Comments on: Bruce Tanis Special: Creepy Forests in Broad Daylight

By: Bruce Tanis

Bruce Tanis — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 18:02:01 +0000

Hi Sound lover. The horrible blood-thirsty beast in that photo was actually recorded in a very quiet neighborhood just outside the studio gates at Warner Brothers on a Sunday morning so it was reasonably clean for recording. Normally, I’ll have wind protection on the mic, either a foam cap or zeppelin with a wooly (woolie?) cover. I can also use a mic preamp to boost the gain if recording something quiet which will hopefully lift it a little more above the ambient noise floor. Sometimes, I just end up using an EQ plugin back in the edit bay to clean up distant traffic or other rumbles. Since you don’t have control of the environment, there’s often a good bit of down time in field recording while waiting for vehicles or airplanes to clear the area, or animals to move away, etc., before you can start recording again.
Thanks for your interest!
Bruce

By: Bruce Tanis

Bruce Tanis — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 17:47:54 +0000

Hi Haydn. I usually do try to include animals and insects that are appropriate to the area although they may get processed a bit to make them more mysterious. Certain clients, like Terrence Malick, who is an extremely serious Ornithologist, know exactly what species would be there at that time of year so it’s important to be accurate for them. It’s always interesting to contact the Audobon Society for a quick review of what species are native to a particular area at a certain time of year. We contacted them on “Flesh and Bone” so all the animals and birds you hear actually are regular west Texas critters. Thank you for asking!
Bruce

By: Sound lover

Sound lover — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 08:21:29 +0000

I have a question…
When you go out doors to record sound effects ( just like we see in the picture) how much noise to get in your recording and what do you use to cancel it?

By: Haydn Payne

Haydn Payne — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 08:17:55 +0000

Good stuff Bruce.
I was going to ask if you try to stick to sounds from animals that are native to the area that the film is set in, then you mentioned the whales & dolphins! :D