Getting technical
On this page: Recording equipment | Making your own play
Recording equipment
Here is some of the recording equipment that was used during the making of Bow Down Shadrach.
Radio NZ Drama engineer and mixing desk
Radio NZ Drama studio equipment, from left to right: digital audio workstation, mixing desk, hard disk multi-track recorder, effects and audio input rack
Drama studio effects and audio rack, used for processing sound and inputting audio
Outdoor recording equipment, from top to bottom: headphones, DAT recorder (digital audio tape), boom pole and microphone with fluffy (wind shield)
Essential headgear for Radio NZ sound engineers
Making your own radio play
Using portable cassette recorders
Many machines have built in microphones, but much better sound quality can be achieved by using a hand held microphone plugged into the external socket in a cassette recorder. The built in microphone can pick up noise from the machine itself and it is harder to group people around the machine. A microphone on a stand produces a better recording of all voices.
Stereo cassette recorders require that two microphones be used for recording. The best microphone to use in this instance is one that combines both microphone capsules in one unit which can then be hand held or used on a stand.
About 30cm is a good distance for speakers to be from an average microphone. The microphone is best placed at chest level and pointed towards the speaker. Students may need to practise moving quietly to position themselves in front of a microphone, or having a 'techie' holding the microphone and moving it to the best position for each voice in turn.
Microphones
Microphones may have dead areas from which sound will not be well recorded. This may be to the side or back of the microphone, depending on the type that you are using. To test for dead areas, walk around the microphone at a set distance. Play back the recording and listen for areas where the sound fades.
It can be a good idea to mark these areas on the floor with chalk so that students are aware of where to stand for best sound quality. The dead areas may be used to muffle sound on purpose, or to fade voices in and out.
Sound quality
Before beginning to record a radio play, it is important to do a test. This test is to establish the correct recording level and to check for other problems that might interfere with good sound quality of the final recording.
Recording level
Some cassette recorders have the capacity to automatically set the appropriate recording level. Others have a recording level control and meter. To test for the best recording level, students should read part of the play. If the recording level is set correctly, the needle on the meter will just reach the red zone at the peak of the recording.
If the recording level is set too high, the sound will be distorted. If it is set too low, the volume will need to be turned up to play back the recording, which will also amplify tape hiss and background noise.
It is also important to check that batteries are fully charged if you are not using mains power, and to identify and eliminate as much background noise or echo as possible.
SFX
Sound effects are used in radio drama to:
- tell the audience where they are
- tell the audience what is happening
- develop atmosphere and tension.
Sometimes sound effects are made by the actors as the play is recorded and sometimes they are pre-recorded and edited in after the dialogue is recorded, or played alongside the voices.
When writing a radio play you need to think about how you will record the play and what sound you want to use. It is better to keep things simple and to do a good job than to have grand plans that you will never be able to carry out.
Using music in a radio play
Music is used in a radio play to:
- create an overall theme for a play, for instance the opening and closing music
- to fill gaps between scenes
- to create atmosphere
- to establish time and place, for example rock'n'roll music helps to establish the setting of the play as the 1950s.
It is important to carefully research the setting for your play to choose music that fits the setting.
In 1978 a radio play was recorded that had no dialogue and used only SFX to tell the story. The play was called The Revenge and was written by Andrew Sachs.
Cue sheets
When recordings are completed, they are marked with specific information about what the recording is. The information includes the subject, names of the speakers, location of the recording, date of the recording, and details of copyright.
The producer also completes a cue sheet that provides information that is sent out to radio stations that might want to broadcast the recording. There is a standard format for presenting this information, which is called a cue sheet.
|
