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Friday, August 26, 2011

Rome Calling – The Audio and Loudness Seminar of 2011

In June 2011, some of the most respected audio authorities – including George Massenburg, Bob Katz, Florian Camerer and Thomas Lund – gathered in Rome, Italy, to share their thoughts and experiences on loudness measurement in connection with recording, mixing, mastering and broadcasting. The speakers at the seminar in Rome included such capacities as Simone Corelli, Alessandro Travaglini, Richard van Everdingen, among the others.
The first day of the seminar focused on post-production, while the second day concentrated on professional broadcasting and particularly the radical changes happening in production and distribution of broadcast, film and music as a consequence of new ITU and EBU standards.
The groundbreaking and comprehensive EBU R128 loudness recommendation was investigated from a multitude of angles, as was the just updated ITU-R BS.1770-2 broadcast standard.
Tc Electronic documented the event and on this page they have gathered some of the footage form the seminar. First up are Florian Camerer and Richard van Everdingen from EBU’s PLOUD Group.
Florian provides a general overview of EBU’s R128 broadcast standard presented with great enthusiasm and a twist of humor. New videos will be available soon!


Monday, August 01, 2011

Sincronie presents: Field Recording and Soundscape Composition Workshop


Speakers: Federico Placidi, Matteo Milani (U.S.O. Project)

"Listening to the environment, contextualizing it objectively and creatively has always been a priority of the work of U.S.O. Project.
Free from any pseudo-environmental or socio-political implication, the continuous work on sampling, processing and transfiguration of found sound and carefully preserved in memory of a digital recorder, has always played a central role in our compositional practices.
U.S.O. defines Soundscape as the expressive and narrative richness that comes from the reciprocal and continuous interaction of multiple sound sources from the real world, and other phenomena which are perceptible and measurable only through proper and adequate transduction (electromagnetic signals, for example).

A Soundscape is also an opportunity for reflection and imagination that has little to share with the real world.
A Soundscape can be a place of the mind, a reminiscence of a future experienced in dreams, lands far away in space and time.
We try to deal with the possible infinites of the listening experience, both in their objective and manufactured dimensions.
We believe this represents our primary objective, to render the endless possibilities of life and its surroundings, sensible and experienceable in our conscious activity."


Objectives of the Workshop:

Students will be encouraged to actively listen to the rich sound world around them. Their imagination and creativity will be stimulated, and at the end of the course they will create a sound composition using the world around them as a musical instrument.

The workshop offers an introduction to theory and practice as follows:
  • An historical perspective on the Soundscape Composition.
  • Tools and methodologies for field recordings.
  • The listening practice to analyze the characteristics of ambient sound.
  • A practical approach to the transformation of sound.
  • Composition with three-dimensional space. The Ambisonics format.
  • Tools and Advanced spatialization Techniques.

Target

Anyone interested in the Soundscape Composition and sound field experimentation.

Structure of the course

1) Introduction
  • Brief history of soundscape composition, with examples drawn from the work of contemporary artists who incorporate the practice of Field Recording in their compositions.
  • Introduction to the concept of "soundscape".

2) Tools
  • Field Recordist's Tools: microphones and recorders.
  • Conventional microphones techniques and creative miking.

3) Sound Transformation
  • Manipulation and digital signal processing techniques (VST+AU).
    • Filtering.
    • Convolution.
    • Granular Timeshifting.
    • PhaseVocoder.

4) Composing in Space
  • Multichannel Surround Sound.
  • HOA (Higher-Order Ambisonics).
  • Tools for encoding and decoding.
    At the end of the four-day workshop, participants will develop a short sound composition (about 6 min.) using the concepts and techniques acquired during the various modules.

    Duration:

    4 days / 17-18, 24-25 September 2011
    10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

    Costs and subscription

    To participate in the workshop you must register no later than 10th September 2011. The fee is € 100.
    For more information about the registration, please write to workshop@sincronie.org.

    SoundWalking

    Listening paths and outdoor recordings. The participants will take part in a "sound walk" to "collect" their point of view of a soundscape with their digital portable recorders, as defined by a preplanned route. Editing sessions of the collected material.

    Requirements:

    It is recommended that participants bring their own laptop, a portable recorder and headphones.
    The number is limited to 14 participants.

    [Subscribe now]
    [Workshop_outlines_ENG.pdf]
    [Workshop_outlines_ITA.pdf]