From the back seat..in the rain

[jefflaurence]

Had a business meeting yesterday in Winston Salem..on the way back I got a panic call from an agency I work with in the west..I was beat, but he needed at 30 spot cut for a car dealer..NOW..not later..NOW. I pulled off the interstate behind a Holiday Inn Express..(They all have free WiFi ya know..)

and recorded this TV track from the back seat of the car..in the rain, with the AC on. It's not full studio quality..but darn near..

Sennheiser MKH416 (hand held)
MXL Mic Mate usb interface
Gateway Laptop/Adobe Audition 3.0
Wave Arts TRACK PLUG 5 (this is a great plug in that simulates a mic processor)

http://www.jefflaurence.com/audio/arrowhead_HAYWARD_NISS_040808.mp3

Let's hear some of your field tracks....

 

[VODood]

That sounds really good, especially given the circumstances.

What are the settings for the Track 5? Can u take a screen shot and post?

 

[menotti1]

Sounds great.i've done some serious production in the back seat of my old 56 Desoto years ago.she turns 38 this month.ha ha..sorry about that.it was in the rain,too.seriously though folks, that worked out nicely for you.

 

[PTBoardOp94]

I hope they paid a serious premium over your regular :30 rate for that kind of service

 

[MyCatKnight]

from the back seat of the car..in the rain, with the AC on

I am SO impressed, Jeff. How'd you ditch the noise? Did you have to use functions like "Remove clicks and pops" or "Reduce Hiss," or was this a hardware thing? BTW, thank you for your contributions to this board (and Emmett's and the rest of y'all), which have resulted in my basement studio voicetracking and production sounding quite adequate. The first setting on my CEP's Graphic Equalizer is directly tweaked to an old posting of yours, and is named in your honor: "-JeffLaurence1".

 

[jefflaurence]

Wave Arts' Track Plug has a downward expander (called a soft gate) and a compressor, and a multiband EQ..I use that to clamp out the obvious noise..but for the subtle stuff like A/C noise, and ambiant highway etc.. I just use the "noise reduction" tool in AA3. Sample about 1 sec of noise, and apply about a 65% reduction to the entire clip..BEFORE adding the Track Plugeffects..all of this is custom assigned to AA function keys..

RECORD THE TRACK.. and highlight a section of noise. HIT F3 to capture the noise level
HIT F2 to process the NOISE REDUCTION (select entire track)
HIT F1 to bring up Track Plug..and choose "process"

all done

I'll get a screenshot of the settings for the MKH416/MXL MIC MATE

 

[Garrett]

Had a business meeting yesterday in Winston Salem..on the way back I got a panic call from an agency I work with in the west..I was beat, but he needed at 30 spot cut for a car dealer..NOW..not later..NOW. I pulled off the interstate behind a Holiday Inn Express..(They all have free WiFi ya know..)

and recorded this TV track from the back seat of the car..in the rain, with the AC on. It's not full studio quality..but darn near..

Sennheiser MKH416 (hand held)
MXL Mic Mate usb interface
Gateway Laptop/Adobe Audition 3.0
Wave Arts TRACK PLUG 5 (this is a great plug in that simulates a mic processor)

http://www.jefflaurence.com/audio/arrowhead_HAYWARD_NISS_040808.mp3

Let's hear some of your field tracks....

Wow!
That's awesome... Wish I had those pipes!

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

BTW, thank you for your contributions to this board (and Emmett's and the rest of y'all), which have resulted in my basement studio voicetracking and production sounding quite adequate. The first setting on my CEP's Graphic Equalizer is directly tweaked to an old posting of yours, and is named in your honor: "-JeffLaurence1".

Yeah... I've got a filter choice under FFT titled "1-JL-xx". (My initials in the xx part.) Putting the "1-" in the title makes sure it is at the top of the list along with a couple of others that get a LOT of regular use.

I'm sure your basement has been a challenge, J.A.I. I recently relocated from a main-floor room with NINE foot ceiling to this space above the garage with the sloping ceilings like the upstairs of a small Cape Cod style house. Haven't licked the acoustics yet. When I posted my track last week someone picked up on the room reflections immediately. I think I have a plan that won't require turning the whole space into a "padded cell".

 

[MyCatKnight]

The first setting on my CEP's Graphic Equalizer is directly tweaked to an old posting of yours, and is named in your honor: "-JeffLaurence1".

Yeah... I've got a filter choice under FFT titled "1-JL-xx". (My initials in the xx part.) Putting the "1-" in the title makes sure it is at the top of the list along with a couple of others that get a LOT of regular use.

Funny, that's the same reason mine is lead by a dash, GRC, it's generally my first choice.

I'm sure your basement has been a challenge, J.A.I. I recently relocated from a main-floor room with NINE foot ceiling to this space above the garage with the sloping ceilings like the upstairs of a small Cape Cod style house. Haven't licked the acoustics yet. When I posted my track last week someone picked up on the room reflections immediately. I think I have a plan that won't require turning the whole space into a "padded cell".

Want a crazy idea? Try "craigslist.org" in your area, look at the "for sale" section, click on "free" regularly, and keep your eyes open for offices that are closing, updating, or relocating. I've gotten expensive office partitions (cubicle walls that are about six-feet high) for free, which kill some sounds pretty well (plus, I can push-pin copy directly onto the walls). Sorry, you're on your own with that ceiling of yours (I wonder how much fiberglass insulation between the rafters might help). I remember some old posts that mentioned other inexpensive ideas, or maybe some of the "MacGyver"-types reading this will add suggestions.

- JAIOTR
AKA "King of Curbside" and "Captain Craigslist"
It's not that I'm cheap, I'm just broke.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

I've gotten expensive office partitions (cubicle walls that are about six-feet high) for free, which kill some sounds pretty well (plus, I can push-pin copy directly onto the walls).

I'll watch for a couple of those. I am contemplating fabricating some little "wall-ettes" that would look a bit like cubicle walls to break up some space. One at a bit of an angle would do a lot to break up the standing waves.

Sorry, you're on your own with that ceiling of yours (I wonder how much fiberglass insulation between the rafters might help). I remember some old posts that mentioned other inexpensive ideas, or maybe some of the "MacGyver"-types reading this will add suggestions.

No, this is finished space with insulation between the rafters and studs and then covered by drywall. The drywall is the "bad hombre" in all this reflection of sounds. I have a lot of storage baskets sitting on wire-rack shelving defending the vertical walls. Plus a sofa and recliner chair. I hate to think what the room would sound like if I didn't have this trivia scattered about the room. It's the raw, angled ceiling above and on either side of the mic. I'm not far from having it licked!

 

[SkinnyJohnny]

Maybe hang some "clouds".

 

[brentclanton]

G.R. Cowboy--

We had to build a "temporary" studio in a conference room using 10' collapsible tables and 8' half-height cubicles, one of which was dedicated for the "voice booth." To dampen the ambient noise, I fabricated some "sonic panels" out of 4X8' pegboard, cut into 2X4' and 1x2' pieces. On the back of these I stapled 1.75 X 3.75' sheets of tempur-pedic type mattress padding, and finished both sides of the panels with mitered 1.5" moulding strips.

For about $200 worth of materials we got four excellent, free-standing baffles.
You can catch a glimpse of them on my blog, http://brentclanton.blogspot.com
Send me your e-mail address via my Profile, and I will send you some better pix.
Necessity (and low-budgetary constraints) are the mothers of invention.