Guest article by Douglas Murray Remember, all rules are meant to be broken! With that principle in mind, let's scratch the surface of the grammar and possibilities of an aspect of film sound design: backgrounds (also called BGs, atmospheres or ambiences). Backgrounds offer a powerful opportunity to use sound for maximum impact. Movies essentially need to have background … [Read more...]
Music & Sound Awards 2013 – Call for Entry
On 8th October, the entry window opened for the Music+Sound Awards 2013, an awards event that celebrates sound design and music in the creative industries. Gaming, Film, TV and Advertising professionals are invited to become part of a music and sound celebration, which offers this incredible wealth of talent their moment in the limelight. There will be awards for Best Original … [Read more...]
Building the World in Your Books
Guest contribution by Chris Didlick We are Box of Toys Audio, a music and sound design company with studios in London and Stockholm. We provide audio services for commercials, branding, trailers and all manner of projects. With the ongoing innovation and expansion of digital media we are sometimes offered new and uncharted avenues for creativity, which is why when we were … [Read more...]
Sonic Salute’s Analog Cameras
Mikkel Nielsen, founder of Sonic Salute, recently released a new library called "Analog Cameras." In his own words: What started out as a somewhat smaller camera sound effects recording project, quickly evolved into an obsessive need to find new cameras with different sounding shutters and winders. Every fleemarket, and camera entusiasts gathering, were thoroughly scanned for … [Read more...]
2012 Black Friday/Cyber Monday Deals
Who says the audio community doesn't give you opportunities to go wild on the craziest shopping days (in the U.S. at least) of the year? [ed. Seriously, does anyone actually say that?] We've spotted some deals you might be interested, and we'll continue to update this post if we find anymore. If you spot one we haven't feel free to share by leaving a comment. Hit the jump to … [Read more...]
Room Tone = Emotional Tone: The Importance of Hearing Ambience
am·bi·ence noun /ˈambēəns/ ambiances, plural; ambiences, plural The character and atmosphere of a place - the relaxed ambience of the cocktail lounge is popular with guests Background noise added to a musical recording to give the impression that it was recorded live Wherever you may be reading this article, stop whatever you are doing, and … [Read more...]
Ariel Gross Guest Post: ‘I Feel Like a Fraud and So Can You!’
This is a guest article written by Ariel Gross, Audio Director of game development studio Volition Inc, which produces such PC and console titles as the Saint's Row and Red Faction series. You can view Ariel's introduction post here. I Feel Like a Fraud and So Can You! Every now and then I feel like a fraud. Every now and then I feel like I'm merely masquerading as a … [Read more...]