London Aquatics CentreThe recent UK Reproduced Sound conference invested heavily in acoustic modelling and auralisation. Among the event’s speakers, conference chair Paul Malpas looked at ‘the role of auralisation in interdisciplinary design’, questioning the neglect of sound in the early development stages of buildings. Good man.

On the surface, it wasn’t an issue that should have needed raising at an acoustics conference. But if not here, then where?

Higgs BosonThere’s a big problem with the Big Bang. A Big Audio Problem.

The background noise thrown up by the current rush of theories – p-branes, inflation, a bubble universe, multiple Big Bangs and their like – has drowned out the impossibility of a bang of any kind occurring where no gasses or fluids yet exist.

But then, you can’t believe everything you hear about sound…

In the beginningIn the beginning was the word, and the word was analogue. Analogue shone on the world of sound recording, and it was good.

For a long time, good people made good music with analogue, and looked no further for their needs. But then a shadow fell across the face of the music makers. The shadow was cast by a new force called digital. It broke analogue’s spell, and the world was remade...

vu meterThe attitude to audio taken by TV advertisers and gamers could not be more contrasting, more telling – or more damning.

While advertisers eagerly lay claim to the term ‘creative’, their antagonistic stance on loudness betrays a small-minded regard for sound and its applications. Gamers, on the other hand, appear to be getting the most out of audio on all fronts. And that includes loudness…

Hearing protectionI could almost hear the gentle shuffle of feet and slow intake of breath while courage was gathered. A long pause. Then the news. A fellow audio journalist and good friend has been told that he needs hearing aids. It's a confession...

Another silence. It is an awkward moment at both ends of the phone. Although we are the press, we do audio. We love audio. The unspoken question, then – is it all over for him?

Buy!There’s something offensive about TV ads. They run roughshod over our viewing and undermine the work of the many people it takes to make a feature film or television feature.

They do not extend the respectful invitation of print ads, designed to succeed on merit and message, but force themselves on us like party gatecrashers. They were the first terrorists of the advertising world…

Solar Storm

Apart from the mayhem a powerful electromagnetic pulse would visit on our technologically dependent civilisation, there’s growing concern that EMPs are an imminent threat to recorded music.

Our magnetic audio recordings would be among the certain casualties, along with many other aspects of our technology. But, strangely, sound may provide us with our best line of defence.

Audi RSQA fearsome sound ripped through the busy street, turning the head of every passer-by. Earthquake? Explosion? Apocalypse? Actually, it was the sound of a small boy in a big red Ferrari 499.

Ten years old and with his foot stretched to reach the throttle, it was an unexpected thrill. An almighty noise and an indelible memory. But by the time he is old enough for his own supercar, it may sound very different.

Hydrogen bomb mushroom cloudThe EMP accompanying a nuclear strike would mark the end of any magnetically recorded music within its reach – tape, disk or solid-state. If it targeted the traditional centres of music recording, it could wipe the recording industry’s archive of multitrack and master tapes clean. Welcome to the real No Music Day.

Termed ‘radioflash’ in British nuclear tests of the 1950s, an Electromagnetic Pulse is an archivist's nightmare. But it's not the only thing that costs them sleep...

shoes_iconIt began with a Facebook post made by a well-known (and well liked) US sound engineer/tech/commentator – the vocal feed from a Britney Spears concert originally posted on YouTube with the strap line, ‘what she REALLY sounds like!’

The vocal was everything you knew it would be. And everything you knew it wouldn’t – no further comment needed. But it did prompt a debate that’s worth exploring.

Greta GarboThere is something fitting about the way the glamour and magic of Hollywood is being disturbed by some dark goings-on in commercial cinema.

Like parallel storylines in a well-crafted movie, these contrasting themes are perfectly poised to converge and collide – with surprising results. I won't give the end away, but I can take you through the cast and their causes. I promise you won't be disappointed...

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Fast-and-Wide.com An independent news site and blog for professional audio and related businesses, Fast-and-Wide.com provides a platform for discussion and information exchange in one of the world's fastest-moving technology-based industries.
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