Simon Bishop is a sound recordist who has over fifteen years experience recording sound for film and TV. He has worked on reality, actuality shows, drama, pop promos. corporate and commercial work. You name it, he’s done it. He is also chairman of the Institute of Professional Sound.
Who better, then, to ask for advice on how to get better audio as a solo shooter like me. At the Excellence in Sound ’16 event in Bristol recently I caught up with Simon and he was kind enough to give me a few top tips.
He started by extolling the virtues of gaffer tape and explaining how he uses it for all sorts of things. But perhaps his best advice was not to obsess about getting the very latest, or finest, audio kit. It is far more important to know how to use what you have and place the mics in the right place. A basic kit can go a long way when used correctly.
Another important take-away is to build the camera and sound rig the night before the job. Set the audio levels and do some test recordings. Then, when you take it all apart and put it together again, it should all work.
The Excellence in Sound event was hosted by Rycote as an opportunity for some of the world’s best sound recordists and engineers a chance to meet and exchange their insights.
