Discover the latest industry news and audio post production.
A new library from the dynamic Dutch duo that is Frick & Traa, City Bicycles puts you in the saddle of 4 different models of pushbike.
November 23, 2021
Company: FRICK & TRAA
Product: City Bicycles
Price: $99
Our Rating: 4.9/5
After opening our copy, we searched through the folder structure to find an extensive metadata guide, as well as metadata provided in multiple formats (something that we should see more of in libraries). Also featured is a file hierarchy guide, a read me file with a nice welcoming message of support and contact details. Frick & Traa get 5/5 for customer service.
The research and marketing put into this library is impressive to say the least and is a great start for the company going forward. A total of 2 years research and development allowed them to find the most effective recording techniques, which gives the library an immersive sound and content that packs a punch.
The artwork is gorgeous and the videos created market the product extremely well.
The whopping total of 5.5 hours of content was recorded at 96 kHz, over 7GB unzipped! It's safe to say the sounds here can cover a multitude of bicycle scenes, just take a look at some of the information below on what is included:
Four bikes were recorded and given names to help the user identify their favourites for different uses:
1. Good bike: a smooth sounding retro bike that doesn’t rattle or squeak, really nice tire noise.2. Bad bike: an old worn bike with severe rattles and cranking, tends to let the chain fly off.3. Ugly bike: this bike gets you from A to B... but it won’t win awards for it’s looks.4. Racer bike: a vintage racer that’s probably owned by a barista or a hipster art student.
Speeds and actions:
Three speeds for every bike and every surface (see below). Departures from slow, medium to fast getaways. Arrivals from slow stops with gently squeaking handbrakes to heavy stuttering skids.
Five perspectives were also recorded:
1. Onboard Front: captures the whirring tire and surface sound.
2. Onboard Pedal: nice overall combination of pedaling, crank creaks, chain rattle, tire and surface sounds.
3. Onboard Rear: close up sound of the rear axle, with chain, sprocket and switching of gear.
4. Tracking shot: mono recording of the passby, keeping the bike in focus while passing by.
5. Static XY shot: stereo recording of the passby that emphasises speed.
Five Surfaces were covered:
1. Asphalt: nice and clean, with smooth singing sound.
2. Large Bricks: nicely textured surface that makes the tires purr like a cat.
3. Gravel: a fresh crackling surface sound that you might find in a city park.
4. Grit: classic bicycle path surface sounds that layers perfectly with the other surfaces.
5. Icy road: frozen asphalt with sparkling textures of ice crystals snapping under the wheels.
Bonus additions include:
1. Exterior recordings of various actions in multiple takes from rattles, bounces, shakes to roll-bys. Enough to make your bike sound just a little different.
2. We also recorded 21 additional single passbys of various bicycles, from severely rattling to smooth riding bikes on small brick streets and alleys.
Enough to expand your options to create a distinguished sound design.
In terms of using the library, there isn't much this won't cover. The recordings are clean, without feeling overly processed or harsh. We love the mic options, and between them, you can cover most camera shots or video game situations with minimal processing and mixing. The overall tonal balance and riding performances feel well executed, as does the presentation - making the library a breeze to use on a deadline.
The handling sounds and extras are a welcome addition, and really complete the package. This product just seems to keep on answering your wishes each time you open a folder. 'What if my rider is drunk?' They have it covered. 'What if my rider has broken his bike' They have it covered. There were many more happy surprises too as we listened through.
The surface recordings are perfect for vehicle sound design - with some pitching, they could be a car's tires on gravel, or a motorbike slowly approaching on an icy road. They would also would work well for crackle and lo-fi vinyl fun - the possibilities are truly endless here!
Some of our personal favourites come in the 'Various other' folder, pass by's on unique surfaces like brick and cobblestones - they are a fun idea to implement in sci-fi spaceship pass bys.
City Bicycles is a library that makes you feel like you're present on location, listening to your own bike moving. That's what all of Frick & Traa's hard work has been for.
The only constructive criticism we can aim at City Bicycles, is the consistency of presentation - some folders have short descriptions in their file name. We think keeping these descriptions in the metadata guide would have been more user friendly.
City Bicycles has a plethora of content, for a great price. The perfect balance between a great concept, great presentation and outstanding execution, lands them an almost perfect score of 4.9. Not only do Frick & Traa offer a free mini pack to try the library, but they also will give all readers some unreleased content when they purchase with our code (see below).
Go grab it now for all of your creative Sound Design projects!
At 344 Audio we like to provide carefully crafted Sound Design, even with tight deadlines. For Strays, we built a lo-fi soundtrack to compliment this Northern British Dystopia.
November 23, 2021
After multiple conversations with Director Aaron Dunleavy, and providing Sound Effects/Design on his previous film 'The Truants', it was a clear progression to approach a project that harnessed his lo-fi, no frills vision of Northern England. That project is Strays, part of Random Acts Centre North's production programme - a joint initiative between Arts Council England and Channel 4.
The film has themes of survival, abandonment and child exploration without boundaries (for better or worse). Children have taken over a street (and seemingly the neighbourhood), with no rules or discipline to stop their dark imaginations running wild. Aaron made it clear that because the film was completely mute at the editing stage, the Sound Design would make or break the audience's perception of this forgotten terraced block.
With a big passion for sound in his filmmaking process, it was clear that Aaron needed to capture the essence of the locations while shooting. Bringing a Sound Recordist on board to record sound effects meant that the final process was not only quicker, but also felt more authentic to the Blackburn based set. We edited these sounds to use for both their intended purpose, and in new ventures - such as turning a hair trimmer into a transitional element:
Most of all Aaron allowed us to roam free, confident in our mutual understanding from previous projects. He gave us references from video games, films and real life objects to describe the sounds he envisioned. Because of the children's struggle for survival, there was an almost predatory element in both the film's editing and in the vision for the Final Mix.
Dialogue in the film is minimal, but often a gateway to off screen action not entirely described by the visuals alone. The sound of children playing in the foreground, and an almost subconscious sound of distant adult screams, suggests an awful anti-paradise which draws you in.
The Sound Design had to have a musical element and rhythm which flowed with the haunting slow motion of the entire piece. It had to be time stretched and pitched, so that washing clothes in sinks, or even blabber from a baby felt like naturally recorded sync sound. This all was combined with the stunning music offered up by the ever eclectic Slomo. Disturbing guitar drones blended well with our harsh feedback effects, microscopic audio fragments and precise music editorial.
We are introduced to the world with establishing shots, and sounds that are equally reminiscent of the film's world. Wind through the bushes foreshadows emptiness, while seagulls fly by, almost trying to evade impending danger. The interior shots of the film are riddled with industrial sounds, reflecting revolutions of the past in this part of the world.
Our custom recordings of Northern British towns and rural areas, combined with the wild tracks recorded on set, gave us plenty of material to build an immersive soundscape. The use of certain eagle sounds suggest that wildlife has commuted from Scotland and the Moors, a great way to express the predatory element mentioned in the spotting session. We also used ethnic instruments to punctuate moments where the children showed their primal instincts.
Many interesting things occur beyond this point in the film, which we can't give away, but the film closes with quite a crucial sound effect. The combination of static and harsh electronic squeals rises from the lo-fi effects we used, and closes the piece almost as if a busted old television is switching off.
Strays was mixed in stereo for broadcast delivery, but due to the lack of dialogue and experimental nature, there was lots of discussion with Aaron to keep the mix as fluid and natural as possible while still meeting the specifications.
It was crucial with this mix to retain clarity but give an unpolished, disused feel. The flow of volume, panning and frequency balance of the Sound Design had to weave around the music to help elements cut through. We added vinyl crackle, tape noise and other audio dirt, which also enhanced Aaron's characteristic colour grade and film grain. By mixing these low in the soundscape, it gives off a feeling that something isn't quite right, that we are watching this world through a lens.
It was a pleasure to work on Strays, and explore new audio techniques that we hadn't seen used before to tell a story. No doubt there will be more to come from Aaron Dunleavy and 344 Audio in the future.
Strays is currently on the festival circuit, recently achieving an official selection at the BAFTA and Oscar® qualifying Encounters Short Film Festival in Bristol, the UK’s leading short film and animation festival. The film is also currently touring the UK as part of the Random Acts Playback Festival; a showcase of short films screening at venues throughout the country and finishing at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London. The film was recently acquired by Channel 4 and will be showcased on the Random Acts website towards the end of the year.
Mindful Audio's new library WW2 Aircraft takes flight, with recordings of rare and wonderful aerial vehicles.
November 23, 2021
Company: Mindful Audio
Product: WW2 Aircraft
Price: $80
Our Rating: 4.7/5
This library was recorded at 96kHz 24Bit WAV with high end equipment: Sennheiser MKH8040 and MKH416 microphones, Sony PCM D100 and Sound Devices 633 recorders.
Upon opening our review copy, we were happy to find a clean and clear file structure. Folders for photos, sounds, demos and documents are featured, including a thank you document with contact details for support - a nod to Mindful Audio's great customer service. We started to use the library on a project to put it though it's paces.
10+ vehicles are featured, which must have been difficult and time consuming to setup and capture to this extent. More than 96 minutes of content in 59 files - impressive. Metadata is also included, although the nature of this library lends itself more to users navigating the sometimes lengthy files to find sweet spots for tracklaying. Mindful Audio have also informed us that they offer free lifetime upgrades for this product, with new recordings already captured ready for releease in the future.
The artwork is nice, but it would have been better to have a darker themed background and warlike font to match the vibe of the library.
The first thing to say about this library is that the selection of planes is wonderful. They each have a character of their own and are named according to model, allowing users to pick a German or American plane for instance, in their battle designs.
The movements and textures the planes create are really soothing to the ear, and they feel natural within a warzone. They don't have an over designed aesthetic, which allows each plane's engine to tell a story that viewers will recall throughout the length of your projects.
The fly-bys are exquisite, and could definitely be useful for Sci-Fi sound design as well as their intended use with the high sample rate on offer. The natural phasing and flanging that is occurring here is so addictive to listen to, you'll find yourself wanting to overuse the library!
The overall tonality of the sounds is quite midrange focused, which lends itself well to the film and game genres you will require them for. Mindful Audio clearly focused on accuracy here rather than Hollywood, over-hyped war planes, leaving more options for the end user.
We have already started implementing some of the distant planes into a WW2 Drama film we are working on with great results, which correlate with the project's harsh reality and coldness.
There isn't much criticism to be given for this product, it serves it's purpose well and is a historically accurate representation of multiple vehicles that many Sound Designers will need and use.
It is worth mentioning that some vehicles have less files and content than others. Thankfully, the good ol' Spitfires are covered extensively, perhaps a sign of great British engineering? It would also have made sense to put each vehicle into it's own folder, for the sake of file navigation, but this cane be arranged rather quickly.
The price of $80 really is a steal for your clients working on war movies, considering a recording session for one day alone with these beauties would set them back much, much more than that. You can even get some free sounds from the links provided below to hear for yourself how you can transport viewers to wartimes of the past with WW2 Aircraft!
Are you working on a WW2 film, or looking for spaceship design and movement layers? This product is for you and is a bargain.
Get a FREE WW2 Aircraft Sound 1
For this week’s post we decided to explore and create the retro-futuristic aesthetic of Synthwave.
November 23, 2021
The photo above shows a city in the late evening, glowing with thousands of small light sources increasing in density towards the horizon. The highlight of this image is the red and white trails of light twisting and turning off into the distance, almost like streams of energy running through the landscape. It gives off a somewhat futuristic vibe as these ominous yet vibrant energy streams flow, untethered to the physical world. We wanted to represent this feeling in the form of a music track, that’s why for this week’s post we decided to explore and create the retro-futuristic aesthetic of Synthwave.
Synthwave is a genre that draws heavy inspiration from music and soundtracks from the 1980’s, it’s aesthetically infused with vibrant neon colours and night life culture, and perfect for listening to while driving in a car at night. Its attempts to sonically represent the concept of ‘cool’ and ‘nostalgic’ calls back to those movies in the 80’s where synthesizers and drum machines featured heavily in the creation of their soundtracks. In this post, we’re going to break down how we created a track inspired by this aesthetic.
First, we began with the most important element of this track, the bass. The sound consists of a saw wave being passed through a low pass filter with a fast envelope applied to give the sound its attack. Effects were added such as a flanger, a chorus, a small amount of distortion, a short reverb and a dimension expander to give the sound some subtle width. The purpose of the flanger and chorus was to add slow textural movement to the bass to keep it interesting. A multiband compressor was used to balance the bass and high end of the sound and a subtle EQ was used to control the frequency content more surgically. The result sounded close to bass commonly heard in the Synthwave genre.
After the bass sound was completed we moved on to the drums, the kick and snare were samples taken from a LinnDrum, a drum machine that was manufactured in the 1980’s. The kick sounded good without any processing, however a small amount of EQ was applied to accentuate the thump and transient of the sample. The snare required much more work to fit it to the track, the LinnDrum sample was lacking in presence and had a soft transient, therefore a separate snare was high passed and layered over the top to add what the initial sample was missing, post processing began with a compressor to add more of a snap to the sound, as well as a transient shaper to increase the attack and decrease the sustain by a very small amount. A combination of algorithmic and convolution reverbs were used, then gated to cut the tail just before each kick. The gated reverb technique was very commonly used in the 80’s for snare sounds, they are an excellent way of filling empty space within a track without letting the reverb bleed into other elements, such as the kick drum. For transitions, we used a simple sweeping white noise riser with a high passed EQ, convolution reverb and a delay.
For the pad sound, pulsewidth modulation (PWM) was used to create a supersaw-like sound with two square (pulse) waves detuned slightly. The PWM utilised two LFOs looping at different speeds to control the width of the square waves independently of one another, this gave the sound some timbral movement to prevent it from becoming too repetitive to the ear. A low pass filter was used with an envelope applied to give the sound more of a stab quality, this also prevented the high end of the sound from ringing out for too long, as well as adding dynamics to the sound.
The final musical element for this piece was the lead, this was made with two detuned saw waves with a low pass filter, the filter was modulated by an envelope in the same way as the pad, however the resonance was dialled to a higher value to give the sound a sort of brassy texture, like a synthesised trumpet. The effects used for this synth were a flanger, a dimension expander, a chorus, delay and reverb, with a multiband compressor and EQ for processing. A technique was used to achieve a pumping delay effect with the use of sidechaining. The synth was routed to two different mixer channels, one of the channels contained the final sound, while another contained the same sound but with a delay effect added with 100% wetness. The signal from the former channel was used as a sidechain trigger for a compressor on the latter channel, which meant that whenever the original synth was playing, the level of the delay is reduced to near silence, however when the synth stops, the sidechain releases and the delayed signal increases in level, so the delay is only present whenever the original sound is not being triggered.
Check back next week for part 2, where we explain how the introductory soundscape for the track came together, how it was inspired by the image above, and some thoughts on the composition of the music track.
Part 2 of Audio In Pictures – Sounds of the 80’s
November 23, 2021
If you haven’t read part 1 of this post, please check it out here.
For the introduction, we made a soundscape to establish a visual mood. It starts with repeating footsteps on a hard surface, this was to recreate a person walking on solid concrete. Furthermore, this sound was sent to a convolution reverb, making it appear as though it was recorded in a car park. As the footsteps progress towards their destination, the convolution reverb gets drier, as if the listener were stood beside the person walking to their vehicle.
The main track was processed with subtle distortion and EQ to sound as though it was playing in a card radio, additionally, the convolution reverb used for the footsteps was also used on other elements, becoming dryer as the scene focuses in more. We really felt like this kind of soundscape worked well to introduce the track, Synthwave is commonly associated with nightlife and cars, so we wanted to depict the audio equivalent of a silent night with a person's short journey, ready to take a ride through the empty streets.
In terms of composition, we felt that the bass held the most importance within this track, it is the driving force behind the rhythm. Playing at consistent 1/16 notes, the bass keeps a simple steady pulse throughout the entire track. Even though sometimes it deviates in terms of notes used, the rhythm remains the same. This simplicity allows the rhythm to be felt more by the listener, it’s easier for them to understand the flow of the track. Furthermore, the bass accentuates the kick and snare, letting you know exactly when each drum is about to hit. We also felt that the use of steady notes implies movement, which fits perfectly with the scene of a car driving at night.
We worked hard to create sounds that reflect the visual aesthetic of Synthwave and 80’s culture. Matching soundtracks to specific stylised moods is a fun challenge which we always enjoy!
