Sound Bag

2024 Sound Bag & Cart Tour

In this episode we give you a behind-the-scenes look at our sound bag and cart setup for recording on location!

If you’d like to learn how to make great dialogue audio for your film and video projects, please have a look at my courses including processing dialogue audio in Adobe Audition and DaVinci Resolve/Fairlight, recording sound, how to use the Zoom F4, F6, F8, and F8n, and how to get the most from the Sound Devices MixPre series of recorders. Our latest courses cover Sound for Live Streaming with the ATEM Mini and an Intro to Izotope RX.

Support my work creating videos by donating at Ko-Fi.com.

Gear used or mentioned in this episode. The links below are Amazon.com, B&H Photo, Sweetwater, DVEStore, Perfect Circuit, Trew Audio or other affiliate links. As an affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases:

- Sound Cart Mini Cart — (not an affiliate link)

- Orca OR-34 Sound Bag — B&H

- Sound Devices 888 Field Recorder/Mixer — B&H, Sweetwater

- Sound Devices SL-2 Slot Receiver System — B&H

- Sound Devices A20 Wireless Mic System — B&H

- Sound Devices A20 Mini Wireless Mic Transmitter — B&H

- Deity Theos Wireless Microphone System — B&H

- HiQ/Inspired Energy Smart Batteries — B&H

- PSC Triple Play Power Distribution System — B&H

Some of my other gear:

- Sennheiser MKH 8050 Supercardioid Condenser Mic — B&H, Amazon

- Sound Devices MixPre Series II Recoders — B&H, Sweetwater, Amazon

- Impact Turtle-Base C-Stands — B&H, Amazon

- Aputure LS 600x Pro Bicolor LED Light — Aputure, B&H, Amazon

- Aputure Light Dome III Softbox — Aputure, B&H

- Amaran 300c RGBWW Single-Point LED Light — Aputure, B&H, Amazon

- Amaran Spotlight SE — Aputure, B&H, Amazon

- Rosco Prismatic Glass Gobo in Cool Lavender — B&H

- Canon C70 Cinema Camera — B&H

- Canon RF 24-70 f/2.8 lens — B&H, Amazon

- Panasonic GH5 camera — B&H, Amazon

- Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 II lens — B&H, Amazon

The intro and outro music for this episode is from Musicbed - “Dynamo” by Virgil Arles. Take your films to the next level with music from Musicbed. Sign up for a free account to listen for yourself.

Copyright 2023, Curtis Judd

Power Your Sound Bag: DEITY SPD-1 Power Distribution Box

In this week’s episode we take a look at DEITY’s SPD-1 battery distribution system. The SPD-1 allows you power all of the gear in your sound bag by connecting up to 3 separate batteries or power sources at a time, and hot-swap them when necessary. In this video we overview the SPD-1’s feature set, demonstrate how you might use it with your sound kit, and discuss how battery distribution systems can make your job on set or on location easier. Let’s take a closer look!

If you’d like to learn how to make great dialogue audio for your film and video projects, please have a look at my courses including processing dialogue audio in Adobe Audition and DaVinci Resolve/Fairlight, recording sound, how to use the Zoom F4, F6, F8, and F8n, and how to get the most from the Sound Devices MixPre series of recorders. Our latest courses cover Sound for Live Streaming with the ATEM Mini and an Intro to Izotope RX.

Support my work creating videos by donating at Ko-Fi.com.

Gear used or mentioned in this episode. The links below are Amazon.com, B&H Photo, Sweetwater, DVEStore, Perfect Circuit, Trew Audio or other affiliate links. As an affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases:

- DEITY SPD-1 Battery Distribution System — B&H

- DEITY SPD-1 Battery Distribution System Accessory Cables — DEITY (not an affiliate link)

- Inspired Energy/HiQ Smart Batteries — B&H, Trew Audio

- Sound Devices MixPre audio recorder — B&H, Trew Audio, Sweetwater, DVE Store, Amazon

- Rycote PCS Microphone Quick-Release System — B&H

- Aputure LS 300X used for background light — Aputure, B&H, Amazon

- Aputure Spotlight Mount — Aputure, B&H, DVE Store, Amazon

- Rosco Prismatic Glass Gobo in Cool Lavender — B&H

- Canon C70 cinema camera — B&H

- Canon RF 24-70 f/2.8L lens — B&H, Amazon

- Schneider Radiant Soft 1 diffusion filter — B&H

- Panasonic GH5 camera — B&H, Amazon

- Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 II lens — B&H, Amazon

The intro and outro music for this episode is from Musicbed - “Dynamo” by Virgil Arles. Take your films to the next level with music from Musicbed. Sign up for a free account to listen for yourself.

Copyright 2023, Curtis Judd

Sound Bag Tour

Let’s take a look at my sound bag setup. If you’ve never used a sound bag for your audio recorder/mixer, my hope is that this will give you some ideas on how to set yours up so that you’re comfortable and able to record some great sound for your film project.

Links to gear discussed and used to shoot this episode:

Orca OR-30 Audio Mixer Bag

Sound Devices 633 Audio Recorder/Mixer

Audio Limited A10 Dual Channel Receiver - with pro wireless systems, you buy each piece separately

Audio Limited A10 Transmitter (version for bag use)

DPA 4160 Lavalier Microphone - Great lavalier microphone but a little too sensitive to my sibilance. Will need to bury it under more clothes next time. You will also need the microdot adapter for your particular wireless system.

Remote Audio BDS V4 Battery Distribution System - you'll also need cables for the battery and each device that you're going to power.

Remote Audio Hi-Q Battery (98 watt-hours)

Sony MDR7506 Headphones - a little on the bass heavy side, but very comfortable and they fold when transporting so these are usually what I use on production days (but not for mixing in post)

Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro (80 ohm) Headphones - also very good, even more comfortable and better outside sound isolation, not as bass heavy, but they don't fold. Sometimes I just want the greater comfort these have to offer.

Aputure COB 120t LED Light - still my go-to key light

Aputure Light Dome Soft Box - Used to soften the key light

Lupo DayLED Fresnel Light with Barn Doors - Used to light the battery charger, for a focused, moody look

Blackmagic design Ursa Mini Pro Cinema Camera - used for some of the product shots

Sigma ART 24-70mm f/2.8 OS Lens (Canon EF Mount)

Panasonic GH5 - Used for some of the product shots

Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 OIS Lens - incredibly versatile lens that is on the GH5 most of the time

Copyright 2018 by Curtis Judd 

Music - MzA by Cary Judd, used with permission

Sound for Video Session: Microphone Polar/Pickup Patterns and Orca Sound Bags

This week we're back with a question and answer session. The questions submitted this week asked about polar/pickup patterns of microphones: When would I use a hypercardioid vs supercardioid? What about microphones with multiple polar patterns?

Then we talked a little about bags for your recorder or mixer. Big lesson I learned: Don't buy a bigger bag than you really need. Instead, buy a bag which fits your recorder snugly but comfortably, and then have a separate bag for all the stuff you don't want to carry with you while you're recording.

Also had a look at my two Orca bags - bags made specifically for sound recorders and mixers which have a ton of ergonomic features which make recording in the field a much more pleasant experience and help ensure you capture the sound like you intended.

Orca OR-34 (huge bag for the Sound Devices 688, Zaxcom Nomad, or similarly sized recorders/mixers)

Orca OR-30 (smaller bag for the Zoom F8, Sound Devices 633, or similarly sized recorders/mixers)