Editing Ambisonic Field Recordings With Rode NTSF-1 And Adobe Audition

[@dalesnale]

Thanks for explaining your Ambisonics post procedure. Big fan of vocal slating details at the end of field recording takes. I let the recorder continue at the end of musical recordings too which often reveals valuable musician insight recallable in the editing and mixing process.

[@FreeToUseSounds]

thanks for watching and are these some of the recordings that get leaked? )

[@dalesnale]

@@FreeToUseSounds The Beatles recent anthology has some of this banter to reveal that their recording process was not a 'Magical Mystery'...just musicians and engineers working hard. MoTown Records allegedly burned the outtake reels to avoid future leaks. Rarely would a producer leave any talking in the final mix unless the artist thought it added value to the composition (such as a funny count-in or a laugh). It is considered the theatrical equivalent of 'breaking the proscenium' (aka 'breaking the forth wall') :).

[@darcy4143]

Marcel Brilliant video as always love the Air release from the truck.

[@FreeToUseSounds]

Thank you so much Darcy! Yeah I recorded this at night inside a spooky side alley. I have it on my latest saved IG story highlight.

[@ignasicambra]

Just as a suggestion, you may want to try keeping the original A format file when recording with the F6, since the conversion to AmbiX on that device is optimized for the Sennheiser Ambeo mic. You should get even nicer results by either doing the A-B conversion in Soundfield by Rode, or even better by having calibration files made for your specific mic and using a plugin such as Xvolver. Great videos though, and sorry for being geeky :)!

[@FreeToUseSounds]

Oh that’s something I will try out for sure! Thank you.

[@ignasicambra]

Really love this stuff so always happy to help!

[@ignasicambra]

@Tz_mzU1 The Rode plugin does not use linear filters. In other words, its algorithm is able to adapt to the individual NT-SF1 used. This is okay in most cases, but in critical situations a traditional approach by using calibration files is best in my opinion. Also, any work on B format ambisonics should be performed with software prepared to handle the format. Altering any of the four channels individually is not a good idea. There are several free plugin suites online to work with ambisonics.

[@ignasicambra]

@Tz_mzU1 by critical situation I mean, for instance, recording delicate material such as classical music. Essentially when dealing with sustained notes or sudden dynamic changes the Rode plugin can introduce small artifacts in the sound when converting from A to B format. Again this is very subtle, but once you hear it it’s always there. Not important in most cases, but good to know.

[@chaostherie]

@@ignasicambra What are these free software plugins?

[@TheEarlyLearningProgram]

Love to see you back.

[@FreeToUseSounds]

I was never gone :)

[@TheEarlyLearningProgram]

@@FreeToUseSounds live your charisma and videos. I will be moving to Philippines and will be ordering all my gear in the next 2 weeks.. Field sound recording and metal detecting lol

[@FreeToUseSounds]

@@TheEarlyLearningProgram nice! Yeah still a country we have to go.

[@audiorexy3174]

Excellent! Thank you. I love Reaper. And you can own it outright at a VERY reasonable cost. Unlike Adobe where you pay forever. Keep 'em coming. Cheers

[@FreeToUseSounds]

Yeah Reaper is great but I use Audition and the cloud daily. Not just for sound so far its worth it and also tax deductible. :)

[@marcotitoguareschi2075]

Someone can help me? The routing for the headphones in f6 zoom for ambisonic sound, i didn't understand how to listen in ambisonic

[@PoulOlesen-sc9of]

Great video! - Why don't you use the mixpre 6II for Ambisonic. Is the F6 recording ambisonic in 32-bit float where the mixpre 6II only in 24 bit

[@tmoblak]

have you (anyone!) tried to convert ambisonic recording from Sennheiser ambeo mic (the original 4 channel audio that comes out from for example zoom F6) to binaural sound? how does it sound? can it compete with original binaural microphones like 3dio FSpro or something like that? its actually pretty difficult to find any info on these questions online.

[@kyma5882]

I recommend harpex x plugin to you. The rode plugin has image phase damage. 😄😄😄😄

[@FreeToUseSounds]

Yeah really?? Okay I check that out.

[@OliverBeck1]

thank you so much helping me to improve my audio skills. I like your content an the way you do it.

[@FreeToUseSounds]

Thank you Oliver!

[@TheCameraManReviews]

Can I ask how you set your headphone level?

[@FreeToUseSounds]

My headphone levels? Well that depends. Thats a dynamic process depending on the situations and is not based on a certain number.

[@TheCameraManReviews]

@@FreeToUseSounds thank you.

[@GudmannAndGyda]

Very helpful video. You are really creating great value for others. Thank you!

[@FreeToUseSounds]

Glad you think so!

[@audiorexy3174]

Can't Wait

[@FreeToUseSounds]

:) See you there!

[@cedricblackcreative]

Glad you made this video! I was confused about my process. I record with the Zoom H3vr and the Zoom ambisonic player. I was wondering if I should export my multichannel audio as stereo before editing, but maybe better to split into 4 mono files (via Reaper) - for more control??

[@FreeToUseSounds]

Hmm aren't you loosing the VR effect if you split the recordings into four mono? There is a VR spatial audio group on Facebook. I would ask them to be 100 percent sure.

[@cedricblackcreative]

@@FreeToUseSounds I wasn't sure how it would affect the VR since it sounds the same as split files. But I see your point. Makes total sense.

[@CaptainShorif]

@@cedricblackcreative Did exporting the ambisonic file to stereo work? Or did that remove too much spaciousness?

[@cedricblack608]

@@CaptainShorif yes this process is working for much needs. Thank you

[@cryptotrader2779]

Thanks Marcel, I enjoyed that. As a newbie, I'd love to see your full post processing technique of the recordings, like normalisation and how you finish a file ready for sale, including how to name files and keep them organised. Maybe an idea for the next video (I hope) ;o) . I'd really love to see that. Any book recommendations for newbies ? I just finished The Sound Effects Bible by Ric Viers and really enjoyed it.

[@FreeToUseSounds]

Hi! Well, I never normalize my recordings but I do have a video on the Channel about editing field recordings and also metadata. That’s something you can start with but I’m not giving away all the information on KZbin. Maybe one day I create a full course.

[@cryptotrader2779]

@@FreeToUseSounds Thanks for the reply. I heard that usually you should normalise to -0.5 dB or - 1 dB. Interesting to hear you don't do that. I'd love a course though, and I'd buy it for sure. This is a not a subject you can find a lot of information about online. Thanks.

[@FreeToUseSounds]

@@cryptotrader2779 Imagine what would happen to the recordings if you record a quiet ambience and you normalize this to this amount? You create noise. So literally you create out of a calm ambience a loud ocean of noise.

[@cryptotrader2779]

@@FreeToUseSounds Sure. I get that. I suppose a door knock or a whoosh sound would be OK normalised, unless it's supposed to sound distant, but not ambient sounds. I get that. Thanks so much for replying. Sorry for the questions, I'm only just getting started and I want to find out as much as I can.

[@FreeToUseSounds]

@@cryptotrader2779 Oh there is so much to consider. Are you the end user? Is it part of a final mix? Do you want to sell it or provide it for sound design? The more you manipulate the file, the less costumer you might have. As a recordist I don’t make that decision and provide the sounds as original as possible. But that’s just me and others might have a different approach.

[@chaostherie]

How would you be able to edit two ambisonic recordings so that one recording is playing in the top half of a sphere and the second is playing on the bottom half?

[@schoepsms]

Curious about the reason why one would do that. Still, edit the two files in their B format and direct their height opposing one another using a plug like dear reality pro.

[@chaostherie]

@@schoepsms Great thank you. I'm guessing you would also be able to do the same thing with that plugin cutting the recordings in half vertialy as well?

[@schoepsms]

@@chaostherie Yes. You could place a sound in each "quadrant" of ambisonic sound field as well as create distance. Get the free IEM Plug-in Suite and try it.

[@chaostherie]

@@schoepsms Thank you so much! I'm setting up a 16 channel cube this week and want to test this out.

[@diazalvaro]

Dear Marcel, What platform do you use to sell your ambisonics?

[@FreeToUseSounds]

I don't use any platform. I have my own cloud storage.

[@oliverkappel660]

Hello Libby and Marcel, with your current experience and the new microphones, can you still recommend the Zoom H3-VR as an inexpensive alternative?

[@FreeToUseSounds]

Hi! Oh yes that’s he H3VR is a great and affordable recording device. Placed on a table in a busy street is awesome for ambience.

[@oliverkappel660]

@@FreeToUseSounds thanks a lot! 😀

[@ravipillaisikkim]

Lovely ❤️👍👍

[@LorenzoGavanna]

Thank you!!

[@FreeToUseSounds]

Always a pleasure :)

[@sampotee]

I've just bought my first field recording device, Zoom H5. It came with the bundled softwares and I wanted to ask, which software do you recommend for someone who is just starting their "career" as a field recordist, there are so many. I don't want to subscribe to Adobe at this point.

[@FreeToUseSounds]

Hi! Oh definitely Reaper. It takes a little bit to get into but its a beast and can edit almost anything.

[@sampotee]

@@FreeToUseSounds Thank you for replying, I'll get reaper 🙂

[@FreeToUseSounds]

@@sampotee lots of tutorials out there :)

[@sampotee]

@@FreeToUseSounds Looking forward watching those.

[@nuralammn]

Thank you so much for the video ...

[@FreeToUseSounds]

Pleasure!

[@VOByRobbins]

Huggge help to demystify Ambisonic recording editing, perfectly done, thank you Marcel!!!

[@FreeToUseSounds]

Thank you Michael! I’m glad it was helpful. :)

[@edwardfletcher7790]

There's many, many Audio editing apps that are free or don't require yearly subscription like Adobe products. I'd love to see a feature on other options.

[@FreeToUseSounds]

You can try Reaper. Its awesome but I'm sure you already know.

[@TommasoGobbo]

B O M B

[@FreeToUseSounds]

Thank you :)

[@AdrianoMartinSound]

You should never change the volume of, or process individual tracks in an ambisonic recording. Ambisonic processing relies on all channels being equal gain (hence the input gain link across all 4 tracks on recorders when recording ambisonics) to properly decode and spatialize the audio. Changing the volume of any one track will destroy the ambisonic spatialization.

[@FreeToUseSounds]

Hi Adriano! That is something I didn't know and I really appreciate that input. I make sure to never change the individual channels.

[@AdrianoMartinSound]

@@FreeToUseSounds No problem, Keep up the great work!

[@FreeToUseSounds]

@@AdrianoMartinSound Will do :)

[@mouthfulofmoths]

I was wondering that too, by changing gain on one channel you’re throwing off the whole image.

[@bernard8ulrich]

@@FreeToUseSounds Hi Marcel, as you are a REAPER user did you install SoundField by RODE Plugin inside ? Provides all needed settings in respect of Ambisonic spatialization.

[@larserikertzgaardringen7426]

Hope that someone from Adobe sees thai video too. Their Ambisonic support Cold be better.

[@iswiu2bl]

I am a user of Audition because of other great Adobe apps. Please raise it up to be truly a top notch audio software~ I been paying yearly for years!

[@FreeToUseSounds]

Yes bouncing tracks in four channel is the only thing that is missing. :( Anything else works great so far.

[@OliverBeck1]

„während“😉 Are you german?

[@FreeToUseSounds]

yepp! :)

[@massicahuo9696]

nicenice

[@FreeToUseSounds]

Thanks

[@Light-Blast]

schwätz doch oifach deutsch xD

[@FreeToUseSounds]

Given that our audience who speaks or understand German is quite small, it wouldn't be practical to prioritize this language.

[@Light-Blast]

@@FreeToUseSounds you right men, i like you videos me and my girlfriend are trying to make some sounds, her dream is becoming a sound desginerin

[@FreeToUseSounds]

@@Light-Blast That's awesome! Lots of amazing sound designers on KZbin to learn from!