Dolby Atmos: A Revolutionary approach to film sound

After much anticipation, Dolby have come public on their new cinema sound format. Dolby® Atmos™ delivers audiences a more natural and realistic soundfield, transporting them into the story with a lifelike sensory experience. Developed with input from professionals throughout the movie industry, Dolby Atmos represents a dynamic shift in audio, reinventing the traditional surround sound methodology and offering a complete platform for sound now and well into the future.

Technology Highlights

• Integrates easily into existing audio postproduction workflows
• Supports up to 128 simultaneous and lossless audio streams
• Allows for up to 64 discrete speaker feeds
• Expands the creative palette with overhead speakers
• Adds side surrounds closer to the screen for improved transitions
• Works across a wide array of speaker configurations and auditorium shapes and sizes
• Simplifies distribution with a single DCP inventory

AudioFinder: audio library and production database software

While wanting to speed up my editing time, I decided that I was going to purchase an audio library database application. Looking for a recommended industry used and affordable sound effects library database I studied the features of SoundMiner and Netmix Pro. These are two of the leading industry database software platforms for sound design in film. In my research however I also came across a lesser known cheaper software application, Audiofinder.  Visiting the website of Iced Audio, Audio Finder it is apparent that this software is not produced by a large company. Theer are not multiple versions of the software at varying prices, it is just one product and one price.

 At only $70US, I decided to download the demo to see if this would suffice my needs. Being time limited to 20 minute blocks I soon became frustrated with the software, so much so that I bought it as I was interested in pushing it. Although appearing to be set up for music libraries, I soon learned that Audiofinder is just as fluent with SFX libraries. A few limitations were annoying with the first version I downloaded, however I have since trialed a new beta version of the next release of the software and these annoyances have been answered. The software works seamlessly with ProTools with the spotting of sounds directly into your sessions. If you work with the ProTools Workspace - STOP. Get Audiofinder as it is incredibly fast for searching and auditioning your sounds. You can audition files, select a snippet right click and instantly the audio is imported into your ProTools timeline. Audiofinder also works the same way with Logic. You can also pitch on the fly, and process using your plugins.

What I also like about Audiofinder is that I can bring in my own sound effects recordings and use the slice tool, and embed meta data for even quicker more precise library searches. This software is quite simply, amazing value for money and a MUST for any sound editor.

Some features include:

• Sophisticated Metadata Database
• Groundbreaking Mac OS X Finder Integration
• Integrated Sample Tool trim/loop/fade editor with beat slicer
• Browser, bookmarks, history, favorites, and navigation tools
• Database Notes for keeping track of things.
• Play multiple sounds at one time and explore layering.
• Instant playback with mouse and MIDI input for pitch control
• Peak analysis and pitch analyzer tools
• Find Duplicate sounds by analyzing the sound content.
• Drag-and-drop integration with Finder and all audio apps
• Direct Pro Tools and Logic support for spotting sounds to the track/cursor location.
• High-quality sample rate, depth, and format conversion
• Most operations available in automated batch processing mode
• AU/VST/MAS/RTAS plugin manager and AU presets management
• Create single sample EXS instruments with one click
• Direct connect with SoundCloud.
• 100% Non-destructive, AudioFinder will not modify your files. Instead it creates new files when processing leaving the originals intact.
• Supports ReCycle/REX playback and export to AIFF
• Apple Loop, BWF and ACID Wav Metadata display
• Formats: Apple Loops, CAF, AIFF, AIFC, SDII, BWF, WAV, REX, RX2, MP3, ACC, M4A, SYX, MID, FLAC and OGG Vorbis

*** Rolling Stock*** coming soon

A series of art happenings on a vintage train moving through the landscapes of Junee (SW NSW)
Featuring artists: Chris Watson (UK), Renny Kodgers, PVI Collective, Kate Murphy, Alan Lamb, Dave Noyze, Public Assembly, Pip Shea, Shannon O’Neill and more…. website & further updates coming soon…

STEPHEN O’MALLEY (Sunn O))), Khanate, KTL) residency + DIY Wires Workshop & WIRED EARS Funding Opportunity for emerging artists…

Resounding through The WIRED Lab landscape will be the low frequency reverberations of Sunn O)))’s STEPHEN O’MALLEY….That’s right THE STEPHEN O’MALLEY will be rolling with us!!!

Spring time in these high hills is going to be oh soooo gloriously LOW + S  L  O  W

O’Malley tells us that Alan Lamb’s work has long been an inspiration, with tapes of Alan Lamb’s work being circulated amongst the Seattle music scene in the 80’s & 90’s. Meeting the “…crazy outback wire guy” has been a long term goal of O’Malleys and we @ WIRED Lab are very pleased to make this happen… 10 days of collaboration with long form reverb & bass reckoning may well produce sounds of hellfire imaginings but it is our idea of sonic heavenly blissfulness. More about O’Malley can be found here. <http://www.ideologic.org/>

You too will get an opportunity to meet O’Malley. Over Saturday 16th  & Sunday 17th October The WIRED Lab will be hosting its annual in situ DIY Wires: Construction & Recording Workshop, AND on Sunday dark lords O’Malley and Oren Ambarchi will provide a rare insight into their practice and techniques.  This workshop series is your chance to learn how to build your own æolian instrument, custom recording and LF music making techniques. The weekend will also include performances by Alan Lamb & WIRED Lab members, Ambarchi & O’Malley.

The WIRED Lab is located on a farm in regional NSW (between Gundagai and Cootamundra) and is the site of the latest ‘Wire’ instruments built by Alan Lamb, along with collaborators Sarah Last, Dave Burraston, Garry Bradbury and Robin Fox.

WIRED EARS (EMERGING ARTISTS RESIDENCY SCHEME)
The WIRED EAR Scheme will provide financial assistance for NSW based young and emerging artists to attend selected WIRED Lab workshops. For our annual DIY Wires workshop we will be offering $150 to assist 8 emerging artists with the costs to attend the workshop. Artists who consider themselves to be ‘young and emerging’ are invited to submit a brief (1 page maximum) expression of interest detailing their arts practice and how they feel they will benefit from being a WIRED EARS participant. Keep it brief and note we don’t follow standard industry definitions of ‘young and emerging’ we expect you to determine where you place your experience
WIRED EARS expressions of interest are due on FRIDAY 1ST OCTOBER.

WORKSHOP DETAILS
Saturday 16th & Sunday 17th October
The workshop is offered for free to 25 lucky participants and will give you the DIY skills to build your own wires and pickups, held over two days, the workshop will include:
* Alan Lamb, Dave Burraston & Sarah Last will teach people how to build their own wire system and demonstrate ways to interact with the wires (eg. bowing and singing into polystyrene boxes, which work as reverberant amplifiers!).
* Permanent WIRED Lab resident & electronics wizard Dave Burraston will discuss his observations of The Wires when recording and will demonstrate how to custom build and attach piezo pickups.
* Alan Lamb will demonstrate percussion, bowing and techniques with the wires.
* Opportunity to interact with and record the wires.
* O’Malley and Ambarchi will share some dark sound secrets.

NOTE: workshop places are strictly limited, with a maximum capacity of 25 people. Places will need to be reserved ASAP, with bookings on a 1st come 1st served basis.

Got some zombies to kill? Aliens to autopsy? Vampires to disembowell?

Tim Prebble from New Zealand releases "Vegetable Violence" - a sound effects library for horror, gore and all things violent.

Check out the trailer!


A promo for a new sound FX library available from
http://hissandaroar.com
please visit to get yourself a free copy of the sound library

Share links using Zotero

Last post I mentioned the use of Zotero as a great resource for the sharing of research articles and links. I have set up a public group for those of you who wish to join.
http://www.zotero.org/groups/australian_sound_designers

Please feel free to contribute to this group by adding your own favorite resources!

Sound Electronics

A few months ago... OK maybe about a year ago I started looking back at a hobby I had as a kid growing up - Electronics. Thanks to Dick Smith and his "Fun Way to Electronics" books I spent many available hours working on small electronic projects.... some of which included small stereo amps and even a beer powered radio!!! Fast forward a couple of decades and I have had the urge to try my hand at electronics once again. This time however, I am wanting to be a bit more ambitious and build projects which I will use for my sound design work/ music experimentations. My initial goal was to build a x0xb0x TB-303 clone synth. With a waiting list of a couple of years to buy this in kit form, I decided to source the parts myself in order to start the build whilst I still have the bug. After my initial purchase of parts which I could source within Australia I soon realised that I needed to source some rare (and expensive) parts from OS. In hindsight I should have bit the bullet and forked out the cash late last year when I first decided to go down this route... as now the Aussie dollar is so bad, that my project has already gone up 35% in costs!!! With this in mind I have decided to "slowly" acquire these rare parts should I find them at a bargain price on Ebay or the like.
With no set date to start the x0xb0x I decided to continue my quest into electronics by starting some circuit bending projects. After a scrounge around the local tip's 2nd hand section I found myself spending a total of $5 on a drum machine, a "Tickle me Elmo" and 2 x kids keyboards - enough to start tinkering with. Firstly I started on one of the keyboards. Although successful, I wasn't completely satisfied. What I wanted was a Texas Instruments "Speak and Spell". After several months of placing free classifieds I finally sourced a Speak and Read a couple of weeks ago! Although not being the Speak and Spell, it is just as good. So after a couple of weeks of wiring and testing, here are some photos of my new toy - albeit with some brain surgery! Sound files to follow soon...

Welcome!

As a sound designer/ sound engineer in Australia with over 10 years of experience in film, television, games and music; I thought it appropriate to start a blog where I can share my thoughts and tips which I employ into my work. Being almost exclusively an Apple Mac and Pro Tools user, I often have tips to streamline productivity. This Blog is set up with intentions to give those new to the industry, or those wishing to join the industry a look behind the scenes.