It’s cold outside

It’s a bit nippy at the moment in the UK, especially if you are based in the foothills of the the English mountain range known as the Pennines as Calrec is. Currently the temperature is hovering around zero degrees centigrade and I’m not enjoying my ten minute walk from the train station in the morning as it is making my nose cold. I couldn’t even begin to contemplate working outdoors at this time of year.

The current climate here is positively Mediterranean though when you compare it to the conditions that freelance director/cameraman Phil Coates endures when he is working. In an article on ProSoundNewsEurope  Phil enlightens us on how he records audio in extreme locations such at Mount Everest and the North Pole.

He describes which mics he uses, what kind of batteries are best, how the kit is transported and techniques to ensure that he captures enough audio to not need any canned overdubs in post.

If he’s using a top mic with one input on the camera Coates will split the channels, setting a higher level to one and a lower level to the other. This way, he says, he will get at least one good recording. “We may have to do something with it in post but it work,” he observes. Similarly radio mics are recorded through a two-channel input.

If you want to know more tricks of the trade then Phil will be going into it in more depth in an hour long seminar at BVE at Earls Court in London (14-16th Feb) on  Wednesday 15th February at 13:00 in the Audio Room. I’m at the show and I am hoping to quietly slip away from the Calrec stand and listen in.
i