Help me learn everything there is to know about Audio!

Hello POTN!

After shooting extensively on the 5DMKII and 7D over the past year (Primarily weddings), I have learned most of the ins and outs of digital video. My background in Photography has aided me greatly and helps me to grasp the more technical aspects.

However, our studio has one major shortcoming. That is, none of us know squat about audio. In an effort to get better sound in our videos, we are looking to update our audio equipment. However, with such a lack of knowledge, we're at a loss as to what to get. Therefore I have taken it upon myself to learn everything there is to know about audio. Please help me out! If you know of any good resources for learning audio (Starting with the BASICS) and getting into as much depth as possible, I'd be greatly appreciative. In return, once I learn everything there is to know, I'll attempt to share my knowledge and post it here =]

Please note, I'm not asking for gear recommendations (yet) because I want to understand the equipment before I start comparing it (and more importantly, using it).


Thanks everyone!

Ainoko wrote in post #10769014
Hello POTN!

After shooting extensively on the 5DMKII and 7D over the past year (Primarily weddings), I have learned most of the ins and outs of digital video. My background in Photography has aided me greatly and helps me to grasp the more technical aspects.

However, our studio has one major shortcoming. That is, none of us know squat about audio. In an effort to get better sound in our videos, we are looking to update our audio equipment. However, with such a lack of knowledge, we're at a loss as to what to get. Therefore I have taken it upon myself to learn everything there is to know about audio. Please help me out! If you know of any good resources for learning audio (Starting with the BASICS) and getting into as much depth as possible, I'd be greatly appreciative. In return, once I learn everything there is to know, I'll attempt to share my knowledge and post it here =]

Please note, I'm not asking for gear recommendations (yet) because I want to understand the equipment before I start comparing it (and more importantly, using it).

Thanks everyone!

Hello Ainoko,

What you'r asking is not simple to do. Learning everything there is to know about audio
is not possible. It takes many, many years of school and practice to achieve that.
And, like in potography, one will never know it all in one lifetime.

I have many years of experience in audiogear, sound reinforcement, and studio work.
From my personal experience I can advice you to solve your problems one step at a time.
Start with a simple setup and work your way up to more complex installations.

Ask yourself: what do I need/want to do NOW and solve that problem. Then tackle the
next problem. Slowly work towards solutions and in the process you learn and earn
experience. There are many websites where you can look around.

Google: homerecording, studiorecording, microphones, audiointerfaces and so on.
A good place to start learning about mixers and audio in general is this link.

http://www.mackie.com …t/compactmixer/​index.html

If you have specific questions ask them one by one so people can help you better.

Good luck.

I understand what I'm asking is a lot. I know it will take me time to learn, as photography has not been an overnight process for me. I suppose to be more clear, I'm at a loss as to where exactly I should start. I've tried googling digital audio, but I thought maybe someone here could help direct me to some good resources.

Let's put it this way. If I was to teach someone who wanted to know everything about photography, where would I start? I would definitely teach them about apertures, shutterspeeds, ISO, and the anatomy of a camera. So basically, if someone were to teach me audio, where would they begin?

Hope this clears it up a little. And I appreciate the link you gave me and will most certainly read it all.

Thanks!

Ainoko wrote in post #10770579
I understand what I'm asking is a lot. I know it will take me time to learn, as photography has not been an overnight process for me. I suppose to be more clear, I'm at a loss as to where exactly I should start. I've tried googling digital audio, but I thought maybe someone here could help direct me to some good resources.

Let's put it this way. If I was to teach someone who wanted to know everything about photography, where would I start? I would definitely teach them about apertures, shutterspeeds, ISO, and the anatomy of a camera. So basically, if someone were to teach me audio, where would they begin?

Hope this clears it up a little. And I appreciate the link you gave me and will most certainly read it all.

Thanks!

Respectfully I disagree with you. If I was to teach someone everything about photography
I would not start with the camera but with the fundamentel physics of light.
Because whitout light there is no photography. But that is my humble opinion.

For more info about the basics of sound try to visit the next links:

http://www.pc.ibm.com/​ww/healthycomputing/vd​t18.html

http://www.mrfizzix.co​m/instruments/basics.h​tml

http://harada-sound.com/sound/handbo​ok/basics.html

http://www.hammersound​.net/audiobasics/audio​basics.html

http://audacity.source​forge.net/manual-1.2/tutorial_basics_1.​html

https://ccrma.stanford​.edu/courses/192a/1-Basic_Electronics.pdf

http://www.menlh.go.id​/apec_vc/osaka/eastjav​a/noise_en/1/page1.htm​l


Good luck.

Your best bet....Go to School. I know it sounds snotty of me, but it really is the best pace to learn.

I'd start with the sin wave, learning the principles of math behind it and then learning about the decibel system. Now learn everything there is about music and how to build music. From there, look at the types of microphones and their purposes. Then look at basic connection, like cable types and power requirements. Learn about a/d and d/a converters. then learn an editing software. then go out and mix properly.

I learned the music end of it first, played trombone in elementary through high school bands and have kept up with it. the rest I've learned in a class and on-job training.
again, you can't learn everything there is to know. just not going to happen because as soon as you know it all, they will make a new product that revolutionizes everything.

~Casey

PS, for NLE software, I've used Audition, Soundbooth, and Protools. Protools is by far my 1st choice.

Pretty hard to just teach someone 'audio', it totally depends what you're doing.
I've some experience with various applications, we need to know what you're doing.

Do you want to record remotely?
record in a studio?
mix audio?
produce audio?
master audio?
design audio?
manage live audio? (PA systems)

Each area of audio has specific skill sets. But I can get you started by shoving you here.. trust me you'll find it really useful. http://www.tweakheadz.​com/guide.htm
It's based primarily on studio recording, but it covers most of what you'll need to know bar live sound.

You're not going to know everything there is to know about audio... that's like a guy starting a thread wanting to know everything there is to know about medicine.
I've spent lots of time recording in studios, setting up studios, setting up and running large PA systems... but I still don't consider myself particularly knowledgeable at all.

benesotor wrote in post #10812192
Pretty hard to just teach someone 'audio', it totally depends what you're doing.
I've some experience with various applications, we need to know what you're doing.

Do you want to record remotely?
record in a studio?
mix audio?
produce audio?
master audio?
design audio?
manage live audio? (PA systems)

Each area of audio has specific skill sets. But I can get you started by shoving you here.. trust me you'll find it really useful. http://www.tweakheadz.​com/guide.htm
It's based primarily on studio recording, but it covers most of what you'll need to know bar live sound.

You're not going to know everything there is to know about audio... that's like a guy starting a thread wanting to know everything there is to know about medicine.
I've spent lots of time recording in studios, setting up studios, setting up and running large PA systems... but I still don't consider myself particularly knowledgeable at all.

I enjoyed reading that answer benesotor. It was a breath of fresh air considering some of the swollen heads I run across on some of these sites.

Thanks everyone! I've been doing lots of reading =] My goal isn't to become an expert on Audio overnight - just more educated.

Ask here: taperssection.com

sounds like you watched enough stillmotion video. How are you capturing different audio, right now?

the rule of thumb is to treat your quality production as 50% audio and 50% video. When you get to this level, you know you got it right. I do not treat it like that bc my works are pro-bono.

Trey T wrote in post #10822024
sounds like you watched enough stillmotion video. How are you capturing different audio, right now?

the rule of thumb is to treat your quality production as 50% audio and 50% video. When you get to this level, you know you got it right. I do not treat it like that bc my works are pro-bono.

Haha actually my boss has worked with Patrick from Stillmotion, and I may be shooting with him later this month.

And yes, I have watched plenty of Stillmotion's videos.

Currently we use Rhode Mics directly into camera, and a Zoom H4n with wireless lavs.

have you tried wireless mics straight to the camera on 5DII? It is far exceed the quality for the general audience. I like to keep things simple and less post-production.

I have been doing rode on one channel and wireless on another channel on 5DII. just try your best to keep the noise down at proper level, then you're set.

The two software I recommend ppl are neoscene and pluraleyes.

Ainoko wrote in post #10827433
Haha actually my boss has worked with Patrick from Stillmotion, and I may be shooting with him later this month.

And yes, I have watched plenty of Stillmotion's videos.

Currently we use Rhode Mics directly into camera, and a Zoom H4n with wireless lavs.

Ok so 'in the field' recording.

If you want to improve your simple setup its quite simple to do so For better sound you'll need better mics and better preamps. Obviously learning good placement is crucial.

Ideally I'd want to record separately from the 5D/7D, they don't handle audio very well. But if you are going to use the cameras I'd invest in an XLR adapter. Look into Beachtek, they do a few.
This means you can use basically any mic, and it also means you can thread long cables as you're using XLR.

I think the best start for you would be learning the types of mics and what are most suitable for you.
Look into condensers, dynamic mics, ribbon mics. How some are omni-directional, some are uni-direction, look into different diaphragm patterns.
Getting the right mic and the right mix of mics will be essential, once you're sorted there you can look into preamps and converters and all the other business.