Back around the time I was first starting out, I remember opening up a demo of Cubase VST (on my trusty PowerMac 6400) and taking a look through the various menus. Everything seemed pretty standard, but something in particular caught my eye, a menu item labeled “Ears Only”. Curious, I clicked on it, only to have my monitor go completely blank. After a few seconds of panic … [Read more...]
Film Sound Tips by Glenn Kiser, Director of the Dolby Institute
Indiewire has published a guest post by Dolby Institute's director Glenn Kiser in which he talks to filmmakers about the importance of sound design from the beginning of production. Making a movie is a never-ending series of compromises, and nothing is as good as the original concept you had in mind. But if you're really lucky, there's a moment of alchemy that can happen in … [Read more...]
The Story in Surround – Game narrative and sound
I recently came across the Frictional Games blog and have spent the last few weeks trawling through it’s archive. It provides a wealth of informaiton on game design, and in particular discussions on the point of game narrative. One particular post, 4 Layers, a narrative design approach, written by Thomas Grip, Frictional's creative director, raised the concept of the mental … [Read more...]
Remembering Alan Splet
One of the main reasons to start this site back in 2008 and also one of the things that keeps me motivated to do this is the impact that some people had in my life; curiously, people who I haven't met in person, but I've deeply met with my ears. I'm talking about those sound designers who created initial routes for all of us and started to develop a truly amazing way of … [Read more...]
The Dickson Experimental Sound Film
Broken wax cylinder containing the 'first' film soundtrack circa 1894-1895 In 'broken' month I wanted to find out a little more about what's being done to fix (and preserve) some of the broken pieces of film history. The story of the Dickson Experimental Sound Film (link to view at the end of the article) seemed to be a good way into the subject and I am indebted to Ken … [Read more...]
Don’t Panic and Carry A Towel: When Things Go Horribly, Horribly Wrong
As April comes to an end and we wrap up our topic for the month, “broken”, I wanted to take a moment and share something that I learned when I was first starting out, and something that I find myself having to remember quite often: how to react when everything starts to break. We depend on a lot of complex technologies in our day-to-day lives, some more intricate and … [Read more...]
LA Underground – An Interview with Charles Maynes
I recently had a chance to sit down with sound designer and sound FX recordist Charles Maynes and chat about his new “LA Underground” sound library, available from Rabbit Ears Audio. Inspired by the gritty and seedy Los Angeles shown in countless films, “LA Underground” is a 10 GB collection of ambiences from all over the city, from the industrial centers near the LA River to … [Read more...]