BWAV utilities for Apple Mac

BWAV Lister, Reader and Writer for Apple Mac OSX are three excellent audio file management utilities from Quesosoft. The Writer and Lister are very useful when transfering BWAV files from a hard disk recorder (like my Sound Devices 744T) to a computer before burning to DVD.

The Writer allows you to change the Meta Data which goes with each file. You can, for example change the names of individual tracks within the files and user bit values. Very useful if you have not had a chance to do this in the field when changing set ups quickly. You can also play the files direct from the edit window to check content.

BWAV Lister simplifies the task of making sound report sheets (screen shot above). Import your files into a folder and then scan that folder within the program. Lister will then generate a list of info including file name, time code and user bit info, duration, track names etc. You can then chose which information you want exporting to a text file, and in what order. I then cut and paste this information into a sound sheet I generate in word and then add notes.

Lister and Writer are a bargain at $70 for both ($30 for Writer alone, $50 for Lister). Reader is freeware and allows you play BWAVs and to view the metadata but not change it.

I'm using Writer V 1.05 for mac (there is now a Beta version for PC) and Lister 1.5.1b. More info and downloads from the Quesosoft website.

Sound Devices Combo

On my current documentary project I'm using a combination of equipment that is new to me. It's mostly a "run around" with lots of different characters popping in and out at random so it's mainly been recorded on a boom.

I've chosen to use the Sound Devices 744T for my recorder and put the boom straight into that. I can leave it switched on for hours waiting for that important scene to happen and it's quite light on battery use. I've not used more than 2 lithium NP1's in a day so far.

My main gripe about the 774t was that it only has two full size XLR inputs (the other two inputs being miniature TA3 sockets) and two level controls on top. I was hoping not to carry a full size mixer as well so for situations where I want to use one or more radio mics I have a Sound Devices MixPre connected to the TA3 pair. The mixer is very small and light so hardly adds anything to the weight of my bag. Also in the bag is a Hawkwoods APR1 rack which powers my radio mic receivers as well as mixer and recorder. The whole thing weighs about the same as the SQN4S and APR1 rack I use regularly to send sound down a cable to a camera but it records up to four discreet tracks as well.

The system has worked out very well and allows me to switch the mixer off when I'm not using extra mics and save battery power. The whole rig is in a bag made especially for me by KT Systems (talk to Ian, he's very helpful). It's a kind of mini organiser bag, big enough to contain everything, but not so ridiculous I can hardly get through the door.

Disadvantages? Well the 744 gets VERY hot. Fine in the winter cold of England but in South Africa it's adding to the general discomfort of boiling hot days. Honestly, you could fry an egg on the thing (or me once I have been carrying it next to me for a bit) but the unit continues to work just fine. You have to watch out, if you turn the unit off for more than two hours the time code is lost. You won't waste much battery leaving it on, but I tend to turn it off for a while every now and again just to let it cool down.

Rycote In-Vision mounts

Rycote have just brought out a new range of shock mounts designed for in vision use. There are several different versions for use with different types of microphone. I tried out the Schoeps CCM version (above) and found the isolation to be very good. The mount has a cable retainer at the back which holds the cable very tight stopping vibration noise being transmitted back up the cable to the microphone. The head can be easily adjusted to the desired angle, and the mechanism is strong enough not to "nod". The actual suspension is made from flexible plastic which allows quite a lot of movement of the microphone. This does remain quiet though and you have to give the set up quite a shake before noise is transmitted to the microphone.

I thought it all looked rather fragile at first but after seeing Chris Woolf at the IBS training weekend take one of these and twist it round I was very impressed to see it all just swing back into place. He then proceeded to throw it on the floor, which it also survived. It's also survived being carried around in my rucksack for the last few days along with my spare kit and batteries.

The mounts are designed be used, as the name suggests "in vision", they suit this perfectly as they look neat and tidy and are very low profile. Their smallness will also make them handy for mounting microphones out of vision where space is tight. All in all a very useful addition to the sound recordist's kit bag.

TheRain in Cameroon Falls mainly on the Tin Roof.

Sisters in Law

Sometime in August 2004 after much anticipation a small team of 3 of us left for Cameroon, our mission to make a feature length documentary for Channel Four. We were planning to stay for two months but it ended up being three for reasons that will probably not become clear in this particular article. I often work as part of a very small team in situations like this where I have no chance to see the likely locations in advance and often with little idea of what recording / filming situations I am likely to face. All I knew was that the film was likely to include a large amount of scenes filmed in a courtroom. Potentially quite a large courtroom, and potentially involving quite a number of people.

So, let me segway for a while into the kit I chose for such a venture. I was working with my friend Kim Longinotto who directs and shoots her own material on a super 16mm Aaton. Fantastic! That means I get to do separate sound with no cable tying me to the camera. Useful in all sorts of situations but nice in the courtroom because I can move around independently to get any sound in the court as long as I am out of shot. But, Ah, I hear you say, how are you going to sync up that material? Clapper board? In a courtroom? Or in a big emotional scene of documentary? No I don’t think so. We have a marvellous invention called an “Origin C+” it generates continuous timecode which I set each morning to the time of day, both the camera and the sound recorder “jam” to that timecode. The same timecode is recorded on both picture and sound so they can by united in post production. I use a DAT machine, one day soonish it will be some kind of hard disk recording system I’m sure, but for the moment DAT works fine. On this type of shooting I would rarely get through more than 2 one hour tapes a day and more often only one. I’d always replace the tape each day so the time code always increases for each take. ie. does not change from 18.00.00 from one evening to suddenly back to say 09.00.00 when we start again the next day. Computers and people who sync up film rushes don’t like that sort of thing. In order to help with the syncing up and editing I would keep basic notes during the day and write them up in the evening detailing the scenes we had shot and what film rolls they were on and relate that to the timecode on my DAT tape. I’d also include notes about the microphones I had used and which sound channels various characters were on in order to help with post production. The timecode jamming technique works well for us and the way we work, it can also be used to provide separate sound for video production but does incur an additional post production time and cost which tends to put people off. The DAT machine I use is the Fostex PD4, I’ve had it a while and I chose it because with three sound inputs I get away with using it without an additional mixer. I’m carrying less so am more mobile for the type of “on the hoof” shooting we do, and I’m also swinging my own boom as well as having a couple of radio mic channels on the go.


How do you mic up a court though? There’s a Judge and a State Prosecutor both important main characters. There’s an accused, a defendant and several witnesses. I have 3 microphones where do they go? Luckily he had a chance to see some action in the court before we had to film. Kim chose a camera position and from that potentially a lot of the court was in shot. If I stood fairly close to her I could reach the State Prosecutors position and the Defendants box fairly easily with the boom ( a standard Sehnheiser MKH60 on a pole). I was also guaranteed to be out of shot and it was an easy position to be able to tell if Kim’s camera was running or not. Handily this left two other positions out of my reach where people would speak in the court and two inputs on my DAT. There were likely in each case to be several witnesses so I could not possibly radio mic them all, but I could mic the witness box. I have a (reassuringly expensive!) miniature cardioid mic called a Schoeps CCM41 which with the aid of an(also reassuringly expensive) adapter plugs into a radio transmitter, the mic is very small and placed on a tiny stand in the witness box picked up anyone standing there perfectly. No cables across the Court, no trip hazzard and nothing tying me to anything so am still able to move around should anything dramatic happen without warning - which it often did. What have we left? One radio link, one Judge. Bingo! Radio mic the judge which has the added advantage of my being able to listen in and let Kim know when the Judge was about to enter the court.

With that all set up all there was left for me to do was pray it would not rain, drowning out everything as it hit the tin roof of the court..... more on that another time.