• Abigail Sie
• Damian Kastbauer
• Jamie Hardt
• Peter Albrechtsen
• Shaun Farley
• Varun Nair

My plan was to receive two or three editors, but since I found more people with such unique vision and approach, interesting ways of thinking about sound and really cool ideas to develop on the site, I decided to build a bigger team. The goal isn’t to increase the content (although it will be increased), but to make it more diverse, detailed and cover a wider variety of things.

To the people that is not in the list: I’ll count you in for the future and I’ll contact if we need more people in the team. There are a lot of fantastic profiles and people with passion for doing this.

Don’t be afraid to start your own blogs, share your ideas, discuss and learn together. And always remember that Designing Sound is always welcome for helping to spread the word.

I hope you like what’s coming in the next days.

Many things have started to happen around us, each day I find more and more information, and there’s more people interested to share their ideas. Since I also have ideas for new sections, new ways to share more stuff, and also want to open the site more, I’ve concluded that this adventure would be better if more people work with me on it, not only because I don’t have time for expanding the content by myself. It’s simply because I think that Designing Sound would be highly benefited if more minds contribute on it.

And what do you get? I’ll be honest. Besides my passion, there is a “hidden” reason for all of this: I’m not agree with the model of formal education and I feel this as a mission. Think about this as an antenna created for letting us share knowledge together, in a free way, as I think it should be.

I don’t want to go deep on this because it’s more a personal opinion. I just want you to consider that there’s no money behind anything here. We’re just friends sharing cool things and learning from each other, so, the offer is not a “paid job”, at least with money. This is more like an adventure. I can tell you, what this project has given to me is not comparable with anything.

It’s about sharing your own ideas to lots of people that loves sound as you do. It’s about meeting really inspiring persons, learning new tricks, changing tour vision each day. It’s just about expanding your own mind in so many ways.

If that sounds cool for you and you think you can commit to dedicate a daily amount of time on this project, let’s send me an e-mail to miguel[at]designingsound[dot]org with only these things on the message:

• Your name + an “about me” (Whatever you want to tell me about yourself) + What you do with sound (Doesn’t matter how professionally it is or how experienced you’re)
• Why are you interested on being blogger here?
• Tell me in 10 words what is sound design for you.
• Let’s say that a sound designer you admire is in front of you. You can only make 3 questions. What would you ask to that person?

I’m not interested to judge if your point is good or bad. That would not make sense for me. Just make me want to include you in this project. That’s all.

I’m planning to choose two or three persons initially, but could be more. We’ll see depending on the amount of submissions. I look forward to your messages! Deadline is Apr 15.

By popular demand and also in an effort to give you more options for reading Designing sound, I’ve created a mailing list which can be used for several things, including daily, weekly or monthly subscription for the articles published on the site and also subscription for special/exclusive announcements from Designing Sound.

I’ve done several tests to the list and everything seems to be working fine, but I still need to see how it works with more people, so I apologize for any future issue you have with the list. Please let me know if you have any kind of problems with it.

LINK: Designing Sound Mailing List

I’m excited to announce a new sound design competition, developed in collaboration between Waves Audio and Designing Sound, with a Sound Design Suite Native (or a different Waves bundle or upgrade of equivalent value) as the prize for the winner.

General Information

1. Download the competition package that includes a clip from Need for Speed: Shift 2 Unleashed™ (courtesy of Electronic Arts) and sound effects (courtesy of The Hollywood Edge).
2. Using those sounds, and the plugins in the Waves Sound Design Suite (a demo of it), design the sound for the clip. You may also use your DAW’s native processing tools but you’re not allowed to record or manipulate other sounds or use third party plugins. You can only use your DAW and the sound effects included in the competition package, and there should not be any other plugin that is not included in the Waves Sound Design Suite.
3. Then upload the video to the specified address and tell how you used Waves plugins to design the sounds of the clip

Detailed Rules and Instructions

Deadline and Judges

The Waves Sound Design Competition will run from February 1st until February 28th 2011, and the winner will be announced shortly thereafter.

The judges will be four sound design masters:

• Scott Martin Gershin (Star Trek, Hellboy 2, Chronicles of Riddick, American Beauty).
• Charles Deenen (Need for Speed, Fast & Furious 1 and 2).
• David Farmer (Lord of the Rings Trilogy, King Kong, The Incredible Hulk, The Arrival).
• Tom Ozanich (Kill Bill: Vol. 2, The Incredible Hulk, Speed Racer, 2 Fast 2 Furious).

Learn How to Use the Suite

During all this month I’ll be publishing several articles about the use of Waves plugins on sound design. I’ll give you my personal opinion about each plugin included in the suite and I’ll also include all kind of exclusive anecdotes, opinions, tips and tricks from professional sound designers. You can find all those links grouped here.

The plugins included in the Sound Design Suite are tools used everyday by many professionals in the sound industry, so I think sharing opinions and tricks about those plugins will be useful for many of you. Also, that will give lots of ideas to the participants of the competition.

Good luck and enjoy!

Important Links: Competition Rules and Information | Special Page at Designing Sound

Could you imagine the concept of television re-imagined for sound designers only? How would that be?

How would be a Field Recording TV channel? or can you imagine a show where you can see how the sound of a recent film was done? or what about watching some channels where you can find other guys like you recording sounds outside the world? What if you could watch interviews with different sound designers each night while you drink a cup coffee?

Well, I’ve created something like that, but using the Internet. It’s called Designing Sound TV, a new website packed with lots videos about sound for films, video games, tv, and more. There you can find all kind of stuff on sound design, field reording, foley, mixing, and more.

In the last years I’ve collected (links/files) many ”making of” videos, featurettes, dev diaries, library promo videos, tutorials, etc. Just any sound design video you can think of. I love that stuff as a treasure, and I realized that you could love it too, so I decided to create a dedicated place where all that videos can be perfectly organized and available to the community.

I created it with the geek sound designers in mind, so there are several features that you’ll love:

It’s not from scratch. DS TV is launched with 400+ videos already tagged, organized and waiting for you.

• Everything is tagged and filtered by Sound Person, Film, or Video Game titles. So, if for example, you want to see all the videos of “Ben Burtt”, you just need go to the Sound Person page and click.
• I’ve seen all the videos published there, so I can guarantee that all is good stuff and doesn’t have inappropriate content. I’ll keep the site updated by myself, so you’ll never find any kind of bot, automated system or similar.
• The site’s structure is designed specifically for video. The video size changes dynamically (ie: when you change from the front page to a single post) and you can also change the video quality directly from the site, no matter the video service used.

You can visit it right now but please remember: it’s beta! so, keep in mind that there can be some issues, bad links, etc. Any problem, bug or suggestion, please don’t hesitate to contact me at miguel@designingsound.org.

I’ve worked very hard on this new project and I’ve learned a lot from those videos, so I hope you enjoy it and learn a lot from it as well!

Thanks for your support.

It’s incredible. This year is almost over! It has been an amazing year for Designing Sound. We have grown a lot and have had the opportunity to share a lot of incredible material, learn, and create community.

Designing Sound is no longer a simple blog and has become something like a full time job for me. That’s why I feel a constant need to improve it each day and offer more and better content. I want to finish this year with a bang, so there are a few surprises for you this month:

First of all, the new look. As you can see, I’ve updated the theme of the site, with the new CDMcore theme from Create Digital Media. Thanks to Peter Kirn and the CDM design team for their amazing job on the theme and special thanks to Santiago Merino for his help on the DS graphic stuff. I’m still working to improve several things, so expect some minor changes in the next days.

Second, there’s a new brother site coming tomorrow. I’ve been working hard to get it finished for tomorrow, so you can enjoy it during this christmas. I would like to keep the mystery until tomorrow, but I can tell you that this new site will take a lot of your daily hours, and you’ll learn a lot from it.

Finally, expect a lot of cool things coming this month. There are several exclusive interviews coming and also the special visit of Frank Bry, who will share a lot of cool things with us. From field recording to sound design. Will be amazing!

Hope you enjoy the news, and stay tuned for tomorrow’s launch.

Many thanks for reading.

Field recorders in action.

Field recorder choices

In addition to choosing the most practical and highest quality microphone (as discussed in Part 1 of this article), the second half of the field recording ‘equipment’ equation is the trusty field recorder. We’ve come quite a long way in mobile recording technology in just the past few years and while it might seem to improve the chances of capturing incredibly high quality audio, it actually makes your choice that much more difficult. As with microphones, there are countless reasons to choose a specific recording device over another and, of course, it all depends on what you’re recording and how you’re recording it. Once you’ve defined your variables, selecting an appropriate recorder may become obvious but most recordists still bring more than one type just to be safe.

Recorder features

Field recorders worthy of making the journey with you can have features from the simple to incredibly complex. In some situations, cumbersome technology can be a bad thing if you have to struggle with settings, inaccessible buttons and unpredictable recording media, especially when you’re constantly in motion. Having plenty of ‘features’ is nice but if you don’t need ‘em, why bring ‘em? Keeping things uncomplicated will let you focus on the sounds at hand and not the gear.

• Ease of use. There is plenty to occupy your mind during a session and the gear should not be what monopolizes your thoughts. The Aaton Cantar X, for example, is a great recorder but requires quite a bit of experience with it before it becomes second nature. Even something as simple as the Zoom H4n, with its sub-menus can muck up the works and slow things down. Be sure the recorder you choose is a comfortable fit with your thought process, allows you to make adjustments and swap out batteries and memory easily.

• The appropriate amount of recording channels. A 2-channel recorder is typically the right amount of tracks for field recording but there are many occasions where 4 or more are what you need. First, make sure the recorder you select has the amount of tracks you need and second, make sure they can all record simultaneously. Some gear may have 8 channels but only record on 6 channels at once and some require an additional mixer to even do that. If more than 8 tracks are needed, choose a recorder that can link with additional units to give you the amount you need.

• Connections. Selecting a recorder with the appropriate microphone connections is the obvious first concern. But, if you’re using external power sources, interfacing with other recorders, a mixer or computer and syncing to time code as well, it becomes imperative the holes match up to the mishmash of cables you plan to plug into them. Conversely, these will directly influence the choice of microphones, cables and adapters you might need so make sure everything interconnects properly.

• Phantom power. A recorder with built in 48v phantom power will allow you to connect microphones that require power to operate properly but, unfortunately, not all portable recorders have this particular feature. As mentioned previously, some microphones allow for batteries within their capsule to cover this, but if your recorder doesn’t have phantom power and the mic won’t take batteries, an external phantom power supply is the only other option. And often, the mere addition of an external power supply will influence the choice of recorder especially if you’re trying to pack light.

• On board effects. Occasionally, having features such as a limiter, compressor, high/low pass filter or EQ are advantageous to the situation and if you anticipate needing any of these, make sure they are on the recorder. Limiters can be definite life savers if you get a too aggressive with your gain settings and high pass/low cut filters are great for excessive wind noise if you need it.

• Pre-roll. Some recorders come equipped with a ‘pre-roll’ feature which lets you grab the sound you thought you missed.  Once you engage ‘record standby’, the unit records into a memory buffer of a specific length usually around 6 to 8 seconds or shorter if a high sample rate and resolution are selected. Once the ‘record’ button is depressed, the buffer is written to the memory card or hard drive until the recording is stopped. The key when using this feature is not to panic or make noise when you realize you’re missing the sound – just calmly press record and relax.

• Headroom. Distortion and clipping can make field recordings totally unusable. Some recording gear are designed cheaply and don’t quite have the needed headroom to capture forceful sounds cleanly. If loud sounds are on the agenda, ensure the equipment has sufficient headroom to accomplish the task.

• Gain ‘knob’. A knob or fader are key to making smooth gain adjustments while recording, whether you’re being subtle or gain riding with wild abandon. Many of the new pro-sumer portable recorders are lacking this vital feature and have instead resorted to noisy buttons which can be heard in the recording no matter how careful you are. There are obvious instances, such as when recording ambient tracks, when ‘set and forget’ is fitting but not having to worry about this additional noise leaking into your recording will let you concentrate on other things.

• File formats. For the best audio quality, high sample rates and resolution are preferred. 44.1kHz, 16 bit, wav files are the absolute minimum but nowadays there is a stronger demand for 96kHz, 24 bit quality and it is quickly becoming the new standard. Uncompressed file formats such as .wav are also the best way to go, but due to smaller memory buffers or storage capacity, some recorders only allow for compressed formats such as mp3.

Storage media and back up capabilities

How the field recorder stores audio data may be a personal choice but whatever is ultimately chosen must be easily transferred from the device to a computer for editing and archiving. The ability to connect directly to a computer via USB or Firewire and removable media cards are the standard options but there are still excellent older field recorders which may use DAT, CD/DVD-R and even mini-discs. On-board hard drives and flash memory cards are the most reliable and the easiest to manage large audio files by a simple drag and drop.  DAT tape is still viable but the huge disadvantage is the ‘transfer’ has to be done in real time by pressing ‘play’ on the DAT and simultaneously recording onto a computer DAW. You might as well go grab some lunch when you do it this way.

Ultimately you’re looking for a storage medium that is fast enough to capture high resolution audio during the recording process, large enough to hold it all and the ability to be easily swapped out of the recorder and replaced with minimal down time.  Compact Flash (CF) and Secure Digital (SD) cards fit the bill, are plentiful and affordable.

Power requirements

Field recorders can be incredibly thirsty for power – especially if you’re running a multiple, linked unit arrangement.  Understanding what your rig needs, how it will consume the energy, how the power might be affected in temperature extremes and recharging capability will definitely influence what you use and the backup power sources you bring.

Most genuinely portable units will contain internal batteries, either of the replaceable/rechargeable variety or single use batteries.  Some allow for easy, convenient replacement while others require unhooking cabling, unpacking from their case and using a tool to open the battery compartment.  Most are equipped with an external power connection which is ideal when internal batteries are too difficult to change quickly or if lengthy recording sessions are planned. These systems allow for multiple connections for several pieces of equipment and easy battery changes but can add a bit to your load.

For long recording sessions, plenty of batteries on hand is elementary.  Bringing more batteries than you think you’ll need is the smart way to go. Unless you can tap into a power source directly or as a recharging station, ‘more than enough’ is the safest route.  Also bring plenty of AA and 9v batteries for powered mics and other gear with hidden power needs.

One of the cruelest jokes mother nature has for us field recordists is the effect temperature extremes have on batteries and the devices they supply. Hot running gear in hot temperatures can play havoc on internal batteries greatly reducing battery life or sufficiently ‘cooking’ the chemicals so they aren’t electrically reactive at all. Lithium and NiCad batteries work great in extreme cold but NiCad and NiMH batteries don’t recharge correctly in anything lower than room temperature. If your session will take you to either temperature extreme, do a little research in advance to make sure you’ve the right batteries and enough juice.

Recorder size

When space or weight isn’t an issue, a stationary cart full of audio gear will definitely get the job done.  But, if you’ve got to be on the move, which most field recordists are, you want to pack light. In the not too distant past, balancing quality audio with compact and lightweight gear used to be a major challenge. The good news though, you’ll find a great selection of highly portable equipment on the market these days that will really surprise you.

It’s a good idea to consider size and portability when planning for a recording session. Do you have to carry it all day?  Will you have to squeeze into tight spaces to grab sounds? Will the external battery system really add that much weight?  Will I have any other equipment such as a microphone matrix box, preamp, mixer or wireless receivers that will add to the weight? Answering these types of questions will help you select an appropriate sized recorder to go with the rest of what you’re carrying.

Ruggedness

I’m not going to compare field recordists with baggage handlers but it’s safe to say that no matter how careful you are with your equipment, stuff happens. During the chaos of packing, getting to the session, setup, tear down and everything in between, your prized recording unit is going to get some knocks. There are plenty of inexpensive recorders available but keep in mind they are cheap for a reason. The plastic cases aren’t as durable as we’d like and buttons and access doors tend to break. Add the distraction of ‘heat of battle’ mayhem into the mix and you’ve got a good chance something is going to get squashed.

If you predict one of those crazy sessions, it’s not a bad idea to make certain your recorder of choice is built to withstand it. A sturdy metal chassis is a good start and an additional production case will not only provide padding and storage space but add a bit of moisture resistance as well. Of course, units such as the Aaton Cantar are designed to operate in rain and messy conditions without one.

If you’re recording while walking, running or in the back of a bouncing  pickup truck, also consider shock resistance as part of your decision. No matter how rugged your storage medium seems to be, remember that even Compact Flash and SD cards can get jostled and lose connection with the contact points which will introduce a glitch in the file or cause it to be lost altogether.   CD/DVD-R, hard drives and even DAT’s can be bumped and mar the recording so nothing is totally impervious.

Comfort

Finally, lugging around gear with sharp edges, buttons and switches you have to contort to access or are so small you can’t work them, display screens that are difficult to view, cases with abrasive surfaces that rub you in the same spot all day, headphones that squeeze your head like a vise, constantly tangled cables and any other thing with the potential to annoy you during those day-long outings, are enough to drive you absolutely nuts. Even expensive cases with padded shoulder straps and supple material can literally rub you the wrong way.

Yes, we are adventurous souls. Yes, we are all tough and eat nails for breakfast. But even the smallest rash or blister will distract you and take energy away from your recording session. Keep comfort in mind when selecting gear and accessories unless you feel it’s necessary to suffer for your art.

When carrying around equipment in the blazing California desert and squeezing into tight spaces for a week long session, it helps to have compact gear. Watson Wu, Nathan Smith and Aaron Marks recording vehicle Foley for Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising.

Accessories

Microphones. Check. Field recorder. Check. Batteries and storage media. Check. Forgetting anything? You bet. In-studio recording is nothing close to the logistical nightmare us field recordists can face. If something breaks in the studio, it’s usually an easy matter of grabbing a new one out of the closet or worst case, a quick trip to the local music store. If something breaks in the field, of course, it gets a bit more complicated. So, when packing for the field, consider all of the possible things that can go wrong and prepare accordingly.

A complete field recording kit ready for packing.

Here’s a quick checklist to contemplate when accessorizing your field recording kit:

• Back up recorder – it doesn’t have to be a duplicate of your main recorder but definitely something that can also get the job done in a pinch.
• Back up mics – in case your main microphone gets damaged or if the situation dictates the use of another kind of mic, bring some spares.
• Shock mounts – bring spare suspension bands and any extra usable shock mounts just in case you need to hang another mic.
• Wind covers – bring everything you have, softies, blimps, fuzzies and high wind covers, since you never know which way the wind will be blowing.
• Mic stands/boom poles – for stationary mic placement or extra reach.
• Cables – cables fray and connections loosen.  Have plenty of extras on hand.
• Snake – multiple mic inputs with long runs can be easily managed with one of these.
• Pads/in-line attenuator – assuming the microphone itself isn’t overloaded, in-line pads will reduce the signal strength to a more manageable level for the recording device.
• Parabolic reflector – boom pole not long enough and the shotgun mic isn’t receptive enough?  A parabolic reflector will bring that specific sound closer.
• Location sound logs – you need to keep track of what you’re recording and the settings you’re using.
• Tape for lavaliere mounting – if you’re using lavalieres on actors specifically, 3M surgical double stick or moleskin tape will let you hide the mics under their clothes and minimize clothes rustling.
• Gaffers tape and cable ties – cables and microphones need to be secured to reduce cable noise and tripping hazards.
• Bungee cord /carabiners – to organize multiple cables and reduce tripping hazards.
• Spare mechanical parts for boom, blimps and mic stands – things break or wear out at the worst times.
• Tools – small screwdrivers, needle nose pliers, knife – whatever you can grab.
• Soldering iron and solder – for field expedient repairs
• First aid kit – man versus nature repair
• Spare batteries/ battery charger – don’t even think of getting caught without power.
• Power converter – 12v to 120v converters will let you plug into your cigarette lighter and have usable power.
• Headphones – spare headphones are a definite must.
• Ear plugs – attenuating loud sounds underneath your headphones isn’t a bad idea when recording weapon shots, explosions or any other ridiculously loud noises.
• Gloves – trust me on this one.
• Appropriate adapters – everything has to plug in to something.  Plan for your primary and backup recording setup to work properly.
• Water, food, shade, etc. – not so much part of your ‘kit’ but something to think about and definitely nice to have if you need it.

Once you’ve got everything assembled, the absolute last but most vital item on your checklist is to hook everything up and make sure it actually works. I can’t stress this enough – test your gear BEFORE heading out to the field. Charge the batteries, connect the mics and cables, make a test recording and anything else you deem appropriate. The goal is not to find out your stuff isn’t working when it’s too late to do anything about it. Gear that’s been laying around in the closet, rental equipment that landed unceremoniously on your front door step that morning and even the rig from yesterdays recording session can stop working for any number of reasons. Damage, incompatible batteries or media cards and altered settings can happen at any time so make sure you’ve got a fighting chance.

Recording techniques

A slightly sunburned Watson Wu manning the Zaxcom Fusion on a recent weapons recording session.

Field recording can be highly unpredictable. Loud sounds, soft sounds and sounds with a large dynamic range are possible at pretty much any time. Different microphones capture different nuances of the same sound, some sounds need to be close mic’d and others need be captured from a distant perspective. After the large investment in time and money to get to the location with the gear, it’s wise to ensure your time is well spent and a variety of recording techniques can be employed to double your chances of capturing brilliant takes.

2 channel recording methods:

• Record the same signal from one or more microphones. A single mic, a pair of them or an array of several through a mixer running to both channels is a great way to ensure you can capture sounds you haven’t been able to sound check, unexpected sounds or sounds which are both soft and loud. While this method provides redundancy, recording each channel at a different line level will give the editor 2 versions of the same recording to choose from. By having a 10-15dB level difference between channels, you are protecting for distortion with the lower one and allowing the softer sounds to be recorded at healthy levels with the other. Either way, you’ll have a pick of channels to use during the editing process and can use the best one.

• Record a left/right stereo pair from a stereo mic. There is definitely something to be said for realistic sound recordings and aside from binaural recording, stereo is the preferred method. As humans, we are used to hearing simultaneous versions of the same sound, even dialog. Unless you have a specific reason to record in mono, stereo recording gives you more options since you can always make a stereo recording mono, but not a mono recording into a stereo one very believably. The only drawback by using this method is both the left and right channels must be used together, instead of as separate mono channels as in the first example.

• Record “dual mono”. This method uses 2 different mono microphone sources recorded on separate channels and provides protection against the issues each type of the mics can have as well as providing redundancy. Shotgun and lavaliere mics, for example, are great for recording actor dialog on a movie set but each have their own issues to overcome. By recording both, it gives the sound editor the greatest flexibility to use the channel which has the best volume, timbre and perspective.  And most of the time, the ‘best’ sound typically comes from a mix of both sources.Record to camera and recorder. For field recording in conjunction with film or video, the 2- channel method is recorded to both the camera’s audio track and to the dedicated field recorder. As before, it provides redundancy for safety but it also provides a good reference to the film editor since the sound is already sync’d with the footage. This method allows for more flexibility and gives the editor a choice of audio tracks.

Multi-channel recording

Not every occasion calls for a multi-channel recorder but when it does, the added tracks can give you the greatest flexibility. As with the 2-channel techniques, redundancy is easily obtained and the chances of capturing the perfect  recording are increased exponentially. The same techniques can be employed on a wider scale or mixed with multiple available tracks for the same reasons mentioned before. But, by adding those extra channels to your recording device, you now have the ability to capture multiple perspectives of the same sound limited only by the number of channels and microphones. You can record in surround for a incredibly realistic perspective. And  you can also pick up a multitude of sounds happening at once such as recording an exotic car from the engine, exhaust, interior, suspension and tire locations, for example. Multi-channel recorders will also allow for audio slating and running any time code to a separate track if needed. There are many advantages to having a multi-channel recorder in your arsenal and definitely something to keep charged up and ready to roll at a moment’s notice.

The author reviewing some of Charles Maynes’ multi-channel recordings on a recent weapons recording session. Sounds good!!

That’s a wrap

Field recording is an art form all to its own. Audiences everywhere expect to hear high quality sound in movies, television, theater and in games and we can’t let the incredible challenges we often face get in the way – we’ve got to deliver. Through proper planning, preparation, equipment selection and sound recording techniques, we can not only deliver but knock their socks off!  While it can be difficult work in harsh conditions with grueling hours, the adventures keep most of us coming back.  Having an excuse to strap yourself into a classic war bird, hitch a ride in an exotic car, shoot anti-tank weapons and machine guns, hike into the rugged wilderness or even just get out of the studio is worth the time we spend smashing headphones tightly over our ears. I challenge each and every one of you to get out there, become experts at your craft, work hard and make us proud!

Written by Aaron Marks for Designing Sound.

Some of you might be curious about how Designing Sound started and why it was created. Also, several of you have wondered about who I am and what’s my “real-life” work.

Well, I answered all those things for my friend Gianpaolo, in an interview for the great SounDesign Blog. I talk about Designing Sound, Sonic Terrain, my Spanish sound design blog, and several things about me and this wonderful community.

I really enjoyed to answer those questions. Designing Sound has became a source of inspiration, learning and a true real-life job for me. This is the result of a lot of work and I very proud of the things I’ve done here, so it was really cool to have the opportunity to talk about my experiences.

Hope you enjoy it!

As many of you know, my home language is spanish, and since I started Designing Sound I’ve received a lot of requests and suggestions for a site like Designing Sound, but in spanish. For those who are waiting, here it is: “Fotograma Sonoro“.

The blog will be hosted on Hispasonic.com, the biggest audio production community in spanish language, with more than 1.200.000 visitors each month, over 95.000 registered users and lots of cool stuff regarding music and sound production. Fotograma Sonoro will not be a simply translation of Designing Sound. It will have his own exclusive content, and also translated texts from interviews and exclusive articles published on Designing Sound.

I’m very excited with this new blog. I’ve learned a lot from this first year of  Designing Sound, so I think  the next step is to reach new territories and spread the word all over the world. I’ll put all my experience and efforts on this new site, and I hope to find lots of fantastic readers such as you and all the visitors of Designing Sound.

Enjoy!

Link: Fotograma Sonoro

Andrew Spitz, who you may know as the admin and founder of Social Sound Design, and blogger at {sound+design} has cooked a virtual birthday cake for our first anniversary.

One of my favorite blogs on sound design has just turned one! Happy birthday Designing Sound. Thank you Miguel Isaza and Jake Riehle for all your hard work. I hope there will be many more to come!

As a little gift, here’s virtual birthday cake I built in Max/MSP, it’s chocolate. All you have to do is turn up your audio, blow out the candle (blow at your microphone) and make a wish. This software is Mac only, sorry Windows users.

You can download it here and help us to blow out the candle! (It’s Mac only). Just blow at your mic and listen to that lovely birthday lullaby!

Many thanks to Andrew for it’s amazing support and this delicious cake. What a good taste!