Getting the right level

The dynamic range of the world is huge, far in excess of your recorder and mic, so what level do you set? The best piece of advice is to keep as much headroom as you can without making the noise floor of the recorder a regular component of your recordings. Think about what you want to capture and, if possible, set a level that allows for around 10dB or more of headroom. Ambience recording is fairly simple as most of the dynamic events that may distort aren’t really what you’re after, but then again they may be golden nuggets that needed just an extra 10dB. For dynamic material don’t be afraid to under-record and use noise reduction later, as it’s easier than removing distortion. Built-in limiters are best left off unless you’re really uncertain about your surroundings or know well how they sound/operate. To a lesser degree, the same goes for high-pass/low-cut filters; ensure that you really don’t need the lowest octave(s) before engaging.