February 2012
12 posts
Mastering to iTunes, Apple Releases Official Guide →
Apple’s definitive guidelines for mastering for iTunes distribution. I’ve used the -1dB basis for a long time to prevent ‘hot conversion clipping’ but there’s some useful stuff in here about over-compressed masters falling foul of SoundCheck, new AACPlus format, etc
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tumblrbot asked: ROBOTS OR DINOSAURS?
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BEIRG Article on Protecting the PMSE Frequencies →
The debacle over loss of wireless frequencies continues as ever more working groups get steamrollered by the apparent need for evermore wireless broadband facilities. This article makes a fantastic point - maybe in the industry we’ve been too good at hiding the technology so the general public isn’t really aware at how widespread a problem this is going to be. Maybe we should have a...
OK GO - Needing/Getting Video →
As a massive fan of junk orchestra’s and ‘found sound’, I just love this video from OK GO. Fantastic creativity.
“Audiophiles don’t use their equipment to listen to your music. Audiophiles...”
– Unknown Slashdot commenter on Alan Parson Audiophile article. If you are that commenter and want to claim this quote, please get in touch, it’s genius!
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tollboothmusic website back up and mostly... →
after a brief haitus, the tbm website (which details all of the commercial and educational services i offer) is back up online with a sparkly new look, new feel and lots of new info.
Alan Parsons on Audiophiles →
Alan Parsons, producer of Dark Side of the Moon - probably the single most revered album in audiophiles’ rock collections - explains why they’re probably barking up the dark side……..
Yeah yeah yeah, I'll code it in a minute, I'm just...
As the more observant (/those who could give a hooey) of you will have realised, the main tollboothmusic website is down at the mo. this was initially due to a couple of problems we had with our hosting account and a billing issue, but I’ve used it as an opportunity to actively take the site down for a little while to do a makeover I’ve been promising myself for eons.
for a long...
The Sound of Single Gunshot Rings Out
how many times do we read that description in either a stage direction or script and think, “easy, gunshot, no problem” but here’s some things to consider. I was doing a production of Oliver! recently and not wanting to spoil things too much (seriously, hands up who doesn’t know the story backwards, ……. seriously?) but a major character gets shot by the rozzers...
November 2011
1 post
Don't be shy, ask for what you think... →
Great post from Ariel Gross / Mike Acton on how not to be embarrassed to ask for sound in a non-technical way from your sound designer, and an encouragement to designers not to be a tech speak snob!
October 2011
4 posts
Hunkered Down in Bunker13
Happy nearly Halloween again chumsies! And with Halloween comes the raft of increasingly traditional activities - trick-or-treating, Asda trying to sell 30 different types of plastic skeleton, eating all the sweets the local kids didn’t come round for/turned their nose up at/shunned in favour of hard cash etc, and trying to do fiddly wiring work in the freezing cold and dark at a massive...
Designing more nightmares - Bunker13, Magna →
This is a great little podcast from the Rotherham Advertiser. The last 3 weeks have seen insane numbers of hours being put in to try and get the soundscapes written and the sound installation done for the Bunker13 scare attraction at Magna near Rotherham. This is the 3rd scare attraction for GNG Entertainment this year, following Killers Live in Whitby and Haunted Live in York. There’ll be...
Farewell Steve, you did real well →
Sitting, typing this update on one of the many innovations that would not have been possible without his drive & vision & as a self-confessed geek and long-term Apple devotee, I am genuinely saddened to hear of the passing of Steve Jobs. Whatever friendly and not-so friendly arguments may have been had over the years about Macs vs PCs (though not by me), Jobs fundamentally changed the way...
September 2011
2 posts
The Oranges are all working like Clockwork
This last 2 weeks have seen me working with the mighty 2Act Theatre Co again, this time on the controversial stage adaptation of Anthony Burgess’ ‘A Clockwork Orange’. Many aspects of the production are challenging, right through from staging, but the sound aspects are particularly interesting as for the sound designer and composer, there are a number of very rigid parameters to...
masterchef synesthesia →
if you’re one of the 9 people in the world who has not seen this astonishing piece from SwedeMason - here it is. a brilliant piece of inspired silliness.
August 2011
3 posts
It's scaring time again!
The good ole boys at GNG have been on the phone again! I thought I’d escaped this latest attraction, but a fairly panicked phone call last week somehow had me standing a couple of days later in what claims to be York’s most haunted house. “What’s the brief?” “It wants to be as f&*%ing creepy as hell” Looking around me in the wooden clad walls of the...
David Gibson - The Art of Visual Mixing →
A couple of blogs ago I referred to this excellent book by David Gibson, but neglected to put in a link to where to get hold of it. Amazon are quoting anywhere from £22 to £48 (why can’t they just buy a book, and sell you a book, simples!) at the mo which seems steep so it might be worth trying a few independents. A number of folk had asked about the book so i thought i better pop the link...
how baking might just save us all.....
I’d like to tell you about a friend of mine called Alison. Alison bakes. Alison bakes a LOT. she makes groovy things, like lemon drizzle cake, muffins, carrot cake. and she takes them into her work and shares them. and whatever new batch is being made, Alison lovingly teases colleagues the night before on FB to let them know what’s in store for tomorrow……
and because of...
July 2011
3 posts
i believe the phrase is 'told ya so' →
i believe the phrase is 'told ya so' →
the earplug conundrum
the earplug debate
As most of my day-to-day job is studio work, detailed audio editing, and live musical theatre work, I tend to be quite serious about protecting my hearing as much as possible. I routinely carry earplugs round with me as I got sick of getting caught out in my youth by dodgy ‘function DJs’ with long blown PA systems, and I’m a fan of motorsport too so it’s...
June 2011
1 post
May 2011
4 posts
I See Noise tumblog →
another great blog from another poor soul who does this game for a living! thanks for following Ryan!
Robin Bigwood's SoS DP Archive →
For years, Robin Bigwood wrote a fantastic monthly technique column in SoundOnSound that picked Digital Performer apart bit by bit and was an immense help to me when I was first starting out with DP or when a new version came along and was loaded with a raft of great but impenetrable new features. SoS decided that since only 8 people in the UK use DP, they were going to can the...
Fantastic little Digital Performer hints and tips... →
Metamorphosis - bugged by schedules
Of all the wonderful variety of jobs that I get to do as a day-to-day sound engineer, still one of my favourites is designing and creating sounds for theatre. Foley work has become a bit of a hobby as well as job of recent years, and its something I really enjoy reading up on, and celebrating the creativity and ingenuity of some of the real titans of their art. The nice thing about foley work is...
April 2011
1 post
Live
When I was a kid, the epic live album was always an event. Some of the best loved albums of the heyday of raw rock music are still some of the most interesting and powerful recordings to date. Thin Lizzy - Live & Dangerous, Rush - All the Worlds A Stage & Exit Stage Left, Genesis - Seconds Out, countless recordings at the Budokan, Alive even made Kiss sound halfway thumpful as I was never...
March 2011
3 posts
Designing the Nightmare
During the summer 2010, GNG Entertainment brought their first installation Scare Attraction to our theatre and we’ve developed a very creative relationship since that first event. Long time friends Gav & Gaz set up GNG Entertainment to provide a new take on installation scare attractions. Their enthusiasm for dark entertainment is infectious and the creative freedom they give their technical...
Killers Live - Scare Attraction, Whitby Shambles,... →
Come and find out what Bubba is getting so upset about in the Workshop
Quick Tech Note: Activating Home Sharing in iOS4.3
okay, now were alone
apple havent done a great job of documenting the how-to for anything in ios4.3 yet and getting HomeSharing to work isnt straightforward tbh. on the iTunes version its easy, switch both machines on, log in, activate home sharing from menu and your libraries pop up on each machine.
idevices are a bit trickier. first: all your devices will need to be on the same wifi network:...
February 2011
2 posts
and some new buddies...
and just a quick mention to some new friends at a brilliant music distributor if youre based in the north of our dear land: we have just ordered our new mixing desk for the theatre (Allen&Heath Z436), and have just had the most brilliant service from The Production Room in Leeds.
Id not used them before, but their customer service has been exceptional. they got in a desk to demo at the shop...
a small prayer for peace - the Christchurch...
I remember talking to a friend of mine who lived in New York about why an otherwise preposterous movie like Independence Day seemed to shock so many people on his side of the pond (I hasten to add this was long before the events of 11/9/2001), its different when its somewhere you know so well its someone showing you what having your home ripped apart looks like, he lived 5 blocks from the world...
August 2010
6 posts
and again....
oh he’s still not found that damn bypass, she’s singing half the national anthem now.
if i was being charitable I would say that adding an aggressive gate was not an unreasonable guess at how to solve a problem like a live mic in an environment like wembley, but to be honest, sitting by the mute would have been the less lazy option. that and a better choice of mic. one of those...
Pass me by...
I hate ragging on other sound engineers but when you hear fundamental mistakes like we just gritted our teeth and sat thru during the opening of the rugby challenge cup at wembley, you just have to sit back as an engineer and think “maybe I really over-complicated things today”
the poor girl trying to sing ‘abide with me’ fell victim to that simplest of errors - an overly...
recording a national treasure - a day with Prince...
there are certain key career defining moments in the life of any sound engineer: first paid gig; first major tour; first commercial album recording; first embarrassing electrocution; those sorts of things. and then there are the things that just make getting up in the morning a joy - new shows, new clients, favourite clients, fun projects, foley work (personal favourite) etc etc. and then there...
DAWs & the iPad - a love story
thanks to an astonishingly kind bit of birthday presenting, I’m now the very very happy owner of a shiny 32Gb iPad. almost the minute it was switched on it was being loaded with all manner of Apps for all sorts of things, mainly news and tech feeds„ some creative bits and bobs (as i fundamentally disagree with anyone who says the iPad is about consumption and not creation) and yes, a...
July 2010
3 posts
a bit off piste, but a call to leave my drink...
I’ve never understood this strange fascination with trying to make Pimms worse. it’s a fantastic summer drink and in a large glass or ideally, vase, you just can’t beat it. and yet there’s all manner of folk who crawl out of the woodwork when it is set down in it’s golden gloriousness in front of you who seem to have done a bartending course at Hogwarts. the first...
June 2010
1 post
quick apology to Saitara Software
bad blogger! bad blogger!
always check your facts first: quick price update for AC7 apps from Saitara software, AC7 for iPhone is £3.49 and AC7Pro for iPad which to be fair, apart from actually buying the iPad in the first place, makes this even more of a no-brainer vs current hardware based systems.
May 2010
1 post
'eck - a financial argument FOR the iPad
I’m having a truly miserable time with Mackie DAW control surfaces. my long serving MCU is now back in for repair yet again and mackie seem utterly incapable of finding the EPROM in china that they need to repair it quickly (actually they HAVE the chips, they’ve just lost the security codes, genius!). so… that leaves me with a problem, the new Mackie MCU is now financially...
April 2010
2 posts
the ethics of sound engineering - the Brown debate...
the national media is in a flat spin this morning over the debacle of Gordon Brown’s overheard statements yesterday. I have many feelings on the subject, but several things spring to
mind: 1) I’m no fan of Brown and am
still relatively undecided about next week’s opportunity to flex my democratic right but this this was a gift to the other parties who ironically are guilty of...
another long absence in refit land
genuinely, i don’t know how hardened bloggers do it - i know someone who runs about 5 or 6 blogs DAILY! and i can’t even keep one poxy music/teccy one up to date - rubbish. i shall have myself taken out at dawn and gaffered to a tree.
but…. still here. theatre still bonkers (though in the midst of a couple of weeks off ironically), but that’s given me a long-awaited...
October 2009
7 posts
