Underwater Surround Recording with Nuendo
To conduct a scientific research mission, having accurate and rugged equipment is a must, the highest degree of audio quality the basic prerequisite. When outer circumstances do not tolerate compromises and the "first take" is critical, the choice of audio software is dictated by its quality. Last year, SAE lecturer and sound engineer Timo Klinge embarked on the Aldebaran research expedition and made the first-ever underwater multi-channel recordings off the coast of Belize. Read more on why Timo chose to use Nuendo 4 by Steinberg for this one-of-a-kind project.
Hello Timo! Please give us a short introduction to the Aldebaran Project.
Since 2008 was the International Year of the Reef, the crew of the Hamburg-based research and media ship Aldebaran set out to document the implications of global climate change at the largest coral reef of the Atlantic Ocean.
From March to May 2008, a group of scientists, cameramen and sound technicians explored the stunning marine environment around the Yucatán Peninsula of Middle-American Belize. Together with specialists of the University of Frankfurt the crew investigated the changes in sea-level rise over the past 8,000 years along the Lighthouse Reef Atoll. And our surround recordings are expected to provide a high-quality acoustic insight to what's happening along this massive reef.
Regarding your surround recordings, what basic considerations were necessary?
What makes stereophonic underwater recordings so difficult is the acoustic medium water. Sound travels 4.5 times quicker through water than through air, plus there are no directional hydrophones which are specifically designed for the human hearing range. Moreover, the propagation of sound in water fluctuates a lot more than in air owing to three different factors: pressure, salt content and temperature. That's why a surround recording may work in one place, but delivers a completely different result just one hundred meters away. It was rather challenging to create a functionable surround setting with omnidirectional microphones in order to pick up sounds 4.5 times faster than when traveling through air.
Why was Nuendo 4 your first choice?
With Nuendo 4, I can put a lot of thought into every detail when using surround, therefore letting me work in an efficient manner. Being a native system, the software is just as powerful as DSP-based solutions, however, requires considerably less space. I worked with a resolution of 192 kHz so that I could also record in ultrasound. In addition, the routing and panning capabilities in Nuendo 4 were decisive for my personal workflow. And since I had a host of great multi-channel effects to hand, I was able to begin with the post production while still being on board the research ship.
"I chose Nuendo 4 because it provides outstanding recording quality, compatibility and, above all, great multi-channel handling."
— Timo Klinge
Which functions in Nuendo were especially useful to you?
Nuendo 4 comes with an extremely powerful and straight-forward down-mix plug-in which also allowed me quickly to export stereo files on the spur of the moment. The included Surround Dither is also very practical. Using only a single plug-in, I can adjust the type of dither and bit resolution of each channel. That's how it's got to be. I'm also a big fan of customizable shortcuts. As in the previous versions, Nuendo 4 leaves it to the user to assign the key shortcuts best suited to the job.
What was the greatest challenge you faced while making underwater surround recordings?
We were only able to test the entire system when we got to the Belizean coast so that important questions could only be clarified on location, such as: Are the joints of the A-ray able to handle the high pressure load? How well are we able to balance out the surround system? Being on a metal ship, how can we achieve a secure grounding? After two weeks of preparation and intensive test runs, we began with the recordings.
When and where can we hear the recordings, and are you planning on giving any presentations?
We want to convey the fascination for the huge variety of marine life found in oceans and coastal mangrove woods through a cinema film and planetarium productions, allowing the viewer to experience it first hand and in high resolution. In addition, several presentations will be held about the development and realization of this project.
Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions.
