a anecdote about sound control

This is a very simple anecdotal story.

Yesterday I was on location at a TV advert shoot as the sound mixer. We did 3 talking head set ups in a nice living room with a hard tiled floor. We started with a woman who had a strong voice... the sound was nice but I brought in a few sofa cushions from another room to help smooth things out. Nice.

Then we did a young man with a slightly deeper voice. It was easy to hear the need for more cushions. And more cushions worked nicely.

Then we did a mature gentleman with a rich deep voice. Yes, more cushions helped immensely. In fact I searched out some nice examples that were especially dense.

I mention this because it is rare for me that the conditions in the field are this tangible and easy to observe. It was a nice setting and I had a chance to make it better. I am always fascinated with the chance to observe sound control effects. It reminds me that sound is ephemeral sculpture.

I am writing this to encourage people to always consider that they have many tools available. Yesterday, sofa cushions helped me help my producer get a better product for his client.

Nice.

all the best,
mike

We had the subject placed near the center of the room for photo framing reasons and the room just resonated at the lower mid frequencies.

The setting was so quiet and the tile had such a dominant effect on the room that you could hear a bit of reverb building as the speakers voices got lower.

For talking head shots a more immediate or close up voice tone is usually preferred.

best,
mike