Audio on sailing videos

[prv]

what speakers is the laptop attached to?

It isn't, it has them built in.

I think the original reviews said they were reasonable as laptop speakers go; I'm not really interested in such things.

Pete

 

[FistralG]

Wind noise is the scourge of the amateur videographer/ camcorderist. You seem to have to spend a fortune to get a camcorder with an external mic socket so you can plug in a mic with a furry cover. I thought panasonic had cracked it with the HD-SDC1 so I went to buy one and it had been replaced with the supposed upgrade to the HD-SDC5 and the external mic socket had been dropped!

I keep meaning to experiment with some foam taped over the internal mic to see if that will help with wind noise reduction.

With music it's a hit or miss affair you need something to make it easier on the ear but peoples tastes vary so what sounds great to one person will sound awful to another.
I guess that's why John Williams gets paid the big bucks and wins oscars for his original scores!

 

[dylanwinter]

mike socket

Wind noise is the scourge of the amateur videographer/ camcorderist. You seem to have to spend a fortune to get a camcorder with an external mic socket so you can plug in a mic with a furry cover. I thought panasonic had cracked it with the HD-SDC1 so I went to buy one and it had been replaced with the supposed upgrade to the HD-SDC5 and the external mic socket had been dropped!

I keep meaning to experiment with some foam taped over the internal mic to see if that will help with wind noise reduction.

With music it's a hit or miss affair you need something to make it easier on the ear but peoples tastes vary so what sounds great to one person will sound awful to another.
I guess that's why John Williams gets paid the big bucks and wins oscars for his original scores!

I started the trip with a canon costing £100 - bought it because it had a mike socket

the xacti does not have one but the other two cameras do

The audio on the nene film was recorded on a separate mike with a glove over the end of it

but even if the mix works well on everything from reasonable laptop speakers to a hi-fi then you still have to deal with tastes in music

you can please some of the people.... etc



Dylan

 

[st599]

Fur is better than foam at cutting wind noise.

 

[KristiferColumbus]

One of the responses to the other thread about the broads film from whipper snapper got me thinking about the use of audio on sailing films and would love to hear what you have to say.

Clearly wind noise is a problem - so the easy way out is to smear music all over the shots. Youtube is full of those - some of them are wonderful - some are less wonderful

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKGupz_9mGc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrmqcYe1RM8


also the right music can help to bind a series of shots together -

but what is the right music is obviously subjective - but if its music you hate...well then you are never going to like the films.

try opening two youtube windows and playing the audio from the kite film over the antigua one.

in some places music works really well - but sometimes, as a sailor, you want to hear the sounds of the sailing.

But even if you win against the wind noise there is no microphone that can ever "hear" the world the way a human ear can. The human ear and brain can edit frequencies to concentrate on one part of the soundscape.

I have tried mixing sailing shots with and without music

no music beating up the nene - tide underneath us

http://www.keepturningleft.co.uk/scuttlebutt/scuttlebutt-108-beating-up-the-nene/

music -again beating - but up the low tide channel at Iken Cliff - allowing some of the sailing sounds to intrude on the music.

http://www.keepturningleft.co.uk/scuttlebutt/scuttlebutt-66-troublesome-reach/


the other thing is that people will be listening to the audio mix on all sorts of different bits of equipment from laptop speakers to full hi-fi. In the last film the balance of the sailing and the music will be different on a decent speaker to the way it might sound on a rubbish one

mixing audio that will work on all systems pretty tough - actually its well beyond my abilities

I quite like a reasonable dynamic range when watching a TV prog

I like quiet moments and I like noisier ones - I like those in the films because that is what sailing is like

I mix the audio for the films on £80 desptop speakers in a room with a reasonable accoustic

On the other hand listening to material that has been compressed so that it works on the average £15 set of desktop speakers - or even worse laptop speakers might sound a bit in your face on good kit.


As Whipper snapper said, the bit in the last film where I talked about a mud weight had low audio on it -

he is dead right - and it was low - I can hear it okay on my speakers and I also know what I am going to say

- but I listened to it on my laptop and it did sound pretty horrible - and hard work to boot.

So, if you are interested in offering some feedback

love to know your thoughts on music in sailing films

and maybe examples of where it has been used well


and also - how do you listen to web films
.. laptop, £15 speakers, a hifi, headphones - your responses will certainly help me to refine the audio mixes on KTL

Dylan

I think you should replace that rusty old shackle on the end of the boom,it is annoying me .Don't you have a box of 'handy bits' like what I have for every eventuality & that I think is crucial for the self sufficient sailor

I leave all my video's natural because I think sound is a crucial part of the sailing experience particularly where wild life is concerned but I do like music on some video's (Example included) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWINygISxDE & the music on your no 66 video is simply enchanting.It makes a wonderful atmosphere Dylan (my favourite video).
What is it?Sounds great on my HI-FI.Try to keep it as good quality as possible

 

[dylanwinter]

gingers lullaby

I think you should replace that rusty old shackle on the end of the boom,it is annoying me .Don't you have a box of 'handy bits' like what I have for every eventuality & that I think is crucial for the self sufficient sailor

I leave all my video's natural because I think sound is a crucial part of the sailing experience particularly where wild life is concerned but I do like music on some video's (Example included) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWINygISxDE & the music on your no 66 video is simply enchanting.It makes a wonderful atmosphere Dylan (my favourite video).
What is it?Sounds great on my HI-FI.Try to keep it as good quality as possible

its from these people

http://www.stock20.com/commerce/index.php

and its called gingers lullaby

there are seven versions on there - different lengths

there is one bloke who watched the film every night with his bedtime scotch for a while when he was going through a stressful period at work when between jobs

it allowd him to de-stress

he says he is downto twice a month now

I have to say that Iken Cliff is a wonderful place - both at high and low tide

as for the shackle -the slug is getting of for 50 now - if I replaced everything that worked well but was showing signs of age...where would I start. The helmsman, the beast, roller reefing, starboard genoa sheet, port jam cleat, toast wrack, penant halyard..... I would never get to go sailing.

the shackle lives on the boom - which llives in the cabin - so my guess is that it probably has another 20 years of service left in it

but if you want to post a replacement to me.... the address is on my website



link for the music

http://www.stock20.com/commerce/ind...songs_to_show_date=DATE&search_string=gingers

and as used in the film

http://www.keepturningleft.co.uk/scuttlebutt/scuttlebutt-66-troublesome-reach/

the films should look and sound okay on an average laptop - but will look and sound a lot better when downloaded and played through decent speakers at full screen using a player better than windows media player

Dylan

 

[KristiferColumbus]

Thanks very much for the info Dylan.That piano music really is stunning on my new HI-FI setup & I can't help wondering if it is that new 24 bit bit rate? Anyway....I know what you mean about replacing old parts on old boats.I'm afraid that being a perfectionist I am trying to make a silk purse out of a sows ear.

I'll be sure to carry a spare shackle around with me just in case we ever meet
(I'm to tight to pay postage)

 

[grumpy_o_g]

The audio is the thing that lifts your videos to the obviously professional for me. I can imagine producing something that people could at least tolerate watching for a short while on the video side if I had about ten years to try and get it right but I simply can't see how to link a decent soundtrack to it.

I've not really noticed the music that much which is how I like it. The voice-overs are spot on for me and, for some reason, your quick vlogs and cameos to the camera don't have the same irritating nature that a lot of them when some apparently famous films himself in a tent in the North Pole or on an IR camera in the middle of a jungle or something. Your voice and style of speaking fits in well too. Very relaxing and measured even when you're actually having a rant.

Like others I get really pee'd off when what looks like it could a really good video is given some crappy techno-garage-dance music or whatever it is.

It doesn't need to be quiet plinky-plonk music for sailing all the time (the brilliant speed trails video with all the multi-hulls and kite surfers for example) but it suits KTL most of the time. Perhaps a bit of Wagner or Karl Orff for the entrance to Wells though

 

[Searush]

What you do now is right for me.

I love the sounds of sailing, I like your laconic comentaries & I enjoy the music for the general sailing sequences. I also enjoy the background thump of the beast from time to time. Please don't mae any drastic changes.