Article: Acoustics Fact and Fiction

This article is from RealTraps, subtitled The Basics of Acoustic Treatment. Proper acoustic treatment is very important when you’re setting up a studio space, yet studio owners/musicians/sound engineers don’t invest into that aspect. Most of the time I’ve heard people complain about the lack of high end equipment simple planning ahead before setting up a studio space, no matter the size or brand of equipment it holds inside.

Sound Design in Lars Von Trier’s MANDERLAY

MIX magazine has been publishing a Sound For Picture section for years that goes in-depth into a film’s sound design. I have probably read all of their articles, available online, to date and find them extremely informational.

This article by Matt Hurwitz is on Lars Von Trier’s MANDERLAY and how a naturalistic sound was important for a film with no sets.

Keeping the Sound Fresh on Any System

by Robert Braathe for The Sound Palette

It doesn’t take an expensive system to get sounds on the air…just care for your system.

Recently I posted some basic 30 second video bits on YouTube. You will note that on a couple of these bits, there are noticable sounds in the background of a fan, especially in the Clyde Feebleskill videos. This is because I don’t have enough RAM in my system to run Office and iMovie at the same time without the fan running. Be sure if you are using a system with 512 of RAM – 1 GB of RAM that you only keep open the applications that are absolutely necessary when you are recording. This will prevent unnecessary background noise.

Email me at robert@mannerspositivityheroics.com

from PRX: Sound Suits

Sound Suits is produced by Hillary Frank and was originally broadcast on Studio 360. The piece is about the Chicago artist Nick Cave’s experimental work with body suits. Here’s an excerpt from the program’s description on PRX:

“…He calls these garments Sound Suits and he puts on performances in which he and all sorts of “non-artists” dance in the suits. Cave considers the Sound Suits a second layer of skin — and as an African-American man, his work often deals with themes of skin and race…”

Profile: Sound Designer Lon Bender

Studio Daily posted a profile on film supervising sound editor/sound designer Lon Bender, a multiple Oscar winner. Bender has recently done sound design for the Broadway show, an interesting detour that has changed his approach to film sound design. In this article Bender talks about “Tarzan, Pro Tools, and a Collaborative Sound-Editing Workflow.”

Bender is also the co-founder of Soundelux Entertainment Group.

from Ken Stone: Creating A Droplet for Customized AIFF Conversion

Ken Stone’s website is a great resource for FCP users in general and the tutorials are remarkably easy to follow. This article by Nick Meyers will show you how to create a preset with Apple’s Compressor where you can customize audio file conversions to your specifications. All you need to do to convert files is drag and drop on the preset Droplet.

In Memoriam: Malcolm Arnold

(1921-2006)

Official Malcolm Arnold website.

Filmography

Articles & Others
from Guardian Unlimited
from NPR (Audio)

Interviews:
from BBC 4 (Audio)

from Bernard Herrmann Society

Sound Design in SUPERMAN RETURNS

Sound Designer/Supervising Sound Editor Craig Berkley talks about his approach in designing sound for director Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns and how he had, early on, decided not to take any established methods for creating sound for this film. Find out how he devised sound effects for Superman’s flying, heat vision, and X-Ray vision, among others. The article is written by Blair Jackson for MIX.

Tutorial: Surround Sound Mix with Pro Tools

Studio Monthly magazine regularly features tutorials such as this one by Jeff Glixman about creating a balanced surround sound.

from Studio Monthly: Sony Media Software’s CINESCORE review

This software seems to be for those of us who need original music but can’t afford to (perhaps don’t want to) hire a composer as well as despise loop-based music that sound like…well, lame. The idea of Cinescore is to generate original score based on the length and mood of your piece. I personally won’t run to buy this software, but that doesn’t mean you won’t. David English’s review of the software for Studio Monthly will give you some insight into the product and you just might consider picking one up.