P2

P2- Describe how the sound elements are produced.

There are lots of different types of sound that need to be recorded for the soundtrack for a media product. The soundtrack is the name for the overall combination for all the different sounds that are heard in the media product; this includes Foley, music and dialogue as well as wild tracks.

Foley is the sound that is made to emphasise the action of a media product. Foley is man-made sounds that are used for other sounds that would not necessarily be picked up by the mics filming at the location, but it would be noticeable if they weren’t there. For example, footsteps. Foley sound is created by a Foley artist in a sound recording booth, the microphones are all around the booth so that they will pick up the sound from many different locations. Foley artists have to mimic the sounds that are made by the actors and synchronise the sound to the footage of the media product. Each Foley sound recording studio will usually have at least two Foley artists so that they can help each other make the necessary sounds.

Another important part of the soundtrack is the music, also known as the score. The score is important as it includes the incidental music (emotive music) which is what is used to help the audience connect to the media product and more emotionally involved with the product. The score is created by a composer and often uses repetitive motifs for the different characters, or the action sequences. The use of repeating the music for similar elements of the media product helps create meaning for the audience as they will associate the music with the character or type of scene meaning that they will understand better what is happening. The score is often recorded by an orchestra and is part of the non-diegetic sound of the media product.

Wild tracks are a very important part of the soundtrack for a media product as it helps set the context for what is going on in the scene. For example, if the scene is taking place in a park, then the wild track would feature sounds that would be commonly found in a park, like birds chirping, leaves rustling, and children playing. Wild tracks are sometimes known as off-screen sound, and is often layered with lots of different sounds to create a whole soundscape of sounds.

There are also several different ways to record sound, there are different types of microphones which achieve different things, and there are also different pieces of equipment that are used so that the microphones can be used in different ways.

One type of microphone is called the studio mono microphone. This is the main type of microphone that is used to record radio. They are usually used for one actor or presenter at a time and are very powerful, therefore the environment that microphone is in needs to be controlled. There is also a shotgun microphone. Shotgun microphones are attached to the camera (usually a DSLR). But is important that the microphone is pointing the correct way as it is a directional microphone, however, in enclosed and cramp spaces, the microphone works in the same way as a directional microphone. There are also stereo microphones which are great at picking up live sound, and wireless microphones that have a build in power supply (like in the H.5 recorders). Another type of microphone is the Lavaliere microphone which is a smaller, hands-free microphone that is more often used in television and theatre.

There are also various pieces of equipment that are useful in recording sound. For example, boom poles and windshields. Boom poles are useful as they help the sound recorder pick up the sound of the actor whist remaining out of the view of the camera. This is important as it means that the quality of the sound will be better than if it were recorded on the camera, and the microphone won’t be in shot. Windshields are also very important as they block out the wind from the microphone so that the quality of the sound is better. Also known as a ‘dead-cat’ or a ‘sock’, a windshield is a sleeve that covers the microphone and blocks the wind from getting to the microphone. Other pieces of equipment that is important when recording sound are cables and jacks. Cables connect the microphone to the recorder so that the sound waves can be stored safely away. Some recorders (like H.5 recorders) do not need to use cables as the microphone is connected directly to the recorder.

Sound can also be recorded without using a microphone, when recording musical instruments (particularly guitars) the sound can be picked up directly from the instrument using a DI box. A Direct Injunction box converts unbalanced instrument signals into a suitable format, with direct connection to a mixing desk. A DI box does not need to use a microphone, but it does need to use cables to connect from the instrument to the DI box. DI boxes are mainly used for recording and mixing live sound, but is also useful when recording in a studio.

When recording sound, it is important to keep an eye on the levels of the sound. Sound is recorded in decibels. It is important for the audio levels not to spike (meaning that they go either really loud or really high, as listening to spiked recorded sound may damage a person’s ear drums. Spiked sound usually happens when the recorder or microphone is too close to the subject that is being recorded.

Sounds are compressed into different formats, the most common formats are MP3, and WAV formats. The different formats are for accessing is different places. For example, MP3 is highly accessible on most devices and over the internet as it has a small file size, whereas ACC is a higher quality format, but is only really accessible on iTunes or on Apple devices. Therefore it is less commonly used than MP3.