Video Sound Replacement- A new Venture!

This is a little blog on the process of recording samples for a video sound replacement project I undertook with fellow audio student and homie Peter.

For the purposes of a side project well outside my previous interests, mainly Hip Hop production, we researched a video on YouTube to do cover audio for. I was actually excited to do this as it would be an incredible learning experience for me as I have never done anything like it before! You can view the original video below-

(Video taken from YouTube)

After watching the video multiple times, I made a list of sounds that I could identify and would eventually need to create/record. The very basic list looked like this-

Key Elements in side project- ‘Contre Temps’

• Guard Rail being struck, emulating a clock tick- has a delay or reverb on it

• When the video comes in, you see a pendulum swinging, a ‘whoosh’ sound is present

• Very fast repetitive tick tick tick for the 180 degree swinging clock pendulums

• Alarm clock shutter sounds

• Clock hour strikes- multiple

• High octave piano chords

• Piano keys and synth in background

• Thunderish sound when fish come onto screen/water sound

• Multiple cukoo clock sounds/ grandfather clock sounds

• Deep ocean wave sound

• More MIDI piano keys with reverb

• Footsteps

(H4n Zoom Recorder)

For the purposes of generating authenticity for the project, myself and Peter rented a H4n Zoom recorder, in accordance with a pre-production plan, and took it off campus to a clock shop in Brisbane. We got a couple of cuckoo sounds and some random ticks and strikes of clock hands. Success!

The pictures above and below are a re-enactment of the process undertaken to record both simulated clock bangs/ticks and naturally reverb sounding footsteps.

These recordings, coupled with the off campus ones, now gave us a strong sample library of sounds needed for the replacement process. I then logged onto my account with FreeSounds to gain the following- More clock hands ticking, a grandfather clock gong, chimes, a whale sound for the fish scene and some water/bubble sounds.

An example of some of the processes taken to develop these sounds are as follows-

- The underwater 'whoosh' sample imported as a wav. file into Pro Tools. The stem was then broken up into 4 different samples, emulating a soft rush of bubbling water into a harder rush to simulate fish swimming through the video.

- The recorded stairwell fire hydrant valve hits, aimed to simulate clock movements, were EQ'd and gated to remove extraneous noise.

- Clock sounds were all EQ'd to either accentuate high or lows of the sound

One difficulty we found during the editing process was the removal of background noise from the footstep recordings carried out in the stairwell at SAE. We tried to gate it with an expander gate plug-in, but it detracted from the natural sound of reverb each step made in the large space of the staircase. Using a H6 Zoom recorder, the next model up from the H4n could have alleviated this problem. The better the recorder, the less excess noise that will need to be removed. Another problem was that the timing of the steps we recorded was out, compared to that of the one's in the video we were trying to replicate. So we re-recorded the steps again, timed them better and gated them as best we could. Turning them down in the overall mix helped remove the little bit of excess noise present.

After EQ'ing, compressing and editing sounds from the library, they were all individually gained to -1dB to retain the same amplitude. We then began the long ass process of fitting these sounds to the video. Below is a snap of us trying to line up the footsteps we recorded to match the ones taken in the video.

After the editing stage, it was then time to incorporate the use of a MIDI keyboard to create the melodies for the video. Like the original, our project contains chord progressions to add to the gentle/beautiful feel of the visual.

After a process of elimination, we decided on a piano instrument (Steinway Piano Plug-in) in Logic to create the sample. We then played a small segment on the MIDI chords. It was done by ear, so you mother fuckers that actually know how to read and perform music....I knowww I knowwww!! We played aesthetically pleasing keys as best we could! It was then put through reverb for depth and mood setting. The intent was for it to be eerily beautiful. Performing chords is a major element of the music sector that I wish to develop. It's not impossible to make something sound good without knowing how to play in chords...but it god damn helps I bet!

To go along with the piano, a Harp was also used to help fill out the video. I really think it suits the clip. It may not be as technical as the original version, but it's pretty bloody good for a couple of first timers (At least I think it is). The harp was bused to an aux track and then put through a EnVerb plug-in to give it some depth.

It was now time to fill the track out even more, so a synthesized voice from a Retro Synth Plug-in was added for background ambiance. The synth was bused to an Aux track for an echo the be added, which was intended to help the sound ring out into the mix. I think this was a very audibly pleasing element addition.

Re-listening to the original clip continuously was a great reference point to our mix. Religiously going back and forth between versions helped the team pinpoint extra sounds that were present and needed to be worked on for our project. This is something I learned the hard way in project one. Mistakes were made and not corrected until it was too late. Never again!

The final two additions made to our project were an ambient synth chord that rings out and an 'Arctic Air Stream' Synth. The ambient synth chord added to the mystery/eeriness of the mix so we kept it. The arctic air synth was a little more technical in approach. The heavy 'breezy' sound was brought in to help transition the open land segment of the clip, straight into the inner city post apocalyptic scene. It fit the video perfectly! The picture below shows the frame transition mentioned.

After the fill-ins were completed, the team went through the full video many times, occasionally making adjustments to the timing of particular sound clips. WE. WERE. DONE.

This project was an incredibly fun and educational one. Both crew members had never done sound replacement to video before. During last trimester, we had worked on a sample library with recorded instruments. That was the only real practice we had at recording sounds. We took some things away from that experience, like mic placement and gaining all samples at the end to -1dB for editing purposes. But it was truly a trial and error process. I am really very excited to begin next trimesters sound to video assessments. I will be looking to carry out my own project like this during the end of year break to keep my skills up to scratch. Further research into the production and editing of samples will also be undertaken in the off season so that come next year, I hit the ground running and perform to a high standard from the jump!

Th finished product can be seen below on a private YouTube channel! Check it out and drop a comment!!

References-

YouTube. (2017). CGI Animated Short 2 Minute Extract : "Contre Temps" from Contretemps Team. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyrsxJSayJA [Accessed 7 Dec. 2017].

Zoom. (2017). Zoom H4n Handy Recorder. [online] Available at: https://www.zoom-na.com/products/field-video-recording/field-recording/zoom-h4n-handy-recorder [Accessed 7 Dec. 2017].