Audio in Rich Media
Field Recording Techniques
Engage the interview subject in casual conversation as you adjust the recording level and microphone placement to optimally capture a normal speaking voice. (This has the added benefit of relaxing the interviewee before the interview begins.) The level of the voice on the recorder should be as high as you can get it without distortion, but leave a bit of “headroom” in case the subject starts talking louder or makes a sudden exclamation. To get a sense of the dynamic range you’ll be recording, ask the subject to speak as loudly and as softly as they might during an ordinary conversation. Monitor the sound of the voice and the environment in your headphones while you’re setting up to make sure your levels are correct.
If you’re using a conventional microphone, set it up about six inches away from the interview subject’s mouth, facing slightly below, above, or to the side of the mouth. Aiming the mic directly at the speaker’s mouth emphasizes “plosives” — those popping “p” and “b” sounds that can overwhelm the rest of the audio track (and which are notoriously difficult to fix “in the mix”). Make sure the mic is not too close to the subject’s mouth, as this can make the voice sound unnaturally boomy — a generally unwanted result known as the “proximity effect.” On the other hand, don’t place the mic too far away. Too much distance can make the level of the voice too quiet, especially in relation to any background noise.
Don’t let the interviewee touch the microphone while you’re recording. It will almost certainly add noise that can’t be eliminated later.
If you’re using a lavalier mic (the kind that clips onto a lapel or tie), make sure the subject’s hair and clothing don’t cover up or brush against the mic, as this makes the audio muffled and/or noisy. Clip the mic as close to the center of the speaker’s torso as possible, about six to eight inches below the chin, and make sure they don’t pivot their head too much from left to right, producing inconsistent levels as they turn toward the mic and away again.
If you need to make further small adjustments to audio levels or equipment placement as you record, do so. But if significant changes are required during the interview, you may be better off starting over from the beginning, as it can be difficult to match the different sounds during production. The same holds true for distortion and excessive background noise, two more hard-to-fix problems.
Always record at least 30 seconds of just the background sound with the mic and recorder in place, with nobody talking. This “extra” sound can come in very handy during the editing process.
If you’re recording the same person in more than one session throughout the day, or on different days, try to ensure that all the other recording variables remain the same: room, equipment, and setup. The more variation between the sounds of different recordings, the harder these recordings will be to edit together into a cohesive whole.
Combining Atmospheres and Interviews
Mixing ambient audio and interviews can help create a narrative structure for a rich media piece. You might introduce a bit of ambient sound at the beginning and end of an interview, or during an interlude in the middle, to frame and highlight the speaker’s voice and indicate a place or a mood.
Since your journalistic goal is often to depict people and events in their natural settings, it may seem like a good idea to record interviews and environments simultaneously. Unfortunately, it rarely is. It’s almost always preferable to capture the two sounds separately.
Let’s say you’re working on a rich media project that involves an interview with an elementary-school teacher. You also want to capture some background atmosphere, perhaps some playground noise, to give your listeners a sense of place. It’s probably not a good idea to interview the teacher on the playground, with the noise of the children in the background, for several reasons. First, the ambient sounds may overwhelm the teacher’s voice and make it hard to understand. Second, if you need to edit the interview — cut out some “um” and “er” sounds, remove redundant statements, or edit for length — the background sounds will make it far more difficult to make clean, continuous-sounding cuts between phrases.
Recording interview audio with too much background sound gives you fewer options for shaping the flow of the piece during production. When ambient audio runs throughout the entire project, it’s harder to add emphasis or focus to individual phrases or sections of the piece — and since it all sounds the same, some listeners may tune out both the atmosphere and the interview itself.
It doesn’t matter whether you record the ambient sounds or the interview first, but do record your audio interview in as quiet and neutral a setting as possible, free of distracting background noise. Likewise, when you record the ambient audio, make sure there’s nobody talking in the foreground (though a hubbub of background voices may be just what you need to set the scene).
A Note on Narration
Perhaps the most formal mode of recording for rich media projects is narrations or voiceovers. Audio quality is of paramount importance here: To sound professional, a narration should be recorded in a controlled, noise-free environment (such as a soundproofed studio) with a high-end microphone (such as a large-diaphragm condenser mic).
Besides a good microphone and recording device, certain skills are required of the narrator, or “talent.” The narrator should know how to phrase text so it sounds like it’s being spoken rather than read aloud. The narrator should also have proper breath control and mic technique, and should be able to avoid plosives, excessive sibilance and breathiness, and uncontrolled tonal variation. Because of the skills involved, it’s often a good idea to hire a professional actor or voiceover artist with extensive on-mic experience for narrations.
Next Steps
Once you’ve collected the audio materials you need, there’s one more crucial step before you begin the editing and production process: Back up your recordings! For portable digital recorders that use flash memory cards, this can be as simple as connecting a USB cable and copying your audio files to a hard drive.
Recording audio for multimedia projects doesn’t have to be complicated, but it does require plenty of attention. But with the right equipment, a little planning, and a lot of listening, you can quickly begin to capture high-quality audio to enhance and expand your rich media projects.
