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…
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.
A 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.
The 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...
It 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.
There 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...
‘Old films were made to work with old media. Today’s film directors have too much confidence in the supposed compatibility between mixing rooms.’ Bold and uncompromising, this is a real challenge facing sound in the movie business.
It comes from seasoned studio designer and accomplished acoustician Philip Newell, who believes cinema design is locked in the 1970s and is no longer fit for purpose...
Before I discovered the secret world of the recording studio, it was the mystery and promise of early commercial synthesisers that occupied the less engaging moments of my education.
That was in the day when you could build a synthesiser on a kitchen table – something with not inconsiderable appeal. And before ICs ruined everything. Now those days are poised to make a comeback...
My first look at audio’s use of tablet computers was derailed by news of Steve Jobs’ death. My second has been derailed by word that the subject is to be ably addressed by Pro Sound News Europe… no point covering the same ground.
But there’s plenty to talk about beyond apps that make an iPad an essential piece of kit for live sound or broadcast. The combined ability of the internet and tablets is causing problems…
Thursday was a good day to blog. I had an idea and a collection of notes – I wanted to take a look at the rise of the tablet PC with a nod to its uptake and use in various aspects of pro audio. The launch of the Amazon Kindle Fire, the prominence of the iPad and Steve Jobs’ recent retirement from Apple made it especially timely.
Then came news that Jobs had died…
‘I am not frightened of dying. Any time will do: I don’t mind. Why should I be frightened of dying? There’s no reason for it ― you’ve got to go sometime.’
When you do, people will want to know, but delivering the news is unlikely to be easy. The role may fall to any one of a large number of people.
It may even fall to the pro audio press…
Fast-and-Wide Blog
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Obsolescence: An Index of PossibilitiesAs a Tyrell Corporation Nexus-6 replicant, Blade Runner’s Roy Batty had a predetermined life span of just four years – and he wanted it extended. Remonstrations...Read More...
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Our Infatuation with SaturationWhen professional digital audio made its entrance, the limitations of early technology combined with the excitement of some advocates made it a soft target...Read More...
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Controlling InterestThe very first synthesiser I owned was a Moog. And my second; and my third. I still have two of them, a Micromoog and Minimoog, but sold the third, an...Read More...
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The Sound of the CrowdSo sport is back, in part, but fans are presently unwelcome at the matches being played – unless you count the cut-outs that the likes of Brighton &...Read More...
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The Last Seat in the HouseWe were just a few days into the UK coronavirus lockdown, when a copy of The Last Seat in the House: The Story of Hanley Sound arrived on my doorstep....Read More...
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Knocking Back CoronaWith only 13 countries presently likely to be remaining Covid-19 free, the live music and club industries worldwide have taken a heavy blow. The games...Read More...
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Après MidiWhen it appeared in 1983, Midi changed my life – as it did for countless other keyboard players around the world. Like any revolution worthy of...Read More...
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evolution: Sennheiser’s revolution Pt.2Having explored the thinking and story behind the evolution concept, Sennheiser’s exclusive show-and-tell session in London gave the floor to the a handful...Read More...
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evolution: Sennheiser’s revolution Pt.1‘Twenty years ago, a question was posed: should Sennheiser continue to produce dynamic microphones? Our prices had gone up and our profit had gone down...Read More...
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Pink Floyd: Their Mortal RemainsReleased in March 1967, ‘Arnold Layne’ was the first of eight singles from the fledgling Pink Floyd that year. Fifty years on, and with an unassailable...Read More...
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Kit Reviews: Cause and EffectSharing time and a couple of bottles of Asahi with another former pro audio magazine editor in the bar of London’s Metropolis Studios recently, the hoary...Read More...
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The Heydays of PhaseSometime around 1975-76 I wanted an MXR Phase 90 for my Wurlitzer electric piano – I wanted what the ‘real’ keyboard players of the time were using....Read More...
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The Vibe RevivalWith the ambition of the first Leslie emulation pedals finally fulfilled, the story of the Shin-ei Uni-Vibe has come full circle. In its wake we have phasers,...Read More...
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Second Screen Sports: Off Tube, On TargetMy local pub has a split personality. Or, maybe, it’s more like a secret identity – a single location but with two roles in life. For some of us,...Read More...
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Sound of Story: Chapter 3I once read that smell is our strongest associative sense. I’ve since tried to establish the relative ability of our other senses to evoke memories...Read More...
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Flange Theory: How I Miss My MistressIt seems to have become a common misconception that guitar fuzz boxes and distortion pedals predate more eloquent effects, such as phasing and flanging. OK,...Read More...
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