3-D Light and Sound.....and Travelling

[P3D <JGoldenRRP@xxxxxxx>]

Dick Twichell....almost fully recovered from NSA Stereo Theatre management
aftershock.....asked Jon Golden...who really ought to be working at other
things right now.....

>>I have a few ideas for stereo theatre shows on specific themes to be shot
in my winter home in Thailand (the ordination of a young monk, elephant
training and management, snake farming for fun and profit, etc.)  I would
like to carry, along with the usual stereography paraphernalia, a small
lightweight sound recorder for collecting appropriate ambient sound
(chanting, bellowing, hissing) for later integration into a proper
soundtrack.  What do you recommend?  Criterea are:  weight, price, fidelity.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.  What about a hi-fi video camera?

Good question Sir Travelling Twichell...
I am going to an audio store this week to look at some sound equip for our
3-D club, so stay tuined and I'll do a little R & D.....my guess for
you....and I think you are a person who will buy quality...and not
skimp....would be to look at a Digital Audio Tape machine (DAT)
....why??.....how about, No analog noise....no tape hiss...none....tape hiss
doe not regiuser in the 0 and 1 department...not part of the scebne
man!....and 2 hours plus of running time on a tiny tape....half the size of a
regular cassette (it is actually a minuature version of VHS)....and best of
all....you can catalog and program takes automatically....which means if you
keep a noter pad with you....every time you hit record....it will
automatically assign a program number (PNO) to the DAT tape.....and like a
CD.....later on you want to go to Take 87 -Dick interviewing the old wise man
chanting while preparing a dinner of chilled monkey brains (pardon my
cultural ignorance... just trying to have some fun here....flame me back if I
am out of line), you just hit 87, then the play button, and it will locate it
and playback......get the point.   Price range for a DAT man, Sony's
portable....Walkman sized machine......450.00-800.00 depending.
 Remember...as good as the DAT technology is, like camera optics....you are
limited by the acoustical surroundings you are recording....and your ability
to capture it.  For control of varying and extreme remote situations....a
good stereo microphone can give you some variable
patterns.....omnidirectional for picking up general areas (like a panoramic
lens in a way).....cardiod or unidirectional for aiming at something and
rejecting side or back sound (crop that image!)....and figure 8.....say two
people are talking....facing each other...good pattern to use.  Just as in
stereo photography....the base of your stereo mic will be very
close....simply because the mic has two diaphragms placed next to each
other....facing at some angle and patter to capture the stereo
spectrum.....if you used two mics....placing them two feet apart, five feet
apart, ten feet apart....well this is somewhat similar to stereo base in
photography.....time delay here gives you acoustical dimension
however.....since distance is something we dont see with our ears....only the
time lapse.....or reflection of a distant wall.....we refer to this as delay
and reverberation.....which we synthesize today with digital processing to
recreate anything from a tile bathroom (set that camera to F5.6) to the
magnificent resonance of the Kings Chapel (whoah F22 here we come!)....for
that ambient surrounding

As always....no matter how great your equipment is....if there is an air
conditioner running in the room....no fancy recorder is going to get rid of
that...so your recording is only as good as the source and how you record
it.....just like photography!

Good light angles are like the proper mic pattern or placement relative to
the subject..... f-stop is like the record level control.....and the amount
of available light on the subject, combined with its colors translates to
sound level and equalisation.

I'll look at some portable models this week and get back to
you...Regar-D-D-D-s Jon Golden 


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