HOLLYWOOD — Cars, motorcycles, weapons and other hi-tech gadgets are a key element to the power and mystic of the latest Batman film Batman: The Dark Knight. To give energy and reality to these great “toys,” Hollywood sound recordists John Fasal and Eric Potter employed some high-end technology, using Sound Devices’ 744T field recorders and 442 and 302 field mixers to capture authentic sounds for the film.

Under the direction of Sound Designer and Supervising Sound Editor Richard King, Fasal and Potter were mandated with the specific task of bringing a variety of vehicles to life. This included the Batmobile, the BatPod (Batman’s new motorcycle), semi trucks, S.W.A.T. vans, armored trucks, as well as a series of the Joker’s automatic weapons, the sounds of which all contributed to the film’s intense and dynamic comic book feel. While the majority of the sounds needed were loud, relieving the team of concerns about ambient noise affecting their recordings, trying to catch all the details of fast-moving vehicles is what could have turned into a considerable challenge. The pair required equipment that could withstand the varying weather, being placed in moving vehicles as they sped along through streets at break-neck speeds, along with the capability to record at a moment’s notice. Since the majority of the work was done on location, equipment that did not require lots of interfaces and cabling was key. Potter and Fasal found that the Sound Devices’ recording technology met every one of these challenges. Among the first to adopt the Sound Devices’ recording technology for effects work on War of the Worlds, Potter and Fasal already knew that the 744T, along with the 442 and 302 field mixers, would be the answer and function well in the variety of situations and environments required for this project.

“For Batman: The Dark Knight, we used multiple mics,” says Fasal. “This is where we really enjoyed having the 7-Series because sometimes four channels just aren’t enough. On this project I was often running two locked 744T’s together, with the four channels of the 442 feeding channels three and four on the two recorders. That combination covered eight channels really nicely.”

Using the recorder’s C-link feature, multiple 744T’s can be daisy-chained, offering high track counts, when required. The pair also extensively used the recorder’s 192 kHz sampling rate, providing the design team the ability to manipulate key sounds with the highest possible fidelity. Another feature that the pair found useful was the record buffer. Once record is pressed it will capture, depending on the sampling rate, from two to ten seconds of sound preceding the record key being pressed.

“The 744T’s record buffer was handy when we were recording the big tires on the Batmobile,” Potter explains. “One of the many elements that went into creating the sound of the Batmobile was huge tires mounted on the back of a vehicle. We worked with several off-road vehicles, and motorcycle and bicycle tires, working at different speeds and in different environments in order to find the perfect sound. If I had to record the entire time we were trying to experiment with these different road surfaces, I would’ve eaten up a lot of disc space and had huge sound files. But with the record buffer, when a particular road surface came up that sounded good, I could just hit the record button as it came on and I would capture that entire phrase.”

Since time was a factor during these recording sessions, Fasal and Potter were not able to enter metadata prior to each take. Instead, when recording both interior and exterior sounds for specific vehicles, Fasal and Potter required a means to be able to reference the separate recordings later on. By utilizing the 744T’s C-link feature, they were able to sync the time code between the internal and external recorders, making it easier for the sounds to be married in post.

“John typically has his two 744Ts linked together to get eight channels of an onboard recording. While that onboard recording is happening, I often am in an exterior position capturing pass bys and various maneuvers at different speeds from different angles at the same time,” says Potter. “In this case, we use the C-link cable connection. I set my machine on a free run jam once for the time code. That setting will read the time code off of John’s machine, the two recorders can then run free on their own and no longer have to be connected. It will stay in sync for quite a while so we can separate and run around in all different kinds of positions and basically stay in sync.”

Some of the vehicles being captured for the film were capable of reaching speeds in excess of 180 mph, so as Fasal explains, the ability of the 744T to simultaneously record to CompactFlash and the recorder’s internal hard drive, gave him the added security that the recording would not be affected by vehicle movement.

“I recorded several vehicles; one of which was an Italian MV Agusta motorcycle that Bruce Wayne rides—that’s a fairly super bike,” says Fasal. “I’ve always had a hard time on motorcycles when using hard disk recorders because of the vibrations. Since we recorded to hard drive and simultaneously to eight GB CompactFlash, we always had a backup in case the hard drive skipped a beat because of a bump or some vibration of the drive line. Also, when recording one of the electric cars I was cornered with amazing G forces and the recorder took a lot more than I could! They’re built really solid and with the company continually updating the associated software I know I will continue to use Sound Devices on future projects.”

Buma/Stemra issues Beatport.com a Pan-European License

Hoofddorp/Denver (CO), 21 July – Beatport, the world’s leading online electronic music retailer has signed a licence agreement for author’s rights with Buma/Stemra covering all of the world’s music repertoire. The license applies throughout the entire European Union. Buma/Stemra is the only music copyright organisation so far to issue such a Pan-European licence. The licence model offered by Buma/Stemra provides online music service providers with a one-stop shop for authors’ rights for music for 27 European countries.

“Beatport has partnered with the world’s leading artists and record labels to bring their content to a growing online community of DJs and enthusiasts who are looking to legally purchase electronic music in premium encoded, non-DRM formats,” says Jonas Tempel, CEO of Beatport.

The company has taken a proactive decision to adjust its business practices to meet the requirements of rapidly changing copyright administration across Europe. From its inception, the Denver, USA-based Beatport has accounted and paid all publishing royalties to its label partners as required under US laws. However, Beatport’s European label partners reported difficulties in effectively disbursing this publishing income to the relevant rights owners. In order to address and resolve this problem Beatport has over the last 18 months thoroughly explored all possible solutions to cause the publishing income from sales in Europe to be paid more efficiently to the relevant rights owners. After extensive research and discussions, Beatport has teamed with the Dutch society Buma/Stemra to create the perfect partnership for this transition.

“Not only is the Netherlands home for some of electronic music’s greatest producers and DJs,” said Jonas Tempel, “but now, Buma/Stemra has matched that spirit of innovation by currently being the only European music copyright organisation to provide a Pan-European licence that covers all of the world’s music repertoire, greatly simplifying the process of paying royalties.”

This licensing model allows Beatport to efficiently take care of the music copyright payments for all of Europe in a single transaction. Jonas Tempel went on to say, “In addition, I am impressed with the quality of Buma/Stemra’s services, and the organisation is making serious investments in innovation as well as blazing the trail in the development of new online licensing models in the midst of a rapidly changing market.”

This is not the first time that Buma/Stemra has issued such a Pan-European licence. The American online music store eMusic has also concluded a similar agreement with Buma/Stemra, allowing it to launch its online music subscription model in 27 European countries in a single transaction.

Cees Vervoord, CEO of Buma/Stemra, is excited about this latest agreement: “The license agreement with Beatport, which many international music users and right holders are watching with great interest, puts Buma/Stemra in a leading position internationally with respect to the rollout and implementation of competitive new licensing models in line with the needs of today’s market. This allows Buma/Stemra to continue to represent the interests of all music authors and publishers in the Dance scene (both Dutch and international), in an effective manner.”

One-stop shop

The Pan-European agreements Buma/Stemra has signed with Beatport and eMusic are in line with the European Commission’s intentions to end the traditional system of territorially restricted collective management in which the music copyright organisations each hold a monopoly in their own country and online licences are issued separately for each EU member state. Without the approach offered by Buma/Stemra, music retailers need to make 27 stops, one in each country, to take care of the music copyrights. This results in endless administrative and fiscal complications. Buma/Stemra acknowledges the need for competition between the various European music copyright organisations and has, in keeping with the requirements of both the European Commission and the online music market, developed and fully stands behind a one-stop-shop model that allows music users to obtain a single licence to exploit authors’ rights in all the European Union.

The licensing model is based on retaining the world’s music repertoire for every European music copyright organisation. The royalty rates applied through this multi-territorial license are the tariffs set in the country where the copyright is to be exploited (sometimes called the “country of destination” principle or the “country of usage”). In other words, music used in, say, Germany will be accounted for on the basis of the tariffs in use in Germany; music used in Spain will be subject to royalty payments on the basis of the tariff in use there. The advantage of this model is that competition between collecting societies offering multi-territorial licenses takes place on the basis of the costs and services of the music copyright organisations and not on the royalty rates paid to rightsholders. The income of authors, composers and music publishers is thus safeguarded from any downward pressure which might occur in the case of unbridled competition. This model for a one-stop-shop is a highly efficient way for both the music user and the rights holder to make licensing arrangements throughout Europe.

Peachtree City, GA, July 21, 2008—Avastor, a leading manufacturer of ultimate storage solutions for audio/video professionals, introduces its new line of SDX portable hard disk drives. Targeting the prosumer market – as well as the pro market – the SDX line is more competitively priced than the highly popular HDX drive which offers the ultimate in external professional portable storage. more

HOLLYWOOD — EASTWEST, exclusive US distributor of Best Service Products, is helping producers lay down some new red-hot dance tracks with HipHop & RnB Producer Pack 1 from Best Service.

Produced by Sir. Martin and BlackBoxx for Audio Bomb, HipHop & RnB Producer Pack 1 offers users a flexible and comprehensive means to expand their dance sound library with over 1,700 samples and 2.5 GB of material. From clubbin’ styles to HipHop & RnB, these groundbreaking grooves and samples can easily fit into many different musical styles and musical settings. HipHop & RnB Producer Pack 1 is fully loaded with bangin’ drum, percussion, shaker and hi hat loops. The collection also features special and harmonic arpeggio, bell, guitar, keyboard, motion harmonic, modulated synth, organ and string loops. Ranging from 53 to 120 Bpm, all loops are adaptable to any project. In addition to loops, HipHop & RnB also includes a large selection of high-quality hiphop samples such as bass drums, snare drums, claps, percussions, open and closed hi hats, shakers, bass tones, rides, crashes, hits, brass chords, piano cords, string chords, vinyl scratches and fx samples.

“The huge variety of samples and loops found in HipHop & RnB Producer Pack 1 makes it a great tool regardless of the musical genre you’re working in,” says President and CEO of EASTWEST Doug Rogers. “With HipHop & RnB Producer Pack 1, users will always find something to stimulate their creativity.”

The collection retails for $130.00 and is available in Wav, Rex2 and Acid formats — all in 24-bit quality.

Los Angeles, CA—July 2008… When the mission calls for unconventional warfare, foreign internal defense, direct action, counter-terrorism, or special reconnaissance operations, the US Navy SEALs are frequently the first to get the call. Such is the premise of Air Support, a new presentation currently in production by the US Navy for use at Navy air shows as well as recruitment efforts and other promotional activities. Capturing the sounds of Navy SEALs emerging from the water, jets taking off from aircraft carriers, plus all the dialog that accompanies these activities requires some special production know-how—and the gentleman charged with making it all happen relied upon wireless technology from Lectrosonics to get the job done. more

Toronto, Ontario, Canada – July 21, 2008 … From the 8th until the 24th of August 2008, Beijing will resound throughout the world — and also in our ears. For when the biggest sports event of the year takes place, the audience will experience an outstanding performance from the audio. No surprise then that Lawo will be present in the Chinese capital, providing its excellent technology from Rastatt. more

LONDON: Prolific songwriter/producer Wayne Wilkins has accrued a formidable hit discography, including work for Oasis, No Doubt, Leona Lewis’ Take A Bow, Michelle Williams’ We Break The Dawn and Beyonce’s Beautiful Nightmare. Currently enjoying wide success with Natasha Bedingfield’s Pocket Full of Sunshine CD,and Love Like This single with Sean Kingston, he’s got equally high expectations for T-Shirt, by Shontelle Layne, a Clear Channel Artist To Watch and Universal/Motown priority.

Of the many software tools in Wilkins’ arsenal, Sonnox Oxford Plug-ins seem to play a supporting role in the lion’s share of his productions. “I was just in Miami, with my production team, The Runaways, working on Energy, a single by new Timbaland artist Keri Hilson,” he says. “We made good use of Oxford Dynamics and Inflator while programming that single. They’re especially helpful in fine-tuning my style of music. I’ve used them on virtually everything I’ve done, especially vocals, and the master bus.”

Wilkins finds the Dynamics Plug-in particularly helpful on stereo mixes with Logic. He’ll often print his parts through Dynamics to give his sounds a final ‘polish’. “We’ll end up printing the individual parts out of Logic even if we go to Pro Tools and mix on an SSL,” he says. “We use that sound on every record I do. We’ve compared our tracks with and without Dynamics, and they truly sound a lot better with.

“I like the ‘analog’ sound of Dynamics on the vocals,” he adds, “and the ‘Warmth’ function is good for fattening up certain sounds, like bass guitars and vocals. Sometimes I’ll use that on the whole mix. I’ll turn the Amount Control to 10 o’clock, to add a subtle kind of analog sound that I like.”

For Bedingfield’s Pocket Full of Sunshine album and upcoming Put Your Arms Around Me single,Wilkins employed the Inflator on the master bus in exactly the same way. Occasionally he’ll use it along with the Compressor to ‘fatten up vocals’ recorded on multi-tracks that originate from other sources. “I end up getting all the music together pretty fast when we’re writing our songs,” he says. “Before I used the Compressor, I actually struggled with using master mix compression. But when I started using the Oxfords, it really seemed to make everything gel”

Wilkins uses the Oxford plug-ins primarily in Logic. If he’s recording vocals or traveling, he prefers to have a Pro Tools HD system. He also uses Pro Tools when separating tracks out across an SSL after they’ve already been processed by the plug-ins.

When using the Dynamics Compressor he’ll set Attack to the slowest time and Release to the fastest to start off with a minimum effect. He’ll also push the Makeup gain up a bit to control his gain structure. “I’ll play with the Attack and Release times from there,” he explains, “because I like getting my mixes pumping a little bit. I play with those settings to get a compression effect happening. It just gives things a lot more energy.”

He also varies the settings on the Inflator’s Effect and Curve sliders just after the halfway point. “I don’t play around with any of the other controls much,” he concludes. “I just put it up so I can gently hear what it’s doing. I just love its sound, because it adds a richness to my mix. Sometimes, I’ll use it directly on a vocal, especially when I’m working with something recorded by someone else. Inflator can help add some warmth to the sound. It’s very musical sounding, just like all the other plug-ins from Sonnox.”

Photo: Songwriter/producer Wayne Wilkins

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