KVR Audio

xcomp · Post by **xcomp** » Fri Feb 03, 2006 6:05 am

I think it might be interesting to sample ambient sounds that I find around me (city sounds, parks, construction sites, trains, etc). With a little work maybe the samples could be useful for music?

Just wondering whether anyone else has tried this, and how you accomplished it (what recording equipment you used, how you transferred the audio to computer, how good was the sound quality, etc).

I am hoping for a low-budget approach! (But it would be instructive to see how the "spare no expense" approach is done too.)

The Chase · Post by **The Chase** » Fri Feb 03, 2006 6:18 am

I really wish people would do so with in-ear microphones more often

xcomp · Post by **xcomp** » Fri Feb 03, 2006 6:21 am

The Chase wrote:I really wish people would do so with in-ear microphones more often

You may just hear echoes if I try it!

Gregjazz · Post by **Gregjazz** » Fri Feb 03, 2006 6:40 am

The Chase wrote:I really wish people would do so with in-ear microphones more often

Like this?

http://www.quietamerican.org/field_vietnam.html

Failed Muso · Post by **Failed Muso** » Fri Feb 03, 2006 7:06 am

Or this...?

Bilocation

Lunatique · Post by **Lunatique** » Fri Feb 03, 2006 8:05 am

Many others have already done this for professional libraries--like the Hollywood Edge series, X-treme FX from Ultimate Sound Bank..etc. Maybe just buy one of those?

xcomp · Post by **xcomp** » Fri Feb 03, 2006 2:33 pm

Lunatique wrote:Many others have already done this for professional libraries--like the Hollywood Edge series, X-treme FX from Ultimate Sound Bank..etc. Maybe just buy one of those?

Thanks for mentioning those. I'm aiming for a DIY approach, just to give it a try!

I was just wondering whether anyone had tried sampling the world around them on their own, just to do it and see what comes up. And if they had tried it, how they had accomplished it.

BTW, interesting-looking stuff at the links mentioned above.

Spe3D · Post by **Spe3D** » Fri Feb 03, 2006 4:54 pm

This is the world outside my door today – it generally sounds the same everyday (bar an odd bell sound, lawnmowers, sirens, gunshots, car prangs etc. not in the recording for today though

)

http://spe3d.com/audio/general_brids_di ... _Spe3d.mp3

Its just some of the stuff that can make recoding outside a pain in the arse sometimes

Best regards,

Spe3d

:O)

Genetic_Junk · Post by **Genetic_Junk** » Fri Feb 03, 2006 5:30 pm

There are differnet routes you can take depending on the importance of sound fidelity. How much do you want to spend on equipment?

Spe3D · Post by **Spe3D** » Fri Feb 03, 2006 5:48 pm

Yep! Expect to spend one heck of a lot of money for good fidelity failing that most of the advice given will be of little use, the best way is to experiment - experience is the only way I reckon to fine tune and become better at acquiring sounds.

Read about what others use, check the sounds and you will get a basis on which to 'start' experimenting.

I can tell you now, small condensers is a waste of time and money, mini disks have crap inputs. You will be better off getting a laptop and external sound card with a semi decent mic and start from there xcomp.

Best regards,

Spe3d

:O)

Genetic_Junk · Post by **Genetic_Junk** » Fri Feb 03, 2006 5:52 pm

Yeah I was going to go with a laptop, but I am hating the hard drive noise even if it just a little. Though with a laptop you can obviously do tons of other cool stuff besides sampling. So I would recommend unless you want the highest fidelity possible, or if you have some method of removing the hdrive noise then I would fully recommend.

selfconstruct · Post by **selfconstruct** » Fri Feb 03, 2006 5:55 pm

One can get good results with a minidisc recorder (recording 44.1k 16 bit PCM). It takes a little effort to get the best results though. http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?sh ... =11254&hl=

It seems minidisc is a dying technology

but it can still be quite useful.

[edit - spelling]

Genetic_Junk · Post by **Genetic_Junk** » Fri Feb 03, 2006 6:00 pm

Wow that's a cool guide!

manytone · Post by **manytone** » Fri Feb 03, 2006 6:10 pm

Hi
I just got one of these:
http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/M ... -main.html

And one of these:
http://www.audio-technica.com/cms/wired ... 2967733dc/

And a few other of my Condensor Mics like my Rodes etc will hook up to it.

I also got a 4 gig MicroDrive for it. (which i presently can't get to read properly in it even though it is a recommended drive)

But that said...
I am amazed at this Unit. Absolutely Silent and makes some Very High Quality recordings at 24/96.

I invested a bit in the long run but it is so much easier than my laptop with external soundcard for Field recording. In fact i can sample even instruments with this setup if i need. Not as pristine as what i can do in the studio here .... but still the recordings are very decent.

Paul

blaster78 · Post by **blaster78** » Fri Feb 03, 2006 6:36 pm

i've done this a fair bit, i take the extremely lo-fi approach using the built in mic on my ipaq. there was a contest here some time ago where you had to use found sounds (my entry was entirely made of bird song) and i've been recording (usually crap) stuff ever since. occasionally though i do get some stuff that i subsequently use on a tune.

freesound has alot of people who do this much better than i and has some excellent samples and also some limited discussion in their forums.

cheers,

steve.

Sampling the world