Sound Effects Bible by Ric Viers

            I had a book report due in a class, and I thought the info that I got out of the book might be a little interesting to put on this blog.  The book I read is called The Sound Effects Bible by Ric Viers.  He has created a very unique type of business that records, edits, stores and sells libraries of sound effects.  For the most part, they are being used in movies, but a few other major companies that have bought his sounds are Apple, Sony, and Adobe.

            The book offers a list of the  “10 Commandments” of recording sound effects, which are (paraphrased as):

1.     Have pre and post roll of 2 seconds

2.     Record more than needed

3.     Slate every take

4.     Check levels often

5.     Listen to recorded work in the field only with headphones

6.     Eliminate all background noise

7.     Never interrupt takes

8.     Point microphone directly at the sound

9.     Check equipment BEFORE going out into the field

10. Remember copyright laws

I’m definitely going to recommend to anyone interested in film sound effects to read this book, because there is so much useful information in there that I promise you never would have thought about.  I will say my favorite commandment, however, is number 8.  So obvious right? But I will say, I didn’t follow it all the time, and I have seen a number of other people do the same.  The example in the book that really stood out to me is about recording a creaking door.  If you want the sound of the door creaking, you don’t point the microphone at the actual door; you point it at the source, which in this case would be a creaking hinge.  Like I said, it seems like it would be so obvious after reading it, but I guarantee there are a lot of things I have tried recording that could have been much better if I thought for just a little longer about what the actual source was.