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G$

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About G$

  • Birthday 12/26/1950

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    southern California
  1. Never ever use a Schoeps in the Bahamas, unless it's the only mic you have. They can't take any extreme humidity and will start making clicking sounds just before they burst into flames!! Try any Sennheiser instead. Best of luck.
  2. Hi JWS Forum Members:-D I am posting of an open letter I received from a good friend of mine. A local 695 brother. I back him all the way. G$$ ============== Hello all, This is an open letter to IA 695 and it's members concerning a problem facing Boom operators and the sound team in general working on High Def Commercial shoots. With the changing times and the changing technologies, it is apparent some staffing changes need to be addressed concerning our job functions on these HD commercial film shoots. While on these shoots certain job functions such as the running of the HD Audio lines to the cameras, as well as the extended time a boom op is required to hold a boom while shooting on the HD cameras needs to be addressed and adjusted so a high quality product can be produced by the sound team. Boom holding times of up to a half hour are not uncommon, and cannot be done in a quality manner for a 10 to 12 hour day. It is just not possible. This forces the sound team to be boxed into a corner by having to use wireless mics when for many reasons they might not be the best weapon of choice for the team. Radios are great, we love ours and we use them extensively with great results, but sometimes they are not the best choice for many reasons. With this forced hand, our job as a sound team has now been compromised to the detriment to our department and the project at hand. This is a horrible situation to be in for all involved. A sound team with a cable person would be a solution to this problem and the problem of working with the boom operator in relief to trade off as a boom op on those 30 minute shots or as a cable person so the boom op could concentrate on his or her boom duties and provide relief when necessary. Of course we could use wireless to go from our mixing cart to the multiple cameras, but I always choose to send a quality feed on a 2 channel line to each camera so as a nice mix with less hardware is utilized. This format I believe is less prone to the sometimes problematic situations associated with batteries, frequencies, and wireless mics in general. That being said, with one boom operator it is very difficult to keep up with camera moves, dropped audio lines, cabling up and re cabling the audio sends to camera while trying to radio multiple talent, move the cart, re-cable or be prepared to watch a blocking and boom a scene. It seems that there is now a huge grey area in who is actually responsible for these sends and cables. Is it Cameras responsibility or ours? Don't even get me started on who is responsible for the actual mix on the cameras themselves, they are not my gear, and with 10 different cameras now being used, it is a problem as well keeping up with all the menu functions and settings for these many cameras... I am an audio mixer not a camera technician, nor is my boom op. I for one can only guarantee my mix on MY gear and my hard drive. That is my policy, the cameras as things sit now are the back up audio. Without someone from my camp making sure they are plugged in and routed properly, that is the way it has to be. We are sometimes far away and simply not able or are too busy to deal with that problem. The cables are routinely just unplugged and thrown on the floor with nobody to be responsible for their re plugging in or movement. We need help here, someone to take charge, and be responsible. A qualified cable person trusted by us is the only solution although he or she I would NOT want to be responsible for the actual camera. That in my opinion is the job of the camera tech. I think it is high time our approach to how the IA sound team is staffed, and how it performs its job functions on commercial HD shoots is adjusted along with the changing technologies so as the quality of our job does not suffer further. I am proposing the adding of a cable person to this style of shoot so we may continue to do the great job IA 695 mixers are capable of performing. Any further delay in the implementation of such a staffing change will in my opinion continue to have negative results for us as sound craftspersons and the shows and projects we are responsible to provide a quality mix for. I hope you agree and support my agenda to have a third person added to our staff. Sincerely, R.C.D IA 695
  3. Hey Brian, Thanks for posting the GREAT pics of my new rack. I was slated to go to the NAB this year (already had my hotel room) but, a bunch of work came up and just couldn't go. Gotta pay for the new gear you know. I really wanted to share my ideas with other mixers so, the folks at Location Sound were very kind to display my new "miniCooper" system at their booth. This little rack can do allot, but it's not for everyone. I designed it for commercials and camera car work. In that field it'll do just fine. All the Best, Gary Gossett, CAS
  4. G$

    Denecke TS-C

    Hello Again, I just got word that maybe, just maybe, the TS-C will reset itself if a "walkie" is "keyed" too close to the slate. If anyone can check this scenario out on set it would be greatly appreciated:-) Thanks
  5. G$

    Denecke TS-C

    I doubt the source would matter either. Like some of you old school guys out there, I've been using Denecke slates since the mid 80s and have never been stumped like this. I will try to use "EverReady" batteries instead of Pro-Cells. Maybe that's the fix. Thanx for the input!
  6. G$

    Denecke TS-C

    Thanks Jeff. I've watched over camera like a hawk and I haven't seen any ruffer treatment with the small slates than with the larger TS-3 slates. I also own 4 TS-3s and never had any such problems with them. This seems to happen so intermittently I can't figure it out. I've had them both at Deneke and of course they never lost sync while they had em. Some days they work great and some days I'll have to re-jam 2-4 times. Q: Do you think my time code source would make any difference? G$$
  7. G$

    Denecke TS-C

    Hi Everyone...I purchased two Denecke TS-C slates in May of '06. Recently they have been giving me and camera fits. What happens is they try to re-jam themselves. Sometime several times each day, sometime never. I Can't take it any longer. Has anyone out there had problems with these small slates?.
  8. Hi OLd School, You, Philip and others have made some good points. I didn't mean to lead you guys on that my producers know anything about sound. My bad! Great bunch of people for the most part but, they don't even know what they don't even know. And besides, you all know the drill, if they get burnt once with nonlinear or even hear of a rumor of one of their cronies in the next cubacle getting burnt they hold on to that info like an ageing elephant. It's happened to a few of my Pals. In the mean time, I need to be a little more educated at NL recording before I can teach the non-teachable. So, What I did reciently was to purchase the SD 702T until I get used to burning product in BWF and then I'll retire the trusty old DAT for good. I guess one could say I'm a little in the "Dark Ages" or maybe even sort of..."Old SchooL". All the Best, G$$
  9. Hey Old School, I do work in LA mostly recording commercials and the occasional Network promo. My commercial producers still prefer DAT for telecine. At the present I have integrated a 702T into my rig as the "backup" for the DAT master. Like most mixers, I never considered running a backup for my Nagra recordings. It was when we started using DATs that the majority of the commercial producers started requesting a backup. I generally listen in the confidence mode anyway so, believe me when I say this, I didn't feel the need to backup anything! It made them (producers) feel better. OK, so I'll run a backup and charge em...Fine:-) Anyway, all is good. I believe I will be running two machines from now on. I'm a little cautious with the new HD and CF recording mediums. How about you? Take Care...G$$
  10. Hey Guys, I do around 160 commercial days a year and my producers still feel more comfortable with a DAT for telecine. I know that will all change very soon when the commersial post houses catchup with the rest of the community. So, here is the skinny. I've been backing up a DAT with a DAT for many years. You see, It's all about peace of mind (for the producer) and economics (for me). I charge $20 per DAT Master and $20 for DAT backups. No questions asked. With an average of 2 masters and 2 backups per day (640 DATs per year) that's an additional $6,400 per year in DAT backups alone. Take the additional $4,800 after expences and go to the Carib for GODs sake...you diserve it! PS: I just purchased a 702Tfor back up, but that's another story. G$$
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