Practical notes on recording clean sound on location
Short articles from our instructors on microphones, mixers, sound checks, remote guests and backup recording, written for crews who need dependable audio on the day.
A new note appears about once a day, each one focused on a single problem you may meet at a venue. Read them alongside the curriculum or on their own when a shoot is coming up.
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· Priya NairSetting Gain and Headphone Monitoring on a Field Mixer
A step-by-step walk through gain, routing and headphone monitoring on a field mixer, so levels stay safe and consistent from the first interview to the last panel question.
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· Priya NairRemote Guest Audio: A Checklist to Run Before You Commit
Before you add a remote speaker to a stream or recording, work through these checks on connection, headset, return feed and backup so the guest sounds usable from the first minute.
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· Priya NairMicrophone Placement Mistakes That Ruin Interview Audio, and How to Avoid Them
Most unusable interview audio traces back to a few placement habits made in the first five minutes. Here are the ones we see most in class, with a fix for each.
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· Priya NairWhat Room Noise Work Costs and What Moves the Price
A plain look at what drives the cost of reducing echo, hum and background noise before a recording, and where a little preparation saves more than any equipment does.
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· Marcus WebbA Four-Speaker Panel, a Rattling Air Vent and a Sound Check That Caught It
Marcus follows Leila, a producer, through a panel recording where a repeatable sound check found a hidden problem before the cameras rolled, and what the crew changed as a result.
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· Marcus WebbBackup Recording Plans to Settle Before the Dark Evenings Arrive
Mid autumn brings earlier sunsets, cold venues and crowded event calendars. Marcus Webb explains how to build a second recording path so one dropped signal or full card never costs you the session.
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· Daniel BrooksGain Staging Explained: What the Term Means on a Field Mixer
Gain staging is one of the first terms a new recordist hears and one of the least explained. Here is what it means, why it matters and how to apply it to a small shoot.
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· Daniel BrooksTwo Ways to Bring a Remote Guest Into Your Recording
A comparison of a guest speaking through a laptop call and a guest with a dedicated recording kit, with a recommendation on which suits interviews, panels and small streamed events.
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· Priya NairBehind the Scenes: How We Place a Lavalier on a Real Speaker
A walk through the practical steps of fitting and positioning a lavalier microphone on an interviewee, from clothing checks to the first test phrase, and the small fixes that save a take.
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· Marcus WebbWhy Does Every Venue Sound Different, and What Can You Change?
The question we hear most about room noise: what can actually be fixed before the recording starts? Marcus Webb answers it by walking through echo, hum and background noise in a typical venue.
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· Priya NairA Repeatable Sound Check for Interviews and Panels, Step by Step
Priya Nair sets out the sound check taught in the course: the order of the steps, what to listen for at each speaker, and how to record room tone before the session.
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· Daniel BrooksWhy Every Recording Needs a Second Path: How We Build Backups
A look at the recorders, cards and cabling we rely on to run a second recording path, so a dropped signal or a full card does not cost the whole session.
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· Daniel BrooksA Mixer Setup Checklist to Run Through Before You Commit
Before you settle on a field mixer setup, work through gain, routing and headphone monitoring in a fixed order. Here is the checklist Daniel uses to keep levels safe and consistent.
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· Priya NairCommon Remote Guest Audio Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
Remote speakers often sound worse than the room they are joining. These are the usual mistakes in guest audio and the plain habits that keep a stream or recording usable.
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· Priya NairWhat Microphone Placement Costs and What Moves the Price
A practical look at what drives the cost of choosing and placing microphones for interviews and panels, from speaker count to venue conditions, so you can plan a sensible audio budget.
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· Daniel BrooksThe Hum in the Hotel Ballroom: One Client's Room Noise Fix
A short account of Leena, a producer who found a steady hum and a bouncing echo in her venue, and the simple steps that cleaned up her panel recording before it began.
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· Priya NairSound Checks for Interviews and Panels Before the Dark Evenings
A repeatable sound check keeps autumn interviews and panels clean when rooms are colder, schedules are tighter and daylight is short. Priya Nair walks through the routine she uses.
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· Marcus WebbRedundancy in Recording: What a Backup Path Really Means
A plain-words explanation of redundancy, the trade term behind every backup recording plan, and how a second path keeps a dropped signal or a full card from costing you the session.
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· Marcus WebbTwo Ways to Monitor a Field Mixer: Headphones Only or Headphones Plus Reference
Comparing a headphones-only monitoring chain with one that adds a reference recorder feed and a second pair of ears, and which of the two suits interview and panel crews.
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· Marcus WebbHow a Remote Guest Gets Into the Mix, Start to Finish
A walk through how remote guest audio is actually set up on a live shoot: the order of work, what gets checked first, and how the return feed keeps the guest comfortable.
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· Priya NairWhich microphone should I use, and where does it go?
The question we hear most often, answered plainly: how to choose between lavalier, shotgun and handheld microphones, and where to place each one for clean speech in interviews and panels.
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· Daniel BrooksWalking a Venue for Noise Before the First Microphone Goes Up
A look at how the Reducing Avoidable Room Noise module now opens with a venue walk, so learners find echo, hum and background noise before recording starts rather than after.
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· Daniel BrooksThe Kit and Routine Behind a Reliable Interview Sound Check
The tools and steps I rely on before any interview or panel starts: a short routine, a few simple pieces of kit and the room tone take that protects the edit later.
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