What is "Room Tone?"

Any time that you are recording outside of a studo where you do not have complete control over your surroundings you are going to have sounds and images encroaching on your digital video process. Even the sounds and light of a new location can be different than what you are used to, and you may want to edit them out later. Sound is one of the easier things to work with because it is easier to isolate than aspects of the image. To make sure that you will have the option of isolating the sounds you want to use in your digital video project you have to make sure you always record “room tone.”

Room tone is the constant sound that any location has where you are filming. Whether it is the hum of a computer or the light touch of a consistent breeze, it is a constant sound that is part of the landscape of this location. It is important to always record ten seconds of this blank sound at the beginning of any field recording so that particular sound can be isolated and removed later on. Simply set up the microphones that you will be using for recording, as well as all other blocking for the scene. Then before you begin filming what you came there for record ten seconds of that location’s sound.

Later when you are working on editing this project isolate that ten second of sounds separately, and label it appropriately so it can be found later. If that sound is overpowering in the shots you did at that location, you can put those video clips into a sound mixing program, such as Soundtrack Pro, and use the room tone to decide what elements of the sound need to be eliminated. If you set that room tone as the exact sound that must be removed from the clips, then the program can rip all of the subtle background noise from all of those video segments.

Though this is not a common process to go through it is a smart idea to always record room tone in case you want to make those alterations later on. When recording it is always best to prepare for the worst results and get everything you need to ensure a quality final product.