Today we welcome Patrick Schaefer. A versatile and experienced location sound recordist, Patrick Schaefer's work has taken him around the world and placed him in a variety of challenging recording situations. We chat with Patrick about how he got into the sound industry and some of the exciting projects that he's worked on.
Patrick Schaefer Production Sound Mixer
Email
Web site
Portrait photograph: Nicolas De Miranda, Above and header: Dave Shelleny
Tell us a little about yourself, where are you based, what do you do? I'm a production sound mixer/location sound recordist based out of Minneapolis in the United States, and I record sound for television, film, commercials, documentaries, corporate videos, web content and more. I primarily work locally in Minneapolis, but also travel for projects: about 20% of my work is on the road. It's a nice mix of being able to be home and getting to travel domestically and internationally, which I really enjoy.
I was finally honest with myself about my passion for audio production and figured, someone's doing it: why not me?'
How did you get into the sound industry and what changes have you noticed over time? I became interested in audio production in high school. My friends and I were musicians and started playing around with recording. Using microphones became as much fun as playing the guitar for me, but I never took it seriously as a career option.
After spending some time studying various subjects at university, I was finally honest with myself about my passion for audio production and figured, someone's doing it: why not me?' Sound for picture wasn't yet on my radar, but my sister worked in the video production industry and exposed me to this niche. When I graduated, the economy was in shambles and no one was hiring full time employees, so I fell into freelancing and started building my own business. It was very much the silver lining of what felt like terrible circumstances at the time.
Photograph: Dave Shelleny
What's in your kit bag? My audio bag is typically built around a Sound Devices 788T-SSD / CL-8 or a Sound Devices 633. For talent mics, I use Lectrosonics SMQV transmitters with 411 and SRb receivers and DPA 4061 or Sanken COS-11d lavs, and Lectrosonics or Sennheiser 2000 series wireless systems for camera hops or IFBs, as well as timecode pieces from Mozegear and Denecke.
On the end of the boom I typically use a Schoeps CMIT 5 or CMC6 + MK 41 to record dialogue, but also like to use mid-side stereo setups when the right project comes along. For MS, I use a Schoeps CMC 6 / MK 8 / MK 5 combo as well as a Sennheiser MKH 30/40 setup. Everything ends up on a K-Tek boompole of various lengths, internally cabled (mono or stereo) with a side exit.
I first started with a Rycote S-Series windshield years ago and now use two Rycote WS4 kits as my go-to option for the end of a boom, as well as two Stereo windshield kits for my mid/side stereo rigs. I've also quite recently added the Rycote Cyclone to my kit and have been incredibly impressed. On a shoot in the sand dunes of Glamis, CA we were faced with 25-30mph winds and blowing sand, and the Cyclone kept any wind or basket creak out of my signal while also protecting my mic. I recommend Rycote to anyone looking for microphone wind protection/suspension in the field.
On a shoot in the sand dunes of Glamis, CA we were faced with 25-30mph winds and blowing sand, and the Cyclone kept any wind or basket creak out of my signal while also protecting my mic.' Patrick Schaefer
Photograph: Dave Shelleny
The cold made the day a battle everything was having trouble working. The camera was malfunctioning, hard drives wouldn't mount, and we even had a wireless receiver fall off the camera because the adhesive backing froze and completely separated from the strap we were using.
Can you tell us about an interesting project you were involved with? One shoot that I did was for Victory Motorcycles that involved a couple of stunt motorcyclists driving around on a frozen lake in Minnesota. I woke up and it was 2 degrees F (-17 C) when I left my house, which didn't feel too bad actually (I grew up in Fargo, ND and am used to some serious winters); but as I drove an hour north of my home in the Minneapolis area to the location, I watched the thermometer on my car steadily drop one degree at a time. When I finally arrived and made it out onto the frozen lake, it was a chilly -6 degrees F (-21 C).
The cold made the day a battle everything was having trouble working. The camera was malfunctioning, hard drives wouldn't mount, and we even had a wireless receiver fall off the camera because the adhesive backing froze and completely separated from the strap we were using.
One thing I really enjoy about my job is how it's always taking me to interesting places I never would have found myself in otherwise. I probably wouldn't have woken up and faced the cold that morning on my own, but the sunrise coming up over the frozen lake is something that I'm glad I was there to see, and things like that seem to happen a lot.
Photograph: Dave Shelleny
The Victory motorcycle shoot sounds amazing. How did your mics and windshields cope with these extreme conditions? Despite the frigid temperatures introducing some technical issues throughout the day, I had no trouble at all with my microphones or windshields. If I ever get the call for a shoot in Antarctica, I'll definitely bring along Rycote windshields. I just hope there's a mid-side stereo version of the Cyclone by then!
Photograph: Dave Shelleny
On the Victory motorcycle shoot, what were some of the challenges capturing good sound from the bikes at high speed? Capturing good audio from high-speed motorcycles is trickiest for the tracking shots often the sound of the tracking veh
Most recent headlines
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
30/08/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has adopted its FY 2025 Regulatory Fees Order that establishes the regulatory fee rates for the broadcast stati...
29/08/2025
Australian Red Cross and SBS launch training to help workplaces in the fight aga...
29/08/2025
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
29/08/2025
L3Harris Technologies has concentrated decades of expertise across the entire enterprise to develop affordable and reliable best-of-breed solutions to rapidly c...
29/08/2025
BURBANK, Calif. The CW Network and the Pac-12 Conference have announced a new media rights deal that will extend their broadcast partnership beginning with the ...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK Gracenote has released a new analysis of its global video dataset showing that the number of FAST channels grew nearly 14% from Q1 2025 and 76% since 2...
29/08/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. Harmonic has announced a series of improvements to its live sports streaming solution that the company said will improve fan engagement, protec...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES Fox Corp. and YouTube TV last night announced a renewal of the full portfolio of Fox networks, including Fox News Channel, Fox Business...
29/08/2025
Budapest, Hungary, August 2025 - The integration of Microsoft Teams Rooms (MTR) with Lightware's Taurus universal matrix switchers delivers a new level of f...
29/08/2025
Frequency, the engine behind many of the world's best-known streaming television channels, today announced it will launch Studio Live, a next-generation uni...
29/08/2025
In an era when AI and cyber resilience are essential, Scality will mark the 10th anniversary of Scality Day on October 16, 2025 in Paris. This flagship global e...
29/08/2025
Disguise's In-House Creative and Technical Teams Pre-Visualised, Programmed and Delivered Content for the Experience, All Powered by EX 3+
Technology solu...
29/08/2025
Disguise will be demonstrating the latest workflows for TV, film and live events on a number of partner booths at the show
Disguise, the industry-leading tech...
29/08/2025
STOCKHOLM, Sweden Accedo will showcase Accedo Compose, its AI agent-powered modular orchestration layer that assists streaming providers in transitioning client...
29/08/2025
LOS ANGELES Cineverse has announced that it is working with Xperi to bring four of its streaming channels to automobiles for the first time as part of the DTS A...
29/08/2025
DALLAS & ATLANTA Gray Media has announced an agreement with the sports streaming service Victory+ to simulcast 17 Dallas Stars NHL games in 15 television market...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK AND CULVER CITY Comcast NBCUniversal and Amazon have announced new and extended distribution agreements that will expand the content available on their...
29/08/2025
FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. RED Digital Cinema will feature its Cine-Broadcast Module supporting live broadcast workflows during IBC2025, Sept. 12-15, at the RAI Ams...
29/08/2025
29 Aug 2025
Kyivstar Rings Opening Bell at Nasdaq Marking Landmark Listing and ...
29/08/2025
More than half of all NFL games live on Sky for the first timeFriday 29 August 2025
Sky Sports has announced a new three-year deal with the NFL, extending its ...
29/08/2025
Back to All News
RIV4LRIES: The Trailer of the New Series With Samuele Carrino ...
29/08/2025
Get ready for an inspiring and emotional insight into the world of competitive Irish dancing with My Story: Tomi Champion of the World airing on RT 2 this monda...
29/08/2025
RT has today announced that David McCullagh is to be the new presenter of RT Radio 1's flagship Today programme, which airs every weekday at 10am, replaci...
28/08/2025
By Kristin Feeley, Director, Documentary Film & Artist Programs
If you want to tell untold stories, if you want to give voice to the voiceless, you've got ...
28/08/2025
Directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, Sundance Institute-supported Amer...
28/08/2025
Corridos have been a cornerstone of M sica Mexicana for generations, telling stories rooted in everyday life. Now, a new chapter is taking shape: motivational c...
28/08/2025
Los corridos han sido un pilar de la M sica Mexicana durante generaciones, contando historias enraizadas en la vida cotidiana. Ahora, un nuevo cap tulo est tom...
28/08/2025
Earlier this month, we promised our Verano Forever party would bring the heat, a...
28/08/2025
L3Harris will provide the Polish F-16V fleet with the Viper Shield electronic warfare system as part of an upgrade program....
28/08/2025
Bilbao, August 26, 2025 - AgileTV, an international television and video technol...
28/08/2025
Ken Wilkinson is an Emmy Awards nominated New York audio engineer who specialises in production sound mixing for film, commercial, episodic and documentary work...
28/08/2025
NEW YORK FuboTV today announced that it will launch Fubo Sports, a skinny bundle that focuses on sports with a subscription price of $56 monthly....
28/08/2025
NEVADA City, Calif. At IBC2025, Sept. 12-15 at the RAI Amsterdam, Telestream will debut its new Global Ingest strategy, introducing a next-generation ingest arc...
28/08/2025
Dr. Rhoda Bernard Releases Groundbreaking Debut Book on Accessible Arts Educatio...
28/08/2025
TAG Video Systems, the leader in software-based IP end-to-end workflow monitoring, deep probing, and real-time visualization, has named Oliver Gappa as Sales Di...
28/08/2025
AI-based voice enhancement will be among a series of innovations making their IBC 2025 debut on the DHD stand B46 in Hall 8 at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Cent...
28/08/2025
Telef nica Servicios Audiovisuales (TSA), the leading system integrator and service provider in the media sector in Spain, with the support of Appear, the globa...
28/08/2025
To fully immerse sailing fans in the world's biggest offshore yacht race, production company, Optical Media turned to LiveU's On-site Production solutio...
28/08/2025
Working with Calrec on its most recent overhaul, radio and television broadcaster, WNED has migrated to a fully IP infrastructure with multiple Type R consoles,...
28/08/2025
Cleeng, the Subscriber Retention Management (SRM ) inventor, has unveiled Cleeng Pro, the first-ever direct-to-consumer (D2C) subscription management platform t...
28/08/2025
Zixi, the industry leader in live broadcast-quality video over IP, today announced that French media distribution platform OKAST has selected Zixi to enable rel...
28/08/2025
Solution offers a streamlined, speaker-free architecture to optimize integration with premium external loudspeakers and advanced loudness metering
Nixer Pro Au...
28/08/2025
Cinegy, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has announced a strategic partnership with Vision One Touch Film Production Services L.L...
28/08/2025
Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, will debut its new Global Ingest strategy at IBC2025, introducing a next-generation ingest architect...
28/08/2025
Tier 1 operator selects Broadpeak to power high-performance, unified CDN solution across Norway, Sweden and Finland
Broadpeak, a leader in streaming and moneti...
28/08/2025
Leading video software provider, Synamedia, today announced that 24 Frames Digital, one of India's leading live event streaming service providers, has chose...
28/08/2025
Meet VisualOn at IBC2025: See What's Next in AI-Powered Video Streaming Join VisualOn at IBC2025 and discover how our AI-driven Optimizer and advanced media...
Today we welcome Patrick Schaefer. A versatile and experienced location sound recordist, Patrick Schaefer's work has taken him around the world and placed him in a variety of challenging recording situations. We chat with Patrick about how he got into the sound industry and some of the exciting projects that he's worked on.
