Nov 11, 2011,
By Blair Jackson
Currently in the midst of its second exciting season, the Prohibition-era drama Boardwalk Empire continues to draw plaudits from critics and large numbers of viewers to HBO. Set in Atlantic City in 1920-’21, the series follows the exploits of powerful but corrupt city treasurer “Nucky” Thompson (Steve Buscemi) and his interactions with organized crime figures of the day, federal agents intent on shutting down the city’s bootleggers and racketeers, and a wide range of fascinating characters, including prostitutes, politicians, cops and criminals of every stripe.
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Nov 1, 2011,
By Blair Jackson
Seattle rockers Pearl Jam are celebrating their 20th anniversary in style—with a new music-heavy documentary, Pearl Jam Twenty, directed by Cameron Crowe, which was released briefly in select theaters, turned up on PBS in late October and is now out on DVD; a double-CD soundtrack album compiled by Crowe; and even a big, photo-filled coffee table book devoted to the group. All this from a band that has traditionally been boldly pushing forward at all times and gaining momentum with each passing year.
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Nov 1, 2011,
By Blair Jackson
During their 30 years together, the Grateful Dead established themselves as audio innovators of the highest order (no pun intended). They were the first group to use top-shelf hi-fi components as part of their SR setup, and among the first to regularly employ monitor wedges. They hot-rodded everything from guitars to amplifiers to loudspeakers in search of cleaner and more powerful sound, and their justifiably legendary Wall of Sound system in the early ’70s remains a model (albeit a financially impractical one) of how to deliver pristine audio to large numbers of people. The Dead also always supported up-and-coming instrument and gear artisan, from Alembic and Doug Irwin on the guitar/bass front, to Meyer Sound loudspeakers and Gamble front-of-house and monitor boards. Guitarist Bob Weir and drummer Mickey Hart were both home studio pioneers.
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Nov 1, 2011,
By Matt Hurwitz
Coquis: the tiny little chirping-frog natives of Puerto Rico. In San Juan, where Bruce Robinson’s The Rum Diary was filmed, they are literally everywhere—even on the soundtrack—whether one wants them there or not. But supervising sound editor Mark Mangini (Soundelux) did want them there, just under the control of the sound department. “With the soundstages they shot in down there, they couldn’t get rid of them,” Mangini explains. “We never had a properly clean dialog track.”...
Oct 1, 2011,
By Mel Lambert
It’s a common scenario. It has been decided to move forward by 10 days the final sound-editorial sessions so that the composite dialog, effects and music tracks will be ready for the first day of predubs. So the supervising sound editor brings on a swing gang of eight more editors. Where are the Pro Tools and Logic Pro sessions on the in-house server; and which interconnected WAN holds the re-edited Foley elements from Vancouver, and the last-minute ADR tracks voiced yesterday in England? Wrangling such a large number of digital audio and video files needs a steady hand, and one more vital component: a well-implemented media asset–management strategy that allows everything to be tagged and labeled, and then stored where the editorial and mixing teams can quickly find them.
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Oct 1, 2011,
By Blair Jackson
The Today Showon NBC has been the ruler of the morning network airwaves for most of the past 59 years, an incredible feat given the fickle nature of TV viewers. The show regularly attracts an audience of more than 5 million weekdays, and sometimes millions more depending on news events or the star wattage of the day’s guests. So it’s no surprise that The Today Showhas long been a coveted destination for show-business personalities, from actors wanting to promote their films to musicians pushing their latest project.
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Sep 1, 2011,
By Tom Kenny
It was a summer of musical chairs in Hollywood as a couple of high-end post facilities announced the hiring of A-list recording mixers to their teams. In July, Technicolor announced the hiring of Scott Millan and Greg P. Russell as its theatrical sound mixing duo for the company’s new sound mixing stages located at Paramount Studios. Meanwhile, Michael Keller has returned to leading independent sound company Todd-AO in Hollywood, and will team with re-recording mixer Mike Prestwood Smith. Keller has mixed more than 75 films, including Oliver Stone’s Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, Roland Emmerich’s 2012 and Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof. Keller and Prestwood Smith are currently mixing Abduction for director John Singleton and Lionsgate.
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Sep 1, 2011,
By Tom Kenny
When Full Sail University launched its partnership with ESPN in late 2010, the goal was to get students involved in real-world production—audio, video, gaming, motion graphics; everything that goes into a professional program. The relationship has paid dividends right away, as 56 students—along with a jersey-wearing crowd from the community at large—took part in a multi-day shoot in mid-July for the opening video sequence of Hank Williams Jr.’s hit song “All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Monday Night” for ESPN Monday Night Football.
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NAMM 2011: Fairlight CMI
State of NAMM 2011