmanship itself. I found I enjoyed the challenge of capturing a cool sound cleanly and evocatively.

That goal inspired me to pretty much drop post-production work completely and focus solely on field recording. I found I could spend all day recording sound effects and not feel the time pass. It was completely engrossing. I realized I preferred that to editing and shifted my focus to field recording.

We would take a morning away from the studio to record more standard or foundation sound FX like snow impacts and movements, Doppler horn passes, and city ambience.

What's in your recording kit bag? Any favourite pieces of gear? I prefer a minimalist recording kit. I travel for months through different countries recording sound effects. When a kit is large and cumbersome it becomes an anchor. A complex kit makes it hard to respond to the energy at the location. It doesn't capture these kinds of sound effects well. It's also more noticeable, which causes people in these places to act differently and ruins an authentic representation of that place or sound. So, I have a stealth kit that focuses on higher-quality gear that is compact and easy to use.

I use a Sound Devices 722 recorder. It's built for punishment, and has great preamps. I prefer its internal hard drive to memory card storage since I am often on the road for months at a time and the extra storage is helpful if you're away from a workstation for a long time.

My main microphone is the Neumann RSM-191i. This is a stereo shotgun microphone known for its rich sound and detailed, deep soundstage. I prefer it because the capsules can be adjusted via a matrix box to capture various widths in both mid-side and stereo. So, this one microphone is incredibly flexible for handling a wide variety of sound effect subjects.

I also have a pair of DPA 4060 microphones which I use in an A-B configuration for ultra stealth. They produce amazing sound for their size, and their low form factor allows me to record inconspicuously where the Neumann would be spotted and corrupt the sound of the environment.

Each of these is supported by Rycote wind protection. I use the Modular kit (fitted with special Lyres for the 191's extra-wide, 30mm body) combined with a Windjammer if needed. I also use Rycote Lavalier Windjammers for the DPAs, and Rycote Windjammers for every one of my plant-and-forget portables such as the Sony PCM-D100.

At some point, I'd like to add two new microphones to my kit: a TSL Soundfield 450ST Ambisonic microphone, and a stereo pair of Sennheiser MKH 8040 mics.

Wind is one of the worst enemies of the field recordist. Since field recording is predominantly performed outside, wind is possibly the most important challenge for field recordists to overcome.

How do you deal with the technical challenges of field recording in windy conditions and poor weather? Wind is one of the worst enemies of the field recordist. Since field recording is predominantly performed outside, wind is possibly the most important challenge for field recordists to overcome.

The first, easiest step is to use professional wind protection. Rycote is the only wind protection I use. The zeppelins are built well and are lightweight. The Lyre brace holds the microphone solidly. All of this is especially helpful in the run-and-gun situations I commonly experience. The technology's sonic transparency makes it a no-brainer. Wind is such a significant obstacle for field recording; it can easily scrap an entire field recording shoot. I need wind protection I can trust completely so I can focus on performing the sound effects or tracking evocative performances, and for me, that's Rycote.

Field recording is often less structured than studio work. That can work both ways when dealing with weather and wind problems. While challenges from the elements are greater outdoors, this also means field recordists can use other tools to capt

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