Scott Smith

Oh, and if you really want to duplicate the soundtracks of spaghetti westerns, make sure that everything is heavily overmodulated! I don't know why, but every optical track negative I have ever seen out of Rome from the 50's through the '70's are severely clipped. Even the mag tracks were recorded hot (just listen to the music tracks from "Once Upon a Time in the West"). Guess those guys just liked to slam the VU meters... --S

Naw, they're everywhere.... --S

FWIT: Years ago, I did some chamber measurements with various windscreens, including the Schoeps W20 and B20. With an MK41 capsule, there were definitely some mid-range response aberrations, as well a rather pronounced LF roll-off. I will have to see if I can dig them up and post them. The hollow ball windscreens, at least to my ears, have much less coloration than the baskets. One of these days, I'll get around to doing a full set of measurements.... --S

Richard: Your sentiments regarding the various accusations that have been flying about the internet are right on target.There will certainly be a full investigation, and hopefully some action. However, having witnessed the steady decline in production standards and working conditions over the past 30+ years, I'm inclined to believe that not much will really change. Despite the fact that we now have paperwork and safety meetings ad infinitum, the reality is that producers will continue to cut corners wherever possible. Add to this equation the sheer lack of experience on the part of many of those who are charged with overseeing productions, and it's a recipe for disaster. (I've been on two sets where lives were lost, and have witnessed plenty of situations where near-accidents could have resulted in severe injury or death). While I would like to think that this will be a wake-up call for the industry, I'm afraid the ultimate result is going to be that the studios will put their lawyers on the case to find new ways to cover their asses, while making no significant changes in the day-to-day scenerios that brought this about in the first place. If the studios were really interested in preventing accidents like this, we wouldn't be working 12+ hour days, frequently in very hostile environments. At the end of the day, my heart goes out to Sarah and her family, and to all those who have been injured and traumatized by what would appear to be a preventable tragedy. Stay safe my friend.... --Scott

David W. and John C.: Thank you both for the best assessment yet as to the events taking place. As always, rumors abound in a vacuum. Hopefully this won't drag out into another long, drawn out affair, but if history is any indication, I'm not holding my breath. --Scott

Laurence: Great photo! Love seeing all those shiny Fisher's lined up... --Scott

Sad news indeed. Harold was one of the good guys-certainly one of the most gracious directors I've worked with. Brought us some pretty damn good films too. RIP Harold --Scott

Here we go again..... --S

FYI: Most mics, especially lav's, have a sensitivity spec @1 kHz that at best is probably +/- 2 dB, so a 3 dB differential is not unusual. Extremely difficult to make these judgements on a steady-state test signal. Having tested a number of mics in professional chambers with state-of-the-art test gear, I can assure you that a +/- 3 dB difference between mics is well within bounds, unless the mics have been specifically matched as pairs. --S

Cananball: Nice. Did you do the PC card yourself, or find it stock somewhere? --S

Michael: There are a number of issues pertaining to audio sync with the RED Epic. It would be helpful to know what version firmware was being used, the frame rate, and whether HDRx was on or off. Bottom line, any time I do a shoot with the Epic, the audio is just a scratch track. Simply too many issues to deal with, either with or without the PRI I/O module. The audio return out of these cameras always sound lke garbage, no matter what you feed them, so it is impossible to judge whether there's an audio problem or not. --S

Yeah, that will work, assuming you match the levels very carefully. On the other hand, you could just use a mono machine.... --S

To clarify (just so people don't panic...yet), this auction is for the 1915-1920 MHz and 995-2000 MHz band. The auction for the 600 mHz band has been postponed till 2015. As always, the players with the deepest pockets will win (which will not be us). --Scott

Aw, that's cheating! --S

Philip: I'm assuming you didn't care about the Neopilot sync signal bleeding into the audio?

+1 on Gary Woods quick-release. Best system I ever used. I think Gary was a bit ahead of his time on this. Too bad it no longer available. The only modification I made was to include a spring-style strain relief to the top section, which prevnts the textile covered cable from getting sliced through by the knurled lock not when pulling the top section from the pole. --S

+1 for Comtek. On some very rare occasions, they've made some mistakes (especially this past year, during which they were unusually backlogged), but have always responded quickly. And I've never had a problem getting through to the guy in charge. Wish there were more companies like them... Haven't had to deal with Neumann/Sennheiser this past year, but in general they have been pretty good. Also, when we were having some RF issues with the first generation of MKH-60 mics back in the day, Uwe Sattler was on a plane to our location with his RF analyzer in tow two days later, and within 2 weeks or so we had a modified prototype, which solved all the issues. That kind of customer service is hard to come by these days... --S

Only time I've used a delay is for music recording, where the mics are in a fixed position. Even then, I prefer to wait and do it in post, unless I need produce a composite mix on the fly (such as for broadcast). --S

Yeah, pretty sure that's a Sony CR-4. I think both the early Vega and Shure "Vagabond" 88 receivers use "cats eye" tubes. Not in my shop to look it up at the moment, but Shure has a nice example of it in their lobby exhibit. Here's the CR-4 ad:

PK, perhaps a bit OT for the "RIP" section, but sad to see "Low Winter Sun" get the boot from AMC. While the story lines were a bit challenging at times, they made some good use of locations from my home town. A lot of old friends will now be unemployed again as a result, in a city which already has way too many people with no jobs. --S

One of my favorite actors, in one of my desert island "Best 10" films. Sadly, never met the man in person, but his talent lives on. Favorite memory: While working at the Goldwyn sound facility in the late '80's, they were doing QC checks for the 70mm prints from the restored version done by Robert Harris. Every night when I was finished with work, I would sit in the dubbing theater with the QC engineer, and watch a few reels. All out of sequence of course, but a rare opportunity to really dissect the film. Last time I saw it in it's entirety was at Tom Holman's 60th birthday event in 2006, where they screened a beautiful print at the Arclight (Cinerama Dome) theater. A real treat. RIP Peter....

Hey Billy: Great post. Glad to hear you were able to convince the production to do at least a couple of takes live. This is something I've fought for on number of occasions. Sometimes I actually win... I usually manage to have better success on lower budget productions, where the production company doesn't want to pay a huge amount of money for a complex playback system and multiple earwigs. When we did some music tracks for small scene on a recent film, we recorded them in the actual location (a rail car), with a simple Schoeps stereo pair. It sounded great, and also had the ambiance and acoustical "space" of the location (which is almost always missing from pre-recorded tracks). Congrats on a great show! --S

Yeah, loved that comment about the digital consoles...hilarious. --S

These are some great photos of Lee-thanks for posting this. I'm saddened that I didn't have the opportunity to see him one last time... --Scott

Jim: Yeah, I was a bit concerned when I looked at the public notice letter posted by the FCC 10/31/13. which indicated they had extended the date for public comments to 11/14/13. However, the docket is still open, and there have been quite a number of comments filed after the November 14th cutoff, so apparently it has been extended. I have over the years dealt with the FCC directly as well, but it can sometimes be a frustrating experience As you stated, they do prefer to receive comments from companies and organizations on these matters, as opposed to individuals. I have already been in contact with the CAS, although I don't know how quickly they can move on this. Will know more tomorrow. --S