Field Sounds

In my second New Zealand-related post today, I'd like to introduce you to Field Sounds: A Portal for Film and TV Recording. Mixer Ande Schurr has amassed a considerable link list of tutorials and advice for novices and veterans alike. (Disclosure: I found out about it after he linked to my post about working with the Coast Guard).

Snip:

Q: What do I need to know?



Attitude for Beginners : Sit down last - Stand up first; Listen first - Talk last; Laugh at jokes - Don't tell them; Arrive First - Leave last; As a new person no one will need your education but they will appreciate a humble, WORKer. Don't dress to impress or distract (You get this or you don't...); Don't smoke near non-smokers or gear or food or at all if possible; Learn everyone's name (this is big); Be especially nice to support services, security etc - it will pay off when you need a favour or info in a hurry; "Please, Thank You, Excuse Me" - always; When your are bored out of your skull, don't read a book, talk on cell phone etc. (Learn to hide like the rest of us); When you are given boring /miserable tasks, just do it and come back for more; ALWAYS, ALWAYS ask for details if you don't understand a task; Don't rely on someone else to finish an assigned task - YOU will look stupid when they don't; If you are unsafe, you are fired. If you speed, you are fired. If you are drunk/stoned etc..... DO go for a beer if invited - DO NOT get drunk and try to out talk the old timers. Avoid set politics - let everyone slag people/departments while you remain neutral. When you move up the ladder, be especially nice to people below you.

This kind of aggregated information is invaluable to newer folks and those of us who live outside of the Major Markets (ie LA and NY), and thus can't necessarily network face-to-face with more established mixers. If you don't have the opportunity to apprentice under someone (as I did not), you end up learning a lot the hard way, unless you can benefit from resources like this, along with forums like jwsound.net and R.A.M.P.S., to name a couple.

Visit early and often, kids. If I'd known about this when I'd first started out, I'd have saved my self a small fortune in Tums.

Link.

Cape Disappointment

Hey there, kiddos.

Today, we're going to talk about mic technique in the field, and by in the field, I mean hours from a major city, and thus, any hope of replacement gear.

Recently, I was tasked with wiring Coast Guard crew members as they went on training maneuvers off of Cape Disappointment, Washington. Typically, they plow through ten to fifteen foot waves, with cold seawater showering them, which necessitates wearing a dry survival suit. These suits are just a few degrees removed from space suits, and thus provided their own challenge.

The Mustang Swift Water Rescue Dry Suit

I knew this in advance, a luxury in my field. So I spent most of the preceding evening working out a strategy to keep my mics and transmitters dry. Of course, as soon as I got there and saw the suits and the conditions first hand, I threw out 80% of what I'd come up with, and ended up doing the same thing I always do in such circumstances: I MacGuyvered it.

The Countryman B3 lav mics are already known for their water-resistant qualities, but this was seawater flying over the bow of a boat (which, having gone out in it myself, is like being splashed in the face by a bucket every thirty seconds). To reinforce the mics, I cut a bit of latex from some generic exam gloves (available at any drugstore), and fit those over each capsule, like a miniature bathing cap.



After fitting the mic's cap over the latex, I ran some electrical tape around the edge, making it completely waterproof down to the connector jack.



I then rolled up some gaffer's tape into the trusty "football" triangles. This can be one of the most fool-proof ways to wire someone and ensure that the mic isn't going anywhere for the remainder of the day. While it can be bulky and less-than-discreet under civilian clothes, it would be perfect under the heavy layers of the suits.



But now I had to deal with wind, and not just the occasional errant breeze; we were talking full on winds, some of which gusted up to 30 mph. For this, I used a Rycote Overcover.

The Overcover is essentially a small, lav-sized cutout from the "dead cat" windjammer cover, used in full-sized mic wind screens. It is meant to be sandwiched against a Sticky, which is a pre-cut, double-stick tab included with the Overcovers. Since we were in harsher conditions than what it was intended for, I crossed my fingers that the gaff tape would hold it all in place.



After placing the Overcover near the top of one triangle, I set the mic capsule half-way along the pad.



After folding the Overcover in half over the mic, I placed the other gaff triangle on top, sandwiching the mic and the cover. I now had heavy wind protection, as well as extra water resistance.



Finally, it came down to placing the mics. The survival suits are water and wind-proof, meaning that they're also essentially sound proof, so the old stand-bys of miking at the center of the chest were out. Normally, my next go-to would be at the neck, but the suits are equipped with a rubber gasket at the collar. Eventually, I settled on strapping the transmitter packs around the mid-section with a wireless belt, then running the mic up and out the gasket, along the side of the neck. Since the mic cable is so thin, little to no water slipped into the suit. I then fit the mic-tape-sandwich between the lapel and the survival vest. Not only did this hide the mic, it also held it in place even after the tape lost adhesion in the sea spray.

Due to the logistics of the boat layout and the fact that the A-camera was in a waterproof bag, we settled on a wireless hop directly from talent, bypassing a mixer altogether, utilizing Sennheiser G2's. This also meant that no one would be monitoring audio during the shoot. Since it was a promo, and thus not intended for broadcast, the producer was very understanding about the set-up, reassuring me that "it is what it is."

After the boat returned, we did a playback check, using a small DV camera's internal speaker. I was pleasantly surprised to hear very usable dialogue, even with wind, rain, sea spray, and a powerful diesel engine chugging along in the background.

Your intrepid audio reporter, ready to face the treacherous seas...from the the safety of the dock.

So we did it, and we lived to talk about it. This was the toughest rig I've encountered so far, though I'm sure that someday soon I'll consider it a stroll in the park...if the park had, say, gale-force winds on a daily basis.

C.A.S. RF Spectrum Seminar

On November 5th, the C.A.S. is hosting a seminar on the upcoming spectrum auction . Snip:

Expert speakers will provide an interesting and informative learning experience for everyone about impending issues with the FCC’s policies as well as the general principals of wireless applications.

Link, via coffeysound.com.

AES 2007 Tour Video

The good folks over at Coffey Sound have posted a video tour of AES 2007. Items of note include the new SR-2 Stereo Receiver from Lectrosonics, as well as the first-ever glimpse of Fostex's new PD-606. Please to enjoy:



Link to higher quality WMV, via coffeysound.com.

Ice Cream Social (only without the ice cream)

Jeff Wexler, who has done a movie or two, has created CinemaSound, the first (AFAIK) social networking site specifically for "those who do sound for image". Snip:

I read the article this morning in the L.A. Times about Marc Andreessen starting this social networking site called Ning. I have not been a fan of MySpace or Facepage or any of the others, but this Ning thing seems quite a bit classier. Since most of the world seems to be heading in this direction, where Internet based "communities" are replacing face-to-face interactions, I felt it was important to explore these things. I have been quite pleased with my Discussion Group and now I am going to give this a try as well.

- Jeff Wexler

I'm with him as far as other social sites are concerned. While getting a peek at another mixer's personality is one thing, I might treat their opinion as suspect if I find out that their "fav movie was totally Chairman of the Board, bra. I mean, Carrot Top: what can I say? Jeanius."

Link.

New Sound Mixer Blog

Whitney Ince, pro sound mixer, has started a sound-for-picture blog, prolocationsound.com.

The interwebs could certainly use more in-depth coverage of production sound and gear. To that end, Whitney has a ringing endorsement of iPower rechargeable batteries. Snip:

For anyone who hasn’t tried these rechargeable batteries they are a must. I use them as my primary battery in all my 200c and 250c Tx with zero issues. On my last project I saved over $1000.00 over using standard

Link.

The 700 Club

On January 28th, 2008, a chunk of the sky is going away.

The FCC will officially open bidding on this date for the 700 Mhz band of the RF broadcast spectrum. Since the US is mandated to finish transitioning to a digital broadcast infrastructure by 2009 (yes, this means that your ol' Zenith nineteen-incher will no longer work without a set-top box), the folks in charge of something invisible, weightless and tasteless have decided to sell it.

What does this mean for the world of audio? Plenty, if you have Sennheiser wireless in the C block, or Lectrosonics in blocks 27-31 (which is quite a few folks out there). By all accounts, either the effective range will be greatly diminished or unusable in urban areas.

What happens to big shows that depend on a lot of wireless? Either they'll have to redesign how the show is shot (unlikely, given that many of these programs are popular and very profitable due to their low production costs), or audio companies will have to get more innovative with their wireless technologies.

Already, some companies (notably Zaxcom and Ricsonix) are developing digital systems, some of which operate in the 2.4 GHz range, using the Bluetooth protocol (yes, the same tech in your little Borg-style phone earpiece) or a similar variant, and Audio Technica recently announced a new, wide-band analog RF system that skirts the issue altogether.

What's being put in its place? A portion of the band has been allocated to emergency communications, but a good chunk is up for grabs (if you happen to have, say, $15 billion or so just laying around). Obviously, major telco companies are jockeying for position, looking to gain a foothold in the ever-expanding mobile wireless market, especially as people get used to having things like the interwebs and media delivered directly to their phones. Others, including Google, want to extend wireless internet access in metropolitan areas, via a "third-pipe" (alongside the traditional channels of broadband cable and DSL).

Now, I'm lucky enough to make a living as a freelance sound mixer, but I personally believe that every person on the planet should have internet access (along with, you know, clean drinking water, food, shelter, etc. But we're talking tech here, so..:). If that means that I have to get new gear, or come up with a more creative solution to limited available spectrum, so be it.

Having better access to the greatest repository of information since the Library of Alexandria can only help people; I, for one, greatly benefited from the internet. I never went to film school, but having access to volumes of information about sound and audio electronics gave me a foundation to begin the career I have today. If you ask any working professional out there, they'll tell you that they've learned a thing or two by having access to industry veterans, by way of online forums and the like.

Would things be easier if we could keep the freq's as they are? You betcha. But Uncle Sam says they're going away, and we all have to plan accordingly. As with all things, the only constant is change; this axiom is no more relevant than in a technology-based industry such as ours.

Article round up:

Ars-Technica; Wired's FAQ; Shure's White Space Info (very in-depth); Sports Video Group's press release (explains considerable use of wireless by pro sports); Apple Eyes Wireless Auction (via businessweek.com); What DTV Means to Wireless Microphone Users.

But this blog takes the cake for spectrum info: publicknowledge.org.

The Evolution Will Be Televised (no, really...)

I'm tired.

Just back from a few days on a run'n'gun reality gig. Most of what that show requires for audio is wireless lavs, and lots of them, with only occasional booming. They use Lectrosonics 400 series for the talent, with the 200 series employed for wireless camera hop.

Lectros are generally considered an industry standard, and rightly so. They sound great, are tough as nails, and are about as ubiquitous as Sony 7506 headphones. But, damn, are they spendy.

Luckily, there are now high-quality alternatives available for the newbie mixer and independent filmmaker. One such option is the Sennheiser G2 Evolution Wireless system, which I chose for my kit.

The ENG enchilada

The G2s come in two flavors. The standard package includes with a transmitter, receiver, omni lav mic, windscreen, alligator clip, belt clips, mini-to-mini cable, and mini-to-XLR cable. The ENG package adds a plug-on transmitter, turning any mic wireless, among other uses.

The G2s are compact, smaller than a deck of playing cards. The units have a metal body with a hard plastic flip cover that protects both the battery compartment as well as the menu and select buttons. Being a non-diversity system, each unit sports a single, flexible, permanent antenna.

See? Small. You like? You like?

In addition to the size being reduced from the previous model, Sennheiser has also eschewed 9 volt batteries for AA, as have many manufacturers. While AAs are gaining as the new standard, you have no option to power the units from an NP1 battery, through a battery distribution system (trust me, once you've powered up your entire bag by either plugging in one NP1 or, with some models, flipping a switch, it's hard to go back to turning every single thing on one-at-a-time).

Each unit has an LCD display screen that is easily readable even in direct sunlight, with a nuclear-green back-light. The menus are fairly straight-forward (check out this video that I've blogged about before), and easy to step through. However, since the displays are face-mounted (ie parallel to the belt clips), they can't be seen with the units mounted in an audio bag without reaching in and twisting each one up to face you directly. While this may not be an issue most of the time, it can be frustrating if you have a lot of mics to check in a hurry.

The Evolution systems are frequency-agile, meaning that you can make changes on-the-fly if you encounter interference, which is a boon to any wireless set-up. In the old days, if you had issues, that was it: no soup for you. Now, you can use the scanning function to see which out of 1440 different frequencies are available, and hopefully avoid any problems before you roll.

I ended up choosing two standard kits along with two ENG kits. I figured that this would grant me some flexibility depending on the needs of the scene: four wireless lavs while being hard-wired to camera; two wireless lavs with a wireless hop to camera; or a wireless boom set up.

The Mics

I mentioned earlier that the kits come with the Sennheiser ME 2 omni lav mic, but I opted to replace these with the Countryman B3, mainly due to the fact that the Sennheiser is about the diameter of a pen, and thus not so easy to hide on talent. I keep the Sennheisers as back-ups, but so far haven't had a single problem with the B3s, even with the dust and sweat encountered on a hot location.

I said I needed a lav, not a light...

The B3 is an omni lav, available in many different colors. It's about .2 of an inch in diameter, and thus easily concealable (for one scene, wardrobe cut a very small hole in the handkerchief pocket of a man's suit coat, allowing us to place the mic in plain sight). The mic can accept interchangeable caps that tune its frequency response; I was satisfied with the standard flat response caps that came with the mics .

If you get a different mic for the system, you need to have it pinned out for the G2 transmitter, which uses a locking 1/8-inch (3.5mm) TRS connector (think small headphone jack). The fact that they chose a locking collar means that even in the event that one of the units goes flying, it won't go far. However, the narrow threads also mean that mic changes don't happen as fluidly or quickly as other wireless options.

One unexpected benefit of the mini-jack connector is its compatibility with headphone jacks.This enabled us to employ one wireless system as an ad-hoc IFB, sending audio out of one channel of my mixer to a plug-on transmitter, and then having my boom op plug his cans into the corresponding receiver. The pin assignments only allowed him to hear in one ear, but it was enough to get the job done.

In conjunction with his monitor, we rigged the plug-on transmitter to the boom (the mic was self-powered), allowing him complete freedom around the set. Not the most elegant of solutions, but it worked.

The wireless boom/IFB setup...

The Sound

Like many wireless systems, the G2s employ a companding noise reduction system. While it's a proven technology, you can occasionally hear "pumping", an artifact common to companders. It was especially noticeable when comparing the sound of a hard-wired boom and the wireless, but was still perfectly usable.

Beyond that, they sound great. The Countrymans came through loud and clear, and the level adjustments available on both the transmitters and receivers gave us plenty of leeway when switching a mic between a loud, stage-trained veteran and a shy, child actor.

The B3s sounded great, even in moving vehicles

The Reception

Where we repeatedly banged our heads against the wall was RF interference. While I'm still a novice when it comes to wireless, I can generally make things work with the help of the manual and the internets, but I ran into things I had absolutely no solution for on this movie.

We had a good many issues out on an actual multi-track railroad line. I wonder if the the steel of the rails, in addition to the stationary metal cars used for background, may have been absorbing quite a bit of signal, reducing our effective transmitting range.

The big hunk'o'steel...

Other times, we had spurious noises that I suspect were caused by either undue tension on the transmitter antennae, contact between the antenna and sweaty skin, or both. Since the interference was sporadic, all we could do was make adjustments and cross our fingers for the next take.

I've since used the G2s in a run'n'gun TV sports shoot. There, our issues were mainly interference from other wireless transmitters (booth hawkers with wireless PA mics; walkie-talkies; other wireless for the network crews covering the event). In some instances, we would encounter drop-outs on walk-and-talk shots. I would scan the chosen bank of open frequencies at the start, and most, if not all would be clear. But as we moved (sometimes not more than fifty feet), we ran into trouble, and would have to cut, re-set the mics, and pick up the shot from there. Luckily, the producers were very understanding about how difficult the environment proved to be.

Pros: small; light (makes a huge difference when you're bagged up all day); affordable; frequency-agile; easy to use, even for novices; can easily obtain alternative compatible lav mics; runs on ubiquitous AAs; great sound for the price.

Cons: permanent antennae (non user-replaceable); non-diversity; included lav is rather large; no way to power from NP1/BDS system; can't simply look down into bag to check wireless status.

All in all, I like them, especially for the price. But you get what you pay for, and the Sennheisers weren't nearly so bullet-proof as the Lectros that I've used in the past (of course, I'm still getting my feet wet, so I'm sure we could chalk some of it up to operator error:).

The Sennheiser G2s would be a great choice for someone starting out or on a budget.

MSRP for wireless: $825 for standard kit; $1135 for ENG; can be found much cheaper on the street.
MSRP for Countryman B3s: @ $200


www.sennheiserusa.com
www.countryman.com

The Fifteen [drops tablet]...Ten! Ten Commandments of Sound for Picture! (Part Two)

Okay, kids, here is Part 2:

6. Thou shalt arrange/budget for a dedicated audio post mixer. (aka: Avoid being a Jack of all trades, master of none).

Granted, at the low/no budget level, you have to take what you can get, and many non-linear video editing systems have rather impressive audio features. But that doesn't mean that you can skimp and just be a one-person-band: writing, directing, shooting, editing, then mixing your project, and expect professional results.

There's a reason why you get a DP: they know how to shoot better than you do, and they worry about picture so that you don't have to. Same thing applies to audio post. While it's all well and good to do a temp mix for screening purposes, nothing screams "amateur" more than rough sound, no matter how pretty the picture.

Pro sound mixers fill in the rest of the picture with a full, rich sound track. They have access to more diverse sound effects, making your track fresh and dynamic. They have tricks up their sleeve that may end up saving you from having to loop that one line after all.

They are definitely worth it.

7) Thou shalt make an effort to commission an original music score.

Don't cheap out in the end. You created an original screenplay, got actors to create original performances, got a DP to create original images, and then at that critical final step, you shrug and say "just use pop music. They'll never find out. No one will ever sue us".

There are numerous resources for new, affordable and even legally free music out there. Use them. You crewed up through Craigslist; now keep going, and find a hungry music school student or a local band. There are plenty of talented musicians out there who could use the exposure, and would be willing to score your film, sometimes for little to no money.

And, for the bazzilionth time, there's a reason why that track you bought from iTunes won't work in your Final Cut Project: you're not allowed to use it. (Yes, I'm well aware of the myriad technical workarounds for this, which shan't be discussed here).

8) Thou shalt learn about "headroom" and "standards".

There's a very specific reason that mixers insist on making that annoying "bloop" tone when you record color bars at the head of each tape. This tone represents the nominal bus voltage output of the mixer, and thus must be generated by the mixer, not by the camera (I've had more than one heated discussion with many a DP on this issue).

WWCD: just as you must record the bars from the camera actually used in production (to get an accurate representation of the gear's output), so must you utilize the tone from your field mixer. The reason for this is that if any discrepancy is found in either picture or sound from a particular camera (too low of a red level, sound is 2 db higher on channel 1, etc), they can reference the bars and tone, and trouble-shoot to see if it's just a temporary issue, or consistent across the entire shoot, and then compensate for it if possible. Think of it as a Rosetta Stone for post.

Headroom: it can be a wonderful thing, if it's paid attention to. Just because you're not seeing every segment of your meter lighting up does not mean the audio level's too low. Your mixer will set the nominal reference level (usually -20dBfs for pro stuff), and then mix accordingly, giving you enough signal to have a clean recording without going "full scale" on loud or unexpected sounds (which, once reached, can't be undone, and sounds horrible).

Trust them, and it will turn out fine.

9) Thou shalt learn how to consider sound when scouting locations. (aka: "Well, they weren't using jackhammers here yesterday...")

I recently worked on a short where a dialogue scene was scheduled to be shot in a city alley at night. Good looking place, power nearby, permission from adjacent business owners. Everything seemed in order.

Until I asked about sound.

See, one of the neighbors to the alley was a nightclub, and right there on the front door of the place was a flyer for the reggae/dub band scheduled to play that night at 8 pm...precisely when we were supposed to roll. The band's prodigious bass (common to the genre) would have obliterated any chance at clean dialogue. Since this was a low-budget indie, there was little to no chance of guaranteeing the actor's availability for looping (or the money and facilities to do it properly, for that matter).

To their credit, they had the locations manger re-scout, and do a last-minute company move. At the end of the night, we had another location that fit their needs and ended up being just quiet enough.

Point being, you can avoid just this sort of thing by including your mixer in your pre-production and scouting process, just like you include your DP.

10) Thou shalt accept the fact that, once and for all, there is no such thing as a "remove echo" filter.

I've seen more than a few panicked posts on the boards out there asking about how remove the echo from their track. See, they used a shotgun, but it was at the other end of the room (or worse, mounted to the camera), rather than in close proximity to the subject, and now it sounds like everything's in a big bathroom. Guess what, Chachi, there is a solution: it's called the "shoot-it-again" filter.

Short shotgun microphones (easily one of the most misunderstood pieces of equipment in indie filmmaking) are not like zoom lenses. They do not bring the subject acoustically closer. Think of them more like a ring of Vaseline around a medium lens, with a clear circle in the center: the subject isn't any closer, but everything around the center of the frame, while not completely blocked out, is now "de-emphasized" and blurry.

The interference tube (the slotted "barrel" of the shotgun) filters sounds from the sides, and, in concert with the native directivity of the capsule, helps to "reject" (but not completely block) those sounds (and only at certain frequencies. Once you learn how complex short shotguns are, it's easy to see why they're so misunderstood).

If you want it to sound closer, you have no choice but to get the mic closer. You can't argue with the laws of physics (well, you can try, but the last guy who did ended up as the Incredible Hulk).

Whew. Rant over.

If anyone would care to submit addenda and/or criticism, please don't hesitate to comment...nicely. :)

Reverse Workflow

A reader recently posted an interesting question to David Bondelevitch over at dB's Blog. Snip:

It seems like sound is always piggybacked onto picture. Thus, it seems as though the sound editor does not have an opportunity to respond to the picture edit and say: "this does not work for sound." Is there much reverse motion in the work-flow and why is it that the work-flow puts sound after picture?


Well, the answer is, yes, and no.

Link to the post.

Shotgun Shootout

Good morning, sportsfans.

Whilst perusing the internets, I came across this comparison by Bryan Beasleigh over at DVFreelancer. Entitled Shotgun Shootout, the article details how Bryan made some basic field comparisons of some of the most popular short shotgun and hypercardiod microphones on the market.

Snip:

I managed to record samples of the Sanken CS-1, CS-3e, MKH 416, MKH60 and even Sennheisers top hypercardoid small condenser, the MKH50. This past week I returned and recorded some sample of the AKG Blue Line and the C480b ULS system as well. I also own an MKH60, a Schoeps MK41 a Sennheiser K6 / ME66 and two Oktava MCO-12 kits

Comparisons have been done singularly and with mics mounted in tandem directly in front of the speaker. Distances are between 12 and 24”. No effort was made to boom because of time and space constraints


Some files have been recorded using a Sound Devices Mix Pre or 302 fed at line level into a Marantz PMD670 flash recorder. The others were recorded directly into the marantz PMD670, using the onboard phantom and preamps.

Bryan's made the recordings available in either uncompressed WAV or MP3 formats. As I've mentioned before, this kind of comparison is worth its weight in gold for people who are just starting out, who live in smaller markets, or for whatever reason can't afford to travel to a pro dealer in order to try out a mic before they purchase it.

Link to the shootout, via dvfreelancer.com.

World's Most Tasteless Microphone ?

This will be the first instance in this blog where I feel the need to post a disclaimer: all of the opinions in the following article are the author's alone, and do not necessarily represent those held by the staff of sync.sound.cinema (i.e. me).

So there. {raspberry}

Anyhoo, today's goodie comes from voice-talent Corey Burton, whose career spans nearly 30 years and runs the gamut from major networks to feature films (including the original Transformers movie). Mr. Burton posted an article entitled "The World's Most Tasteless Microphone", in which he opines that the Sennheiser 416 short-shotgun, considered by many to be an industry standard in an industry ruled by subjective opinion, has ruined VO work by being pressed into service as a studio mic, rather than the run'n'gun solution it was originally designed to be.

Snip:

Originally designed for news gathering and outdoor 'location sound' recording, it has a bright, hard, somewhat 'metallic' sound, that blasts right through even the thickest of sound mixes. So what could be wrong with that? Plenty - if you intend to use this sonic equivalent of a crude telephoto lens in a typical small recording studio, directly in front of someone's face.

Now, I've used the 416 myself, and I like it. Light, short (less chance of dipping in to the ever-evolving frame of a hand-held camera shot), and as he notes, an ability to highlight human voice in busy environments. But that's field work, which is a far cry from the controlled conditions of a VO booth.

I would venture to say that the 416 became popular for at least two reasons: first, the cost. A new 416 runs about $1100 new, while new, large diaphragm condensers (the classic go-to mics for VO and vocals) can run several times that.

Second, the fact that it pre-emphasizes the voice can cut down on time spent applying EQ and compression, the traditional techniques to raise a voice above the din of a busy mix. In this current production climate, with ever-shrinking budgets and, thus, schedules, minutes can matter to the bean counters. While it may not be subtle, it is nevertheless effective.

As new media delivery channels emerge, the demand for content will continue to skyrocket. One consequence is that "good enough" tends to rule the day, which can be very frustrating for folks brought up to honor the highest levels of technical and aesthetic quality.

As with all things, it comes down to "adapt or die".

But that doesn't mean we have to completely give up fighting for that extra nth of yummy audio goodness. Someone, somewhere, has their speakers set up correctly (these are the same people whose VCRs never, ever flashed "12:00"), in a quiet room. They listen attentively, whether to music, movies, or television. They care.

I do it for them. :)

Link to the article, via coreyburton.com.