Apogee Mic + Visual Soundscapes

by ruralpearl | Mar 24, 2013 | Animation

I’ve got my mind stuck on an animation idea.. Nothing concrete – but I’ve got some abstract visual ideas that I want to tie in with some sort of ethereal soundscape.. I want the sound to set the scene more than the visuals, with the visuals supporting it. I don’t even know how or if that makes sense or if I will ever make it happen with time winding down to art fair season. My mind always goes back to the Beatles’ Yellow Submarine movie. So good. I want to make that. But with my own sounds and visuals and ideas. I love the flow, the abstractness, the whimsical qualities.
Anyway, I’ve been playing around with my new Apogee Mic. It’s really simple – it plugs right into the usb port on the computer and works seamlessly with Garageband. I’m obviously not trying to make a platinum record here, but I’m trying to get it to sound good. So far it’s been… ok. I don’t really know anything about recording/ mic placement/ acoustics except for the basics. So to hide the badness, I resort to heavy processing and effects in post production (mixing? I dunno what you call it). I’ll admit that I actually like those effects that make it all sound a little more psychedelic or ethereal or what have you. I used to rock out on a synthesizer and try to make it sound like I was in outer space. I’m pretty sure I blew out my brother’s guitar amp after plugging the synth into it. There was a loud explosive noise and I ran. (I’m for the first time admitting that it was me that did that.. after 25 years. But I don’t think he reads this..)

Here’s a short little thing that I did this morning using my adaptation of Mark Fry’s “Song for Wild” that I posted yesterday. The Mic does pretty well recording voice with little effort getting the mic placement and gain correct. I still can’t seem to get it to record the ukulele without having some sort of strange sound after each note — I call it crud. Maybe its disturbance? I’ve tried to play close to the mic, far from the mic, and everywhere in between. I’ve tried the gain volume at every level that makes sense.. My playing isn’t great either so it’s picking up all the flaws too, but there’s still a noise — sort of a buzz — that I can’t figure out how to get rid of. Plus, it still obviously sounds like an amateur bedroom recording. There’s an answer and I’m determined to find it. Anyway, I recorded three voice tracks and three ukulele tracks. I’m now my own band that can’t play together.. Totally nerding out and having fun.