BeautifulNow and The Sound Agency are accepting entries for the 'The Most Beautiful Sound in the World'. Anything that encourages people to stop and think about the ecology of sound is a good thing in my book, which is one of the particular appeals of this competition. Simply record your sound, photograph it, and explain why you think it's the most beautiful sound in the … [Read more...]
Hans Zimmer Percussion : HZ01 : Behind The Scenes
Spitfire Audio have released a YouTube Featurette for their upcoming Hans Zimmer Percussion library. Recorded at Air Studios via an unsurpassable signal chain. 96 rarefied microphones, into Neve Montserrat pre-amps, the world’s biggest Neve 88R desk (which was exhaustively re-gained at every dynamic layer for optimum signal quality), via a dual chain to HDX and Prism converters … [Read more...]
Happy Accidents: Embracing the Unexpected
Allow me to share a story with you: It was the weekend before the holiday break. Our horror film shoot had been going on for a few days, and as was typical of December at the base of Cape Cod, the weather was frigid and rapidly getting worse. With reports of an approaching winter storm, we frantically worked in the freezing cold to finish our exterior shots as quickly as … [Read more...]
Charles Maynes on Mid-Side Recording
Sound designer and recordist Charles Maynes has written a great nuts-and-bols article about mid-side recording, posted on the field sepulchra blog a few days ago. The theory and practice of Mid-Side recording doesn't get as much attention as its rockstar cousins, A-B and X-Y stereo configurations, which is odd because Mid-Side is an efficient, logical and just useful technique … [Read more...]
Noise, Storytelling with Sound, and Visuals on the Radio with Radiolab’s Jad Abumrad
I recently had the chance to chat with Jad Abumrad, creator and co-host of WNYC's Radiolab. Each episode of Radiolab explores ideas in science, technology, and the universe at large through a seamless blend of expert interviews, sound design, and music. Together with co-host Robert Krulwich, the show has covered topics such as sleep, colors, cities, and loops, just to name a … [Read more...]
Can’t We All Just Get Along? Arguments about acoustics and design
Guest Contribution by Steven Klein There are many reasons for conflicting viewpoints and misinformation on studio design / acoustics. This article will examine components contributing to the confusion along with some advice on how to avoid common pitfalls. Chaos (Merriam-Webster Dictionary: the inherent unpredictability in the behavior of a complex natural system.) We … [Read more...]
Impulse Response And Acoustic Problems
Guest contribution by Guido Helbling Don't worry, I won't bore you with a treatise on acoustics. But multi-channel impulse responses can often create problems between individual channels (e.g. over-emphasised frequencies and phase cancellation), so it is worthwhile to analyze one or two such situations. Analysing Sweeps A quick recap on impulse responses: an impulse response … [Read more...]