Construction of location recording equipment

One of the major challenges of any form of multi-channel or surround location recording is the amount of equipment that is typically required. Through the preparatory work carried out in the Pre-Production and Concept Development modules, I had already identified what would be practicable, although I had yet to actually put it into practice. I needed to be able to record video, binaural audio and multi-channel audio whilst at the same time snowboard, climb, ride a motorcycle etc. This, in anyone's book, would be a significant challenge.

The recording equipment required for the project needed to be sourced and put together. To carry out this recording and video process I needed to ensure that the equipment could be transported easily and carried by a snowboarder, climber or motorcyclist. The equipment also needed to be secure and be easily operated by a user. To solve this the recorder, microphone power supply and interface was mounted in foam and placed inside a rucksack. The foam could be easily removed from the rucksack giving access to the controls. A frame capable of supporting the microphone had to be constructed and mounted to the rucksack. The frame was constructed from light weight steel tubing and parts of a microphone stand. The mic was mounted to the stand and was able to be adjusted in terms of height and direction.

The images on flikr should give an idea of how this process was carried out.

note: flickr will open in a new window

The image below is a Soundfield ST350 microphone



More images and a description of the process can be found here

The video was to be captured using a GoPro helmet mounted point of view camera.



The binaural audio would be captured using Soundman OKM11 microphones and a portable digital stereo recorder.



Recording examples will follow in subsequent posts.