MTF Semester 2 - Week 11 - 18/10/07
Today we had our first round of forum presentations for our portfolio package.
Lauren presented first outlining how she produces under The Elektro Kitten logo.
She has a well rounded package that gives a rundown of her qualifications, artists she worked with, skills/services she can offer and a variety of works. The only thing I would say to Lauren is that when presenting it would be good to have an outline on paper and use that as a guide. I think people start to go to sleep when someone reads word for word a pre-prepared presentation from paper. Adding to this is when she reads she speeds up and the audience goes Zzzzzz. Otherwise fantastic, her portfolio shows she is very talented indeed.
Brendan had the idea to get feedback from the class on what songs he should include in his portfolio. He asked what the class liked/disliked and what we would have done differently. He also plans to set himself apart by having a DVD with a montage on it and if time permits for assessment but if not after, a website. His is interested in film sound.
Scott provided a good balance of musical examples that showcased his many talents. Examples played were created in different programs and showed skills in engineering, producing and composing.
Ben gave more of an overview of what faces everybody now. He shows that he is definitely thinking how best to showcase his talents.
Josh talked about how he was very interested in the course because he wants to create music for computer games and has even put together one of his own and added effects and music. His mixes of the Zelda theme were very easy to listen to.
Everybody has a slightly different interest in recording for bands, dance, film, games or animation.
Lauren presented first outlining how she produces under The Elektro Kitten logo.
She has a well rounded package that gives a rundown of her qualifications, artists she worked with, skills/services she can offer and a variety of works. The only thing I would say to Lauren is that when presenting it would be good to have an outline on paper and use that as a guide. I think people start to go to sleep when someone reads word for word a pre-prepared presentation from paper. Adding to this is when she reads she speeds up and the audience goes Zzzzzz. Otherwise fantastic, her portfolio shows she is very talented indeed.
Brendan had the idea to get feedback from the class on what songs he should include in his portfolio. He asked what the class liked/disliked and what we would have done differently. He also plans to set himself apart by having a DVD with a montage on it and if time permits for assessment but if not after, a website. His is interested in film sound.Scott provided a good balance of musical examples that showcased his many talents. Examples played were created in different programs and showed skills in engineering, producing and composing.
Ben gave more of an overview of what faces everybody now. He shows that he is definitely thinking how best to showcase his talents.
Josh talked about how he was very interested in the course because he wants to create music for computer games and has even put together one of his own and added effects and music. His mixes of the Zelda theme were very easy to listen to.
Everybody has a slightly different interest in recording for bands, dance, film, games or animation.
MTF Semester 2 – Week 10 – 11/10/07
This week we visited a friend of David Grice, Sean Timms, at his studio Timms Tunes. The bread and butter of this business is advertising. Some of their clients as mentioned on the website are BMW, Mitsubishi, Coopers and many more including government contracts. It is apparent that Sean is a talented composer and pianist. He had some good advice on how he deals with clients. Like using broad brush strokes to get an idea of what the client is after and refining it from there. Most clients will not be able to articulate in musical terms what they require so Sean likes to communicate on an emotional level. How does the client want people to feel when listening/viewing?
The building houses 3 studios of varying sizes connected to a central server. Two other engineers work out of studio B and C, with Seans office being Studio A. In Studio A there is plenty of outboard gear that Sean admits he doesn’t really use anymore as the need for total recall is very important to him as he may not come back to a project for months. A client cannot wait while he tries to dial up a setting he had. Seans feels clients have become used to being able to make instant changes and like to leave their stamp on the finished product.
He also mentioned that he would employ someone if they had the right skills but more importantly the right attitude. It is a good opportunity for someone who is willing to do their “Apprenticeship” in the industry.
http://www.timmstunes.com/
The building houses 3 studios of varying sizes connected to a central server. Two other engineers work out of studio B and C, with Seans office being Studio A. In Studio A there is plenty of outboard gear that Sean admits he doesn’t really use anymore as the need for total recall is very important to him as he may not come back to a project for months. A client cannot wait while he tries to dial up a setting he had. Seans feels clients have become used to being able to make instant changes and like to leave their stamp on the finished product.
He also mentioned that he would employ someone if they had the right skills but more importantly the right attitude. It is a good opportunity for someone who is willing to do their “Apprenticeship” in the industry.
http://www.timmstunes.com/
MTF Semester 2 – Week 9 – 04/10/07
We visited one of Australia’s premiere postproduction facilities Oasis Post. From high-end commercials to feature films and DVDs it looks like Oasis Post has it all covered. Oasis is part of the Kojo Group and our tour guide Marty is an owner. To see such a simply laid out set up is inspiring but of course the reality is that it is all held together with probably millions worth of the latest technology. I was really interested to hear how high end movies are rendered down to add sound then final touches added at full HD. Scott Hicks and Greg McLean have finished their films here. There are countless commercials I recognise in their showreel on their website. http://www.oasispost.com.au/index.asp
It is obvious that these guys are based in Adelaide. The support they show for local artist is fantastic. They filmed and produced the new Hilltop Hoods DVD with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and on their showreel they have The Hot Lies and Ben Folds when he was based here. It is amazing to see that the post-production for a project could all be done in the same building.
This is a very impressive facility and as with most of the places I’ve seen. I WANT ONE.
It is obvious that these guys are based in Adelaide. The support they show for local artist is fantastic. They filmed and produced the new Hilltop Hoods DVD with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and on their showreel they have The Hot Lies and Ben Folds when he was based here. It is amazing to see that the post-production for a project could all be done in the same building.
This is a very impressive facility and as with most of the places I’ve seen. I WANT ONE.
Studio Engineering Week 8 out-of-class exercise
There are several automation modes on top of plug-in automation modes available in Pro Tools.
When set to Auto Off all automation data will be ignored. This is handy when wish to have no automation represented when you playback.
When Auto Write is selected, data will be written for the parameter specified such as pan or volume. This is great for real time mixing of a track.
Selecting Auto Read will mean that the automation data is read and not affected in any way. This is always selected to hear automation while playback is occurring.
Selecting Auto Touch will allow you to playback and adjust volume or panning etc and the value will snap back to the original level when the faders have stopped being moved.
Selecting Auto Latch will mean that the value of automation will remain where the fader level has been left it will not snap back to the original level as Auto Touch does.
Auto Trim is a relative mode that allows you to keep the existing automation data but allows you to turn up or down.
Write to will mean that the value at the end of the automation will be written back to the start of the song or as you have setup.
Some preferences are handy for automation such as the degree of thinning after a write pass, latching behaviour for switch controls in “touch”, the option to include control changes in the undo window, automatch time and after write pass switch to touch, latch or no change.
VCA groups are controlled by master fader and are designed to emulate the purpose of Voltage Controlled Amplifiers on analogue consoles.
References:
Pro Tools Reference Manual. Ver. 7.3
Lecturer: Steve Fieldhouse, Dip of Music (Sound Engineering) EMU Unit, Adelaide University.
When set to Auto Off all automation data will be ignored. This is handy when wish to have no automation represented when you playback.
When Auto Write is selected, data will be written for the parameter specified such as pan or volume. This is great for real time mixing of a track.
Selecting Auto Read will mean that the automation data is read and not affected in any way. This is always selected to hear automation while playback is occurring.
Selecting Auto Touch will allow you to playback and adjust volume or panning etc and the value will snap back to the original level when the faders have stopped being moved.
Selecting Auto Latch will mean that the value of automation will remain where the fader level has been left it will not snap back to the original level as Auto Touch does.
Auto Trim is a relative mode that allows you to keep the existing automation data but allows you to turn up or down.
Write to will mean that the value at the end of the automation will be written back to the start of the song or as you have setup.
Some preferences are handy for automation such as the degree of thinning after a write pass, latching behaviour for switch controls in “touch”, the option to include control changes in the undo window, automatch time and after write pass switch to touch, latch or no change.
VCA groups are controlled by master fader and are designed to emulate the purpose of Voltage Controlled Amplifiers on analogue consoles.
References:
Pro Tools Reference Manual. Ver. 7.3
Lecturer: Steve Fieldhouse, Dip of Music (Sound Engineering) EMU Unit, Adelaide University.
MTF Semester 2 – Week 8 – 13/09/07
SA Film Corporation tour.
This week we visited the SA Film Corporation at Hendon and I was pleasantly surprised with facilities available. Very interesting was the Foley “artists’ lair” which closely resembled a very messy shed but in a studio environment with lots of different textures to walk on, plenty of items to make clangs and bangs. There is also a viewing room, which is really a Dolby digital certified mixing theatre with a massive automated Harrison Series 12 mixing station, Pro Tools HD and Fairlight workstations. Of interest is the fact that there is a Syninet link to London which allows a director to OK changes and edits in real time.
The corporation has an impressive list of achievements but as it appears to be the case with artists in general most of the crew work on these films for love not money and also have “day jobs”.
MTF Semester 2 – Week 5 – 23/08/07
On Thursday we visited Disk-Edits at Bowden.
Neville Clark has setup a fantastic facility with all the toys to bring dribble to the lips of any aspiring Engineer/Producer. His Studio has been fitted out by an acoustic engineer and consists of a Mastering suite, Recording area and a Post-Production room. Although right next the Recording area Neville can work in the Mastering suite while a loud guitar amp is being recorded thanks to the triple glass and brick wall separating the two. Noise in the Mastering area was at an absolute minimum with all computers etc isolated in the machine room and although there were nearly 15 of us in the air tight room I could not hear the air-con. And we were all comfortable. Amazing! Neville says that all of these factors lead to less stress in the room.
Neville explained about how the reflective surfaces in his room worked and how the object was to have none of them affecting the listening position. I have to say that diffusion of the sound waves is the best excuse for having a messy desk I’ve ever heard.
Neville has diversified his business and does lots of voice over work, preservation of sound for museums etc and is almost up and running in 5.1.
References:
A couple of hours with Neville Clark at Disk-Edits.
Neville Clark has setup a fantastic facility with all the toys to bring dribble to the lips of any aspiring Engineer/Producer. His Studio has been fitted out by an acoustic engineer and consists of a Mastering suite, Recording area and a Post-Production room. Although right next the Recording area Neville can work in the Mastering suite while a loud guitar amp is being recorded thanks to the triple glass and brick wall separating the two. Noise in the Mastering area was at an absolute minimum with all computers etc isolated in the machine room and although there were nearly 15 of us in the air tight room I could not hear the air-con. And we were all comfortable. Amazing! Neville says that all of these factors lead to less stress in the room.
Neville explained about how the reflective surfaces in his room worked and how the object was to have none of them affecting the listening position. I have to say that diffusion of the sound waves is the best excuse for having a messy desk I’ve ever heard.
Neville has diversified his business and does lots of voice over work, preservation of sound for museums etc and is almost up and running in 5.1.
References:
A couple of hours with Neville Clark at Disk-Edits.
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