Last month I contributed to a project by a visual artist working in Zurich called Veronika Spierenburg. Spierenburg engaged sound recordists to undertake field recording in cities that were currently under various stages of “lockdown” due to the COVID-19 pandemic. From Veronika’s briefing: Now, cities breathe for themselves. City pitches are reset; an extraordinary crisis … Read more Mass Files
DPA have a lot of great information about microphones on their website, including details of various configurations in their Mic University. They recently published a post which has a good discussion of multi-channel microphone techniques which can be viewed at: https://www.dpamicrophones.com/mic-university/immersiver-sound-objekt-basiertes-audio-und-mikrofone
The Phonurgia Nova Awards is an international awards program for the sound arts that is held in France, and my work Beneath the Surface has been listed as a nominee in the Field Recording category. The event and judging will happen later this month, but you can read the list of nominees at: http://phonurgia.fr/2019/09/04/ears-without-borders/
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
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
I’ve been primarily using Triton Audio’s BigAmp Piezo preamps for piezo-based contact mic and hydrophone recording for years now. I previously used Hosa MIT-129 impedance matching transformers for the job, but I found that the BigAmp Piezos yielded me a better low frequency response thanks to the higher impedance. The Hosa MIT-129 hs a 50 … Read more Piezo Preamps and Transformers
I currently have a sound installation called Beneath the Surface at Enlighten Festival which runs each evening from 1 March until 10 March in Canberra. The festival is based around projections onto the national institutions based in the parliamentary triangle including the National Library of Australia, Questacon, National Portrait Gallery, National Gallery of Australia and … Read more Beneath the Surface
The New York Times have published a really neat 360 video featuring Gordon Hempton discussing silence and his work, focussing on the Hoh Rain Forest, in Washington State. It is really well put together, and although I’m not sure I’m into the 3D treatment on the voice over as you move about, I reckon it is … Read more Gordon Hempton 360 Video
The sound of a Mercedes-AMG E 63 S 4MATIC+ Sedan is impressive enough that they have foregone most visuals in favour of acousmatic sound recorded comprehensively and mixed into a 9.1 cinema format for a new ad campaign. You can find out more details and watch the ad at: https://lbbonline.com/news/new-mercedes-amg-campaign-aims-to-prove-hearing-is-believing/
Shaun Farley has posted an interview with sound design legend Ben Burtt on the Designing Sound website, which gives some insight into the sound design process and the roles of experimentation, failure and perseverance. Read the full thing at: http://designingsound.org/2017/12/a-conversation-with-ben-burtt-on-perserverance/