Sound

This category contains 17 posts

A Demon of an Opportunity

Posted by jamesstodd ⋅ February 28, 2012 ⋅ Leave a Comment

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of visiting the Media department of De Montfort University in Leicester. I was there as a guest of Rob Watson, who runs the Media Technology Degree.

Every year, they invite a load of industry practitioners from various areas – from business, to engineering to creative – to talk to the students about their real world experiences. We were on a panel called “It’s all going interactive”. You can read more about it here.

My fellow panelists were Andrew Dudfield – who manages navigation for BBC Online and Chris Skinner who is a freelance producer for shows like Dave Gorman on Absolute Radio and The Bugle Podcast. We all shared some of our experiences in getting into radio, and I also shared some audio tips on creating and developing audio brands.

What was good to see was the enthusiasm from so many of the students. What also really amazed me was the opportunity they have available to learn new skills.

Rob showed us around the facilities of the department – and there’s a jaw dropping amount of learning spaces. From fully specced Pro Tools HD suites to acoustic engineering workshops; a green screen studio; AVID suites and even a mixing studio with a huge analogue NEVE desk.

And then there were the facilities on offer to the students who work on the student/ community radio station – Demon FM. All of the students on the course have the opportunity to get involved – planning, producing and presenting shows. They have 4 production booths for pre recording and prepping shows. Plus an office/ talks studio too. And they’re equipped with access to all the IRN feeds and news management tools to be found in any big newsroom. To be blunt – a wealth of opportunity they are unlikely to have to hand in many real world stations.

The temptation for many is to emulate what already exists. Some want to produce station sound that emulates Capital or Radio 1. Some want to be just like Chris Moyles or Greg James. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

However, this will probably be the one station that they get to work in where they can pretty much do what they like. Test out some new formats,
devise new ways of doing things, write some experimental drama, broadcast some sound art, or try out some comedy. It’s precisely the place where you can try and fail.

I really hope that they realise that this is their chance to experiment and create something fresh and exciting, learn some new skills and think differently. And then hopefully reap the rewards that should follow when they create something extraordinary.

Greg James to replace Scott Mills on BBC Radio 1 drivetime (digitalspy.co.uk)
Faces For Radio (jellylondon.wordpress.com)
Absolute Radio’s Christian O’Connell to host show live from West End theatre (guardian.co.uk)

Free day of Radio training from the BBC

Posted by jamesstodd ⋅ January 4, 2012 ⋅ Leave a Comment

Here’s a brilliant chance for a free day of training for professionals in independent production companies, freelancers, commercial and community radio – hosted by the BBC. And I’ll be running a session on the day too.

It’s on February 7th – tickets are available from January 10th on the BBC Academy website.

Tim Davie, director Audio & Music, said:

“This is a great opportunity for programme makers across the radio sector to learn and get inspired by the creativity of others.”

Hosted by the BBC Academy in partnership with Skillset, Radio Fast Train will be produced in association with the Radio Academy, Radio Independents Group, RadioCentre and the Community Media Association.

I’ll be running a session entitled “Promotions and Branding – an Essential Guide”. It’ll be all about creating great promotional campaigns. So, if you have worked on a radio campaign that you think could do with showcasing, please let me know, as I’d love to feature some non-BBC work too. And if you want to come along, apply for tickets as detailed above.

Community Radio Workshop Comes to an End (richardrego.wordpress.com)
The BBC is testing surround sound that works with your normal, everyday headphones (thenextweb.com)

Fireworks Soundtracks and Mashups

Posted by jamesstodd ⋅ January 1, 2012 ⋅ 1 Comment

Image (C) Merlin Fireworks

“James – we need you to make a fireworks soundtrack. It needs to be 15 minutes long. Oh, and it needs to be beatmixed..”.

I have only had to make one full on fireworks soundtrack mix.

It was around 2001 and was for the AXA Skyfest Cardiff. It was a huge 15 minute display to celebrate the first Football FA Cup Final to be hosted at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium (whilst London’s Wembley Stadium was being rebuilt). It took me a few weeks to make ( through various incarnations) using a very basic setup on ProTools5 (my first ProTools Rig) and with no fancy Elastic Time tools – just clever edits a little varispeed and a lot of edits.

It worked pretty well and it was fantastic to see the whole of Cardiff Bay lit up to a fireworks display set off and designed by the company that produced the fireworks for the Olympics ceremony at the Sydney Games. You can hear it here. I just listened back to it for the first time in a decade – and whilst it’s a little ragged in places, it was pretty epic!

I was at a party last night so missed the huge London 2012 New Years Eve fireworks display. These have become a Traditional part of each New Years celebration. My friend Will Jackson has tracked down the mix from last night’s display – so thought it worth a share here. It was mixed by BBC Radio 1 and Asian Network DJ Nihal. Take a listen here

In fact this mix was curated by Nihal and engineered by BBC Radio 1 Head of Station Sound, Dan Mumford. You can read more about how the display was put together here

My friends at the Benztownbranding Blog have also recently showcased a very clever Beatmix from David Konksy at Sydney’s 2DayFM here. 30 songs in 3 minutes!

And if you REALLY like this sort of thing – get bang up to date with DJ Earworm’s United State of Pop 2011