So, I'm currently working on the Post-sound for a film put together by the BYFA for the Co-operative group. The Rochdale Pioneersis about a Co-operative movement that took place in 1844 by the people of Rochdale. Though it wasn't the first Co-operative to take place, their rules and guidelines are that which the modern day Co-operative follow. Working from a very rough cut of certain scenes, i've started to get a sense of some of the sound worlds that need to be built. Giving 'everything' a sound is what i need to get to grips with and in such I began my Foley research.
After reading a lot of i use pro tools in this way... Logic in this way... I decided to take some advice but also take a full day in the studio trying some techniques out.
For this first session i used Logic pro, tested out my M-audio profire 610, Figure 53's 'streamers'. Set up with a Sennhieser MKH416 and a Rode NT2.
Logic foley
Doing the session on my own, I can really see the huuuge benefit of having an engineer separate to the artist! If that were a viable option that is! anyway, the first thing i wasted a lot of time doing was, having to press stop, go back to previous location and record again, So grabbing an external keyboard helped hugely with this, but it still wasn't great. Generally, I want to move onto creating shortcuts using Quickeys (very similar to automator, but much more user friendly and quicker, also integrates applescript) using this session to experiment, it showed me the sort of workflow i'm aiming for, especially when recording+performing. I'd really like to experiment with using midi commands from the performing position to locate, record, loop etc, simply on my phone or a little Nano kontrol
I really like the multi take features in Logic, it would be fantastic for comp-ing parts of takes that are in-line with the video, however having never performed as a foley artist before, i was quite off with some takes, and naively in the moment expected to be able to comp takes when i edit it. It may be fine for some certain comps, but it cant fix a whole footstep trrack out of time! I see how important it is to get rhythms and sync in the performance more than expecting to clean it up in the edit.
Maudio profire in focus
I bought the m-audio more for small theatre shows, having the 8 unbalanced outs will be very handy but thought i'd test the studio use of it having just upgraded from an Alesis firewire , which has hardly and real controllable multi channel output capabilities.
The obvious issue with recording in the same room as the equipment is noise from the my mac. In quite a hot room, external monitor controlling streamers and the profire kicking out phantom power to both of the mics. This meant fan speed increases that were very very audible. Adding the power supply to the profire doesn't help, and isn't recommended by Maudio either, and figure 53 recommend using a second computer to contain streamers. In the end i just took out the NT2 which helped.
The recordings themselves i was happy with but this fan noise is unbearable, using the alesis is probably the better option in these situations, so will test that next time and try to grab a second mac to control streamers.
I was using a demo version of Streamers that i prepared prior to the session. It is a great cueing program that receives MIDI Time Code from Logic to help cue ADR and Foley performers. It's quickly becoming part of my cueing tools.
Streamers 2
Basically you create a cue, give it a SMPTE time and it will create a 'streamer' overlay on a preview video. I found this incredibly useful whilst performing, and also very easy to keep control of too a larger external monitor is a must, the one i used was awful and i had trouble seeing what i needed to. Streamers also allows you to use a text file to create the cues instantly, which was extremely useful . Definitely be using a licensed version in the next session.
As for performing the different parts of Foley, Footsteps proved to be the most difficult by far! But I believe that practice certainly does make perfect so i'm willing to keep at it! Having read through the Philip Rodrigues' website on Foley, he suggests to get into the character that you're providing foley for. In my case one character has a really laid back feel and is a bit cheeky, really distinct strides. Taking Rodrigues' advice helped massively. Understanding the character helped me get the right rhythm and sync to the footsteps.
I have started to love the MKH416 after taking it out for a quick spin on location in Hebden Bridge, a beautiful place, but also chilly, and wet! a great place to try it out.
Hebden bridge 1
Hedben bridge 2
However sad it sounds, the wind i captured here was great, sitting in a little alcove of a church, wind rushing by. A little off the topic of Foley but still, I really like the mic and it worked well in the studio, but the experiment was less about the quality and more about the workflow, so i'll be going over it again.
The session was really useful and will really let me increase the efficiency of upcoming recordings. Now, onto working out an efficient editing workflow!