December 2018

Finally becoming 2015

I started sending flyers trying to drum up work in 1987. It morphed into newsletters in the 90’s, and then emails. I’ve been using the same email provider for over 10 years. It’s time, though, to end the email and move to blogging, a giant leap into 2015. At the end of 2018. I guess I’m moving slower than the pace of digital marketing and information sharing.

I was very interested years ago in podcasting, which was the natural extension of the delivery method of the many audio cassettes and CDs that I worked on for sales and marketing clients. One test was taking it a step farther and monetizing the productions. Never being my strong suit, I’ve had to watch from the sidelines as podcasts have boomed, grown by interesting sonic productions and ideas and importantly, the skill to sell those ideas.

I still enjoy mixing, choosing mics, problem solving to provide the best possible sound in a given production setting. And I’ve been enjoying the growth of Ambisonics for virtual reality and 360 videos, having first recorded Ambisonics in 1999. The original Soundfield mics are now challenged by Sennheiser, Core Sound, and Brahma, among others like Jack Reynolds, who is developing a mic for use with small VR cameras like the Ricoh Theta. Not to be outdone, Soundfield (now owned by Rode) has redesigned their A format microphone and their plugin and made them available at attractive prices (under a grand and free, respectively). Core Sound has released the first second-order Ambisonic microphone. And Zoom has an all-in-one mic/recorder for entry level needs. And there are so many options for postproduction, from free plugins to modestly priced packages. Delivery methods are the main sticking point, Facebook needing something different than YouTube than installations than gaming…..you get the idea.

One thing that has made a big difference on many shoots, especially interviews, is the CEDAR DNS2 real-time noise reduction unit. Loud HVAC, general rumbles, projector fans, buzz, and more can be removed or significantly reduced on location. I record an unprocessed track and the processed track so comparisons can be made in post. No shoot should be without it!

Thanks for reading and watch this space.