For 16 years, Mark Holden has been immersed in the world of sound as a recording engineer for TV, radio and live radio plays for LA Theatre Works to producing for the music industry and now opening his own recording studio in West Hollywood, The Invisible Studios. Mark is truly a sound expert. (So much so he can hear dogs barking in Eagle Rock when he’s at his studio in West Hollywood 10 miles away!)

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Tracy: This is part two of my interview with Mark Holden to hear part one go to last weeks podcast. But what about microphones?

Mark: Okay well it really depends on what you are doing, if your doing sort of broadcast type stuff as opposed to you know voice over for animation and things like. Broadcast type stuff, I mean do you want to know what types of microphones or what brands or?

Tracy: Well just, you know if people want to go out and get some equipment what do they need to get? I mean you don’t have to get into to much detail.

Mark: Yeah, well a lot of people really like the RODE NT1A and

Tracy: Is that R O A D?

Mark: Yeah, no its R O D E it is an Australian company. RODE R O D E N T 1 A. It is a great microphone for the price; it doesn’t have a lot of what we call rejection which means that it actually picks up quite a bit. So it’s a very sensitive because it’s a condenser microphone. So it picks up a lot sort of ambient sounds. Like if I said if you are doing something more broadcast oriented and you want to get really tight in and have that big sort of broadcaster sound. You are better with a broadcasting mic which is a HEIL PR40

Tracy: And how do you spell HEIL?

Mark: HEIL is H E I L and it is from a guy named Bob Heil who actually got inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame a couple of years ago, he helped to create the first live sound console for the Who and the Grateful Dead way back.

Tracy: Okay, so he knows sound.

Mark: yeah, well he makes the great microphones and they are basically broadcast mics but that they have a lot rejection so they have a lot of side rejection, so they are going to pick up more of you right in front of your microphone then they are of things going around in your apartment or your traffic outside and things like that, so those are two really good

Tracy: Okay so I was just going to ask you price, price range

Mark: Yeah, those are two good options the PR40 is a little pricier I think it is around $329 the NT1A is about $229

Tracy: Okay

Mark: But depending on what you’re doing they’re both great microphones. If you are doing voice over auditions the NT1A is probably just less forgiving mic so if you move your head a little bit you know it will sound like your going off mic where as the PR40 it is more of a broadcast mic so you have seen broadcasters on TV or whatever you notice that they just kind of sit there on their mic. So that is what kind of mic that is, so its more of you have to site there right in front of it and do your thing.

Tracy: And in addition to that what do people need to just the basics, for their setup. So they need the mic obviously and then they need the mixing board if?

Mark: Well not necessarily I mean you know a lot of people just use the interfaces. Like for Pro Tools it would be an M Box, M audio has several that can be used with Logic

Tracy: And are they fairly easy to figure out?

Mark: Well that is kind of the million dollar question (Laughs)

Tracy: I mean what is an easy set up? Because already it is like UH, and do they come with think manuals you know?

Mark: No, I mean you can use garage band software to like I said if you have.

Tracy: But I am talking about in the recording process when you have your mic do you need it hooked in I mean you need it hooked into something

Mark: Well you need a microphone pre amplifier and you know your computers with a built in microphone pre amplifiers, laptops are

Tracy: So you can hook it right into your computer?

Mark: Technically you can, it is not ideal because they are really cheap microphone pre amplifiers so and you can start up that way especially for auditions that are stuff will be fine. And then if you want to upgrade there are so many options, I think the most difficult thing for people to overcome when they do this thing for the first time you know when they want to do a little home set up is just the software issues. If they are not really used to you know non linear editing, if they have never done video or audio editing it is something you have to kind of work through. And basically all of the software programs they run very similarly they are non linear editing so you have a timeline and you know you look at the time line

Tracy: And they look like an AKG for those of you who haven’t seen that

Mark: (Laughs)

Tracy: I am sure most of you people have

Mark: So there non destructive editing and recording which means when you erase things and stuff on your screen it doesn’t actually erase the audio files unless you tell it to do that. So they are forgiving as far as they are not going to erase something that you did but as far as cutting things together I think that is what people find complicated.

Tracy: Right

Mark: So most people who are doing auditions have been in front of a microphone and can kind of hear with their headphones, you know if they are sounding distorted. So yeah I mean a very standard setup is a microphone into a microphone amplifier into your interface or your computer and then it is usually plugged in USB and there is usually a headphone output on the interface.

Tracy: And you recommend using the headphones always?

Mark: Always, because there is now way, I mean if there is no one monitoring you there is no way for you to ever know what you’re getting and what you’re not getting

Tracy: Until you listen it

Mark: Unless you want to just do trial and error, you can hear immediately if headphones if your distorting or if your too far away or if you are hearing something else like in your room that’s. If you have your headphones on you may all of the sudden hear your computer fan going and you may want to try and make that quieter.

Tracy: Okay

Mark: Or you may hear your dishwasher running or something like that.

Tracy: And Mark we know you can hear, I always say Mark can hear dogs barking in Eagle Rock which is about ten miles away from here. (Laughs)

Mark: Easily

Tracy: We don’t all have that kind of hearing but okay so do you recommend any particular software PC and MAC for either one? I mean I personally use garage band and I think it’s great, I have used Pro Tools and I mean that is more complicated.

Mark: Like I said they all work on a very similar basic sort of level. The thing with Pro Tools is that it can be very simple and very complicated all at the same time. Where as Garage Band

Tracy: Right, Okay

Mark: Garage Band is very simple I mean you can do some quite complicated things with it but it doesn’t go to you know the realm where Pro Tools does and Logic and some of the bigger ones. But there all you know all of the projects Logic to Digital Performer there used to be one called Acid Pro but I think it is called something else now. Things like that they all work on the same basic philosophy that it is just you know you record you see your wave file you edit it and you send it off.

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Tracy: This is Part Two of my interview with Mark Holden join me next time for Part Three

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