Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/799350
www.postmagazine.com 33 POST XXX 20XX AUDIO FOR GAMES When it comes to recording coasters, Wu recommends not rushing the process of miking up the rides. "You want to carefully tape up the microphones. Always be careful about how you route the cables. Bring more tape than you think you'll need. You want to have good quality gaffers tape," he cautions. "I had a ride engineer with me the whole time I was setting up the mics on-board to make sure that I was being safe. I wanted to check that my equipment was stable enough and that no objects would fly from the ride and hit something or someone." BATTLEFIELD 1 Ten years ago, Stockholm, Sweden's Pole Position Production (http://pole.se) started offering field-recording services. Now, the company's vehicle sounds can be heard in numerous games, including Driveclub (2014), Death Rally (2011), several Need for Speed titles, GTR Evolution (2008) and even Forza Horizon (2012). The company has perfected its method of getting a great car sound. Expanding on that expertise, it recently accepted a new challenge from Swedish game developer Dice. Instead of recording precision-tuned, shiny new race cars, Dice asked Pole Position Production to record WWI-era vehicles for its latest award-winning game, Battlefield 1. Field recordist/sound designer Max Lachmann, MPSE, is the founder/owner/COO of Pole Position Production. He worked with Dice's audio director Bence Pajor to devise a list of WWI tanks, trans- ports, motorcycles and planes they'd need to locate and record. Pajor says, "We have known Max (Lachmann) and the others at Pole Position for years. We've done many field recordings together. We trust them and we trust their knowledge and their work. They are awesome at tracking down rare machinery or finding alternates if it isn't available. Also, they are lovely people and good friends." Lachmann reveals that finding WWI-era vehicles in working condition was part of the challenge in recording effects for Battlefield 1. "All of the vehicles we recorded were quite old," he says. "We start- ed out recording an old motorcycle. We got it all arranged to do the record. We get there, and the motorcycle didn't start. So after that we put in the contract that we had to have a mechanic on-loca- tion with us in case the vehicle didn't start. And also that the vehicle had to be started the day before we arrived, just to make sure that it is, indeed, running. That was something we never had to do before." Recording two single-seat WWI fighter planes were some of the most challenging sessions, says Lachmann, who handled all the logistics of the vehicle recordings for Battlefield 1. This included locating the vehicles and planes, arranging travel for the team and the audio equipment, booking the runways and racetracks, finding pilots and drivers, and making sure it was safe to record. The team, led by Pole Position recordist Mats Lundgren, captured the sound of the WWI fighter planes in two ways: First, while stationary on the ground running at full throttle and second, while flying. For the ground recordings, Lachmann says they were able to position mics all around the plane, from every angle and from different distances. They placed a DPA 4062 omnidirec- tional lav mic at the exhaust location, as well as two EV RE-50s on stands. They had two handheld Sennheiser MKH 8060s and a Neumann RSM 191 pointing from a distant perspective. Further around the plane, they used a Holophone head recording in surround and an ORTF setup with two Sennheiser MKH 8040s. In the engine area, they had a DPA 4062 lav mic, and a Crown PZM pressure zone mic. In the cockpit, they had anoth- er pair of DPA 4061s in front of the pilot, an EV RE-20 mic below the pilot and an omnidirectional Sennheiser MKH 8020 on the dashboard. The on-board recorder is usually the 10-track Zaxcom Fusion, but since the Zaxcom was too big to fit in the tight compartment, the team used a Sound Devices 788T wrapped in magic foam and squeezed in between the plane's steel frame and cloth. The crew used the Zaxcom Fusion as its ex- terior recorder (not on-board the plane), and also two Sound Devices 702 field recorders. Lachmann adds, "We recently got a Zoom F8 as our backup recorder. And we have several small, handheld recorders like the Olympus LS-5, which is a really cheap device but it sounds great for planes for some reason." Lachmann notes a few challenges on the flight recordings. First, it was up to the pilot to decide what he was comfortable with in terms of running cables because of the propellers. Second, the pilot had the Sound Devices recorder with him in the cockpit of the single-seat plane. "You send the recorder with the pilot and so you can't monitor what's being recorded. Two of the 10 channels were really distorted because the plane was much louder when it was flying. That's something you can't foresee, and you can't really ask the pilot to do it one more time," says Lachmann. But those recordings were invaluable, as the sound of the plane in-flight was different from how it sounded on the ground, even though the engine was being driven just as hard. "There is more low- end to the sound when it's flying," says Lachmann. "Something happens when it's in the air that you can't get while it's just on the ground." When recording vehicles, Lachmann advises safety first for the people involved. As for the gear, however, it's OK to take a risk here and there. "It's nice to have a set up you know will work, but you should also have an extra recorder and mics so you can experiment and find new, exciting sounds," Lachmann concludes. "Don't be afraid. You might burn a Rycote or a mic, but it's well worth it because you always learn something when you try new things." Battlefield 1