Ryan Kerr Audio

04/06/2024

𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐀𝐯𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝟓.𝟏. 𝐏𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐨 𝐌𝐢𝐱𝐢𝐧𝐠 🎞

My new studio setup means I am now available for 5.1 Surround Sound Post-Production audio mixing, and in addition with your mix I throw in a certified cat supervisory approval.

31/05/2024

🎧🎤 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐬 #𝟓 - Nature and the Norwegian Fjords

The final bit of time in Norway was spent exploring the striking Hardanger Fjord. The gentle waves rolling in, a mixture of radically chirping birds and dead silent ambience on nature walks, waterfalls and any kind of nature on offer. This trip really was incredible for so many reasons, and one of those was opening my mind up to creative soundscaping, and what is possible with post production audio. 🎧🎤

These pictures were taken by the immensely talented Maya Rios.

30/05/2024

🎧🎤 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐬 #𝟒 - Viking Ships

After our time in Denmark, we hit the breathtaking countryside of Norway. Once of our stops while we were there was the Hardanger Maritime Museum in Norheimsund. A museum that still builds custom viking longships using the original historic methods. It was a recording haven capturing woodworking, making our on rope using the rope walking technique, old transports carts and gentle rocking of the boats in the harbour. Sonic bliss. 🎧🎤

These pictures were taken by the immensely talented Maya Rios.

29/05/2024

🎧🎤 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐬 #𝟑 - Animals and K***s

When we hit Mainland Denmark, we stayed a few days in the beautiful city of Aarhus. Amazing street food, lovely people, stunning Italian-style architecture with a Latin Quarter providing a little bit Columbian flair just because. Really cool place. While we were there, we visited a heritage museum called Den Gamble By (The Old Town). It was a variety of full street time capsules honouring the history of Denmark through the last few hundred years - from the victorian era all the way up to the 1990s. Of course, my handheld recorder was burning a hole in my pocket so I had to capture some stuff - including a bunch of old door handles and pottery, creaking floorboards, old-school pop-up stall carts, horse and carriages, chickens and a very sassy goose. 🎧🎤

These pictures were taken by the immensely talented

28/05/2024

🎧🎤 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐬 #𝟐 - Sailing Away

With a 5000-mile road trip, there was no shortage of boat trips. Sailing from the UK to Amsterdam and Mainland Denmark to Norway, I managed to get an array of nautical goodness when I was able to stand upright. There was so many elements to capture - abstract vibrations from metal surfaces, the ship crashing through the waves, Public Announcements, ventilation and all sorts of creaks and sways from the wall interiors. 🎧🎤

These pictures were taken by the immensely talented Maya Rios

27/05/2024

🎧🎤 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐬 #𝟏

Recently, I was lucky enough to take a three-week road trip with my beautiful wife Maya for our honeymoon across the North of Europe (Netherlands, North Germany, Mainland Denmark and Norway). It was a religious experience, and as well as our exciting adventures messing around and culturing ourselves, I had some amazing opportunities to record unique soundscapes. Over the next few posts I'm going to share some of those environments I got to capture. From sky high nature walks, fjord sampling and equating myself with Victorian day methods, there was a lot I was able to get my teeth into! 🎧🎤

This picture was taken by the immensely talented Maya Rios.

17/04/2024

🎤 Audio Issue #5 - Poor Location Audio in Post. Here's some post-production tips:

So you're at the end now! You have the location audio, you're in the edit, but it's riddled with issues. In these situations, room tone is your friend. Here's some general problems you may come across and some solutions that could help:

🎬 Dynamic background noise - You can use some dialogue isolation software (Like Izotope RX) to balance the room tone, but being mindful to not use it too aggressively. When you process the dialogue too much, you can create an uncanny valley affect, losing clarity or tone in the voice and making it sound artificial. If the background noise has been reduced but possibly not quite far enough, sound design can come in handy in these situations, blending the noise naturally into the background of the soundscape. EQ can also be utilised to re-shape the vocal tone, and to help take out noise/hum.

🎬 Consistent Background Noise - There are some great de-hum plug-ins that can learn from the waveform patterns where the consistent noise is coming from and what frequencies they belong to, dipping the audio levels to the point where they are not perceptible. Hight pass filters of an EQ are also good to take out any low frequency rumble.

🎬 Hissing - If there is some hissing or static noise in the bedding of the audio, EQ can be used to try and notch these bad frequencies out of the audio. Another suggestion is avoiding compression on the audio, which would squash the sound waves and bring up noise floor, enhancing the problem.

Hopefully you never come across these problems too much, but there can never be anything better than high quality audio captured on location, with the most amount of likely issues considered and tamed as possible.

🎤 Thanks for reading! I hope these series of posts were helpful in some way! 🎤

https://www.ryankerraudio.com/

15/04/2024

🎤 Audio Issue #4 - Bad Radio Micing. Here's how to improve this:

So you have some radio mics to throw on the actors. Without the right techniques, its very easy for these to become riddled with issues and sometimes completely useless. Here's some things to consider when micing up:

🎬 Positioning - You have to consider where the talent is facing while they project, and the distance from the position of the mic to the sound source - being too far away could cause a loss in tonality, clarity and phasing issues in post production. Centre of the chest distance from the mouth is always a good estimate when placing a lapel mic. Another thing to consider is if the actor is moving quite a lot, are they using their hands or touching their front? If that's the case, running the cable up their back would be a safer option to prevent some handling noise or unintentional touching of the microphone. Remember: the lapel mic doesn't have to be pointing directly at the talent's mouth to get the best results.

🎬 Size of the transmitter - Maybe the talent is wearing a dress or a tube top. Is your transmitter small enough where it could be placed in a thigh strap or secured somewhere unnoticeable on the upper body?

🎬 Hiding of cables - Are there seams in the costume? Any ridges or crinkles in the clothing where the cables can run along? Also making sure to securely coil the cables, placing them either in the transmitter belt or somewhere out of view in the clothing - ensuring there is some slack in the cable so there isn't any strain or handling noise if and when it is tugged.

🎬 Timbre of the Talent - How the voice of the actor sounds places a heavy factor on selection of kit. Consider the pitch, how high or low register they are, and select the appropriate lapel microphone to best match their delivery.

🎤 One more final audio issue left to go with #5! 🎤

https://www.ryankerraudio.com/

13/04/2024

🎤 Audio Issue #3 - Incorrect Microphone Placement & Angles. Here's how to fix it:

One of the main issues when we get to the edit, is that we are faced with dialogue audio that is off-axis, tonally messy or littered with background noise. Nine times out of ten, this can be fixed with close proximity, right angling of the microphone direction and knowing where the projection of the voice is at all times, whilst taking into consideration the environment and movement of each shot.

The best way to tackle this may sound simple, but it's the most effective way. Ask yourself about the space:

🎬 Where are the directions of any background noises coming from? If you have treated the room in every way possible like in the previous step - without annoying the props and set design people to death - is there still any noise that can't be treated? With that info, simply try to keep the microphone pointed consistently the opposite way of that noise as much as possible, whilst still maintaining a close enough proximity to the actors for their line delivery.

🎬 Think about the 'blocking' of the scene - Where will the actors/camera be moving? Are there any props being used? Are there any obstructions, like light stands or props blocking the path? If there are some obstructions, or ways that certain dialogue cannot be captured, try thinking about possibly using some discreet plant mics covering certain areas of the space.

🎬 Consider the direction of the actor's mouth and framing of the shot. Play with the borders of the camera frame edges to get as close as possible, aiming directly at the centre of their chest for the most consistent tonality of the performer's voice. Just be sure to always watch for that boom shadow!

🎤 Stay tuned for Issue #4! 🎤

https://www.ryankerraudio.com/

11/04/2024

🎤 Issue #2 - Location Treatment. Here's some useful tips:

So you have your final location for the scene, and you highlighted some problem areas that you need to contend with:

🎬 Background Noises - Mainly aimed at your indoor locations, if there are sources of noise bleeding into your audio takes or into the space - the first answer is to try and cut them off from the source. Closing windows and doors, switching electronic devices in the area off, and phones put into flight mode or away for everyone on set. If there's noise coming in from windows or doors even after being shut, sound curtains or thick blankets could be hung to dampen the sound, or some padding secured to cracks where they are entering from.

🎬 Surfaces and Flutter Echo - That bathroom-sounding voice where you lose all sense clarity in the reflective, echo chambered mess. This can easily be avoided by thinking about what materials of surfaces are surrounding you. Glass, tiles wood and concrete are naturally very reflective, so where possible some sound blankets behind and in front of the microphone perspective can really help, along with some carpets to pad the flooring.

🎬 Flooring - Are the floorboards creaky, or possibly the actors are doing a walk and talk? The two main fixes are carpets across the floors, securely taped down and slip proof with no creases. If the floors are in shot or the carpets are too obstructive - stick some foam padding to the soles of the talent's shoes to prevent any noise as they stroll.

🎬 Props - Say, like in the photo, you have a breakfast scene in a cafe - where cups of tea, cutlery and plates will be handled. Securing some padding to these objects or on the areas where they are being placed will help clear up any lines that may be undercut with some unwanted foley.

🎬 Weather - If there's some light rain that's making its way into your audio where there isn't any on video, it might be best to hold on rolling. But, maybe you're in a big open space like a valley or at a cliffside, winds are starting to pick up, and the boom windshield isn't quite strong enough to hold off the gusts. Wind breakers/panels could be extremely handy in these conditions, with a production assistant or two securing these in place just off camera to give your sound an additional chance of recording a good take.

🎤 Stick around for Issue #3! 🎤

https://www.ryankerraudio.com/

09/04/2024

🎤 Audio Issue #1 - Location Selection. Here's how to choose wisely:

Audio is more important that visuals. Na, I'm just kidding... Sort of. But if you don't have the luxury of changing locations or are unable to bring your soundie along to your recce, some of these tips might be useful when you are considering certain angles and distances you're going to shoot at your chosen location:

🎬 Background Noises - Hopefully you're not right in the middle of a fireworks display or street party (unless that's what you're going for), but it is a good idea to consider the amount of background noise in your area. Will there be a lot of foot traffic, or traffic in general? Is it near any roads of motorways where sound can travel? Have you checked if it's under any flight paths? Does the Orange Walk march through there? If it's inside are there any hums or electronic devices that could cause interference? Some of these sound basic, but it is important to remind yourself of some of the fundamentals before getting too starry eyed with the visuals. ADR should always be a last resort, you can never replace natural, organic audio from the source.

🎬 Weather - It's quite an obvious one, but still a good point. As well rain, snow and sleet forecasts, you can also see if there are any opportunities for walls, hills or structures to help naturally block any excess wind.

🎬 MW and ISM Frequency Availability - Another major problem area is ensuring your comms, video and audio kit has plenty of free medium wave, 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequency space. Apps like 'Radio Frequency Detector APK' and 'FreqFinder' are great ways to help you find some free signals in order to get clean, consistent recording and monitoring whether its comms, audio or video feed.

🎬 Ease of Access - The final point to think about is how easy it is for the movement of talent, camera rig, and sound when operating in the space, as well as efficient space for lighting rigs, the height of ceilings or accessible, hidden areas where a boom/plant mic could easily be placed.

🎤 Stay tuned for Issue #2! 🎤

www.ryankerraudio.com

07/04/2024

Sometimes when you're on location, there are issues with audio capture that can become a massive headache and throw off an entire shoot - and even derail post-production.

𝗜𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀, 𝗜 𝗮𝗺 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝘀𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗼.

These tips will address each problem to help any independent filmmakers or productions with some things they may not have considered, in order to get the best quality audio for your projects.

Whether you're established - or just creatives and soundies looking to start their film career - I hope these tips help you get the best audio you possibly can on set!

www.ryankerraudio.com

24/08/2021

14/08/2021

Had fun working on sound design for this. Great new track by India Ros3, its well worth a watch, with great cinematography by Stephen Grant. Directed by Khaled Spiewak.

Directed by Khaled Spiewak Written by India Rose & Khaled SpiewakStarring:India Rose, Natalie Bullions, Shania Evans, Princyboii, Ryan McAteerWith voiceover ...

30/05/2021

Amasing reviews for Euan Foulis' great short film 'First Time' that I did the sound for, submitted into THRILLER Festival with much appreciated praise on my work and a great performance by Nicola Docherty. Be sure to check out the film, its great!
https://vimeo.com/552698380

FIRST TIME, 3min., UK, Thriller Directed by Euan Foulis A young woman panics after getting revenge on her abusive boyfriend.