Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1545202
34 S U M M E R 2 0 2 6 I C A S Q U A R T E R L Y Bernard and Allison were quite insistent on being as authentic as possible, so I'm glad the boom was used. They were laughing at me dragging this totally old-school desk mixer everywhere, but I said we've got to try and get this authenticity. I'm a crazy guy, though, so for me, it was just fun for a documentary to throw something different there. Nick: I think Nigel's choices helped later on with the transitions to the John Bonham audio, since the vintage interview was recorded more in that style. Nigel: Right. If I went with a Schoeps, you know, a 41 on the end, or even if I went CMIT 5U or whatever at that time, it would have just sounded too open and broad and deep. The 816 is a pain-in-the-ass mic to use (laughs), but it gives you the reach, so you feel like you're chasing the audio with the tunnel vision it gives. We even did some tests running through a Nagra recorder's amp on another track for a different sound. That is so great! You were really, really going for authenticity! Nigel: I always say, "Why not try?" We can always record multiple tracks. Nick: The interviews are so strong, so I know a lot of work went into making [the interview subjects] comfortable to be able to open up in that way. It feels very intimate. Even set noises were kept to a minimum, so that made things easier. Nigel: With those productions, it's all in the prep. If you prep a location properly, you should never walk into a location with any problems. That's my theory. So that in post, they receive the best potential version of the audio as possible, and it gives you more scope to play around with it, right? We were shooting in a location near Goodge Street in London, which had its challenges. It was a wide-open space; there was external traffic noise and nearby schoolchildren on both sides of the street. So, I worked with the production Nick Bergh at EndPoint Audio Labs Nigel Albermaniche