Intro to Room Acoustics
Geoff Martin has a video discussing some of the basics of room acoustics on his YouTube channel which is a useful resource for students or those interested in how sound interacts in spaces. Check it out below:
Acoustics
Line Array Benefits for Festivals
Wired Magazine have done up a short video featuring Dave Rat discussing the evolution of music festival PA systems from point source rigs to line arrays, and the benefits that have come from this transition. Dave Rat explains the key points in a great and easy to understand manner. Check it out here: https://youtu.be/8c-gD4mwI8A
Decibel Sound Level Chart
It is sometimes useful to refer to a chart that shows some common decibel levels of sounds as a reference, and a simple chart with some examples every 10dB or so usually suffices, but today I came across a really details chart put together by Paul Virostek on his Creative Field Recording blog/site that details … Read more Decibel Sound Level Chart
The Sound of Water
The Nap Nap Swamp is a wetlands that is part of a floodplain area in south-western NSW that has had some acoustic monitoring going on thanks to ecologists from Charles Sturt University and The Australian National University. Thankfully the ecologists share some of the details and sounds from their work on the following website, which … Read more The Sound of Water
Speech Intelligibility Facts
DPA have some fantastic information about microphones and audio on their website, and they recently posted up a comprehensive article discussing speech intelligibility and some of the important aspects of the timbre of the voice and microphone placement. Read the full article at: https://www.dpamicrophones.com/mic-university/facts-about-speech-intelligibility
Proper Hand Placement on a Vocal Mic
It is obvious (to sound engineers at least) what the effect of cupping a handheld microphone does to the polar response of directional microphones in live performances, which is popular in a lot of the metal genres, but DPA have gone and published an article about the effects on frequency response too, including a resonant … Read more Proper Hand Placement on a Vocal Mic
Oceans of Noise
The Guardian recently produced a fantastic short podcast series discussing the issues of noise in the ocean and the effects of anthropogenic noise on the wildlife in the ocean. The series is presented by Chris Watson and you can listen in at: Episode 1: https://www.theguardian.com/science/audio/2019/may/03/oceans-of-noise-episode-one-science-weekly-podcastEpisode 2: https://www.theguardian.com/science/audio/2019/may/03/oceans-of-noise-episode-two-science-weekly-podcastEpisode 3: https://www.theguardian.com/science/audio/2019/may/03/oceans-of-noise-episode-three-science-weekly-podcast
Some things I have learnt about Hydrophones
I have been making some field recordings using hydrophones (underwater microphones) for a number of years now, mostly for general field recording, but also for Foley for some TV and film projects. I’ve had the opportunity to test out a couple of affordable options over the past couple of years. In no way do I … Read more Some things I have learnt about Hydrophones
Dangers of Noise Pollution
The New Yorker has put together a neat short video discussing some of the health issues for humans and animals from noise pollution. You can check out the video at the link below: Watch this video on The Scene.
Hildegard Westerkamp on the radio
CBC Radio from Canada released a nice radio interview with Hildegard Westerkamp last year which has some good insights into her philosophy. Westerkamp is an influential sound artist and acoustic ecologist, who is mainly known for her soundscape compositions. The piece touches on the importance of listening and being in the moment (much like mindfulness), … Read more Hildegard Westerkamp on the radio