Bag Raid: Rare Finds Sound Design

Welcome back to Bag Raid, our clapback to photographers who gatekeep. If that's you, don't let the door hit you on the way out. Otherwise, make yourself at home, beers in the fridge etc. etc. This month we clatter through Ollie Menadue's Hi-Fi Camera Sling. For reasons that will become increasingly obvious, he listens closely.

Photos: Rare Finds Sounds Design // @rarefindssound // @rarefindssounddesign.

If you wrapped your eyes around our recent campaign, you most certainly wrapped your ears around it too. That's because sound is half the picture. Our good friend Ollie from Rare Finds Sound Design, who went to town creating unique sound effects and cinematic audio, is responsible. He spills his bag, and the beans below.

Bag Raid w/ Rare Finds Sounds Design

Sony M10 - My old reliable recorder, which is great for travelling as the batteries last for ages. I took it to Asia recently and didn’t swap them out for the entire two months.

Lumix S9 - The first full-frame camera I’ve owned and quite the step up from using my iPhone. I pair it with either the 18–40mm kit lens, the 50mm Lumix lens, or an old Canon FD 1.4 lens. It depends if I'm filming myself or the environment. Keen to get my hands on the new Lumix 40mm f2 too!

Small Omni Mics - A pair of small omnidirectional mics called the Mini Verdi’s by Oaka Instruments for recording ambiences. Really sensitive mics.

Earphones - Small little Apple cable ones with the USB-C adapter. I’ve lost plenty of those damn adaptors.

Microphone Accessories & Cables - Mic fluffies by Radius Windshields & Bubblebee Industries. These help keep my recordings clean if it's windy. Also some cable straps.

Spare Batteries - Not that I ever really need them, but just in case.

S Clip - Stuck on the outside, I use it to hang the bag on tree branches if it's wet and I don't want to put the bag on the floor or get the strap wet when hanging it up.

Keys, wallet, passport & pen - Just the essentials if I'm travelling.

Empty plastic shopping bag - For quick shops, or I wrap my water bottle in it in case it leaks all over my kit.

Hey Ollie, for anyone new to your work, how do you usually describe what you do.

My name’s Ollie and I run Rare Finds Sound Design. I’m a field recordist and sound designer.

Where are you based?

I’m currently bouncing back and forth between Devon and Bristol. That’s down in the south-west of the UK.

How did you get into field recording and sound design?

Both started properly in my last year of uni. I’m a drummer and sometimes it’s hard to get the rest of the band together. I started experimenting more and more with electronic music as I could do most of it on my own. I got into artists like Moderat, Boards of Canada and Bonobo, who all use field recordings and found sound samples in their tracks. When I began sampling the real world myself, I got hooked, you really hear the world differently when listening to it through headphones.

Do you remember the first sound you captured that made you want to keep going?

Hmm, I think the first sound I captured was all the way back in college. I used an early Zoom H4 to sample my parents’ kitchen and turn it into a rather janky track.

In terms of proper field recordings, I captured some good sounds with the kit I rented from my uni in Falmouth. I explored the estuary, recording footsteps, birds, and a friendly horse.

What are you listening for when you arrive somewhere new?

If I'm field recording ambiences, I listen for vibes and character, something that clearly identifies a location. When I lived over in Sydney, the tram bells, birds, and bats were key identifiers of where I was. So I guess I listen out for unique sounds which are specific to that area. For sound samples, it's really just anything I ain't heard before. Could be something as simple as a creaky gate. I’m basically just hoarding sounds at this point.

You spend a lot of time recording in the field – what draws you to that versus working in a studio?

Both have their pros and cons, but I'm a country boy at heart. I’m a little bit of an introvert too, and field recording is quite a solitary practice, even when you’re recording in a big city. I think there's something exciting about recording out in the field, as there are lots of variables to contend with, which results in either a really crap recording or a really sick one, making it feel extra special when you capture it.

Do you approach recording like photography – waiting for a moment, or building one?

Funny you should say that, as I do compare field recording to photography a lot, especially in an urban environment. I think the street photographers you’ve interviewed would agree with me when I say you have to be either super obvious you’re taking a photo or super stealth. Somewhere in the middle and you look kinda creepy. That’s just what has worked well for me personally.

In terms of waiting for a moment vs building one, it depends on what I'm trying to capture and if I want ‘myself’ to be part of the sound or if I want it to be a fly on the wall capturing a moment in time. If I'm recording sound samples, I’ll usually be part of the sound by interacting with a prop, but with field recording ambiences I find it’s better to wait and let the moment unfold.

What’s your go-to recording setup right now?

My go-to setup for recording is an MS rig. MS stands for mid-side, which is a two-microphone setup: one microphone is cardioid/hypercardioid and records the front. The other is a figure-of-8 microphone, and it's tilted sideways off-axis, so it records the sides. It's a fantastic mic setup for recording sound effects, as it's super flexible in the editing stage. I really rate an MS rig.

What’s in your Hung Supply bag?

I’ve tried a few different setups since I got the Hi-Fi Sling. Some with a bigger field recorder like the Zoom F6 and the Behringer Flow 4V, which surprisingly fitted like a glove. But I've mainly kept it pretty simple, as I've been using the Hi-Fi as a grab-and-go bag. So I have my Lumix S9, a Sony M10, some small mics, and a few accessories like mic fluffies, batteries, cable straps, and sometimes a power bank.

How does the Hi-Fi Sling fit into your workflow when you’re out recording?

A few things I've been trying are taking it out with other larger backpacks and using the Hi-Fi as a kind of packing cube that I can take out of my bag when I get to a field recording location. It’s been quite practical to keep all the main bits of a recording setup in the Hi-Fi, so when I get to a spot I can just grab it out of the backpack, pop it on, and start recording.

You’ve built a library of sounds used in film and edits – what makes a “good” sound to you?

I think that emotion and character make a good sound. It’s a bit like a good photo, you can get all the settings right, use the best gear, but if your photo lacks any emotion, it doesn’t really strike a chord to me. Sorry about the pun…

You helped with the sound design for our recent Hung campaign – how did you go about recording the different camera shutters?

Yeah, you folks smashed it with that campaign. The sounds I fired over to you to try out were pimped-up versions my mate and I made of some old film cameras I own. I built a little recording booth to sample every click, clunk, and shutter I could from those cameras. Honestly, it took too long to edit. I went a bit overboard with the recording, but I captured some sick sounds.

The stills cameras I used were old Pentax and Canon SLRs, Nikon DSLR, Kodak point-and-shoot, and a crusty old Akita. It was fun hearing how wildly different each style of shutter sounded. Some of those designed sounds you used are in the new Content Essentials library, and the other raw camera sounds are in the Rare Finds Sound Design library.

What’s one thing you’re trying to get better at – creatively or personally?

Presenting to camera and storytelling are my main ones right now. I love field recording and sound design, and I really want to share my passion for it with the world, as it can often get overlooked in big projects. The irony of great sound design is that if it's good, then it goes unnoticed, as it fits so naturally into a scene. But I hope that shining a light on all the amazing projects and work people have put into making them will help people recognise the importance of sound, not only in TV, film & video games, but also in the natural world when it comes to conservation and rewilding.

What’s one random thing in your bag that has nothing to do with recording?

A plastic shopping bag. I used to have a packable Woolies one from when I lived in Aus, but I've since lost it. A bit gutted, haha. Having a small little bag comes in handy just for shopping or wrapping my water bottle inside it in case it leaks or gets condensation all over the kit. Alternatively, you can also wrap the kit inside the bag if it starts raining too.