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Beta Sight: Sound Devices 788T and 302

Feb 25, 2009 12:00 PM, By Dave Ruddick

Extreme locations demand gear that works without a second thought.

           

Sound mixer Dave Ruddick traveled to Greenland to film a documentary about glaciers. Ruddick chose to take a Sound Devices 788T recorder and 302 field mixer because he knew they would be able to withstand the harsh weather and rugged terrain.

Greenland is not exactly the easiest place to shoot a documentary. With conditions such as subzero temperatures, melting icecaps, and dangerous terrains with absolutely no civilization in sight, working on Extreme Ice presented its fair share of challenges.

The project is a coproduction of National Geographic and PBS Nova that profiles noted photographer and artist James Balog as he chronicles the world's glaciers. Balog documents melting glaciers and icecaps with time-lapse cameras and is constantly looking for a new perspective to photographnature. As the sound mixer, I was tasked with finding the right equipment that would be ultraportable, provide the highest-quality audio available, and hold up in the country's rugged environment. Because of my previous experience with the company's products, I turned to Sound Devices and its 788T multitrack digital audio recorder and 302 compact production field mixer for their compact design and reliability in extremeweather conditions.

We were flown in by helicopter to the shooting location and were equipped with essential camping gear, food, and climbing gear to live on the ice sheet for three weeks. Because of limited space on the helicopter, we had to dramatically pare down our supplies since they were literally weighing us and our gear for the flight. This meant the bare minimum. These conditions created the need for compact and reliable sound equipment, as there was no way to receive backup gear. The compact size and lightweight design of Sound Devices' 788T recorder (3.75lbs.) and 302 mixer (1.8lbs.) solved that challenge for us.

Since it was summertime in Greenland during the shooting of this project, there was an excessive amount of moisture from the melting icecaps, typically a major concern when dealing with audio equipment. Because of their rugged, machined-aluminum housings, the 788T and 302 were not affected by the moisture or the cold temperatures, nor were they affected by being rained on, sat on, or dropped in the snow.

There were four of us onsite: the producer, cameraman, myself, and Balog as the talent. We each had to wear many hats on the project because of the remote location and limited resources. I was not only capturing the audio, but I was also in charge of overseeing all the safety measures we had intact, such as climbing-rope management for shooting in dangerous melting glacier locations. My biggest challenge was keeping Balog safe and recording his audio at the same time. There is no way out of a moulin (giant waterfalls in the middle of the icecaps) if something fails. It was daunting knowing that I was responsible for people's lives and, at the same time, responsible for the sound. Since I knew the Sound Devices equipment so well and was confident with the quality and reliability of the gear, it made it a lot easier for me to focus on the safety aspects of the project while recording high-quality audio at the same time.

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