Have you ever had a time where you made an employment commitment and then had to go back on that commitment? If you have, I bet you struggled with the decision just as much as I did.
I recently had two amazing job opportunities. I had applied for a job, accepted an offer and was awaiting my start date, when another offer came my way. All of a sudden, I had two great opportunities in front of me which, turned into having to make one very hard decision. Do I stay with the first job, take the new opportunity or pass on it because I had already accepted the first offer?
As I faced trying to make my decision, I struggled with some moral thoughts about commitment such as; how I would feel if a prospective employee chose to “quit” before they started, and the situation that I might be leaving the company in if I didn’t follow through with the job I had accepted. I weighed the pros and cons of each job and considered the goals of my career. I sought advice from others. Some advice was great and some just seemed to make it harder to choose. In some moments I knew exactly what to do, only to question my thinking a few moments later. As I processed what was before me, I wished I had a source that might have helped me think it through, so I write this blog to help others consider what they might do if they ever have to make a decision like this.
I came to my decision by taking a sense of self approach, instead of thinking about what others might want or need. For instance, it is you who will be spending the time there, and you are the one doing the work. We work a lot; it’s the nature of the job. Think about you and which option will help you and your goals, your happiness, and what you want from it all. There will be signs that help you decide for yourself, but those signs might get lost in having to make such a tough choice, usually in a short time frame as well.
When it comes down to it, you will likely disappoint someone no matter what, but you can’t take that in as a factor. Sometimes the truck pack doesn’t fit perfectly, but if you move just one piece of gear, you have a perfect Tetris game. It’s ok to pick you! It’s your happiness, your career goals, and your time because the period you spend working is a majority of your life and is a part of who you are, so it’s absolutely ok to put yourself first. The person or organization you end up leaving will be able to move forward and find someone else for the position. You might burn a bridge, but that is part of picking you in this situation. People come and go, usually at the least opportune time, but in the end, they will work through it just as you have when a coworker leaves or a position remains open too long.
When you do finally decide which option will be best for you, no matter commitments made or not, make sure to communicate those as quickly as possible. This may be the best courtesy you have to offer. Whichever you decide, it will leave someone with the task of going back to the hiring board. Give them as much time as you can for them to do that. Then look forward to your new opportunity and make the best of it, because you chose it for you and it is an exciting next step!
First to Record Elvis – Marion Keisker
“Marion Keisker MacInnes (September 23, 1917 – December 29, 1989), born in Memphis, Tennessee, was a radio show host, station manager, U.S. Air Force officer, and assistant to Sam Phillips at Sun Records. She is best known for being the first person to record Elvis Presley on July 18, 1953. Keisker had a vibrant career in broadcasting, made inroads for women in a male-dominated media industry, and became an activist in the burgeoning women’s rights movement.” – Sun Record Company website
Radio years
Marion’s radio debut was in 1929 (at age 11) on WREC in Memphis. She attended Southwestern College where she studied English and Medieval French and graduated in 1938. She was married in 1939 and had a son before divorcing in 1943.
Marion went on to become one of the best-known female radio personalities in Memphis where she worked at virtually every station in town. By 1946, she was hired full-time by WREC where she hosted a daily talk show, “Meet Kitty Kelly.” Management suggested her show be a “woman’s program” based around homemaking, beauty or storytelling for children. She refused, wanted to make a show that interested her generally and not exclusively around her gender.
At WREC, Marion wrote, produced, and directed 14 other programs. She worked on a weekly music show (which broadcast big bands) where she met Sam Phillips. Sam was a broadcast engineer and on-air personality for WREC. Sam had ambitions to open a recording studio and asked Marion to come work for him (as his assistant and studio manager). Marion, a single mom who knew little about music, wanted to help Sam fulfill his vision.
Memphis Recording Service: The Birthplace of Rock ‘N’ Roll
Sam and Marion were together when Sam discovered the empty building at 706 Union Avenue he wanted for his studio. “With many difficulties, we got the place, we raised the money, and between us we did everything,” Marion recollected in an interview. “We laid all the tile, and we painted the acoustic boards. I put in the bathroom; Sam put in the control room – what little equipment he had always had to be the best.”
The studio, which opened in 1950, was named Memphis Recording Service. Marion was working part-time at WREC alongside her duties at the studio (as well as Sam’s record label, Sun Records, when it opened in 1952). In a later interview, Marion said of the studio, “I scrubbed the floors, did the publicity, the works.” While she was sometimes referred to as secretary, she said, “it’s ok if they’ll also say I was office manager, assistant engineer, and general Jane of all trades.”
Sam’s business card carried the motto, “We record anything–anywhere–anytime.” Sam’s vision was to record and produce black musicians – a progressive attitude for the time. What’s considered by some to be the first rock and roll single, “Rocket 88,” was recorded and produced by Sam in 1951 (it hit number 1 on the Billboard R&B chart). Blues and R&B artists like B.B. King, Howlin’ Wolf, and Ike Turner recorded at the studio in the early 1950s.
On Saturday, July 18, 1953, Elvis Presley stopped by the studio to make his first demo recording. Marion was the first to meet him, and the story has become folklore with Elvis fans. Marion asked, “What kind of singer are you?” Elvis said, “I sing all kinds.” Marion asked, “Who do you sound like?” He responded, “I don’t sound like nobody.”
Elvis recorded two songs on a 10” acetate disk, “My Happiness” and “That’s When Heartaches Begin” for around $4. There’s some dispute on who did the recording (more on that later). By Marion’s account, Sam was out of the studio when Elvis arrived, so she operated the studio’s Rek-O-Kut direct to disk lathe and also ran the mono recorder. Marion, who kept notes on artists for future opportunities, wrote next to his name in the studio’s records: ‘Good Ballad Singer – Hold.’
Marion tells her side of the story recording Elvis
The next summer, Sam needed a singer for a song called “Without You,” and Marion encouraged him to try Elvis. While Elvis wasn’t right for the song, it opened the door to singing other tunes for Sam. Elvis was then introduced to a friend of Sam’s, guitarist Scotty Moore, and bassist Bill Black. On July 5, 1954, the three were in the studio recording. Elvis’s first record came from that session (“That’s All Right” and “Blue Moon of Kentucky”), and the songs were on the radio less than a week later. Elvis was 19 years old, had never played a professional gig, and hadn’t played with his bandmates until that session.
Another video of Marion talking about the studio.
All-women radio station
On top of working at the recording studio and record label, Marion helped Sam launch WHER-AM, the first all-female radio station in the country. Both talent and staff were almost entirely women. WHER launched in 1955 with Marion being the first voice heard on-air. She read the news for two years at the station. Sam’s wife, Becky, was one of the first DJs at WHER.
Air Force
Sergeant Elvis Presley With Marion Keisker
After her relationship with Sam became tumultuous, Marion left her job in 1957 and joined the US Air Force (where she was offered a direct commission as captain). After training, she was assigned to Vance Air Force Base in Oklahoma where she was the only female officer other than nurses. She was transferred to Ramstein AFB in Germany where she was Commander of the largest armed forces television facility in the world.
At the television station, American TV programs were copied and shipped overseas weekly. Staff members were responsible for the news, weather, and sports. According to the Air Force’s Historical Support Division, “German television sets could not receive the station because they could not pick up the MHz frequency. German radios, however, could tune in to American broadcasts from the American Forces Radio Network. Many Germans learned English by listening to the Armed Forces Radio Network.”
In 1960, Army private Elvis Presley was in Germany doing a press conference when he stopped to say hello to one of the few women in the room, Captain Marion Keisker MacInnes.
Elvis told her, ‘I don’t know whether to kiss you or salute!’ She responded, ‘In that order.’ She was reprimanded by an army captain for over-familiarity with a noncom. Elvis defended her and said, ..’ we wouldn’t be having a press conference if it weren’t for this lady.’ (https://www.elvis.com.au/presley/marion-keisker.shtml)
Marion went on to serve at Patrick Air Force Base in Florida (Cape Canaveral is controlled and operated by this base). She was stationed there during a lot of the space activities of the 1960s including manned and unmanned space programs.
Marion retired from the Air Force in 1969 after 14 years of service and returned to Memphis where she became a key figure in the local women’s rights movement.
Women’s rights advocate
Marion was co-founder and president of the Memphis chapter of the National Organization of Women. She fought to change the classified ads in the local newspapers so jobs would not be separated by gender. She was a member of the Women’s Media Group where she fought discrimination against women in the media.
In the 1970s and 1980s, she was known for her broadcasting and theater work in Memphis. Marion frequently wrote letters to the editor to address issues of discrimination against women. Marion died on December 29, 1989, after a long battle with cancer.
Elvis recording controversy
i.pinimg.com
Marion’s claim to be the first to record Elvis dates as far back as 1955. Her story did not waver (other than minor details) from that time until her death in 1989. Conversely, Sam didn’t comment about the recording until 1979. In 1986, Sam Phillips did an interview with Rolling Stone Magazine where he said of the recording, “Well, I would love to say Marion did it. She did an awful lot for me, man. I mean we painted floors together. I wouldn’t take anything away from Marion Keisker. And I think she made the statement inadvertently. I don’t want to make Marion look bad on the thing. I wish you’d just drop it, ’cause I don’t care who it was. But it was simply me. That’s all.”
Author Peter Guralnick, who was friends with both Sam and Marion, discusses the controversy in his 2016 book, “Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock ‘n’ Roll”:
To test Sam’s contention that Marion had never recorded anyone in that studio, I tried without success to find someone she had. I spoke to numerous people familiar with the Sun operation over the years, and all agreed from what they knew of Marion and the technical operation of the lathe, that not only could she have operated it, she probably did. But none could recall ever seeing her do so. I tried to contact her son, who she said was frequently in the studio with her, but was unable to get a response from him. I even asked Marion if she could suggest someone I might talk to if she could give me the name of someone she had recorded—which I thought could at least settle the equipment question once and for all—but although we remained in frequent contact right up until her death, she never directly addressed the question. And so I am left with my own discomfiting conclusion. . .
All I can offer by way of explanation is Marion’s view of memory as a fleeting and fungible thing. “I’ve really become very much conscious and preoccupied with the subject of memory,” she said to me one time. “How subjective it is, how protective it is. It wasn’t that we didn’t know that things were happening, it’s just that there wasn’t enough time and energy [to write it down]. So I don’t know, it’s sort of like, whatever I may have suggested, it’s quite possibly not accurate.
Marion’s legacy
While it’s probable that Marion Kreisker could add “tape op” to her job duties at Memphis Recording Service/Sun Records, there are no known witnesses to her actually doing it. But, both Sam Phillips and Elvis Presley publicly expressed their gratitude to Marion – Elvis saying more than once Marion was a pivotal person in his career and Sam acknowledging many times he couldn’t have done it without her.
Even with those accolades, Marion Keisker is often presented in the Sun Records story as merely a personal assistant or secretary to Sam Phillips. While Marion has been recognized by women’s rights organizations, Elvis historians and fan clubs all over the world, her contribution to the audio and radio community has largely gone unknown. We would like to recognize Marion Keisker as one of the pioneers of women in our community.
“I think that if women stand behind women – both women as an audience, women as listeners and viewers, and women as co-workers within the broadcast field – we’d just be supportive and give each other a little encouragement, it would make all the difference.” Marion Keisker MacInnes
The Elvis record today
In 2015, Jack White anonymously purchased the acetate disk of Elvis’s 1953 recording in an auction for $300,000. The recording was digitally transferred by Alan Stoker. A video of the process is here
Special thanks to Peter Guralnick, Jon Hornyak, J M VanEaton, Maureen Droney, Wes Dooley, and Billy “The Spa Guy” Stallings, and Air Force Historical Support Division
A couple of years ago my sister and I were in the British Museum in London. We were admiring some beautiful Hindu statues when we saw one described as “Lord Shiva dancing on the dwarf of ignorance.” After joking about renaming our small but silly dog The Dwarf of Ignorance, I read up on the subject, and the idea has stuck with me ever since. The story goes that Apasmara is a demon who represents ignorance, selfishness, and laziness. Although he is referred to as a dwarf, he actually has the body of a child, reflecting his immaturity and small-mindedness rather than someone with dwarfism. The god Shiva wanted to vanquish him but realised that to maintain balance he shouldn’t kill him. In a world without ignorance, all knowledge would come to everyone without effort and so would become valueless. Instead, he decided to keep him crushed under one foot while joyfully dancing. Apasmara is immortal, but he can be kept in check with education and good-humour.
At this stage you might be thinking of a few Apasmaras that you know: that colleague who acts like they’re more intelligent than they really are, or the one who always has to take a phone call when there’s work to be done, that client who was so patronising and rude, the ones who treat you like an idiot even though you know more about the subject at hand than them. They can be frustrating, and it can make you want to scream, yell, tell them exactly how annoying they are, or just leave. However, arguing very rarely gets you anywhere and being rude is not going to change anyone’s mind. Leaving might be better than saying something you’ll regret later, but it won’t make things better, for them, you, or the next person who has to work with them. You’ll achieve much more if you approach the situation calmly, try to see things from their point of view and discuss it with them. Sometimes people don’t realise that what they’re doing is wrong and all they need is to have it discreetly pointed out to them. Sometimes it can take a little persuading, but engaging them with openness and cordiality is more likely to bring them round than bickering. Even if it doesn’t, it saves you from appearing unprofessional and you can walk away with your head held high, knowing you tried your best.
Of course, the whole point of the Apasmara tale is that we all have a demon of ignorance inside ourselves. That petty and mean part of us that makes snap judgments about people, that lashes out at others because you feel threatened or embarrassed, that blames others for your own mistakes, that puts other people down to make yourself seem clever, that does a half-assed job because you couldn’t be bothered, that gives in to addictions because it’s easier than facing up to what’s causing them. More recently this has been called the ‘lizard brain’ because these impulses usually come from our basal ganglia: the most rudimentary part of our brain, which controls basic instincts. This exemplary blog refers to it as our ‘inner mammoth’. Cognitive behavioural therapy categorises these thoughts as negative neural pathways, which are often well-worn and easy to default to if you don’t have the time or energy to overcome them. It’s particularly easy to let them take over when you’re tired or stressed, which is a pretty common state in this job!
Perhaps counterintuitively, we can often act rudely because we’re afraid of what people think of us. I know I get more snappy and make stupid mistakes if I’m stressing about getting something I find difficult right, or ironically if I’m trying to make a good impression! If you’re confident about your abilities, it’s much easier to be level-headed, patient and forgiving with the people around you. The more you educate yourself, not only about the gear you use and the principles behind your job but also about how we all think and interact, the easier it will become to battle your own demon of ignorance. It is definitely not easy. I’ve lost friends, work and relationships because of my demon of ignorance, and I still find it raising its sniveling little head on a pretty much daily basis. I’m sorry to say it still wins sometimes, and it feels awful. As the story goes, it will never go away, but once you learn to acknowledge when it happens, you can take a step back, then do your best to counteract it. You can also learn to recognise it in others and help them with compassion and understanding. In time you can make your workplace a less stressful, more productive and all-round more pleasant place to be, and even do the same for your personal life. Then you can have a good laugh at Apasmara’s expense.
Missed this Week’s Top Stories? Read our Quick Round-up!
It’s easy to miss the SoundGirls news and blogs, so we have put together a round-up of the blogs, articles, and news from the past week. You can keep up to date and read more at SoundGirls.org
This directory provides a listing of women in disciplines industry-wide for networking and hiring. It’s free – add your name, upload your resume, and share with your colleagues across the industry.
“It’s ok to be wherever you are in your career. There’s no “right” way to get to certain jobs.”
SoundGirls recently held an event on Career Paths in Film and TV Sound at Sony Studios in Los Angeles. The main theme of the night was how to get past the early hurdles of a career – whether it’s trying to get started in post-production or how to build a career when you’re not where you want to be yet. The panelists were Karol Urban, Onnalee Blank, Kate Finan, and April Tucker. Anne-Marie Slack moderated the discussion.
Each of the panelists had different experiences and paths how they got to their current day careers. What was interesting is there were a lot of similarities in the lessons they learned along the way and their philosophies about work and the industry.
Onnalee used persistence and creativity to land her job on Game of Thrones.
Karol talked about the power of networking to find work. When Karol came to LA, she met with people she had connected with before she moved. Volunteering with the Cinema Audio Society helped her meet professionals she might not have had access to otherwise.
Kate talked about the importance of having experience at a professional studio for someone in the field today. There’s a lot of opportunities to work on your own (and value to learning on your own), but there are other skills needed in a studio environment. When you’re self-trained, it can be harder to adapt to the technical needs of a studio, to workflows, or even know studio etiquette.
Anne (who co-owned a post-production studio for almost a decade) said it’s good to show job history for an entry level position even if it’s not audio-related. Even if you’ve worked at Starbucks, it shows you have the work ethic and experience of working with a company.
April talked about the importance of taking jobs with good learning opportunities even if it’s not exactly on the path you want to go. April’s first studio job was assistant scheduler which allowed her to work up to machine room operator, ADR & Foley engineer, sound editor, and mixer.
The audience had a lot of questions about specific career choices, but there was a common thread: What can I do to get where I want to go with my career? The panel all talked about the importance of making connections – to get to know people and ask for advice or guidance (versus asking for work). Onnalee suggested looking for companies with a reputation for supporting women. Kate said she started her business in part because she wanted to work with and help support women in the field.
One takeaway we heard from a number of women in attendance was that it’s ok to be wherever you are in your career. There’s no “right” way to get to certain jobs. An audience member asked a great question: “What do you need to do differently now to get started than when you all got in the field?” It’s no longer about working at a prestigious facility or a major studio. You can work on great content or get credit on a show or movie that turns out to be popular or win awards. It’s always in hindsight that you can see the path.
SoundGirls would like to thank our panel:
Anne-Marie Slack, Executive of Organization Services for Motion Picture Sound Editors (MPSE)
Karol Urban, CAS, MPSE – Re-Recording Mixer
Onnalee Blank, CAS – Re-Recording Mixer, Formosa Group
Kate Finan, MPSE – Supervising sound editor and co-owner, Boom Box Post
April Tucker, CAS – Re-recording Mixer
We’d also like to thank Sony, Tom McCarthy, Timothy Kuzniar, Lane Burch, Gredel Berrios, Steve Urban, Jett Galindo and Jaymes Quirino of the Bakery, Bill Dannevik for filming, and our volunteers.
Five Quick Sound Design Tips from Game Sound Design
In July I attended Develop: Brighton, the UK’s biggest conference for game developers, held in Brighton, England. One day of the conference is dedicated to audio in games, with lectures from audio directors and sound designers covering everything from how to get the best performance from voice actors, to sound effects creation and video game music tropes.
Every year I come away from the lectures with useful tidbits which I’ve found can easily apply to sound design in general. Here are five short and sweet takeaways from this year:
It’s not always about the noise
I know I often fall into the trap of feeling a soundscape has to have a ton of layers to be effective. Shannon Potter (Formosa Interactive), who worked on The Last of Us and Uncharted 4 talked about how sparse sounds can help to enhance a particular emotion, and it was a good reminder that sometimes the most effective sound design for a scene includes a lot of space and silence. In a particular cutscene that she played from The Last of Us, a low drone, the background whistling of winter wind and an intermittent sink drip were all that was needed to create an intense feeling of isolation, which supported the bleak nature of the scene.
To get the best out of voice actors, tell them how to feel, not what to say
Line reads (where you perform the line to the actor and ask them to mimic you) will never give you a truthful performance. Experienced game voice director and actor Stephane Cornicard discussed how helping an actor to understand character location (outside/inside, far away/up close) and intention in a scene (what does the character want?) will produce a far more connected performance than saying “just read it like this.”
Transitions are your friend
Effective audio transitions can help maintain immersion in any media and particularly in VR, where scene transitions between environments can be jarring for the player. Listening to Andrew Quinn’s (Rocksteady) lecture about how he and his team used audio to support the story Batman: Arkham VR, I was reminded how important a seamless transition could be even for non-visual experiences like audio drama. It’s so easy to throw a listener out of the experience with a clumsy transition, and a classic whoosh won’t always cut it.
Get creative with your sources
Philip Eriksson (EA Dice) talked about creating unique audio signatures for the signature power move (weapon attack sound) for characters in Star Wars: Battlefront 2. Baby alligator roars, slinky movements, and kittens all contributed in some way, which certainly demonstrated some out-of-the-box thinking. I was particularly interested in Eriksson’s description of how he used his own vocalisations to capture a rough idea of the pitch and sound envelope, as a starting point for many of the eventual designs.
Make your music meaningful
We know that music should be more than just a background element in any narrative audio medium, be it film/TV, audio drama, or games. Effective use of music can transform the experience for the viewer or player, just as ineffective usage can destroy it. What I hadn’t considered is how the active integration of music within games can lead to a more meaningful experience. Watching composer Oliver Derivative’s examples of how musical elements were placed within the game environment for Get Even, I could clearly see and hear how the tight integration between the music and the gameplay (door knocks and gunshots timed with music, for example) really helped to draw you into the game as a player.
I’ve seen great examples of similar cohesion of music and sound design in film and TV, and it made me consider how the same approach could be applied to audio drama. Sound designers and composers often work quite separately on an audio drama – both liaising with the director about the design and music, but only with each other at the mixing stage. Are audio dramas better served by sound designers and composers working more collaboratively from the start? I’m sure there are several that work in this way already, not to mention the sound designer/composers that perform both roles. It would be an interesting exercise to compare the different styles of working to hear the differences.
I’m a big fan of learning from other disciplines and my day at Develop always inspires me to try new things in my own sound design projects. If you get the chance, go out and listen to experts in a different field speak about their projects. If nothing else, it could make you hear things in a different way – and that’s always worthwhile.
Missed this Week’s Top Stories? Read our Quick Round-up!
It’s easy to miss the SoundGirls news and blogs, so we have put together a round-up of the blogs, articles, and news from the past week. You can keep up to date and read more at SoundGirls.org
SoundGirls is excited to announce the first recipient of the SoundGirls – Gaston-Bird Travel Fund. To learn more, donate or apply for the funding visit . All donations are tax deductible.
We have awarded Ana Monte travel funds to AES, where she will be speaking on the panel Immersive and Spatial Audio: The Stanford Virtual Heart. Pediatric cardiologists at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford are using immersive virtual reality technology to explain complex congenital heart defects, which are some of the most difficult medical conditions to teach and understand. The Stanford Virtual Heart experience helps families understand their child’s heart conditions. For medical trainees, it provides an immersive and engaging new way to learn about the most common and complex congenital heart anomalies. The panelists will give an insight about the challenges for the sound design with a scientific approach and how it was integrated in Unity. http://www.aes.org/events/145/spatialaudio/?ID=6307
Ana is a graduate of California State University-Chico where she studied Music Industry and Technology with a focus on Recording Arts and the Film Academy Baden-Württemberg, where she studied Film sound and Sound design. For her work as a sound designer, Ana has received diverse sound awards including “Best Sound Design in a Drama series” at the LA Webfest 2015 and a “Best Sound” nomination from the LA Film Review. Her current work focuses on immersive audio production for VR and new realities.
This directory provides a listing of women in disciplines industry-wide for networking and hiring. It’s free – add your name, upload your resume, and share with your colleagues across the industry.
Su creador fue Clément Ader, reconocido por ser pionero de la telefonía en Francia, y fue presentado por primera vez en 1881 en París, aunque el término Théâtrophone fue utilizado hasta 1889. Fue la primera forma de difusión cultural recurriendo a una tecnología de comunicación eléctrica, siendo un antecesor de la estereofonía.
En las obras de teatro, conciertos y sobre todo óperas se conectaban una serie de aproximadamente 80 transmisores telefónicos en el frente del escenario, pudiendo así transmitir una señal estéreo.
Primera Guerra Mundial
1914 – 1918. Durante la primera Guerra Mundial se utilizaban dos receptores a varios pies de distancia conectados por tubos de goma a las orejas de un operador para rastrear y localizar aviones.
Oscar
En 1933 AT&T presentó en la Chicago World Fair la primer cabeza binaural llamada “Oscar”, fue utlizada para experimentos realizados por Bell Labs con la ayuda de la Orquesta Sinfónica de Filadelfia.
Dummy Head
En 1972 Neumann expone en Berlín en la Exibición Internacional de Radio y TV la primera generación de Dummy Head (KU-80), diseñada para hacer pruebas acústicas. Posteriormente salieron los modelos KU-81 y KU-100, que es el que se utiliza actualmente.
Cómo funciona?
Las grabaciones binaurales nos permiten crear sensaciones de espacio y perspectiva mucho más reales ya que los seres humanos podemos entender y ubicar o localizar en un espacio tridimensional cualquier fuente sonora gracias a que nuestro cerebro detecta las diferencias de volumen y tiempo que existen entre nuestros oídos, éstas diferencias se ven influenciadas por la obstrucción de la cabeza y la nariz, la forma del pabellón auditivo y las condiciones acústicas del espacio en el que nos encontremos.
Para una grabación binaural se necesita un dummy head, éste tiene en cada oreja un micrófono onmidireccional, de esta forma al escuchar la grabación se pueden localizar los sonidos en cualquier direccion (al frente, atrás, a los lados, arriba, abajo, etc.), a diferencia de una grabación estéreo, en la que solamente podemos distinguir izquierda y derecha.
El dummy head puede colocarse en cualquier lugar dependiendo de la experiencia que se busca generar, sin embargo hay algunas recomendaciones que puedo darte:
Cuando vas a grabar un concierto de música clásica al situarlo a un metro hacia atrás y un metro hacia arriba del director, así lograrás captar mejor la interacción que tienen los instrumentos con el recinto.
En conciertos en donde se utiliza un sistema de P.A. es mejor situarlo en algún lugar del público, solamente a mayor altura para no capturar el ruido que éste produce. O puede utilizarse solamente para capturar el sonido del público.
Para grabaciones en estudio de un solo instrumento te recomiendo colocarlo con una perspectiva de público y no de músico, es decir, de frente al instrumento.
Al grabar coros con un solo cantante puedes hacer varias tomas y en cada una ir cambiando de posición al dummy o puedes pedirle al cantante que vaya cambiando de lado en cada una de las tomas, así tendrás mucho material para usar durante la mezcla. Solamente ten cuidado con el nivel de monitoreo que utiliza el músico, ya que por la sensibilidad del micrófono si se encuentra muy cerca de éste puede escucharse en la grabación.
Cuando trabajas con varios cantantes a la vez puedes jugar más con el espacio, ve alejando y acercando el dummy sin cambiarlos de lugar, esto te ayudará a dar una sensación de estar en un cuarto más grande, así mismo puedes hacer tomas individuales para darle mayor claridad.
Dummy Head En 1972 Neumann expone en Berlín en la Exibición Internacional de Radio y TV la primera generación de Dummy Head (KU-80), diseñada para hacer pruebas acústicas. Posteriormente salieron los modelos KU-81 y KU-100, que es el que se utiliza actualmente.
Cuando vas a grabar un concierto de música clásica al situarlo a un metro hacia atrás y un metro hacia arriba del director, así lograrás captar mejor la interacción que tienen los instrumentos con el recinto.
Para grabaciones en estudio de un solo instrumento te recomiendo colocarlo con una perspectiva de público y no de músico, es decir, de frente al instrumento.
Otras aplicaciones actuales del audio binaural.
Grabación y transmisión en vivo de conciertos, óperas y obras de teatro.
Evaluar y monitorear las condiciones acústicas de salas de conciertos y los resultados de un sistema de P.A.
Documentación de sonidos de animales y ambientales.
Documentación de contaminación auditiva.
Evaluación de sistemas de sonido en automóviles.
Medición y análisis de audífonos.
Ana Karen Robles – Originaria de la Ciudad de México. Mostró gran interés por la música desde los 10 años cuando comenzó a tomar clases de violín. Empezó sus estudios de audio en el 2014 y a partir del 2015 trabajó en estudios de grabación como Estudio 19 como asistente de grabación, mezcla y masterización. Actualmente se dedica al área de ventas en la empresa 3BlueHouse.
Recording and Binaural Audio
A little history…
Thé Théâtrophone
Its creator was Clément Ader, recognized as a pioneer of telephony in France, and was first presented in 1881 in Paris, although the term Théâtrophone was used until 1889. It was the first form of cultural diffusion using a communication technology electric, is an ancestor of stereophony. In the plays, concerts and especially operas, a series of approximately 80 telephone transmitters were connected to the front of the stage, thus being able to transmit a stereo signal.
First World War
1914 – 1918. During the First World War, two receivers were used several feet apart connected by rubber tubes to the ears of an operator to track and locate aircraft.
Oscar
In 1933 AT&T presented at the Chicago World Fair the first binaural head called “Oscar,” it was used for experiments performed by Bell Labs with the help of the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra.
Dummy Head
In 1972, Neumann exhibited the first generation of Dummy Head (KU-80) in Berlin at the International Radio and TV Show, designed to perform acoustic tests. Later came the KU-81 and KU-100 models, which are currently used.
How does it work?
Binaural recordings allow us to create sensations of space and perspective much more real since human beings can understand and locate or locate in a three-dimensional space any sound source thanks to our brain detecting the volume and time differences between our ears, These differences are influenced by the obstruction of the head and nose, the shape of the auditory pavilion and the acoustic conditions of the space in which we find ourselves. For a binaural recording you need a dummy head, this has an omnidirectional microphone in each ear, so when listening to the recording you can locate the sounds in any direction (front, back, sides, top, bottom, etc.). ), unlike a stereo recording, in which we can only distinguish between left and right.
The dummy head can be placed anywhere depending on the experience that is sought. However, there are some recommendations that I can give you:
When you are going to record a classical music concert by placing it one meter back and one meter up to the director, you will be able to better capture the interaction of the instruments with the venue.
In concerts where a system of P.A. it is better to place it somewhere in the audience, only higher up so as not to capture the noise that it produces. Or it can be used only to capture the sound of the audience.
For studio recordings of a single instrument, I recommend placing it with a public perspective and not a musician, that is, facing the instrument.
When recording choirs with only one singer you can make several shots and in each one change the dummy position or you can ask the singer to change sides in each of the shots, so you will have a lot of material to use during the mix. Just be careful with the level of monitoring used by the musician, because the sensitivity of the microphone, if it is very close to it, can be heard in the recording.
When you work with several singers at the same time, you can play more with space, go away and approach the dummy without changing places; this will help you to give a feeling of being in a bigger room. Likewise, you can make individual shots to give it greater clarity.
Dummy Head En 1972 Neumann expone en Berlín en la Exibición Internacional de Radio y TV la primera generación de Dummy Head (KU-80), diseñada para hacer pruebas acústicas. Posteriormente salieron los modelos KU-81 y KU-100, que es el que se utiliza actualmente.
Cuando vas a grabar un concierto de música clásica al situarlo a un metro hacia atrás y un metro hacia arriba del director, así lograrás captar mejor la interacción que tienen los instrumentos con el recinto.
Para grabaciones en estudio de un solo instrumento te recomiendo colocarlo con una perspectiva de público y no de músico, es decir, de frente al instrumento.
Other current applications of binaural audio.
Recording and live transmission of concerts, operas, and plays.
Evaluate and monitor the acoustic conditions of concert halls and the results of a system of P.A.
Documentation of animal and environmental sounds.
Documentation of auditory contamination.
Evaluation of car sound systems.
Measurement and analysis of hearing aids.
Ana Karen Robles – Originally from Mexico City. She showed great interest in music since she was ten years old when she started taking violin lessons. Ana started her audio studies in 2014, and from 2015 she worked in recording studios like ¨Studio 19¨ as a recording, mixing and mastering assistant. She currently works in the sales area of 3BlueHouse.
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