How to create aircraft to control tower audio characteristic

JackW wrote on 7/13/2004, 10:02 PM
Just finished shooting two days of an air show. The shoot, though unbearably hot, went well. I'd like to simulate the cross talk between the cockpit of a P-51 fighter and the control tower to introduce the DVD we're creating for the Flight Museum. I've got the background sound of the plane, recorded from inside the cockpit, but wasn't able to get any of the pilot to control tower chatter.

How can I simulate the unique sound quality coming from the tower and pilot's mics in the studio? I'm using Vegas 4.0 and Cool Edit 2000.

Jack

Comments

musman wrote on 7/13/2004, 10:49 PM
No expert, but I would play around with the phone line effect in the parametric eq. Isotope has a free fx "Vinyl" that might add a litle scratchiness. They also have damage, but that's not free.
I don't have a formula, but if you play wityh these things and the eq, you might get there.
Spot|DSE wrote on 7/13/2004, 10:57 PM
Vinyl, and if you want to send me a short mp3 of the chatter, I'd be happy to create a Vegas preset for you.
You can also use Trash from izotope, but it's not so much the trashy sound as it is the warm tube distortion added by those older mics and amplifiers.
I've got some emulators from the 1176 that are wonderfully warm and with the edge, shouldn't be too hard to approximate in Vegas.
Also, visit http://www.directxfiles.com for some really sexy sounding free plug ins.
plasmavideo wrote on 7/14/2004, 7:01 AM
The aircraft type headset mics like the David Clarke's have a fairly sharp rolloff below 300hz, a peak around 3K to 5K and rolloff above about 5K.

As Spot said, they have a slightly warmish sound due to the fact that aviation radios still use AM transmission, rather than FM. Also, most of the aircraft radios have an AGC and/or fast limiter on the mic inputs, so you might also add in a slight amount of compression followed by a fast response peak limiter to the audio after making the frequency filter adjustments.

Good Luck!
JackW wrote on 7/14/2004, 12:16 PM
Thanks, all. I'll play around with your suggestions and Spot, once I get the script from the client and get a VO cut I'll take you up on your kind offer.

Many thanks: it's what makes this BB so extraordinarily useful.

Jack
apit34356 wrote on 7/14/2004, 2:03 PM
Jack, do you have a friend with a shortwave radio or two? you can capture the two-way using them, the local airport airport radio fq are listed. you can use a scanner with the SW comb as well. If you want the recording from inside the plane, and you are not time criticial, I can capture some sound at the airport using a private airplane.

AJP
goshep wrote on 7/14/2004, 4:53 PM
Hey Spot,


You didn't offer ME a preset when I asked about this technique

**goshep storms out of forum to pout**

Could you post something on Sundance? I've tried some of the suggestions you guys gave me but nothing sounds quite right.

Spot|DSE wrote on 7/14/2004, 9:02 PM
Keep in mind that I'll be in Singapore, Sydney, Melbourne, and other parts of Asia starting next week....but happy to help
goshep wrote on 7/14/2004, 9:27 PM
I gave trash a try and combined it with a little Vegas distortion and I think it's gettin' there.
That's quite a trip. You ought to be pretty wiped out by the time you get back.

Have fun!

JackW wrote on 7/14/2004, 9:46 PM
AJP: Thanks a lot for the offer. Actually, Judy got to fly in a Yak 11, a Corsair, and with the Canadian Fraser Blues in one of their Navions. She got great audio (engine and prop noise) in all three, as well as some excellent video of the runways and flight line and very tight shots of other aircraft in the Blues' formations.

I'd have given anything to have gone along with Judy (my wife and business partner), but I get violently ill in small prop planes and felt that barfing on a close-formation pilot probably went beyond the run of the mill faux pas and might ill reflect on our profession.

Your suggestion of using short wave radio to pick up tower-to-plane chatter is interesting, but unfortunately I need specific diologue for the DVD. However, CB or even walkie talkie radios might give us the sound we need. I'll try them and see.

You've all been very helpful. Thanks much.

Jack
apit34356 wrote on 7/15/2004, 12:17 AM
Jack: Sounds like you and your wife really enjoyed the airshow. You should check with the local private pilot's association, or AOPA or AOPA online, members would probably be happy to do the radio work for you. The local members probably know the local air traffic controllers and get you the best of both worlds, inside aircraft and inside control tower telecom.

Good Luck!

AJP
Skevos_Mavros wrote on 7/15/2004, 2:00 AM
All of the suggestions here sound good to me - are you recreating the chatter in post? If so, them some of what makes this sort of comms sound the way it does is the placement of the mike itself - usually really close to the mouth, allowing pickup of (heavy) breathing along with the occasional wind noise (fluttering of the mike's diaphragm) on "Ps" and "Ss", etc.

So if you're after a really authentic-sounding comms, you might have to ignore some of the rules about mike placement. :-)

(having said that, in reality the newer comms mikes are really good and rarely pickup wind these days, but a few bits of wind across the mike will make it sound authentic to most people).


Skevos Mavros
mavart@mavart.com
http://www.mavart.com