sync.sound.cinema

Radium? Damn Near Killed Him

2011-01-18T15:18:00.000-08:00

Radium Audio is a sound design firm doing some very creative stuff in London with two of my favorite things: guns and microphones!

Observe:

Radium Audio Ltd - Gun Recording Film from Radium Audio Ltd on Vimeo.

Gaff Tape and Bubble Gum

2011-01-04T11:20:00.000-08:00

Okay, so to save myself from having to double post, I'm going to try using an RSS feed as a source from my Pro Audio Coalition blog back to here. Clunky and ugly, but it serves its purpose. If it doesn't work for some of you using your own RSS readers, let me know and I can figure out something else. Semaphore, maybe...

There's a New Sheriff in Town...

2011-01-03T19:56:00.000-08:00

First, I’d like to thank the Academy…that is, Starfleet Academy for being so awesome (dude: they go into outer space!)...

He Went Thataway

2011-01-03T17:33:00.000-08:00

Greetings, programs. [throws blue frisbee, realizes loneliness]

Someone left the front door unlocked, and now I’ve snuck in to the offices of ProAudio Coaliton, which are much shinier and nicer than the offices of sync.sound.cinema.com, seeing as how they have actual offices rather than the back booth of a dive bar where I can poach free wifi.

sync.sound.cinema will be maintained, with a teaser and redirecting link for content. I urge all of you to click over early and often, as the good folks at P.A.C. have dangled the carrot of ad revenue sharing in front of me, and if there’s anything I like more than root vegetables on sticks, it’s being able to pay my rent.

It’s time to put my big-boy pants on. Seeing as how I make a point to not wear pants of any kind whilst writing, consider this a major step.

Toodles!

Total Hacks...In a Good Way

2010-10-20T15:53:00.000-07:00

Matt over at recordinghacks.com alerted me to the fact that they have an in-depth mic database available to all. It's fully searchable by manufacturer and microphone type as well. The catalogue covers a wide selection, though it seems to be more music- or studio-oriented (as a handful of mics commonly used in production aren't represented). Still, if you're researching for that next gear purchase, it's certainly worth a stop.

http://recordinghacks.com/microphones

I'm Back. And This Time, It's Personal (Not Really, But You Get The Idea)

2010-03-11T14:14:00.000-08:00

Man, sure is dusty in here.

Let me explain...[thinks for a beat] No, there is too much. Let me sum up-

Skylor Morgan over at Trew Audio has an early look at the recently announced Tascam HS-P82:

Overall, as the market continues to fill with non-linear recorders, the HS-P82 is a welcome, budget-friendly, quality addition to the fray. Tascam has added a great choice to the market.

Sound Devices bowed the super-schmancy CL-9 controller for the 788T for more cart-based usage. (Be sure to check out this demo video from the fine folks over at Gotham Sound.)
The Big Z created the Zaxcom Video University, a handful of how-to and quick-start clips for their gear.

There's more, so stay tuned, true believers. (Okay, agnostics welcome too....).

Dragnet! I Mean, Zaxnet!

2009-08-03T17:07:00.000-07:00

Coffey Sound in LA will be having a demo from Robert Kennedy on Zaxcom's Zaxnet technology on Wednesday, August 5th.

Also, donuts!

Inglorious Bastard

2009-07-07T14:25:00.000-07:00

Usually if there's a seminar or industry meeting about pro sound, it understandably takes place in New York or L.A. While this is all well and good, it doesn't do much for the rest of us who don't live in the major markets unless someone takes it upon themselves to shoot and post it online.

This time around, Advanced Broadcast Solutions is offering free educational sessions inventively named "Understanding the Bastard Child of Broadcast" to folks here in the Pacific northwest. Snip, via Creative Cow:

“Audio never seems to get the respect it deserves, but it’s an essential part of television production,” said Mark Siegel, President of ABS. “With recent advancements in digital technology, audio has also become more complicated than ever. Our ‘Bastard’ tour is designed to help industry professionals stay current with audio technologies and techniques.”

The educational sessions will provide instruction on 5.1 monitoring, mixing and encoding, and creating the highest audio quality in facilities. Additional topics will include dialnorm and loudness issues, as well as the recent developments in the wireless spectrum. Program content is designed for broadcasters, but all video professionals are invited to attend...

The ABS “Understanding the Bastard Child of Broadcast” tour schedule is:
Oregon Public Broadcasting, Portland, Ore. (July 20)
KEZI, Eugene, Ore. (July 21)
KOBI, Medford, Ore. (July 22)
KSPS, Spokane, Wash. (July 24)
KCTS, Seattle, Wash. (July 27)
KBTC, Tacoma, Wash. (July 28)

Link.

AES Updates Website, Adds Social Networking; Still Won't Friend Me

2009-07-06T12:18:00.000-07:00

The venerable A.E.S. has revamped their 12-year-old website (that's 147 in internet years), adding more interactive features and media content. Snip:

"We have dramatically revamped the AES electronic library, which includes over 12,000 scientific papers published in the AES journal or presented at AES events over the past sixty years. The site has streamlined countless tasks ranging from becoming a new member to discussing Journal articles and interacting with your local AES section..."

"The new www.aes.org site provides some fantastic new social networking features with direct links to committees, Facebook-style member profiles and a highly sophisticated publication search engine" AES President Jim Anderson concludes.

"The social stuff is off the hook: you can totally 'mic' a friend to see what they're doing at any given moment, like making a sandwich or catching up on their Tivo backlog. Or, you can 'fade' a member if they turn out to be a hater, whatevs," he continued. "Thanks for the add, dude! Late...". Anderson then made an awkward hand sign of some sort and ambled off.

{Extra points to whomever can distinguish what was made up in the above.}

Link, via Pro Sound News.

The Iceman Cometh...No, Wait, I Guess It's Just Randy Thom

2009-07-01T17:19:00.000-07:00

Michael Coleman's next clip in his ongoing series for Mix Sound For Film Profile Series is up, this time talking to Randy Thom about sound design for Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs.

"Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" Sound for Film Profile from Michael Coleman on Vimeo.

Link.

Transducers 2: Revenge Of the Ribbon

2009-07-01T16:55:00.000-07:00

Today, engineer emeritus Dave Moulton walks us through some basic facts about transducers, in this case microphones, and their impact on recording audio:

Also, you should know, microphones don’t detect sound the way our ears do – they lose a LOT of auditory information. A couple of lossy quirks of microphones, vis-a-vis our auditory system, need to be noted. They dramatically affect the way we use mics.

Quirk number one is that microphones cannot distinguish the angle of arrival of various sound artifacts (as our ears do), so that all artifacts are merged into a single wavetrace that does not contain directional information. At the same time , the spectrum of that wavetrace is affected by the inability of the microphone to detect frequency equally in all directions.

Quirk number two is that microphones cannot integrate sound artifacts over time and sort them by phase (as our ears do), so that all early reflections (profoundly useful spatial cues for us humans) end up being interference effects for the microphone.

The net result of these quirks is that a great deal of sonic information that us humans use to make sense of the sonic world around us is lost at the microphone. The two-dimensional map of energy over time that comes down the mic cable is NOT a reasonable representation of the aural information that we humans use.

This is all academic until you get on set, and an inexperienced producer or director will wonder why sound needs another take because of an airplane they couldn't hear, or why they need to hold the roll because of a nearby leaf blower. The mic will hear all, in a much different way than our ears (and more specifically, our brains) do; what seems like a negligible noise on set becomes insurmountable once it hits the mic diaphragm. Understanding how the mics work is tantamount to understanding how lenses capture light: you can do more with them when you fully realize their capabilities and limitations.

Link.

Nerd Is the Word

2009-06-30T14:31:00.000-07:00

Beyond being a sound mixer, I am an unrepentant film nerd. My tastes range from big-budget spectacle to experimental indie dramas; often I describe my primary filmmaking influences as "the two 'Bergs: Spielberg and Soderbergh".

As noted previously, I also have a thing for outmoded media technology. Recently, the three met in a planet-melting trifecta when Steven Soderbergh came to a roadshow screening of Che at Cinema 21 here in Portland. There was a Q & A after, where he fielded questions ranging from the political to the technical (this being one of the first full-length features shot on the RED).

Sitting down on the job: Soderbergh braves the crowd of cinema hipsters.

Beforehand, though, I was able to spy Mr. Soderbergh on the street, as he gamely and patiently signed autographs. Thinking there might a chance for a signature, I'd brought my Criterion Collection laserdisc of sex, lies and videotape. Soderbergh, eyebrows raised, held the box for a moment before noting, "There are things on here you can't get anywhere else."

Sadly, he's right. As technology continues its relentless forward march, occasionally there are extra materials (either from licensing issues, or worse, market disinterest) that aren't ported over to the newer formats. The CC laser contains a deleted scene; '89-era interviews with Soderbergh; and the script (which is also available in a wonderful book). But the most interesting is a black and white 16mm short film, entitled Winston. I always find a filmmaker's early works fascinating, as you generally find the seeds of certain visual or narrative themes that recur throughout the rest of their career.

Now, with more Soderbergh!

So, yeah, that's a particular favorite of mine. And while I'm not usually one for autographs, this one is pretty near and dear to my geeky little heart. (After he signed it, he quipped, "There. Now it's worth ten dollars.")

Tet-ro, George...

2009-06-19T10:15:00.000-07:00

Today's goodie comes to us courtesy of Michael Coleman, part of his ongoing series of videos on sound-for-picture for Mix Magazine Online (he has a dedicated channel on Vimeo that you can subscribe to here).

In this clip, re-recording mixer Pete Horner talks about the soundscapes created for Francis Ford Coppola's upcoming film, Tetro.

Please to enjoy:

"Tetro" Sound for Film Profile from Michael Coleman on Vimeo.

(And yeah, the title's a bit of a leap for a lame joke, but cut me some slack; this is pre-coffee bloggage here, people....)

www.tetro.com
www.colemanfilm.com

Einstein Was Probably One Of Them

2009-06-06T16:03:00.000-07:00

Oh. Hey.

Remember that scene in Close Encounters of the Third Kind? When all those people that had been missing, some for more than thirty years, and then suddenly they're returned by the "benevolent" aliens who had forcibly abducted them, and they're dazed and disoriented, and they have, like, all of this catching up to do, having been gone, and out of touch, and waaaay out of town, for the aforementioned thirty years? Remember? With the Carlo Rimbaldi puppets and the sunglasses and the swelling music score and Lance Henriksen in a non-speaking role as one of the government agents?

Yeah, it's kind of like that....

So, yeah, I'm back. Besides the rather trying task of finishing up the post mix on Everyman's War (why did I choose a war movie as my first feature-length post project?), I also took on another feature as Production Sound Mixer. My second full feature, Golf in the Kingdom was shot on location at the Bandon Dunes Golf Resort on the coast of Oregon. Caddyshack quotes abounded, as did the unpredictable weather. We were pounded by wind and rain and by the occasional errant golf ball, but we survived.

The temperamental Oregon coastal weather...

The movie was shot on the RED ONE, so we opted for double system with dumb slates. We rolled a Sound Devices 744t in a triple mirroring mode, which meant that we were always recording audio to three places: the internal hard drive, the internal compact flash, and an external bus-powered Lacie Rugged firewire drive. At the end of each day, I would make an archival back up to DVD-R, then hand the Lacie over to DIT Sean Rawls. Sean would then do a drag'n'drop of the day's audio onto the same hard drive as the picture files, and then ship that drive to post. After a few discussions with the DP and post, it was decided that we would shoot and cut at 23.976 frames per second, and then pull up the entire film to 24 frames at the DI stage. This meant that we would keep our sample rate at 48 khz, since the frame rate wouldn't change between shooting and cutting.

Boom swinging was shared between Creed Spencer and Eric Goldstein. We employed a smorgasbord of mics, dependent on gear availability (low-budget show) and the needs of the scene. Exteriors were handled by Neumann KMR-81 and Sennheiser 416 short shotguns; wireless duties were split between Lectrosonic 200s, 187s, and Sennheiser G-2s. Sanken COS-11 and Countryman EMW and B3 lavs fed the wireless.

Invisible boom pole: Creed Spencer rocking Bandon, OR

Considering the fact that we would be traipsing across open golf courses, I bought a beefier cart for the show: the Rock N Roller Multicart with a top shelf option and pneumatic tires. While it lacks the lip of a Magliner (convenient for attaching clamps for hanging cables), we made do, and the cart got us where we needed to go.

A camera, a cart and a stump

This was my first film gig with name talent. Being professional about that sort of thing means minding your manners and simply going about your business, which I managed to do for the most part. But, at one point, I had my head buried in the cart trying to work out a technical issue, and Malcolm MacDowell completely ambushed me by politely introducing himself, causing my brain to completely blank itself like a shaken Etch-a-Sketch. I finally muttered, "Hello, my name's Christian," to which he replied, "Are you sure?" My boom op found it a lot funnier than I did.

Welly welly well. From left: Tony Curren, Julian Sands, Mason Gamble, David O'Hara, and Mr. MacDowell.

At any rate, I'm back, and will be posting more consistently, though I ask you to bear with the first few, which will involve a lot of not-so-news as I clear my "to be blogged" folder.

Stay tuned.

Post Toasted

2009-03-24T13:41:00.000-07:00

Still alive, sports fans. For the past few weeks, I've been up to my neck in a post project, doing the sound mix on the WWII film Everyman's War. I have to say, it's been interesting to do post work on my own production tracks. I firmly believe that knowing post can make you better in the field.

This is my first post mix for a full length feature, as well as my first 5.1 mix. I'm running Soundtrack Pro, and despite the occasional quirks, it's been handling things rather well. A full post-mortem of my travails will be forthcoming.

I'm solo on this one, doing the work of what is typically a department of two or three people. This has made for long days and weekends spent in the post cave, with little time to devote to other things, like writing this blog and turning 35. And dealing with writing things like "I just turned 35...". {new demographic sigh}

But, this being a tech/nerd blog rather than the typical public diary, I will spare you the nitty gritties about what I'm wearing, eating, listening to, etc. (that's what my neglected Twitter feed is for...ostensibly), and dive right in to a recap of things that happened that you probably already know about, but I feel deserve mention anyway.

First up, a couple of updates from yonder Trew Audio:

Remote Audio's Boom Cable System with Talkback - now available for the Sound Devices 442 Mixer

Now, even 442 users can gossip and talk smack about those pesky "actors".

Next, another installment of Trew Audio Flow, with Glen Trew taking the reins himself with a missive entitled Yes, We Should EQ On Set. Snip:

Many production sound mixers are reluctant (afraid) to use their EQ. Often, this stems from indoctrination early in their careers by discussions with post production mixers. “Don’t turn the EQ knobs… I’ll do that stuff later” (read this again with reverb added for effect). But the fact is that under-EQ-ing (not using the EQ controls enough) is an improper use of EQ every bit as much as over-EQ-ing is. If there is any use for a Sound Mixer’s fear of the EQ controls on their equipment, it is to motivate the Mixer to be as mindful of not using the controls enough as they are of using them too much.

Having been on both sides of the fence, I tend to agree that really heavy EQ/mixing should happen later, in an acoustically treated environment, away from the heat of battle. Of course, I've never done post work with tracks provided by someone with Mr. Trew's years of experience, either; I'm sure I'd probably amend my opinion after such a project.

At any rate, this is how I roll (literal zing!) in the field: I high pass most everything at around 80 Hz to do away with any residual boom rumble or to ameliorate the "chestiness" inherent in lav mics (due to proximity effect and placement), but that's about it. They keep hiring me, so I must be doing something right. Maybe it's my minty fresh breath...

Speaking of post, they recently announced the winners of the Sonopedia Sound Design Competition. To recap:

In November 2008, Post Magazine and Blastwave FX teamed up to sponser the first SONOPEDIA Sound Design Competition. The challenge was to create a 30 second sound design narrative using any of the 40 sound effects that was available to download free from Blastwave FX. The winner received SONOPEDIA™ - 20,000 HD sound effects on a 250 GB Glyph hard drive. The competition was judged by Academy Award winners Richard King, Randy Thom, and Lon Bender.

Yours truly made it into the top 20 (apparently, bribery is still quite effective). Here's my entry, entitled UFO Factory Tour:

"UFO Factory Tour" by Christian Dolan by Blastwave FX

And that, as they say, is that. TTFN, kids.

You Bring the Wireless, I'll Bring the Beer

2009-02-12T09:32:00.000-08:00

This just in from Coffey Sound:

Zaxcom BBQ Lunch
Saturday Feb 14, 2009
Anytime between 11:00 A.M. – 2:00 P.M.
3325 Cahuenga Blvd W.
Hollywood, CA 90068

Zaxcom and Coffey Sound invite you to view the release of two new Zaxcom products and a very exciting update to the Deva and Fusion mutitrack location recorders.

1.) The TRX992 single channel transmitter is a single device solution for wireless boom pole transmission, IFB return, headphone monitoring and backup recording.

2.) Fusion 12 is a 100% solid state recorder that records 12 isolated tracks for a mix of up to 16 total analog and digital inputs.

3.) The Deva/Fusion Display upgrade offers a significant improvement in visibility in all lighting conditions. The new display is 3 times brighter and higher contrast than the existing Deva/Fusion display. The new display can be installed in any existing Deva 4,5,5.8,16 and Fusion at any Zaxcom dealer.

www.zaxcom.com

Laserdisc Is Dead As Disco; Beta and 8-Track Both Send Regards Via Western Telegram

2009-02-03T18:43:00.000-08:00

As an unrepentant film nerd, I have to say I'm a bit sad to hear it said aloud: Pioneer recently announced that they would officially end production of laserdisc players.

Laserdisc has always has a special place in my heart. For a considerable time, it was the highest quality consumer video format available. It offered about 400 lines of resolution (roughly double that of VHS), increased color bandwidth, and due to being an optical format, didn't wear out with repeated viewings. Here, let's let Devo (!) explain it better for us:

BTW:WTF?

Later in its life cycle, laserdisc came to be the first consumer video format to offer digital sound, initially in the form of two 44.1 kHz, 16 bit PCM tracks, and later 5.1 surround sound via Dolby Digital and D.T.S. Finally, the home viewer could enjoy near printmaster quality audio in their home theater.

Due to its increased visual quality, there emerged a market for remastering old video transfers of classic films. Boutique companies like Criterion sprang up, raising the bar for home video releases by insisting on letterboxing to achieve proper aspect ratios, finding and offering other content like outtakes and deleted scenes as "extras", and utilizing the spare analog audio channels to offer running commentaries on the movies themselves. Essentially, everything that we've come to take for granted on DVD and now Blu-Ray was introduced first on laserdisc.

Laserdiscs always kind of felt like the vinyl of video. It shared the same 12" form factor, allowing for bigger cover art, as well as a more satisfying tactile experience; when you hold a movie on laser, it has a heft and solidity. It just feels a little more special.

Boxsets were something to behold. They were called "coffee table editions", being about the same size as a large photo book. Since everyday consumers weren't their target market, studios could take more care with the production of their boxsets, packing them with material to appeal to die-hard aficianados. One of the best I've seen is Universal's Jaws: Signature Collection, released in 1995. It addtion to a remastered transfer of the film, it included a new 2 hour documentary, a CD of the soundtrack, and a paperback copy of the novel.

Now Jaws-ier than ever!

Lasers never enjoyed the success in the US and Europe that they did in Japan. You couldn't record to blanks to time-shift TV like you could with Beta and later VHS. Consequently, prices for both players and discs never fell from premium levels.

Enter DVD. Despite being compressed, it offered a component signal, eliminating the decoding artifacts that plague composite formats like VHS, Beta and laserdisc, as well as anamorphic video, allowing it take advantage of widescreen displays that were starting to appear in the marketplace. (Laserdisc actually offered anamorphic video first, in the form of "squeeze LDs", which never caught on in the states). DVD was smaller, lighter, cheaper; it was also digital, which was fast becoming market-speak for "better".

Lasers became relegated to Ebay and collectors. For years, it was the only way to get high-quality letterboxed versions of the Indiana Jones trilogy, as well as the original theatrical versions of the Star Wars films. (It's still the only way to get a widescreen copy of the original version of THX-1138.)

Most will tell you that an analog, standard definition format could never hold a candle to a digital high-def one (even though laserdiscs were the first platform to offer a high-def video format to consumers, in a variant known as MUSE Hi-Vision that was sold in Japan). They're most likely right, but the home video market wouldn't exist as we know it today without lasers. The extra quality set the bar higher than VHS, and brought the enhanced viewing experiences of widescreen, surround sound, and archival extras to the homes of film fans for the first time.

Sigh..Watch, now they're gonna tell me that they've stopped making parts for my Kloss Nova Beam Front Projection TV:

You Like Listening To Me! You REALLY Like Listening To Me!

2009-02-03T18:33:00.000-08:00

2009 Oscar noms for sound are in:

Best Sound Editing
• The Dark Knight - Richard King
• Iron Man - Frank Eulner and Christopher Boyes
• Slumdog Millionaire - Tom Sayers
• WALL-E - Ben Burtt and Matthew Wood
• Wanted - Wylie Stateman

Best Sound Mixing
• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce, Mark Weingarten
• The Dark Knight - Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo, Ed Novick
• Slumdog Millionaire - Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke, Resul Pookutty
• WALL-E - Tom Myers, Michael Semanick, Ben Burtt
• Wanted - Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño, Petr Forejt

Why they still insist on breaking up editing and mixing, I'll never know.

Link, via Pro Sound News.

BEC Bows Hot Shoe Mount; Manolo Blanik Reportedly Not Losing Sleep

2009-02-03T18:13:00.000-08:00

Via Trew Audio, Pro Location Sound, et al:

BEC has introduced a hot shoe mount that mates their custom-fitted wireless receiver sleeves to smaller-format camcorders. The mount is a standard hot shoe post, with four mounting screws to hold any of BEC's existing sleeves.

The folks over at Trew Audio have put together a hand-dandy demo clip. Please to enjoy:

BEC Horizontal Hot Shoe Demo from Trew Audio on Vimeo.

MSRP: $70.00

www.thebecgroup.com

Lyre, Lyre, Pants On-Well, You Know...

2009-01-12T20:58:00.000-08:00

Rycote's new Lyre clips are now available in upgrade kits, for use in existing mic suspensions. Snip, via Trew Audio:

There are 2 basic upgrade choices: Lyre webs along with a suspension-appropriate mic connector (i.e. a Connbox or XLR mic tail); or a set of Lyres only....

Installation of either upgrade option is very simple as the Lyres and the Connbox mount to existing threaded holes in your suspension bar. With these upgrades, Rycote is providing a great opportunity to acquire the latest suspension technology for your Modular suspension system at a very reasonable price.

Link.

"Good evening Mr. and Mrs. North and South America and all the ships at sea. Let's go to press..."

2009-01-12T20:08:00.000-08:00

[Walter Winchell Voice]

By steamer and clipper alike, your faithful reporter has finally returned to his post, armed with the latest and greatest in news pertaining to sound-for-picture. Let's see what's hot off the ticker, boys:

First up, we have veteran sound mixer Dennis Maitland, talking about his trials and tribulations as a pioneering mixer, tussling with the likes of Jackie Gleason over at CBS. Who knew ol' Jackie had such a blue streak?

Next, we have two different takes on the Sound Devices CL-8 controller. Nick Huston over at Gotham Sound only got his mitts on it for about an hour, whereas whippersnapper Sklyor Morgan from Trew Audio was able to set a spell with the contraption. The word on the street is that eight is pretty great, if you can fork over the clams.

Stay tuned, folks. After this message from our sponsors, we'll be right back to dish on the dames from high society in swingin' Manhattan. Here's a hint: Dorothy Parker and the gang from the Algonquin got into another tizzy with the bartender over their sizable tab. When confronted by the manager, Ms. Parker was overheard to say, "I'd settle up, but that would involve standing up." Zowie!

Coffey's On

2008-12-17T12:13:00.000-08:00

The winter edition of The Coffey Audio Files is available for download here (pdf read link).

Sanken and Zaxcom Team Up To Design Mic, Fight Crime

2008-12-16T15:48:00.000-08:00

Via ProSoundNews:

Sanken has announced the COS-11D, the latest version in the COS-11 lavalier series. The new design incorporates design advances that deal with digital and digital/analog hybrid wireless transmission...

President Glenn Sanders remarked, "Zaxcom is excited to recommend the Sanken COS-11D for use with our TRX series of wireless digital recording transmitters. The COS-11D, with its immunity to RF interference, provides the audio quality that sound mixers have come to expect, while Zaxcom's digital wireless technology ensures transmission quality that is equivalent to that of a hard-wired connection..."

In today's wireless transmission systems the microphone must remain unaffected by the new forms of transmitter signals. While the benefits of these new systems are obvious, they present new challenges in the area of emission protection. Sanken Microphones has designed the COS-11D specifically to reduce the instances where interference is an issue...

No word yet on which of the two companies will have the cooler super-hero costumes, though my money's on the Big Z.

Link.

And In "Throwing Us a Bone" News....

2008-12-16T12:01:00.000-08:00

Both Lectrosonics and AKG have announced a trade-in policy and rebate offer, respectively, for owners of their wireless systems in the 700 Mhz band. Snips:

The plan offered by Lectrosonics allows owners of current generation products in these blocks, including SM Series, UM400-type, UH400-type, UT, LM-type, IM and MM400-type transmitters, and UCR411-type, UCR401, Venue-type, SR-type, UCR100 and R400-type receivers to have the frequency block changed to a lower range for a nominal fee.

AKG's offer is conditional in that the rebate can only be applied towards the purchase of their WMS 450 system:

...AKG announced a trade-in program for customers of any brand of wireless system that operates in the over-698 MHz range on its popular WMS 450 system. This rebate program gives customers a $100.00 instant rebate when they trade-in their “700-MHz” wireless system against the purchase of a WMS 450 from a participating contractor or retail dealer. A $100.00 mail-in rebate is available via a downloadable PDF form for new customers when purchasing the system from a participating online or catalog retailer.

Link to AKG.

Lectrosonics press release, via ProSoundNews.

FCC Plans On Making "Smut Free" Wireless Broadband; In Related Story, Scientist Quoted As Being "This Close" To Making Perpetual Motion Machine

2008-12-12T12:33:00.000-08:00

From Ars Technica:

Federal Communications Commission Chair Kevin Martin's campaign for a free, smutless, wireless, national broadband service for the people opened a new chapter on Friday with the release of a public comment cycle on the plan. The agency's Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNOPR) advocates "public access to free, nationwide, high-speed wireless broadband Internet services using a portion of the winning bidder’s network in the 2.1GHz Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) spectrum."

Free wireless broadband? Spectacular, assuming it happens. "Smutless"? Futile, for many reasons, not the least of which is that there is no legal definition of what constitutes "obscene" ("knowing it when you see it" notwithstanding).

Attempting to create a catch-all filter will be a waste of time and taxpayer money. First, most filters are easily circumvented by today's teens (witness the ongoing efforts to prevent students from accessing social networking sites on school computers). Secondly, if the filters are set too stringently, they may end up blocking legitimate health education sites (by preventing anything with the word "breast" from being accessed, for example).

All of this just gets my inner curmudgeon up in arms. I can completely understand parents wanting to be able to control of what their kids surf on the net, but not at the expense of my own access as an adult. Personal responsibility has to factor in here; if you are that concerned, then put the computer in the living room so that you know what sites your kids are visiting. If you can't trust your children to use the net according to your rules, then take away their mobile device and replace it with a bare-bones cell phone. If you're worried about the computers at school, address your school board.

People want the world to be re-oriented around their own children, and the rest of us are expected to be ad-hoc babysitters, making compromises so that some of these parents out there don't have to face the burden of watching their own kids every single minute. Unfair, but also unrealistic.

The world can be a dangerous, dirty place, and try as some might, you can't bubble-wrap it and call it good. Parenting, like most of life, requires patience, common sense, and above all, follow through. This means learning how to properly use that big ol' scary computer. It means becoming a more sophisticated web surfer in your own right, so that you can pass that tech wisdom on to your kids.

Finally, it means communication, which is what the net is all about. Talk to your kids, about computers, about adult material, about whatever they're doing when they're online. The only people qualified to know what's best for your kids is you, parents. It may be intimidating, but the internet is an undeniable part of our modern world, and kids need to be taught how to use it responsibly.

You will be better at determining what is and is not appropriate for your kids than any filtering software ever devised.

Thank you and good night. {steps off soap box, runs away from angry mob carrying tar and feathers}

Apron Strings (The Good Kind)

2008-12-10T12:11:00.000-08:00

Via Pro Video Coalition: the EQE Boompole Apron. Snip:

Our unique Boompole Apron attaches to the side of your cart and provides storage sleeves for up to four boompoles, antennas, or small stands. Because it is made of rugged cordura fabric, it weighs almost nothing and folds flat.

Currently, I just use a cheapie bungie cable to strap the boom to my cart, but this is only practical when it's stationary. If you need to wheel around to get closer to the next setup, or move out of the way of lighting equipment (which inevitably happens), it gets a little wonky. An apron like this seems like the most practical way to store booms, short of a far more expensive custom-built cart.

MSRP: $89

Link to Equipment Emporium.

(P.S. The post at Pro Video Coalition lists today's date, but a Google search brought up a post from Videomaker.com from 1999 that lists the Boom Apron. Seems as though it's a older product with a new announcement making the rounds.)

Setiquette Part Two

2008-12-04T13:39:00.000-08:00

Mr. Patton continues:

You have a responsibility to deliver good sound. It doesn’t matter whether you are the Production Mixer or the EPK guy. There will be times when you need something from the people around you, like quiet. It may be that the people around you will not give you what you need, even after you ask them nicely. EPK crews don’t usually get “quiet on the set.” They are expected to work around everyone else, including the guy with the power saw. You don’t have the authority to tell them to be quiet, but someone probably does. Talk to your director, your director can talk to the ADs and maybe figure out a better set-up or one of the ADs might help you get some quiet.

With the breakdown of the apprentice system, this kind of hard-won wisdom in invaluable. New crew members have fewer ways to watch over a veteran's shoulder to see how it should be done. There should be far more articles like this if we expect to maintain a base level of professionalism in the industry.

Link, via Trew Audio.

Blimpin' Ain't Easy

2008-12-03T12:13:00.000-08:00

Okay, if anyone feels the need to make any "full of hot air" jokes, get it out of the way now...

Anything above the lightest breeze necessitates a blimp- or zeppelin-style microphone suspension, which surrounds the mic with a volume of air that is kept at low velocity, while still allowing enough motion to proved a good, clear pickup of intended sound. This is generally achieved by building a semi-rigid plastic frame, lining it with silk or some other acoustically transparent fabric, and pairing it with a slip-on cover with longer fur, for even heavier winds.

Rode, known for their mics, has debuted its entry into the field, and Trew Audio got their hands on it. The short version:

Barely two years after releasing their extremely popular NTG series shotguns, RODE microphones has developed the RODE Blimp. RODE has studied the market, taken the best aspects of the competition, and melded it into a lower cost dependable wind protection solution...

All in all, the RODE Blimp seems to be a very good value. While slightly heavier and possibly a little less refined in appearance than the most popular brand of zeppelin there are some good ideas at work here. Owners will be satisfied with the performance and the economics of this windscreen system.

Link to review.

www.rodemic.com

Klassic Overuse Of the Letter K

2008-12-03T12:01:00.000-08:00

K-Tek, purveyors of fine boom poles (one of which your intrepid reporter owns himself), have introduced the K-Tek Klassic Traveler, a budget-minded boom/suspension/windscreen package that would be perfect for an on-the-go ENG or a back up to a heavier system. Snip, via b-roll.net:

The K-87CC extends to 7′3” (221cm) and can be compressed to 1′10” (56cm). Crafted of high-density graphite fiber, the pole offers the same great benefits as the top-of-the-line Klassic 5-Section Boom Pole series...The K-87CC comes outfitted with an internal coiled cable and a bottom XLR connector.

The K-Mount microphone suspension (K-MT) offers users both the ruggedness of a shock mount and the isolation characteristics of more expensive suspension systems. The system features K-Tek’s unique 4-point polymer microphone suspenders (K-SUS) fitted precisely into a handsome cylindrical aluminum frame.

The K-Tek Slip-On Fuzzy combines a high-quality faux fur exterior with a tightly woven fabric backing — making it the only slip-on windscreen with an extra layer of wind protection. Users have a choice of a small, medium or large windscreen to fit a multitude of microphones.

Purchased separately, these items retail for $685.00. K-Tek is offering the Klassic Traveler Kit at a package price of just $575.00.

Link.

State Of the Rebate

2008-12-03T11:38:00.001-08:00

From the "Wow, They're Being a Lot Cooler About This Than I Thought They Would" Department:

Shure has started a rebate program of up to $1,000 for the trade-in of Shure 700 MHz frequency band (698-806 MHz) wireless systems and other related components purchased before February 1, 2007--and for any other manufacturers' qualifying 700 MHz frequency band wireless systems and their related components.

The part about "other manufacturers" is interesting, although there's nothing specific on Shure's website about who qualifies.

Link.

So, THAT Happened...

2008-11-22T10:59:00.000-08:00

And, we're back.

Just coming off four days on the new HGTV show Bang For Your Buck, which, oddly, was not a hunting show about male deer.

{crickets}

Anyhoo, a bit's happened since my last post: the FCC voted unanimously to open up the whitespaces for a nation-wide deployment of wireless internet services and devices. Nothing new, exactly, other than it's now official. Technically, new whitepace devices may be legally sold after Februrary 18th, 2009, and sales of new wireless microphones in the 700 MHz band are outlawed.

What does this mean at the practical level for production sound mixers? Things are going to get more crowded, obviously. The world's going wireless, from phones to laptops to other mobile devices not even conceived of yet, so we're all going to get a bit cozy here in the near future.

For operators like myself, who typically work solo with four or so wireless mics and a pair of wirelesss hops to camera in a residential neighborhood, it doesn't seem like a lot will change. Already, mixers tip-toe around each other and DTV signals, scanning frequencies at each new location (or coordinating beforehand with software from vendors like Lectrosonics or Shure).

For large-scale users (think NFL, Broadway shows, etc.), who depend on an enormous amount of wireless communications beyond program microphones, things are going to get interesting. Either they're going to have to reduce the number of comm devices (complicated to the point of nearly impossible with the scale of some modern productions), or they're going to have to retro-fit the entire operation with new digital technology (expensive, and in some cases not entirely proven in terms of robustness in the field, i.e. bluetooth).

Mainly, though, a lot of this is merely a forehead smacking "duh". Outside of larger entities like major broadcasters, nearly every wireless microphone user is, technically speaking, a pirate broadcaster:

Despite some "urban legends" to the contrary, all professional audio wireless microphones, wireless intercoms and wireless in-ear monitoring systems used in the U.S. are required to be licensed by the FCC (Federal Communications Commission). Although enforcement actions have been infrequent, unlicensed operation can potentially subject wireless users to fines and other penalties...

Broadcasters and TV/film producers can qualify for licenses under Part 74, Subpart H of the FCC rules, "Low Power Auxiliary Stations". Other "general" wireless users who can’t qualify under Part 74 can only be licensed on a very restricted basis for eight specific VHF frequencies in the 170 MHz range. However, only four of these frequencies can be used at one time at a location and interference is often a serious problem. General wireless users who do attempt to license these frequencies find that the process is extremely complicated and difficult, leading most to simply give up.

I haven't taken an official poll, but I'd be willing to bet that the majority of the production companies I work for are not licensed users, nor are the other mixers I personally know here in town. We've all been working on borrowed time and spectrum since the FCC had announced in '96 that they would shut off the analog OTA transmitters. They even pushed the date back several times to its current target of Februray 17th, 2009, allowing for a traditionally slow-moving industry to further adapt, and yet here we are, sweating it out.

The thing of it is that it won't be like some giant rocker switch will be thrown, shutting us all down on that day with a big, descending-pitch hum. A nation-wide deployment of wireless internet will now be allowed, but won't reach any sort of serious penetration levels for while. Realistically, I'd say we'd have at least six months to a year before we even see these kinds of services rolled out in major metropolitan markets, and another year beyond that before devices that can utilize them start appearing in the market in any real quantities. Hell, we're still waiting on broader deployment of 3G from some of the major telcos, and that's been around since at least '99.

On top of that, all new whitespace devices are required to be "spectrum-sensing", meaning that if the device detects a wireless mic or comm on its frequency, it should automatically hop to another open channel. The jury is still out on whether this will actually work or not, but it's a step in the right direction if it can be implemented properly.

Again, I'm not a sound supervisor on a major show, tasked with coordinating an enormous amount of multiple wireless to the point where it all functions flawlessly in a live, mission-critical manner. The shows I do are smaller scale, with fewer wireless in a format that allows for another take if there's an audio hit. My own personal work won't have to change much. As for the rest of the industry we'll have to wait and see, but it will more than likely be business as usual until then.

Article round up:

"The Bottom Line: Legal Use of Wireless Microphones", via ProSoundWeb.

Society of Broadcast Engineers Statement of Policy Regarding Wireless Microphones Used at 944-952 MHz

"White Spaces Overview", via Shure.

"FCC Releases Full Text of 'White Spaces' Decision", via Shure.

Setiquette

2008-11-11T19:16:00.000-08:00

Chew with your mouth closed. Keep your elbows off table. Children should be seen and not heard. When you throw up in an alley behind a bar, do not go back in to "complete the mission".

This things have nothing to do with Set Etiquette and the Chain of Command, a new article from Rick Patton over at Trew Audio's Audio Flow; I just thought that my readership could use some classing up. But the article does have some very valuable, time-tested wisdom for the rest of us. Snip:

What are the basic rules for how to behave on a movie set? Don’t draw attention to yourself. Wear dark colors and be quiet. Turn off your cell phone. Don’t make eye contact with the actors and don’t stand in their eyeline. Don’t talk to above-the-line people unless they talk to you first. Don’t block doorways. Smile, be polite, and acknowledge the pecking order. Resist the urge to help out unless someone specifically asks for your help. Those are the basic ground rules for anybody walking onto a set for the first time. That’s good information for newbies and veterans alike. There are additional layers of etiquette when you are a crewmember or working on a documentary.

Link.

ZAP! POW! WAM!

2008-11-06T15:05:00.000-08:00

I'm usually introduced to people as a "sound guy". Like many tech-oriented industries, film and television production have traditionally been male-dominated. To date, I know of only two female production sound mixers here in Oregon (Hi Anna and Randi!).

W.A.M. is looking to change that. Based of out San Francisco, the non-profit Women's Audio Mission aims to "change the face of sound" by providing training, experience and career counseling for 200 women a year, 20 of whom are placed with paying jobs in the industry.

They are also encouraging the next generation of women in the recording arts with G.R.O.W., the Girls Recording Outreach Program. G.R.O.W. matches girls 8 to 18 with women mentors on small-scale recording projects, designed to mirror real-world productions in an environment conducive to learning.

In short, they're awesome, and they deserve all the support they can get.

www.womensaudiomission.org

A Stretch in Time Saves Nine (Nine of What, I have No Idea...)

2008-11-05T12:18:00.000-08:00

Today's video tutorial comes from Ken Stone's FCP site, and covers time-stretching audio within Soundtrack Pro.

Occasionally, you get stuck with a chunk of audio, be it music or effects, that is just too short, or long. Since post production is all about making a tidy little package, it's important to ensure that all of the components fit just so, which is where time-stretching can come in handily.

Traditionally, altering the speed of an audio clip also altered its pitch. While this is useful for effects, it's detrimental when all you need is to fit a selection into a pre-determined time slot. Luckily, modern DAWs offer the ability to stretch time while maintaining the original pitch.

Link.

Damn Right...

2008-11-05T12:13:00.001-08:00

Zaxcom Says, "Screw 11, We're Going To 12."

2008-10-28T19:46:00.000-07:00

Zaxcom, makers of fine digital audio gadgetry, have recently introduced the Fusion 12 Multichannel Recorder/ Mixer.

The Fusion 12 is a twelve input, eight output mixer, with a full twelve channels of recording capability. Like the original Fusion, it is solid-state only, allowing for lighter weight in addition to increased battery life. The two Compact Flash cards will record simultaneously to provide built-in redundancy.

"Our new Fusion 12 blends the rugged durability and performance characteristics of a solid state recorder with the maneuverability of an in-bag audio mixer and recorder," said Glen Saunders, president of Zaxcom. "Also, there's a button that will play an MP3 of Danke Shoen, but you'll just have to guess which one." [Part of the above was made up. -Ed.]

And, since the first-gen Fusion was whining about feeling left out of everything, Zaxcom engineers rolled their eyes and gave it two extra channels, bringing its total to ten. Original owners can upgrade for free.

Link, via Studio Daily.

www.zaxcom.com

White Space Invaders

2008-10-16T14:51:00.000-07:00

Whew...

I'm trying my darndest to stay abreast of the labyrinthine changes going on with the 700 MHz spectrum and its white spaces (witness the new RSS feed in the upper right corner of the blog).

But honestly, it boggles the mind sometimes. I'm approaching things from the perspective of an audio professional, but the issue is so much more far-reaching than our industry alone. Rapidly, it is becoming one of internet access, gatekeeping, and the major carriers scrambling to put the genie back in the bandwidth bottle, even though we, as tax paying American citizens, own the spectrum ourselves.

Recently, the FCC approved a proposal for free nationwide wireless broadband, but in the AWS-3 band, which resides around 2155-2180 MHz. I've stated before that I think that every person on earth should have free, wireless internet access provided to them, and this proposal is a definite step in the right direction. It would be content-filtered for kids (adults can opt-out), and tiered in terms of speed: low-speed for free, high-speed for a fee.

The carriers, of course, are getting a bit itchy. If this plan reaches the intended penetration levels, it would seriously threaten the status quo. After all, why would someone pay for something they legally get for free? Ultimately, it would force their hands to either offer true broadband that the rest of the developed world enjoys (rather than the trickling faucet we're now being gouged for), or lower their prices.

But whither the 700 MHz band, that unlicensed spectrum that TV, film, sports events, live shows and houses of worship have all built themselves upon? Some is being allotted to first responders, with little argument from anyone. But the rest is still up in the air, no pun intended. Seeing as how a national internet initiative was given the green light in another band, you'd think we were out of the woods, but not so. Already, the FCC has outlawed the further sale of any new wireless microphones in those blocks.

I said before that I'd be perfectly willing to sacrifice that spectrum if it meant open internet access for low-income people. But since the current proposal is in a totally different band, the 700 Mhz white spaces are going to be put to use (primarily by AT&T and Verizon) for a new generation of wireless devices (iPhone et al).

While a schmancy mobile internet device can be a good thing (indeed, I'm chomping at the bit to get my hands on a G-1), it certainly isn't the same as providing a public service like net access to the general public. The already crowded airwaves just became standing-room only, which will force the aforementioned industries to adapt, at great cost, which, of course will be passed on to the consumer. For TV, this most likely means more commercials; for live shows and sporting events, higher ticket prices.

The 500 pound gorillas here are the major carriers. The coveted spectrum is an untapped market for selling lucrative data plans to existing mobile subscribers, though it ultimately seems a bit short-sighted. A medium is nothing without content, and the carriers have just caused the content creators' baseline costs to rise.

For example, one of the most appealing things about reality television (which could not exist without dependable wireless microphones) is the incredible margins; it's dirt-cheap to produce. If this kind of cash cow goes away due to increasing technical costs, all content is going to go up in price. This, in turn, will mean increased licensing costs for the carriers to access that content, which means that data plans either remain at their initial price points and become less profitable (unlikely), or they become so expensive that customers are put off. Sure, people will always want email and SMS, but a real time-suck like watching TV clips online is what keeps the data meter running.

On the other hand, this may encourage a return to more scripted fare by the networks (which, while modern production styles still require wireless, a handful of actors on a set for short takes is a far cry from the "wire everyone and roll" MO of reality). This paradigmatic shift could provide an outlet for new talent and ideas if the industry goes back to the narrative storytelling upon which it built its foundations. It may foster a return to more substantive content, rather than the cotton candy ephemera that dominates today.

One can always hope.

Article round up:

Free WiFi? That's So 22nd Century
FCC Clears Free National Internet Plan
America May Get Broadband For Free, But Porn Will Cost You
AWS-3, white spaces clear initial hurdles but will they survive?
FCC, Wireless Providers at Odds Over Plan for Unused Airwaves
FCC set to vote on white-space issue Nov. 4
In Spectrum Auction, Winners Are AT&T, Verizon and Openness

Soundtrack Pro Tempore

2008-10-16T13:31:00.000-07:00

Two Soundtrack Pro items today (although, I have to say, the honeymoon's almost over for me. I've been having numerous issues with nearly daily crashes and other assorted weirdness. As a fellow postie mused, "It's more like 'Soundtrack Prosumer'." There's still a lot I like, so I've got my fingers crossed for STP 3.0).

First up, from geniusdv.com: Spectrum View in Soundtrack Pro.

Snip:

In Soundtrack Pro, we're all used to seeing waveforms when we open up clips. But there's another perspective on the sound that, while it's a little more scary at first, can be almost as useful once you figure it out. You can separate some sounds from others, spot areas with funny spikes that don't show up in the waveform, and even copy and paste specific sounds from within a flat clip. With practice, you can even begin to recognize the "fingerprints" of individual words. They call this view ... Spectrum View.

Next, via LarryJordan.com: Reducing Noise in Soundtrack Pro 2.

Snip:

One of the exciting features in Soundtrack Pro is its ability to reduce background noise.

Notice that I said "reduce," not eliminate. If you need to remove a sound, you'll need to re-record the audio. If, on the other hand, you just want greater separation between your speaker and the background, this tool can do the trick.

Well, back into the trenches for me. I've got a twenty minute mix that's been dogging me for months. You won't best me, Soundtrack Pro! [shakes fist to the heavens]

Neutrik Intros Unisex Connector, Making Barrels Obsolete; Donkey Kong Shopping Resume Around

2008-10-16T13:03:00.000-07:00

Called the ConvertCon (not to be confused with the "Conversion Convention '08"), the connector utilizes a sliding collar, allowing it to mate with either a female or male XLR.

Other features include an improved strain-relief collar and a durable zinc shell.

I wonder if it's truly cost effective for high-volume cable makers to change over, since barrels, while essential, are usually needed only once in a while. Personally, I think it's brilliant; when you're bagged up and run'n'gun, the last thing you want to do is add weight with a full "goody package" of adapters.

Via Post Magazine.

www.neutrikusa.com

Why So Sibilant?

2008-10-15T12:57:00.000-07:00

Via Post Magazine: MPSE Sound Show to look at Dark Knight Soundtrack.

Snip:

The MPSE Sound Show (www.MPSE.org) returns to Hollywood on October 27th, with a sonic exploration into the world of this summer's Batman movie from Warner Bros. Pictures, The Dark Knight...

Excerpts of the movie will be presented with special "pre-dub" mixes to illustrate the variety of elements used to create an environment of serious sound...

The MPSE Sound Show will take place at 8:00pm on Monday, October 27th, and will be held at the Lloyd E. Rigler Theatre in the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood...

Present will be sound designer Richard King, music editor Alex Gibson, and composer Hans Zimmer.

See, it's stuff like this that frustrates me about not living in LA. I made my choice, based on a life/work balance, among other things, and I'm happy here in PDX. I just wish the powers-that-be could cut through the Gordian Knot of licensing to be able to post video of events like these on MPSE's website for the rest of us (or offer it as an extra on Blu-Ray, hint hint...).

Link.

moar funny pictures

The Interview Recorder Blues

2008-10-06T19:05:00.000-07:00

Skylor Morgan over at The Trew Audio Flow reviews the JK Audio Bluepack audio interface. Snip:

The BluePack is about the same size as a production intercom style belt pack. The bottom panel has a XLR mic input for a dynamic interview microphone such as the Electro-voice RE-50B...

The Bluetooth system allows pairing to any cell phone with Bluetooth 2.0 capabilities. The bandwidth of a cellular phone is only 3.4 kHz, however, with a professional microphone, preamp, and monitoring system the user instantly improves the audio quality before it goes through the cell phone compression...

Radio remotes and television news reporters find the most obvious uses for the system. In the world of radio, dialing via an analog phone line for sports, remote promotions, etc. are diminishing if not completely gone...

In situations where wireless duplex intercoms are not available, the BluePack is a relatively inexpensive solution for production communications...

MSRP: @ $495

Link.

Sound Devices CL-8 Available Soon; Still Waiting on Clever Pun Title

2008-10-04T13:28:00.000-07:00

Via Trew Audio: The Sound Devices CL-8 is now available for pre-order.

The CL-8 is a mixing panel extension for the 788T, adding the big operator-friendly fader pots of the 442 to the recorder, as well as two aux recording tracks, bringing the total track count to ten. They say it's cart-friendly, but the boxy form-factor seems like it would be better utilized in a bag. Snip:

The CL-8 provides rotary faders, high pass filters, limiters, polarity switching, and mute functions for each input. With the CL-8's associated firmware upgrade the 788T also adds two pre- or post- fader aux recording tracks for more versatile tracking needs. Above each fader are three buttons, one each for limiter, high-pass, and polarity...
A slate mic function and headphone solos are also added.

The CL-8 mounts with screws and interfaces with the 788T via a standard USB cable. While this makes finding replacement cables in the field a no-brainer, it does raise a concern about dislodging the cable while run-n-gun, as the USB isn't a locking connector like the XLR. Time will tell if this becomes an issue or not.

Link.

Pro Tools 8 Announced

2008-10-03T10:57:00.000-07:00

Via Modulate This:

At first glance, the most noticeable new feature in Pro Tools 8 is its striking user interface, which has been stylishly enhanced with a more modern color palette, as well as higher-contrast text and graphics. This redesigned user interface frames a dramatically expanded set of creative tools and a host of features for music creators, editors, mixers, and post production professionals. All the key Pro Tools functions that users rely on are still right where they should be, but enhancements, such as dockable Editor windows and a configurable Edit window toolbar, make it easier to navigate than ever before.

Link.

Sound Effects Contest (Michael Winslow Not Eligible)

2008-10-01T15:18:00.000-07:00

Via Post Magazine (unnecessary exclamation points theirs):

The SONOPEDIA™ Sound Design Competition

Attention all sound designers! Post Magazine is teaming up with HD sound effects library publisher Blastwave FX to sponsor the first SONOPEDIA Sound Design Competition. Everyone from game audio designers to feature film mixers will have a chance at winning SONOPEDIA, The Encyclopedia of HD Sound Effects.

Register now!

• Download 40 free sound effects by Blastwave FX
• Design and submit a 30 second sound design narrative
• Award-Winning judges will select the Winner
• The Winner will receive SONOPEDIA™ - 20,000 HD sound effects on a 250 GB Glyph hard drive.

Judges will include Randy Thom, Lon Bender, and Richard King. Entrants must register on the Post site, and will have until November 14th to turn in their mix.

Link.

P.S. A little of Mr. Winslow for those of you who are rusty on their Police Academy canon:

CAM-Do Spirit

2008-09-30T11:39:00.000-07:00

Celtx, the free, open-source media creation software (that I've posted about before) is issuing the Celtx Against Malaria Students Challenge. Snip:

We're challenging high school, university, and film school students across the planet to create media that educates the public about malaria and inspires others to donate $5 to buy a life-saving malaria bednet.

From October 1st to December 31, 2008 use Celtx to create a video, film, ad, comic book, stage play, podcast, video game, music video, machinima - anything that you think will draw attention to malaria bednets and encourage others to make a donation.

On January 15th, 2009, Against Malaria will select 3 projects whose creators will receive the honor of determining the countries of distribution for 5,000 malaria bednets... Plus, one or more of the projects will be linked to and promoted on the Against Malaria site.

Also, we'll tally up the donations made between October 1st and December 31st and the school with the most individual donators will be awarded a high definition video camera courtesy of Celtx!

Open source tools can be a very viable option for non-profits and NGOs as they can really level the playing field in terms of functionality at little to no cost. Sure, they may require a little extra care and feeding, but the results are worth the effort.

Stating the obvious, but in a media saturated world, you need to stand out from the background noise in you want to be heard. Well-produced PR is a good move in that direction, and Celtx can be the first step.

Link.

Cassingled Out

2008-09-29T15:57:00.000-07:00

Here's a little bit of audio goodness for those of you out there who can remember rewinding their cassette tapes by hand with a Bic pen in order to save the batteries in their Walkmen.

From the fine folks at Government Productions and Records here in sunny Portland, Oregon comes a re-creation of the XDR process tonebursts that preceded the (totally awesome!) music on many a cassette tape in the '80s. From Wikipedia:

The toneburst consists of 11 tones about .175 seconds in length, each an octave apart. These tones are recorded on the cassette, and are read during the duplication process to detect if there is any loss of any audio information.

From Government Productions:

After much hunting on the interwebs to find an example of the XDR Cassette Noise Reduction Test Tone for use on a clients song, Rob Weston decided to just go ahead and make his own. Then he figured, heck why not put it up here and let other people have it too...

Extra points to whoever actually owned a "cassingle". For the record, I had two.

Link.

Summer '08 Coffey Audio Files

2008-09-19T11:03:00.000-07:00

Hey, kids: The Summer '08 Coffey Audio Files Magazine is available for download (actually, it has been for while; so I'm behind, sue me...). Good product reviews, including the Sound Devices 788T and the Camlynx digital wireless camera hop, along with many in-depth interviews with production sound crews.

Be sure to check out self-professed "695 Newbie" Hanna Collins' article about her foray into boom operating. Snip:

On my very first take in the “ business” I held the
boom upside down, it’s been quite a learning experience
ever since...

Dan started counting how many times my
mic hit the ceiling, “ three... four... come on Hanna.”

Ah, I remember it like it was yesterday (well, because the same thing happened to me yesterday).

Link.

Quantum of Solice

2008-09-16T18:26:00.001-07:00

Sometimes, they just write themselves...

Coffey Sound has announced that they're taking orders for the PSC Solice Panel Mixer, due to ship in November. Snip:

Features of the PSC Solice Audio Mixer:

* 8 Input Channels with Mic Power, Parametric EQ, Pre-Fade Listens
* Individual Line Outputs on Every Input Channel, Pre or Post Fader Assignable
* 8 Mix Busses for Extreme Versatility
* 8 Balanced Outputs on Full Size XLRs and also on a Multi-Pin
* Sunlight Readable LED PPM Metering on all 8 Outputs
* Slate Microphone
* Remote Roll
* Comm - provides full duplex communication to 2 boom operators
* Operates From External 10 to 18 VDC

Pricing TBD.

www.professionalsound.com
www.coffeysound.com

This Just In, From the "Unplanned Obsolescence" Department:

2008-09-06T11:51:00.000-07:00

Via Trew Audio News: Lectrosonics To Offer Block Changes.

Snip:

For the first time, the FCC has explicitly BANNED [the] use of any wireless mic transmitters above 700 MHZ. In previous years they had been unclear about "grandfathered" equipment. That changed just this month.

Lectrosonics has implemented a service plan that allows end users who have current equipment in this band to do block changes...

For some products such as IFBR1a and VRS/VRT Modules, an exchange is the lower cost pathway. While not inexpensive, this plan provides a more cost effective pathway for those who choose to change the blocks of their equipment. These block changes involved [sic] entire RF board changes...

Older products such as 200 series, 195 series etc will not be covered under this program. Frequency changes may be possible - please call the Lectrosonic's service department to inquire about feasibility.

Link.

www.lectrosonics.com

Threefer

2008-09-06T11:29:00.000-07:00

A trio of articles from the B&H newsletter today. First up, Being Green in the Field - Reducing Your Carbon Footprint in Audio Field Production. Snip:

Anyone who works in audio field production knows that the one environmentally harmful item you burn through day in and day out is batteries. Wireless microphone systems tend to eat up battery life the quickest, but your portable field mixer and portable audio recorder both require a lot of juice. Many audio professionals just factor in the cost of single-use batteries and the need to constantly supply themselves with new ones as a repetitive chore on the job. There is an alternative to dumping a handful of spent AA's into the trash/landfill at the end of the day. The solution is to harness the power of rechargeable professional video camera batteries for your audio equipment.

Next, Exploring the Boundaries – A Close Look at an Invisible Microphone. Snip:

Boundary microphones as a class are often overlooked – literally. Flat-lying and inconspicuous by design, they lack the glamorous appearance and prestige of their conventional large-diaphragm counterparts, which are often photographed in the company of the world's best-known and culturally iconic singers, entertainers and public servants...

Regardless of their humble, vaguely bug-like appearance, boundary microphones represent some of the most versatile, functional, and reliable mics ever made, and we'd like to take a brief look at how they work and what they can do for you.

And finally, Capturing Critical Interviews: Under the Gun of Broadcast Television. Take notes on this one, kids; this is the kind of stuff that can save one's bacon. Snip:

There is no pressure in the world like knowing that the next interview that you have been granted is a one time shot, with no chance for a retake. Weeks of persistent phone calls and constant maneuvering have led you to a once in a lifetime opportunity that is sure to keep you on your toes in an effort to make sure everything runs smoothly. This pressure is magnified when an entire broadcast network is counting on you to get it right the first, and usually, only time.

As we touched on last month, Raphael Gorham has, among other things, acted as head field audio engineer for many high profile one-off interviews for broadcast television...

We asked him a few questions about recording that all-important interview without loosing [sic] your head.

Link to the B&H Newsletter archive.

Sonosax Demo Day at Coffey Sound 9/6/08

2008-09-03T19:55:00.000-07:00

From coffeysound.com:

Pierre from Sonsosax in Switzerland will drop by Coffey Sound and personally demo several new Sonosax products inluding: the new Sonosax SX-R4 eight-track recorder, SX-M32 three-channel mixer and other Sonosax products.

The SX-R4 seems to be the star of the show (from the Sonosax website, which, being based in a country with four official languages, makes for some wonky copy):

The ideal companion for classical music and on location multi-track recording
Perfect Gain control and advanced linking capabilities
Recording capabilities: 44,1 up to 192kHz @ 24bits and 16 bits (dithering)
Up to 8 tracks on the HD plus 2 tracks on the CF Card
Small and robust construction
Friendly user interface, easy maintenance
Battery or external DC operated

Saturday, September 6th 2008
Coffey Sound
3325 Cahuenga Blvd
(323) 876-7525
www.coffeysound.com
www.sonosax.ch

The "Voice of God" Don Lafontaine Dead at 68

2008-09-02T09:37:00.000-07:00

From Entertainment Tonight:

Voiceover Master Don LaFontaine has died. He was 68.

LaFontaine, known as the "King of Voiceovers," died Monday afternoon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. LaFontaine's agent, Vanessa Gilbert, tells ET that he passed away following complications from Pneumothorax, the presence of air or gas in the pleural cavity, the result of a collapsed lung. The official cause of death has not yet been released.

Over the past 25 years, LaFontaine cemented his position as the "King of Voiceovers." Aside from being the preeminent voice in the movie trailer industry, Don also worked as the voice of Entertainment Tonight and The Insider, as well as for CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox and UPN, in addition to TNT, TBS and the Cartoon Network. By conservative estimates, he voiced hundreds of thousands of television and radio spots, including commercials for Chevrolet, Pontiac, Ford, Budweiser, McDonalds, Coke, and many other corporate sponsors.

From the very first gravelly syllable, you'd recognize Don Lafontaine's voice as the "In a world..." guy. Just about every major action film trailer from the '80s (my unofficial film school) was graced by his ominous intonations.

I've written about Lafontaine before, and here again is that awesome clip of "Five Guys in a Limo":

Another clip, a parody of both trailer cliches and the Three Tenors, featuring Lafontaine and one of the best impersonations of him I've heard yet:

A profile:

And this segment from NBC Dateline:

www.donlafontaine.com

Gone, Baby, Gone

2008-08-26T19:51:00.000-07:00

Well, here we go....

From broadcastingcable.com (via Gotham Gazette): FCC votes unanimously to prohibit use of wireless microphones, other devices in 700-megahertz band after DTV transition.

Snip:

FCC chairman Kevin Martin proposed the ban earlier this month.

The FCC also wants to prohibit the manufacture, sale, import or shipment of such devices that operate in the 700-MHz band.

The devices have been sharing the spectrum with broadcasters on those channels (52-69), but those channels are being reclaimed for advanced wireless uses by industry and first-responders after the Feb. 17, 2009, transition to DTV...

The commission also sought comment on a proposal to authorize current unauthorized users in the 700 mHz band--many wireless mike users are not licensed, in violation of FCC rules--by allowing them to operator on channels below 52-69. It will also look into complaints about the marketing of those microphones...

David Donovan of the Association for Maximum Service Television has pointed out that the move will reduce the spectrum available for wireless mikes used by news reporters and newsrooms and would "appear to make it more difficult to place unlicensed devices on channels 21-51 since the demand for wireless-mike spectrum will increase on those channels."

The FCC is currently testing those unlicensed devices as it decides how and whether to allow them to share DTV spectrum.

Initially, I'd been willing to accept the lost spectrum if it meant that free municipal wi-fi might become more wide-spread. But even though it looks like that's no longer the case, I certainly can't argue with First Responders being given the allotment. While some producers may think that their show is a matter of life and death, these folks live that.

Link.

Holy Production Tracks, Batman!

2008-08-07T20:28:00.000-07:00

I try to avoid reading anything about a movie I'm excited about before I see it, which is becoming more difficult in our media-saturated world. And so, I waited to read FilmSoundDaily!'s excellent articles about the sound for The Dark Knight until after I'd taken in a screening.

I've now gone twice (two short of the minimum nerd quota, but hey, I've been busy). The first was at Cinetopia in Vancouver, WA., an all-digital cinema with some of the best sound-systems I've ever heard (and this is from a former THX auditorium junkie).

The second time was in IMAX. As I wipe the drool from my chin, let me tell you that it was an absolutely amazing experience, with the same power and spectacle that the movies used to hold for me when I was a kid, before I was spoiled on DVD and home surround systems. Certain sequences of the film were shot in IMAX 70mm 15-perf, filling four stories of screen with an incredibly sharp and lushly detailed image

And the sound...huge, dynamics for days, rib-shaking lows and crystalline highs, punch-you-in-the-gut and smack-you-in-the-face, but in a good way. It was cinema as it should be: larger than life, and turned up to 11.

So, um, yeah...I liked it. :)

But the best b-chain in the world is nothing without a quality mix. FSD talks to production sound mixer Ed Novick about the challenges of getting good tracks on one of the biggest movies of the year. Snip:

FSD: Nolan said in a recent interview, “I just think separating the voice from the face and the body is very tricky… It is, after all, blatantly unreal.” With an established dislike of ADR, was Nolan more accepting of input from you on set?

EN: Chris likes to use the production sound for the final, yes. And if during shooting I can identify a problem - that’s fine. But he expects me to have a solution, as well. His method of shooting one camera at a time is very sound-friendly. I think we both agree that matching the camera perspective (wide shots sound more distant than close-ups) is correct, and that a well-positioned overhead boom mic will be better than a lavalier hidden under the clothing...

Chris made sure that sound was invited to every location scout (emphasis added). Many potential problems are solved this way, as issues like generator placement and cable-entry can be worked out in advance. This movie had a number of locations in practical office buildings, so identifying location issues (escalators, air-conditioning, elevator dings, etc…) early can help make them go away on the day. James McCallister (location manager) and his location team were terrific in this regard.

See? It can be done, folks. I've ranted previously about this very thing, and it's refreshing to see a director care as much for that ephemeral quality of sound captured in the moment. It does make a difference, and going the extra mile certainly didn't hurt the movie's bottom line. What's even more telling is this quote from Supervising Sound Editor Richard King, in his interview with FSD:

Chris likes the sound of production.I think there's maybe half a dozen looped lines in the whole movie.

King goes on to say that Novick was very diligent in getting wild tracks of anything that might have been called into question in post.

Now, I'm fully aware of why looping is so prevalent on bigger budget productions: it's the economy, stupid. It's far cheaper to have two or three editors and one actor re-record the lines in a controlled environment later than it is to make one hundred-plus crew and expensive talent hold for that plane. But you sacrifice something else when you do ADR, something that can't be replaced or imitated, that very subtle but integral connection to an event in an acoustic space. Novick and crew did their very best, with the approval and encouragement of the director, to maintain that connection, and the results speak for themselves.

FilmSoundDaily links:

Dark Knight Part One
Dark Knight Part Two
Dark Knight Part Three

Red Letter Day

2008-07-31T15:00:00.000-07:00

Apologies for the late notice:

The next Meet the Gear Day at Gotham Sound covers the "Red Camera step-by-step, answering every sound related question we've had but were afraid to ask."

Personally, I feel that if the production is going to spring for a 2K imaging system, they should do the sensible thing and budget for double-system sound. But we all know that won't always be the case, don't we?

Saturday, August 16th.

www.gothamsound.com

S & P From B & H

2008-07-23T11:42:00.000-07:00

Two from B & H today. First up: the basics on using portable audio recorders. Snip:

Since audio is such an important element of video and film production, there are often production scenarios that call for more than two tracks of recorded sound. Reality programs are among the most popular shows on television. These shows will regularly have numerous people wandering around, all of them wearing wireless microphones. Since their actions are unscripted, the challenge of mixing all of those separate wireless microphones down to two tracks is often too risky. One solution is to use a portable audio recorder with multi-track capabilities.

Yes, yes, a million times yes. Even the best wireless are subject to dropouts on occasion. Sometimes you just can't: budget or schedule won't permit the extra care and feeding required. But if you're a producer putting together your next show, consider affording your production sound mixer the flexibility they need to do the job properly. Not only will the final product be better, it is always cheaper to do it right the first time, rather than try to recover useful material after the fact.

Next, a profile of globe-trotting mixer Raphael Gorham. Snip:

Has certain equipment ever saved the day for you?

On an ENG shoot where Hilary Clinton was thanking a dozen local politicians in a suburban diner, there were about 6 network crews waiting for her when she arrived. There were only 3 sound techs and we all had planned to use booms to get her audio. I happened to have a Crown PZM mic and phantom PS in my bag, so I set in the middle of the tables where they were to sit and attached a wireless transmitter. When Clinton arrived, Secret Service moved the press further out of range than we had anticipated (which is not a problem for cameramen) so booming her was not an option. The PZM worked great and I was able to record the entire conversation.

Pay attention, kids. This is the kind of stuff that can make or break an entire shoot.

"How To Use a Portable Audio Recorder"

"Pro Audio Profiles - Raphael Gorham"

Gripping

2008-07-16T18:44:00.000-07:00

This just in from K-Tek, purveyors of fine boom poles:

K-Tek Boom Poles offer Easier Grip

K-Tek's award-winning Klassic Boom Poles now feature a new design advantage -- unique Soft-Touch grips.

For optimum handling, K-Tek's trademark dimples now have a rubberized feel to give operators a sure grip and more comfortable touch when tightening or loosening the Klassic's locking collars. Constructed of precisely engineered thermal composite, K-Tek's Soft-Touch UV and rain-resistant collars are snugly applied to the poles during the manufacturing process to provide a long life...

Each pole is constructed from high-density graphite carefully selected for maximum strength and minimum weight. Telescoping sections are securely connected through the company's proprietary “captive collet” locking system.

For further information, contact:

K-Tek
1384-F Poinsettia Ave.
Vista, CA 92081
Ph. 760-727-0593
Fax 760-727-0693
www.ktekbooms.com

And That's the Truth About the Soundbooth, Ruth

2008-07-14T11:31:00.000-07:00

I'm a few weeks behind on this one, but I was busy with my IRL job, so, you know, sue me...

{Note from sync.sound.cinema Legal Dept. : "Well, Mr. Dolan certainly has what we in the industry call a 'sense of humor'. To wit, we do not endorse any language that may directly or indirectly induce someone to take legal action against the staff and administration of sync.sound.cinema. Thank you."}

From various places around the web: Adobe has released a free beta of the next version of Soundbooth. Snip from Adobe's site:

Try the Soundbooth beta now. The prerelease of the next version of Soundbooth provides new tools video editors, designers, and others who do not specialize in audio need to accomplish their everyday work such as:

* Arranging audio files on multiple tracks
* Making quick edits and applying fades
* Matching volume levels with a single command
* Removing unwanted noises and background sounds
* Adjusting tempo and pitch
* Recording and polishing voice-overs
* Adding effects and filters
* Previewing MP3 compression quality
* Easily creating customized music — without musical expertise

New features give you even more flexibility and control over your audio. Now with multitrack support, the ability to match volume levels across one or more files, the ability to preview MP3 compression settings before saving, and an enhanced Soundbooth Score workflow, the next version of Soundbooth is a necessary addition to your creative toolkit. Also, with the new Adobe Sound Document file format you can take “snapshots” of your work-in-progress and undo changes made to your audio assets.

It's cross-platform (Intel Macs only), and good for a 2 day grace period.

Link.

Livin' On the Edge

2008-07-13T10:55:00.000-07:00

You know, I was considering coming up with all manner of quippy explanations for my extended absence: covert ops for a shadowy government organization; community service hours for streaking; even ye olde stand-by of alien abduction (death by snu-snu!).

Yeah, no, it was only a gig. Fifteen days on the road, some of which was spent on a paddle-wheel boat (!), lazily churning its way across the swollen Mississippi. I became re-acquainted with humidity, and its ability to wrest every last iota of water from the human body. Pretty, we were not.

While we were busy changing clothes twice a day to remain slightly presentable, The Hollywood Edge was busy in preparing to offer their entire sound effects library for sale on a single hard drive. Snip from Creative Cow News:

The Hollywood Edge (www.hollywoodedge.com), the world’s most widely used sound effects library, is now available in its entirety on hard drive. The Complete Hollywood Edge includes more than 56,000 sounds (in 16bit 44.1k), most originally produced by Academy Award-winning motion picture sound studios.

The complete edition comes with Soundminer, the industry-standard sound library asset management software, designed to make it easier for users to manage their sound collections and locate the perfect sound for any situation.

While the library tops out at over 350 CD's worth of material, normally retailing around $25,000, the entire collection can now be had on a single hard-drive for $15,000. This would be a great way to jump-start a new post house and be able to hit the ground running.

Link to Creative Cow News.

www.hollywoodedge.com

Suspension Of Disbelief

2008-06-20T13:18:00.000-07:00

The New Rycote Lyre Suspension

You know, when I sat down to write this, I was wracking my brain for any sort of dramatic revelations, interesting caveats, something out of the ordinary about the new Lyre Suspension system.

And then I realized that I didn't have any. That's a good thing.

The new Lyre system integrated so seamlessly into my workflow that I pretty much forgot about it. Sure, there are physical differences between it and the former elastic-and-clip configuration, but in terms of usability and, most importantly, sound quality, they were negligible.

The first thing you'll notice is the Lyre clips themselves. Made from the same material as the S and InVision Series, the clips come sized for a range of mics, similar to the older clips. In contrast to the S series, the Lyre clips are attached to the suspension rail with hex screws, for which Rycote includes a handy tool. While not as easily re-positioned as with the S, they're far more stable.

A hex upon your first born...

The Lyres also feel less compliant than the elastic bands, but this never proved to be an issue in use. With a Sennheiser MKH-416, the clips allowed for a bit of low-frequency handling noise when shaken around on the end of the boom, but with an 80 Hz high-pass engaged on my Sound Devices 442, the noise disappeared. I run all of my boom mics high-passed anyway, so this never bothered me.

With the new system, Rycote is also throwing in a new Connbox, a small connector that mechanically isolates the boom's cable from the mic itself, further insulating against handling noise. Since I was beta-testing an earlier design, I was sent an original model Connbox; I've been assured by Vivienne Dyer, Managing Director of Ryocte, that when the new, hard-wired design ships, that "the performance should be the same for both."

The original Connbox.

The Windshield and Windjammer's designs haven't changed, as far as I can tell. Both provided ample wind reduction, from forest breezes to high winds on the Columbia River. Along with the new handle that's been shipping since last year, the new Windshield looks and sounds the same from the outside, which is all that really matters in the end.

Booming rehearsals for Everyman's War. (Note: the mic suspension is in the upper right, whereas Mike Prosser is in the lower right.)

PROS: Light; transparent to workflow, great islolation and wind reduction; free Connbox.

CONS: Have to keep an eye on that hex wrench.

MSRP: TBD

www.rycote.com

Next Meet the Gear

2008-06-20T13:13:00.000-07:00

Again, for those in the NY area, Gotham Sound is offering the next Meet the Gear Event:

RF Spectrum: What every sound mixer needs to know about the changing airwaves.
with Special Guest - Henry Cohen of Production Radio Rentals
Saturday, June 28th
10:30am @ Gotham
rsvp to gotrsvp+rf@gmail.com

Topics will include:

*What are the new FCC regulations?

*What effect will the 700 MHz re-allocation have on wireless mics and when?

*What are the "White Space" proposals and will they interfere with wireless mics?

*What can sound mixers do?

Link.

On the Rode Again

2008-06-13T12:56:00.000-07:00

Via Harmony Central:

Rode Introduces the NTG-3 Shotgun Microphone

The NTG-3 is the result of years of development by RODE engineers, providing the professional broadcast and film industries with an affordable yet uncompromising microphone.

Using a technology known as RF-bias the RODE NTG-3 is almost completely resistant to moisture, making it the only option when recording in any demanding environments where condensation is an issue. Be it in a tropical rainforest, arid desert or sub-zero snowstorm the NTG-3 can be relied on to faithfully record audio where traditional condenser microphones would fail.

Key features:

* Designed to withstand adverse environmental conditions
* 50% less self-noise than the majority of shotgun mics
* True condenser (externally RF biased)
* Extremely low handling noise
* High level of immunity to radio frequency interference

As you can see above, it looks a heck of lot like the Sennheiser 416, a veritable workhorse of the industry. I haven't seen a number yet, but if the Rode can deliver the goods at a lower price point, things could get interesting.

Link.

Meet the Gear (and Remember Your Manners)

2008-06-13T12:48:00.000-07:00

For those in the New York area, Gotham Sound is having another "Meet the Gear" day with the Sound Devices 788T, Saturday, June 14th at 10:30 am. They request that people RSVP to gotrsvp+sd@gmail.com.

Link.

And It's The Celtx By 1

2008-06-10T21:20:00.000-07:00

Celtx, the open-source pre-production and screenplay writing program, has just been released as Version 1.0.

Did I mention it was free?

Based on the Mozilla application framework, Celtx can be used for more than just script formatting; it's essentially a one-stop shop for nearly every aspect of pre-production, from department-specific script breakdowns to scheduling.

Did I mention it was free?

Until today, Celtx has been in beta. Version 1.0 brings some new features, including:

Adapt To - a single click now converts a fully formatted script of one type into a fully formatted script of another - for example a Stageplay to a Screenplay - displaying instantly the multi-media potential of your work.

Comic Book - a new editor to write properly formatted Comic Books, and a common framework for collaboration between writer and artist.

iPhone - now view your Celtx projects from just about anywhere with a display optimized for your iPhone.

Catalogs - a new organization and searchable dashboard view of all your story's elements and production items.

Sidebar - annotate and break down each scene with notes, media (images, audio, and video clips), and production items through an easy to manage, thoroughly upgraded new sidebar.

Project Scheduling - has been vastly upgraded to fully integrate with the script breakdown and provide a Call Sheet and a host of new shooting reports.

Storyboarding - as requested, you can now choose from a variety of ways to view and manage your images, create a storyboard outline based on your script, and add shot descriptions to each image.

As always, it is cross-platform, and available in over ten different languages.

Did I mention it was free?

www.celtx.com

Quiet On Set

2008-06-01T11:50:00.000-07:00

Wired.com is featuring an article about the ever-increasing level of man-made noise pollution, and its impact on the biosphere. Snip:

Krause has a word for the pristine acoustics of nature: biophony. It's what the world sounds like in the absence of humans. But in 40 percent of the locations where Krause has recorded over the past 40 years, human-generated noise has infiltrated the wilderness. "It's getting harder and harder to find places that aren't contaminated," he says.

From a filmmaking standpoint, it's becoming nearly impossible to find an area completely devoid of background noise. For Car Trouble 2: Them's the Brakes, the first project I ever did audio post for, the director and I drove four hours in every direction over two days to try to get some clean background tracks (or atmos, for those of you across the pond) and came up empty handed. Ultimately, we ended up looping nearly every line, and creating the remaining sounds from scratch using library tracks, recorded years ago when you actually stood a chance at getting a clear recording.

Please to enjoy (bear in mind, that in addition to being my first post outing, that it was also mixed in Final Cut Pro 3, a blunt tool for audio):

Link to Wired article.

Whosiwhatsis and the Thingamajig

2008-05-29T13:53:00.000-07:00

Skylor Morgan has another post up at Trew Audio entitled Secret Jargon. Snip:

Little did I understand, very few people use technical names, but if I want to serve the customer better, I’d better learn their language. Imagine my thoughts when I first heard, butt plug, clown nose, juice can, furry, cat, coily, viper, vampire, etc. So this is my homage to jargon. I hope you enjoy.

Link.

For the more etymologically inclined, you may want to check out Strike the Baby and Kill The Blonde: An Insider's Guide to Film Slang.

I'm Your Density

2008-05-28T12:38:00.000-07:00

Found this great clip demonstrating the differences between variable area and variable density optical film soundtracks. Please to enjoy:

Via Filmmaker Slog.

Slog Blog

2008-05-28T12:27:00.000-07:00

Filmmaker Slog: in the cloud is a blog by Mike Peter Reed, about many things but primarily production sound. The sub-title: "Making a good film is hard work; making a bad film is hard work."

Yep, it surely is.

Link.

Pay Attention To the Man (or Woman) Behind the Curtain

2008-05-28T11:27:00.000-07:00

Good morning, true believers.

Been busy, which is good. I recently mixed my first fishing show, which was far more enjoyable for me than actual fishing. In addition, our expert guides provided an amazing lunch of teriyaki salmon steaks with rice pilaf and a dessert (!) not too far removed from tiramisu, right there on the bank of .

So yeah, we roughed it...

Back to the ongoing world of sound: a little while back, Editors Guild Magazine ran a piece about dub-stage engineers, the un-sung MacGyvers of film sound post. Snip:

The dub stage engineer, which is the most prevalent engineering post at the major studios, handles all of the console set up on the stage before each final mix. They confer with the mixers, sound editors, recordists and others in the sound department to determine exactly what materials will be brought to the stage, how many consoles will be required, how many tracks will be brought in, and what sample rate and frame rates will be used.

They then set the board up to enable the re-recording mixers to input those tracks and work––hopefully glitch-free––to mix them out to their ultimate deliverables...

Engineers are needed not only on the dub stages, but in sound editorial and on the ADR, Foley and scoring stages as well. It’s all about client service, especially at the major studios. Put simply, a good engineer must be able to repair anything, day or night, and have the necessary intuition to know where the problem is likely to be located.

Link.

Thanks FilmSoundDaily!.

Mama Said Knock You Out

2008-05-18T18:21:00.000-07:00

Hey, folks, be sure to drop by new-kid-on-the-blog Cinemama. She's starting things with a shout out to one of my personal faves, Miller's Crossing. Snip:

I think this movie is criminally underrated, and a frequently overlooked part of the Coen Brothers canon. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve talked to a Huge Coen Brothers Fan, and when I mention this movie they say, “Oh yeah, is that the gangster one?” Just do yourself a favor and watch it, even if you’ve already seen it.

I concur. Be sure to check out the rest of the post for an interesting little trivia tidbit.

Link.

LFOA @ DTS

2008-05-16T11:35:00.000-07:00

DTS, purveyors of digital multi-channel surround sound for cinema and home theater, recently announced that it has "sold its Digital Cinema business to Beaufort California, Inc., a member of Beaufort International Group Plc. in England."

"We have now completed the sale of both the Digital Images and Digital Cinema businesses which allows us to focus entirely on building a high growth and highly profitable consumer business," commented Jon Kirchner, president and CEO of DTS, Inc.

I remember seeing a DTS-encoded film for the first time when I braved the opening weekend crowds for Jurassic Park back in '93. Although it wasn't the first digital sound format for cinema to the market (that dubious honor belongs to Kodak's CDS system, ill-fated due to its lack of analog backup in case of reader failure), it was one of the most personally memorable, mainly due to its flashy demo trailer that preceded each show:

DTS was unique among the three lossy-compressed digital audio cinema formats, in that it was double system, feeding the the audio bitstream out from a CD-ROM disc that slaved to timecode striped on the film print itself. Dolby Digital and SDDS both fully encoded the entirety of their tracks upon the increasingly limited real estate of the print. I remember from my days as a projectionist that the primary advantage to the other systems was the fact that they lived with the print; there were no discs to lose during shipping, which meant that if you got the film, you got the digital soundtrack. More than once we were forced to show a DTS-only encoded print in Dolby SR (optical analog), due to missing materials.

Shortly thereafter, DTS entered the home theater market on laserdisc, and quickly became flame-bait for every surround-sound snob out there with a 28.8 modem and a lot of spare time. Tediously long forum threads abounded with people extolling the "obvious" superiority of DTS over Dolby Digital, which then carried over into the DVD years as well.

What I personally found interesting about all of the hullabaloo is this quote from Gary Rydstrom, sound designer extraordinaire, when asked about his opinion on different codecs:

CT: Do you have any impressions of the types of quality you hear in the different types of the 5.1 theater compression systems, Dolby Digital, DTS, etc?

GR: They're pretty similar. You can hear subtle differences, but much more often you're hearing the differences in the theater's acoustics.

The acoustic space has much more of an effect. They do have some subtle differences between the subwoofer channels from one system to another, DTS treats it differently than the other systems. Not better, just different. If you're familiar with the source material, you can tell a little bit of difference, but they're all essentially the same (emphasis added).

Having been a projectionist and listened to the same films in both Dolby Digital and DTS in the same auditoriums, in addition to doing post sound mixing and transcoding to DD with my own material, I would have to agree. (Not that it will mean that much in the near future; with digital cinema offering uncompressed PCM tracks in the the theater and Blu-Ray having the capability of carrying lossless codecs, the viewer will be able to listen to the very same material that the filmmakers do themselves.)

DTS has more going on then just cinema sound. They are still firmly entrenched in the home video market with DVD and Blu-Ray, with professional encoding solutions for each. At the time of their introduction, the primary digital sound formats were created to overcome the bandwidth limitations of the carrier, i.e. the film print. Clever engineering was employed, and people were amazed at the resulting experience. Now that the carrier's bandwidth has been increased almost exponentially, there is less need for compression, and companies have to adapt. DTS has taken that step.

Link to press release, via Engadget HD, Audioholics, et al.

I. Ron Butterfly

2008-05-08T10:25:00.000-07:00

For those of you who feel a bit iron deficient...{crickets}

Sigh...These are the jokes, folks.

Anyways, be sure to drop by FILMSOUNDDAILY! and check out Mix Magazine's interview with Christopher Boyes about the fantastic mix on Iron Man. I've seen it twice already, and it rocked both times.

Link.

The Sound Cart

2008-04-30T23:10:00.000-07:00

Hey, kids.

Be sure to drop by veteran mixer Phil Palmer's blog The Sound Cart. Recently, he posted a series of photos of his new cart that he had custom built.

Currently, I rent a beat-up old Magliner cart when I need one. It's cheap and it gets the job done, but it certainly isn't the most elegant of beasts. Down the road, when I'm (hopefully) doing more feature films, I'd like to put one together myself. Seeing photos of setups like Phil's makes it easier to visualize what you may need in the future.

Link.

Coffey Audio Files Spring '08 Now Available...

2008-04-28T22:55:00.000-07:00

...as either a PDF download, or sign up to receive a hard copy via snail mail.

Link.

Oh, My....

2008-04-27T14:58:00.000-07:00

Well, it had to happen sometime.

When I invited John Rambo to be a guest writer the other day, I certainly didn't consider the consequences. As it turns out, Mr. Rambo made some disparaging remarks about Mr. Chuck Norris, which this writer unwittingly posted without proper editorial oversight (I blame the drinking). This has ultimately led to an online feud between the two.

Let me state for the record: the opinions of any guest blogger are his/her own, and do not necessarily reflect those of the management of sync.sound.cinema.

As editor-in-chief, I will make a more concerted effort to review posts before publication.

Thank you.

Footnote

2008-04-27T11:34:00.000-07:00

Whilst enjoying a sumptuous Sunday brunch here at the offices of sync.sound.cinema, I happened upon this great clip about the trials of foley work from the movie Modern Romance (via FILMSOUNDDAILY!). Please to enjoy:

(My favorite line: "We've got Heaven's Gate, the Short Version in here at 8.")

"Survival Training for Non-Linear Location Recording"...presented by John Rambo

2008-04-25T12:02:00.000-07:00

Yo, listen up.

Dis is John Rambo, and I'm here to teach you survival skills. Not da kind of skills where you become so deadly that you can kill a man just by lookin' at him; only I can do that.

No, I'm gonna show you da basics of non-linear production sound recording, with gear from Fostex, Zaxcom, Sound Devices, and Aaton.

I'm gonna give youse a link to a page with streaming (like blood) videos, presented by I.A.T.S.E. Local 695 (which is coincidentally da number of people I accidentally killed while brushin' my teeth this mornin'). Dey also got some "...printable quick reference sheets and links to manuals, tutorials and more." I like manuals. They teach you how to vaporize stuff real good.

I wish I coulda looked at these videos myself, but my computer' broken (...'cause everythin' I touch explodes), so here's the link.

(Thanks to Jeff Wexler over at jwsound.net for the heads up...on a stick.)

P.S. I've been gettin' recon about some Chuck Norris guy, runnin' around in cowboy boots kickin' things. So I'll say this just once, 'cause if I repeated myself, the sound of my voice would stop your heart: The only good chuck is ground chuck. Take that, Norris.

{something randomly blows up}

This So Totally Happened On My Last Gig

2008-04-23T12:47:00.000-07:00

Talk about a tough day on the job...

"The Hitler Bottle" (No, Not the One With His Brain...)

2008-04-21T21:57:00.000-07:00

Found via jwsound.net:

NPR's All Things Considered recently profiled John and Mary Peluso of Peloso Microphone Lab. Snip:

But unlike some of their rural neighbors, who may rise before dawn to cast their lines in the local creek, this couple rises early to meticulously assemble microphones by hand. The Pelusos' microphones are modeled after some of the world's legendary mikes, but at a price more affordable for today's musicians.

The Pelusos are part of a boutique microphone-making movement — an effort to inexpensively replicate the look and sound of classic mikes. Peluso microphones have been used to record the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, the bluegrass band Blue Highway and the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra, among others...

As a recording engineer, [John] eventually worked with all the classic RCA, Sony and AKG microphones, and particularly the German-made Neumann mikes. But it was when he went to work for a mysterious physicist named Verner Ruvalds that he learned about what he calls the "black art" of making microphones...

Ruvalds had helped produce the Neumann bottle mike, designed in 1928 by Georg Neumann, and considered a technological breakthrough. Neumann took the old carbon-grain broadcast microphone, which uses bits of carbon sandwiched between two plates, and turned it into a mass-produced "condenser" microphone, which has one fixed plate and another that forms a diaphragm moved by sound waves...

The Neumann mike — the CMV3 — was so widely used by the Fuehrer and Nazi Party leaders that it acquired a nickname: The Hitlerflasche, or the Hitler Bottle.

Be sure to listen to the full story, which includes recording samples made with Peluso mikes.

Link.

Trew That

2008-04-21T21:30:00.000-07:00

Skylor Morgan of Trew Audio has posted a series of video tours fresh from NAB in Vegas, and no, they're not tours of strip clubs (unless the quality of audio gear in strip clubs had dramatically increased lately...which would be a surprise to me, because I certainly wouldn't patronize such places. Ahem...).

Link, courtesy of trewaudio.com

NAB Tidbits

2008-04-16T19:14:00.000-07:00

Hey, kids, here's a quick sampler of recent NAB announcements.

First up, the Sonorae Audio Monitoring System. Snip:

The Sonarae offers an input mode selector for up to 8 AES/EBU data streams or 16 individual audio channels...

The 8 AES/EBU input data streams pass into the heart of the system, which is comprised of a 16x2 summing matrix. This matrix allows the operator to listen to individual left or right audio channels at the output or to select various channel combinations. Special algorithms have been developed to maintain a constant level at the output of the 16x2 summing matrix...

For ease of use the 16x2 matrix is equipped with 5.1/6.1/7.1 surround sound stereo mix down selectors along with a set-up, learn, and clear function...

Sonarae provides the operator with master speaker level, along with two different dim settings and a mute switch, which can also be remoted to a foot switch. In addition, a headphone amplifier (with separate level control) and output jack is located in the control panel...

Operator-selectable delay is built into the unit to allow for compensation of picture monitor latency, adjustable from zero to 9.5 video frames in 0.5 frame steps.

Next, the Voice Over There mobile voice-over booth:

Voice Over There is based in Santa Clarita, CA and offers a sound-proof cargo trailer that's been outfitted with air conditioning and WiFi access, all for the purpose of going on location to record voice performances.

Powered by a Honda Whisper generator, the trailer's booth is five feet wide and six feet long, allowing it to comfortably accommodate up to two people during a session or one musician with an instrument. Recording gear includes Digidesign Pro Tools LE, Universal Audio tube pre-amps, Telos Xstream, two high-end mics and an LCD monitor.

And batting clean-up today is the Holophone N-CODE (via Creative Cow):

Holophone, a leading manufacturer of surround microphones, has brought Dolby Pro Logic II® encoding technology and the portability of the company’s popular H4 SuperMINI to its larger mic models, the H2-PRO and H3-D, with the introduction of the Holophone N-CODE portable multi-channel encoder...

Ideal for larger remote productions requiring surround recordings, the Holophone N-CODE takes six channels of audio from the H2-PRO or H3-D and converts them to two channels using Dolby’s Pro Logic II technology, allowing full 5.1 channel surround sound audio to be captured or transmitted to virtually any stereo recoding device, or broadcast over the existing stereo infrastructure...

Stereo recordings made with the Holophone N-CODE can be easily converted back to brilliant and realistic 5.1 surround sound using the company’s new Holophone D-CODE multi-channel decoder...

That's it for today, people. Stay tuned.

Keep Rollin' From the Top (Boom Operator Blues)

2008-04-15T20:31:00.000-07:00

Funny song about the biz by boom op Jeff Erdmann, via jwsound.net. Sample line:

Well, we're losin' the light
And we're goin' into grace
And we're waitin' on a plane
And there's a hair in the gate...

Sing it, brother...

Listen.

Eight Is Enough

2008-04-15T09:08:00.000-07:00

Alas, your fearless reporter could not swing the funds to make it to NAB this year, so the staff here at the offices of sync.sound.cinema will be furiously combing the internets as relevant product announcements trickle out. First up, something on many a mixer's wish list: Sound Devices Introduces 788T 8 Track Field Recorder. From the website:

Designed specifically for multi-track on-location productions, the eight-track 788T features a significant expansion of input and output capability—eight full-featured microphone inputs and eight tracks of recording. The eight inputs, together with a thoroughly revised digital architecture, provide unprecedented recording flexibility...

To accommodate the larger data storage requirements of multi-track recordings, the 788T comes equipped with a 160 GB 2.5-in. internal SATA hard disk drive. This on-board storage provides up to 30 hours of 8-track, uncompressed 24-bit audio recording of industry-standard Broadcast Wave files. Additionally, CompactFlash cards with UDMA support and external FireWire mass storage volumes can be used for recording and playback. All three storage mediums can be selected for simultaneous, redundant recording.

Street price: $5995

www.sounddevices.com

Lav Is a Battlefield

2008-04-07T10:15:00.000-07:00

Hello, Cleveland...

Dan "The Man" Brockett has come through once again with a stellar article comparing 16 lavaliere microphones, along with recording samples of each. Snip:

Often referred to as a "lav", lavalier microphones are a category of sound gear that is often overlooked and taken for granted by those new to recording sound for picture. When you consider how many models of lavaliers are available, it becomes a considerable challenge to make an intelligent choice about which lavalier you should use in a given situation. If you speak with professional sound mixers, they often have a favorite manufacturer and model of lavalier that they like to use, but why? Based upon my experience, lavalier preference almost seems like a birthright, passed down from generation to generation, but if you are not a professional sound mixer, how do you know which model best suits your needs?

But my fav quote has to be this:

The lowest cost XLR cable will always have better sound quality than the most expensive wireless microphone system.

Amen to that. In my experience, people unfamiliar with audio tend to be blinded by the notion that wireless transmitters are somehow "magic". While they can be indispensable tools, they come with their own caveats.

Link.

In Anonymity Veritas.

2008-04-05T12:59:00.000-07:00

Now, we here at sync.sound.cinema HQ embarked upon this particular mission with the notion of "nearly full disclosure", i.e: I would use my real name in a an effort to forge a relationship with my readers (all two of you), and with manufacturers, as I would like to do more product reviews.

The drawback is that I feel far less comfortable letting loose with my actual internal monologue, curmudgeonly thing that it is. Luckily, Below the Line has no such compunctions, and can freely call it like she sees it. Snip:

But there are a few details that can clue you in, either during the initial meetings about a production, or on the first day, to the fact that you are in for a bumpy ride. Here are some of them.

1) "This is such a great project!"
Hearing this from someone who is trying to hire you for a movie is generally an indication that
a) You will not get paid or
b) You will get paid very little and, in fact,
c) Probably nobody is getting paid, because
d) There is no money in the budget for just about anything.
This generally can lead to conclusion
e) The job is going to most likely have inexperienced crew, bad/tiny locations, not enough equipment, bad catering, long days because they're trying to cram an insane amount into them and don't have to pay overtime…so in other words, it ain't going to be pretty.

I can't tell you how many times I've heard this particular refrain here in indie-friendly Portland, Oregon. I don't mind it, but I do mind getting the self-righteous indignation that I inevitably encounter when I politely refuse free work for strangers. Just because you're convinced you're going to Cannes doesn't mean that I'm making the mistake of the century by not recognizing your particular brand of cinematic genius.

So there.

Link.

Premiers Bruits

2008-04-05T11:47:00.000-07:00

Via First Sounds:

A group of researchers has succeeded in playing a sound recording of a human voice made in 1860 – 17 years before Thomas Edison invented the phonograph.

Roughly ten seconds in length, the recording is of a person singing “Au clair de la lune, Pierrot repondit” – a snippet from a French folksong. It was made on April 9,1860 by Parisian inventor Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville on his “phonautograph” – a device that scratched sound waves onto a sheet of paper blackened by the smoke of an oil lamp...

The essence of the Berkeley technology, which was developed in collaboration with the Library of Congress, is to apply non-contact digital imaging to any material containing a recorded “groove”. The imaging results in a digital representation of the record which can then be played on the computer with a virtual stylus. Being non-contact, the technology protects delicate samples from further damage or degradation. This approach has been used successfully on many phonograph discs and cylinders,and its application to the phonautograph recording was a straightforward extension. It is novel however that the phonautograph recordings were never meant to be played.

Listen.

www.firstsounds.org

When It Rains, It...Well, You Know

2008-03-19T19:35:00.001-07:00

Apparently, I have been living under a bigger rock than usual.

Right on the heels of the Zaxcom Fusion* come two other combo units, both from legacy names in the film sound biz and all aimed squarely for the same market.

First up, the Nagra VI. The Kudelski folks enjoy a well-earned reputation for pretty much defining modern production recording with their 1/4" reel-to-reel decks. I'm embarrassed to admit I've never used one myself, but from all accounts, they were built like tanks, if tanks were built like beautiful watches. Snip:

It offers six independent analogue audio inputs. Inputs 1 - 4 are equipped with traditional NAGRA microphone pre-amplifiers for dynamic and phantom +48V microphones...
The NAGRA VI records to a 120GB internal 2.5" hard disk. An extractable compact Flash card is used to record a copy of the audio tracks depending on the users track selections. The NAGRA VI allows approximately 20 minutes of 6 track 48 kHz 24-bit recording per GB of available disk / card space.

Next, the Sonosax SX-M32. A fairly common name on the audio cart, Sonosax won a Techinical Achivement Award for creating the SX-S in 1983, a veritable workhorse mixer for film recording. Their foray into the ENG/EFP looks just as interesting. Snip:

# Electronically balanced Mic/Line Input, XLR connectors
# 48V Phantom for Mic power
# Pre LF Cut for rough wind conditions - PAD - Phase reversal
# Input trim on the front panel for easy Mic Gain adjustment, retractable
# Sweep LF Cut, retractable
# Mix routing by PAN Pot
# Stereo and MS linking of channel 1/2 - 3/4 and 5/6
# M/S Decoder
# PFL for rapid channel monitoring
# Limiter on each channel
# Stereo AUX Input assignable to the MIX or to Track 7&8
# Electronically balanced Line Outputs, XLR connectors
# AES Digital Out, 44,1 and up to 192kHz@24bits
# Integrated 8 Tracks Recorder on Hard disk and CF Card, with specifications similar to these of the MINIR82

Since this writer is on the lower end of the Wechsler Scale, it thankfully doesn't take a genius to see that all of these units are clearly aiming for Sound Devices' territory: highly portable (ie "baggable"); rugged, high quality builds; four tracks-plus recording capability; and stereo mixdown for a camera feed. Here's hoping that the market opens up and prices come down a bit.

Links:

www.nagraaudio.com
www.sonosax.ch
www.zaxcom.com
www.sounddevices.com

*A Fusion sample is on its way here, and a review will be forthcoming.

Petrol PEGZ-1F Eargonizer Audio Bag

2008-03-06T21:58:00.000-08:00

Choosing an audio rig is about as personal as shopping for shoes. You need something both functional and comfortable. You need something that will hold all of your necessary gear securely while allowing unfettered access. And as with most things that blend the technical with the creative, the tool becomes an extension of the operator. A well designed bag and harness keeps things close and open, while bearing the load comfortably during a full day's work.

Those of us who do not have tentacles in place of regular arms will certainly appreciate the PEGZ-1F Eargonizer from Petrol. Petrol has enjoyed a well-earned reputation for making some of the more MacGuyver-style gear bags on the market; the 1F is no exception.

Essentially a re-design, the 1F has one critical difference: the cable access ports have been moved forward, away from the operator's body. Rather than having the mixer against you, it also is mounted forward, providing better ergonomic access for those who need it. (It must be said, for those of us out there who spend more time lifting pints than pounds, not having your meters blocked by a rolling gut counts for something.)

Observe, class.

The 1F is constructed of the same rugged blue ballistic nylon and high-visibility orange fleece lining as the rest of Petrol's product line. Upon first glance, the bag is identical to the previous model. It's only when you actually mount a mixer that you can see the well-thought out differences.

In addition to moving the mixer forward, there are also new triple d-ring mounting points across the top, allowing you more flexibility to rig the bag on a harness, distributing weight more efficiently. Trust me, after a 12 hour day bagged up and on your feet, your back will appreciate even the slightest comfort adjustment.

The new d-rings (not to be confused with E-Ring, which was cancelled due to bad ratings).

And finally, there is a larger, transparent window across the removable top flap. Not only does it allow you full visibility while keeping the bag's contents covered from rain and dust, it also had a dual-zippered system that can re-size the flap on-the-fly. The system can be configured to allow even the most ham-fisted of you to get both hands in the bag to adjust faders or change out batteries, all the while keeping the gear nice and dry.

The 1F keeps the other features that made the first one so useful, including a whole bag of hook and loop dividers and pads, allowing almost infinite variability to meet just about any configuration you may need. Smartly, the designers included two internal cavities sized for NP-1 batteries, keeping them out of sight and out of the way. The bag comes standard with two of Petrol's very nifty wireless pouches, that are designed to clip on the bag at a variety of locations, including the harness, should you need to move a receiver up the body a bit to gain clearer reception.

The super-secret battery compartments.

But the bag may not meet everyone's needs. I generally go out with a 442 and two or three Sennheiser G2's. The wireless are pretty small and light, compared to, say, Lectros, so the 1F covers me just fine. However, should you need space for more receivers, and /or a recording deck (the majority of my paid work is single-system), then you may wish to consider a larger bag up the line, or another manufacturer. As of right now, the 1F (the smallest of the line) is the only one available with the forward-mounting option.

Using the PEGZ-1F on a recent HGTV shoot with DP Christopher Nolan.

Pros: Usual Petrol build; extremely customizable internal wiring structure; more ergonomic forward mounting of mixer; exterior mounting pouches for wireless.

Cons: may be too small for over-the-shoulder double-system, or larger numbers of wireless receivers.

MSRP: $283

www.petrolbags.com

And I'm All Out Of "Snap" Jokes...

2008-03-05T14:36:00.000-08:00

Audio Ease's Snapper is a new audio utility that streamlines a lot of the grunt work of audio post: locating, transcoding and track-splitting happen directly in OS X's finder (sorry, Mac only right now), without having to open a separate app. Snip, from multimediashooter.com:

When you select an audio file in the Mac Finder, Snapper immediately appears right beneath the current window, showing you the wave form. In the Snapper wave form you can select a part of the sound file and:
• drag it out, to create a new file.
• upload it to your Pro Tools cursor.
• turn the selection into an mp3 file.
• split stereo files into separate .L and .R files or vise versa
• convert to mp4 and attach it to an email in one go.
• export to AIFF, WAV, BWF, mp3, or m4a.

But the demo video must be seen to be believed. Very, very fast and simple. If only all DAWs were this lean.

Link.

Zaxcom-o-rama

2008-03-05T13:34:00.000-08:00

Today is apparently Zaxcom day here at the offices of sync.sound.cinema (and by offices, I mean the beat-up easy chair I bought from Goodwill for seven bucks ten years ago).

The big Z just announced that they are now shipping their new 16-track recorder, the Deva 16. Snip:

The Deva 16 provides fault-tolerant, multi-disk recording with automatic file recovery to safeguard audio even in the event of an unexpected power failure. The system provides eight analog mic/line inputs with 48V phantom power, four additional analog line inputs, eight analog inputs, and eight digital direct outputs...

The unit records to three internal storage mediums or directly to an external FireWire drive without the use of additional computers...Audio pros can refer to the Deva Sound Report, a new feature that generates an Excel file of all metadata that was entered during production.

And yes, I checked: the unit will make you coffee in the morning.

Link, via postmagazine.com.

Zaxcom Fusion Mixer/Recorder

2008-03-05T12:58:00.000-08:00

Zaxcom, makers of high-end digital recorders and wireless, have introduced the Fusion Combination Mixer/Recorder. Snip from coffeysound.com:

Zaxcom's newest product, the Fusion, offers the cumulative functionality of an 8 channel ENG mixer and portable recorder by offering the proven technology of the DEVA in a smaller more affordable package... Fusion features 8 analog inputs via full-sized XLR connectors and 8 AES digital inputs via a 15-pin D-sub...These sixteen inputs can be mixed to 4, 6 or 8 record tracks (upgrade option) using the 8 assignable fader knobs on the front panel.

At $7995 for the basic configuration, it feels a little spendy for the ENG/indie market, but considering the features and capabilities of the unit, the price feels reasonable. It's also interesting to see so much horsepower in such a compact chassis; the Fusion looks like it could free up a good chunk of mixing cart real estate all by itself.

Recently, they held a demo at Coffey Sound to introduce the Fusion (video clip below courtesy of Coffey Sound). Please to enjoy:

Link to Zaxcom product page.

Link to Coffey Sound Catalog page.

Multiple Wireless Disorder

2008-02-28T21:24:00.000-08:00

Day nine of twelve straight for HGTV.

Man, am I tired. But we are in the home stretch, which is good.

The shoots are fairly standard: wire up everyone and mix away. I'm using a multiplex snake to hard-wire to the camera, but on certain gigs, it's prudent to use a wireless hop, saving yourself the trouble of getting hung up on bystanders and missing that crucial shot.

To that end, B & H have put up a primer on using multiple wireless systems on cameras. Snip:

If you've ever considered connecting a wireless microphone to your video camera, the thought may have crossed your mind that it wouldn't hurt to have more than one mic. Attaching multiple wireless microphones to a video camera can be a daunting prospect for the uninitiated. This guide was created to show you the ins and outs of using these systems successfully with your video camera.

It's pretty basic, but does a good job of detailing the options available for wiring newer, smaller cameras with wireless receivers. Until recently, the only professional solutions for rigging wireless were meant for full-sized broadcast cameras. Now that smaller form-factor cameras are becoming common on set, these smaller brackets will become more and more useful.

(This is from a retail site, and thus is essentially a product promo, but the information is still valid.)

Link.

We're Surrounded!

2008-02-19T11:05:00.000-08:00

Soundtrack Pro has certainly come a long way in its short life, having added surround mixing capabilities in version 2 (though truth be told, while I like the program, it still has a ways to go). But once you've done your fancy 5.1, how do you get it out of the box? Kevin Mcauliffe over at Creative Mac takes us through it step by step. Snip:

I thought that for this article I would look at three very common ways to get your surround sound mix out to tape/DVD. One method for DVD, and two choices depending on your equipment setup for tape.

Link.

Also, be sure to check out Kevin's earlier article about surround mixing in STP.

Crimson And Clover(field)

2008-02-14T16:24:00.000-08:00

I can now say, unequivocally and for the record, that having bronchitis sucks and blows.

It's day ten, and the antibiotics are just now kicking in. On a positive note, I have developed a new and lasting relationship with my couch, having not left it for the past week and a half (so if any of you feel compelled to make a Brian Wilson joke, now's the time).

But before I succumbed to the creeping crud, I did get to take in a screening of Cloverfield, the monster-attacks-city movie with a very effective P.O.V. perspective for its main narrative conceit. It may be common knowledge at this point that the movie was shot on a variety of high-def and digital cinema formats in order to facilitate the idea of a "civilian-shot" video, but the filmmakers also went so far as to record M/S stereo audio directly into the main camera.

Now, I've made my feelings on single-system audio well-known before. But I have to admit, I was thoroughly engrossed in this movie (barf-inducing whip-pans aside), and never felt like the production audio had been compromised in any way. It isn't appropriate for every project, and can often impede the flow on set, but in this instance, it was the way to go.

Link to High Definition Magazine article (there's , like, one sentence devoted to audio, but what can you do?).

Foam Sweet Foam

2008-02-07T09:53:00.000-08:00

Auralex Acoustics recently announced a green initiative, which includes a reformulation of its acoustic foam panels. Snip:

-36% less global warming emission

-Improved performance & durability
over conventional solvent foams

-Lessen dependency on fossil fuels
including foreign crude oil

All Studiofoam products now include soy components which reduce petroleum-based chemical usage by up to 60% ...

Auralex Studiofoam is manufactured without harmful Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC’s), which have been linked to the depletion of the ozone layer. In making the conversion over to the new Soy-based hybrid formula, these products now boast improved performance and durability over conventional petroleum-based foams.

The new Eco-Friendly Studiofoam is available in the same great color choices and cuts as the original with no increase in cost to either the dealer or consumer. The new offering meets or exceeds the requirements of the demanding professional in terms of both product quality and testing data (acoustical and flammability).

Link.

Two Snaps Up In a Circle

2008-02-02T17:06:00.000-08:00

From Post Magazine:

Soundsnap.com, the free online sound library and community, is now offering sounds from numerous respected sound designers, including Paul Virostek (Million Dollar Baby, Ali, Batman Begins) and Ric Viers, who has created SFX libraries for Apple, Adobe, Sonic Foundry and Hollywood Edge.

I've posted about Soundsnap before. Having recently used them for both an indie feature and handful of short films, I was already impressed with the quality of the tracks and the ease of use. With professionally recorded SFX now being added, Soundsnap should become an essential part of any sound mixer's tool kit, but especially with us indie filmmakers (remember the whole "free" part?).

Link to press release.

It Is...Alive [Bill Murray Voice]

2008-01-31T13:14:00.000-08:00

Hey-o.

Welcome back, class. Now, I want you to take out paper and pencil and write an essay about what you learned over your winter break. [class rolls eyes]

I, for one, spent most of the month duking it out with software gremlins that have been plaguing my latest post audio project. Tough little boogers, they are....

But, on to catching up: Petrol announced an update to their Eargonizer audio bag, including new design features. Snip:

At the rear, the Eargonizer is equipped with a longer Velcro holding strap. This allows the strap to more firmly grip the top carrying handle and anchor it to the back of the bag when not in use -- keeping it safely away from the opening. The new, fully transparent vinyl top cover provides better visibility of the bag's contents. Three “D” rings have been added at the top of each side to enable a greater range of carrying options. A neoprene carrying strap is now included for comfortable, over-the-shoulder toting.

Although, anyone with any sense of self-preservation would do well to acquire a harness; your shoulders will thank you for it. (And, if any other body parts start talking to you, seek help immediately).

I own one myself; a review will be forthcoming.

MSRP: $283

www.petrolbags.com

Pass the Mic

2008-01-07T18:54:00.000-08:00

Dan Brockett has written up a very extensive and useful article over at kenstone.net entitled As I Hear It - Choosing the Right Microphone. In it, Dan reviews several industry mainstays as well as some recent upstarts, posting his personal impressions along with recording samples of "popular short shotgun, supercardioid, hypercardiod and cardioid microphones." Snip:

I am not an engineer and I don't know all of the answers but I can tell you that after reading this article and carefully listening to the recorded samples, you will have saved yourself several days of shopping, internet research to hunt down disparate sound samples and lots of misinformation that you might hear from uninformed sound forum posters, salespeople or retailers who just didn't do their research or have a vested interest in not being unbiased. There are no clear-cut winners and losers amongst these microphones; this review is not a contest. All of the microphones I tested and reviewed are capable of excellent sound. Not a single one of the microphones sounded "bad". Some were better than others or stood out from the rest for specific sound qualities though, the purpose of this article is to help you find the best microphones for your needs, taste and budget.

Amen to that.

Link, via kenstone.net.

Self-Education Is, I Firmly Believe, the Only Kind Of Education There Is.

2008-01-05T18:29:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year, kids.

To start things off with some momentum, head on over to dv.com for Jay Rose's column, "Audio Solutions: Confessions of an Autodidact." In it, Mr. Rose details the many options available on the web to foster self-education in the ways of audio. Indeed, I would not have the job I do now were it not for online resources such as these. Snip:

The luck part involves finding mentors and opportunities to practice your craft. These are important, and a good college can provide them both. It can also give you lists of books and help you find Web resources. But if you want to be any good, you have to keep learning throughout your career—whether you’ve taken college courses or not. So let me list some non-school resources that are part of my own continuing audio and film education. Many are free, and all are bargains.

It's a good list (someday I hope that this blog will be included on a list such as this :). Additionally, I would also check out lynda.com. They have an extensive collection of online training videos about software and basic concepts, including sound. While it is a subscription service, many of the more basic clips are free.

Link to column.

Link to lynda.com's audio section.

(With respect to Isaac Asimov for the header quote).

Do I Hear 4.6 Billion?

2007-12-21T11:54:00.000-08:00

From Wired Business News: FCC Releases 700-MHz Auction Bidder List.

Snip:

As promised, the FCC released a list late Tuesday night of what turns out to be 266 potential applicants who are all seeking to bid in the upcoming 700 MHz auction scheduled for January 24. The FCC released no further information about how much each company will fork over to the government or even what portion of the 700 MHz spectrum they are bidding on, due to auction rules set up previously.

Google, a company that has already admitted it will be putting up at least $4.6 billion of its own money for the highly sought after "C" block, had its application accepted and is bidding under the name Google Airwaves.

"Google Airwaves", eh? With the impending release of Android, Google has made their interest in the wireless market quite evident. If they win the spectrum, I'll be curious to see if they can make OTA internet connectivity a viable option.

Many people will be vary of one company having so much control over the information we consume, from search results to the very carrier medium by which it reaches us. Think about it: if this were Microsoft instead of the big G, the pundits would be up in arms yelling about monopolistic practices.

I'm hoping it works out for two reasons:

A) If we as audio professionals are going to have our tool sets limited, it better be for a good reason. As I've stated before, I believe in the power of information and education. If a "free" (i.e. probably ad-supported) internet service becomes available in metropolitan areas, it would help to close the digital divide. Low-income folks will have access to online resources without having to be limited to public library hours and locations, allowing them the opportunity for self-education via straight research or online school courses.

B) It will press existing internet providers to either drop their prices or significantly increase their bandwidth offerings. I've read in a few places that the US pales in comparison to Europe and especially South Korea for what we call "broadband". If our options are between decent gratis wireless, or a screaming fat pipe for a monthly fee, we can choose what's best for our needs.

We shall see...

Link, via wired.com.