Some times it’s so muddy you need a “Sound Sledge”! These mud flats near Portsmouth were so boggy this was the only way to carry the sound and camera gear without...

Couldn’t boom because of shadows, couldn’t use a personal mic on our presenter (Chris Packham) because he was lying down. Can you see where it is? Hopefully the viewers won’t! Often it’s possible to hide a microphone ‘in plain sight’, the camera angle and putting it where people won’t be looking will help it stay...

Today’s sound invention is – cue drum roll – a record deck silencer! Ok, so it’s a bit of transparent wig tape holding the needle off the LP but it took us a while to figure out. We needed a way to keep the turntable moving but not hear anything from the needle. It also needed the needle to look like it was on the record for the shot to work. Gaffer tape kept stretching and landing the needle on the record again but the...

A good brushing and the old Rycote windjammer looks like...

Coming up on the 30th December on the BBC,  a programme I worked on a month or so back -  “Wild Weather in 2012″ features Ian Fergusson as he looks back at the weather in our region over the past year. Made by Quintessence Films. This is the the programme where we used my “Patent Flag Pole Silencer” for the sequence at Cirencester Cricket Club Broadcasts Sunday 30th December BBC1 5.30pm In the following regions: BBC 1...

With credit to John Wilson of Wizard House  – Today is Microphone Testing Day (I’ve also had my eyes tested for good measure) but make sure you don’t miss out.12.12.12 (don’t say three or you may be expected to lift something) More details in this...

Skype for Interviews from dkaye I found this brilliant tutorial recently on getting the best sound recording quality from Skype. It’s a little out of date now but the principles ring true and I have not found anything more comprehensive out there. For example the codec that they mention has now been superseded – so don’t expect to see that in your status window. I’d still highly recommend Audio Hijack Pro though if you...