Rycote Uncovered: Filmographer Jake Sloan Stands Up to Any Challenge Alaska Dishes Out with Rycote

Jake Sloan

Filmographer

“Rycote mics and tools have performed exceptionally well as long as I have been working with them. They continue to deliver great results in pretty much every situation.”

To most people in the continental U.S., Alaska evokes a narrative of rugged individuals thriving under even more rugged conditions. Between weather, terrain, and sheer remoteness of most of the state, that’s more than mythology. Government workers and contractors regularly endure brutal conditions while managing disaster recovery and infrastructure efforts, and solo filmmaker Jake Sloan is often there to document the process. With literally one hand on the camera and the other running sound, he trusts the latter to Rycote microphones and equipment. These include the HC-15 and HC-22 shotgun microphones, Cyclone baskets, Softie windscreens, and lavalier solutions including Stickie mounts and Windjammer screens. He details his incredible and demanding job in this interview. 

Tell us about the unusual work you’re doing in Alaska.

I do film work all over the United States and internationally. I’m based in Alaska, and much of my work involves going out to rural areas, many of which are not connected to the road system at all, and some are north of the Arctic Circle, so I’m flying there in planes and helicopters. One of the biggest projects I've been working on for the last year has been for a statewide effort with the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, and it’s called ARROW [Alaska Rural Remote Operations Work]. The purpose is better infrastructure support and disaster response, and we’re placing drones and Starlink internet systems in villages, and training people to use them for search and rescue, disaster reconnaissance, and things like that. 

What has your role been in the ARROW project?

My role has been to document the whole process from beginning to end. The rollout, the deployment of the equipment, the training, to exactly how the systems are being used — all of it. 

Has the system undergone a real-world test yet?

Oh, certainly. Every year when the rivers start to thaw, the ice can dam up and create flooding. We had historic flooding in a hub city called Bethel. Because of the drones and internet presence, we were able to launch a live stream officials could view from Anchorage and Juneau. Because of that, the governor was able to declare an official disaster within 24 hours, whereas before it might have taken a week or ten days to turn that around. It was very satisfying to see the benefits of this program in real time. 

Related to that, another big project I’ve been working on is with a company called Quintillion, who are laying undersea telecom cables around the Arctic and through remote regions of Alaska, to bring high-speed internet to towns and villages. This is important because up here, when things go wrong, they go wrong very quickly, and quicker response time can save lives.

When you document these installations or the actual use cases of the systems, are you miking people up? Are you going wireless or using a boom, or both?

I generally prefer the sound of a boom mic, though a wireless lav is a good backup. It’s not always possible in every environment, but I like the natural sound of a shotgun mic because I’m used to working with large-diaphragm mics from my studio background. 

What environmental challenges do you face?

Well, this doesn’t happen every time, but I’ve worked in blizzards with winds over 50 miles per hour, trying to capture the moment in terms of what workers or rescue personnel are doing. 

We would imagine this is where good protective gear for your mics is relevant.

Absolutely. One thing is minimizing the sound of the wind, which the Rycote stuff is excellent at. But there’s also protecting the mics themselves, which in turn have to be pretty robust. Two weeks ago, I ran up a mountain with a team of Navy SEALs. It was a torrential downpour the entire time and windy as heck. At the end of that shoot, I was soaked through despite wearing all my GoreTex. I’ve also been out in blizzards where you’re getting maybe 12 to 14 inches of snow over six to eight hours. The mics have to withstand some pretty harsh conditions, and you just try to roll with it in the moment and hope for the best. 

Which microphones and other products do you use under these conditions?

I started using the Rycote HC-15 and HC-22 shotgun mics. In terms of windscreens, the Softies are just incredible. This one [holds up Softie] was soaking wet and it dried off and bounced back like new. For years, I’ve also been using the Stickies — the lavalier sticky mounts — to hide lavs under people’s clothing, and the Windjammers to minimize rustle from their clothes.

How have the shotgun mics themselves held up?

So far, I’ve had very good results with them handling cold, water intrusion, and sweat, and still going strong. Running with that SEAL team, I knew that if the mics had a breaking point, I’d find it. 

In terms of sound quality, how would you compare Rycote mics to other brands you’ve used? 

Well, I’ve used the [Sennheiser] 416 a lot, and there’s nothing wrong with it — it’s an industry standard and a very robust mic. But sonically, I tend to prefer the Rycote mics. They have a smoother top end to my ears, and a clean low midrange. They also have an insanely low noise floor, which is great for when I’m capturing ambient sounds that are kind of quiet — things like birds, insects, running water, or the wind across the tundra — to establish a sense of place. Rycote is fantastic for that.  

Do you attribute that to any particular design feature?

I would guess it’s how they tune the capsules. Most shotgun mics have a slight response peak where spoken dialogue would be, and in the 2kHz to 4kHz range. Or they have a pronounced roll-off in the lows, at about 80Hz. The Rycote mics sound very even and natural. I don’t want to say “flat” if that implies a lack of life or presence. They’re just great for ENG and capturing natural sounds. But that low noise floor is super valuable. Otherwise, for those quiet sounds I’d be doing a lot of cleanup in software because the mic would have more self-noise. With Rycote, there’s almost no self-noise even when I’m running at high gains to capture something like crickets in the forest. 

How do they perform in the opposite situation, if you’re trying to capture dialogue in very loud or noisy surroundings?

Right, so I’ve been in a lot of situations like that. For example, talking to a project manager about a highway reconstruction. We’d be set up right next to the highway with traffic going by and construction vehicles working around us. The HC-22 has allowed me to get especially good isolation for things like this. Its pickup pattern is hypercardioid, where most of the other mics I’ve tried have been supercardioid or even just cardioid. It also has a long interference tube, which certainly helps. At the same time, it’s sensitive enough to pick up mosquitoes buzzing around in an otherwise quiet environment. 

You also mentioned the HC-15, which is a shorter shotgun mic. Is there a difference in applications you use it for?

I’d have to say the HC-15 is especially good at indoor work, where I might be in an echoey room. It’s great at eliminating early reflections. I find I can get natural, clean sounding dialogue off someone sitting in, oh, a hospital waiting room or someplace like that. 

How would you sum up Rycote as a brand?

Well, all the Rycote products — the mics and the protective equipment — have been great at withstanding the abuse that comes with the kind of work I do. I should also mention that in most cases I’m a one-man show. I’m filming, doing sound, and directing the documentary process of the subject matter. So, it’s important to have microphones that I can just point at the source and not worry about. Rycote mics and tools have performed exceptionally well as long as I have been working with them. They continue to deliver great results in pretty much every situation.