Sound Design 4- Re-recording sounds, Using Pro-Tools and Finalising my sound.

When I collected my sounds I realised that I hadn't got enough sounds, in particular background 'nature' sounds, which would add an environmental feel to the piece. I went out and recorded additional sounds for my piece, and was happy with the outcome. 

Since I had lot of audio clips, I decided to name them, for example 'Walking', 'Rattling Bushes' and so forth. I also did this in Pro-Tools, to prevent confusion. 

Narration

For my Narration, I decided to use my voice, speaking normally, however as it approaches the end, the pitch changes to make the piece sound creepier and darker. I also used Adobe Audition for this part, allowing a scary echoey effect as Audition produces this sound the best. During the editing process, I played with changing pitch using the 'Pitch Shift' and 'Vari-Fi' tool (shown below). I found that neither of these made the pitch changing a smooth transition, so I scrapped the idea for pitch change, and kept the last part of the story at a low pitch.


Walking Sounds (Water and Normal) 

For these sounds, I recorded myself walking in Farnham park. In Pro-Tools, I made several tracks, for the left and right speakers, to make it seem like more of an experience for the listener, and to make it feel more like a group of people are present.

Rustling of Bushes

For the rustling of bushes, I went out to Farnham Park and rattled a small bush and using the Rode NTG2 managed to pick up that sound. This piece of sound had the least changes to because it fit the length of the other clips.


Water Flowing

For the water flowing, I used the Fish Pole and the Rode NTG2 and went to a small stream that was in a secluded part of Farnham Park, to get the best sound without background noise. The first attempt managed to pick up Fish Pole noises, so I had to go and re-record those sounds. The second attempt was successful as I used the Roland sound recorder and got more of an up close sound. Again with the 'Water Flowing' sounds, I didn't make to many changes to this other than lowering the volume levels.

Squelching Mud

For the Squelching Mud sound, I got my friend Julia to step on a wet patch of grass, which seemed to produce a horrible noise that I needed. I used the Roland sound recorder for this sound as it allowed me to get more up close with the microphones built in. With this sound I done a slight Pitch Shift, to make the sound darker and more disturbing.

Bass 

For the bass sounds, I used the Marantz recorder with the Rode NTG2 and placed the microphone closely to my bass amplifier and recorded low notes on the E string of my bass guitar. I then manipulated the sound using the 'EQ 7 Band' and increased the lowest frequencies to allow a really low bassy sound to be produced that I couldn't quite pick up on the microphone/amp itself.















Final Outcome



Overall I am pleased with what has been produced from all the recording I did, and I learnt a lot about Pro Tools and will continue to use this program in the future, for any future sound projects/film project's. The program itself isn't too difficult to get used to, and the tools you can use give for endless possibilities. If I was to improve my piece I would've recorded more environmental sounds and I would've experimented more with some of the other tools such as 'Flanger' to create more interesting sounds.