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News of the Day

Jason Nicholas September 19, 2019

Whilst setting up for a podcast in the studio today, I began reading an automatically transcribed report from our broadcast news service. The AI seems to have inadvertently created a stream of consciousness libretto for a Philip Glass opera.

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We’ve had some little cards made up for The Apple and Biscuit Show podcast; that makes it a tangible ‘official’ thing, doesn’t it? We’ll soon properly launch the series. The first five episodes are up live now. Link in bio. #theappleandbiscuitshow

We’ve published an in-depth technical episode today (link in bio or The Apple and Biscuit Show on most podcast platforms). Neil and Jason talk to ‘Mr. Loudness’, Mike Thornton, about the issues of television programme loudness and dialogue intelligibility. Why is the background music too loud? Why can’t the viewers hear what the actors are saying? And why are films so loud in the cinema? In a comprehensive and compelling journey starting with radio transmission concerns in the 1930s, to the present-day woes of broadcasters and streaming platforms, Mike’s accessible and understandable explanations demystify the raft of complex sound challenges that filmmakers continue to face in delivering effective soundtracks. #lufs #loudness #filmsound #audiomixing @nugenaudio

New Apple and Biscuit Show podcast episode (link in bio or most podcast players); Neil and I talk to emerging Australian sound designer Andrew Dean about his work, in particular the award-winning films ‘Mud Crab’ (written and directed by David Robinson-Smith), ‘Gorgo’ (directed by Veniamin Gialouris) and the forthcoming feature film ‘Salt Along the Tongue’, (directed by Parish Malfitano), that Andrew sound designed and mixed. Andrew describes his journey from working in a Bathurst multi-screen cinema, then studying for a music degree, moving from recording studios to mixing television shows for SBS, and then studying sound design at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School (AFTRS). Andrew graduated from their Masters programme in 2022 and has subsequently pursued several creative endeavours with AFTRS alumni.

New Apple and Biscuit Show episode out today (on most platforms or link in bio). In this episode, Neil and Jason talk to Julian Treasure, the author and presenter of several of the most viewed TED Talks of all time, including ‘How to Speak So People Want to Listen’ which has been viewed more than 150 million times. A self-proclaimed ‘listening evangelist’, Julian shares remarkable insights into the ways in which conscious listening brings about positive change both in personal and professional relationships, how low-cost acoustic considerations for classrooms deliver significant educational improvements and how sound in space created life, the universe and everything. @neil.hillman @juliantreasure #listening #onesquareinchofsilence #forestbathing #silence #communicationskills #humanecology

Midday #photowalk with friends. #abstactphotography #blackandwhitephotography #olympus

Went out for a short #photowalk this morning. I need to get back in the habit of looking. #blackandwhite #abstractphotography #street #olympusom1

#abstractphotography from walk this morning.

We’ve just released our second episode of the Apple and Biscuit Show. This is a quite revealing discussion with well respected Australian business leader, Philip Belcher. The connection with film sound is that he was the CEO of the famous Australian audio company, Fairlight when it was sold to (the other famous Australian company) Blackmagic Design. It’s an interesting behind the scenes look at how decisions are made about these things and what kinds of considerations a small company with a big legacy has to make to successfully thrive. See link in bio. #blackmagic #blackmagicdesign #fairlight #fairlightcmi #fairlight @blackmagicnewsofficial

For several years, I’ve been mentored in my audio work by Dr Neil Hillman. Over these past months since I’ve been made redundant, Neil has acted as my business coach and we’ve begun working on projects together. One of these is a podcast on the use of sound in motion picture and television production. Neal has decades of experience in the industry and a Rolodex full of contacts to draw from. We’ve had many thoughtful discussions ourselves over Zoom so I suggested we basically start recording these and invite others to join in the conversation. We’ve published our first episode and have recorded our second one just today with a number of others in the works. I’ve produced podcasts for nearly a decade and Neil has hundreds of film credits to his name but this is new territory for both of us to be ‘on mic’ as the hosts of a show (so we’ll probably need some time to get into the groove). You can have a listen to the first episode by clicking the link in my bio and going to The Apple and Biscuit Show; we are in the process of publishing it on all the main podcast apps as well so you’ll soon be able to subscribe for future episodes (it’s on Spotify already if you click on the ‘follow’ button in the player). This episode is with two filmmakers discussing how they made a feature length film on a shoestring budget and the difficulties they had with sound production on location and in post-production. Just a warning though it’s got—quite a lot of swearing (not from Neil or myself) but it’s a candid conversation. Episode two is sans swears if you want to hold off for that one next week sometime. (We are aiming to release two episodes a month but want to get a few out here at the beginning to prime the pump.) #theappleandbiscuitshow #podcasts #filmsound #filmsounddesign @neil.hillman

Just had a very interesting experience. I’m reworking my home studio setup, routing everything through a little desktop mixer. I connected the Super6, stated some drone sound design and ended up making a track. I uploaded it to Soundcloud only to receive an immediate copyright strike. The copyrighted track is an hour of white noise. This is bewildering as, first of all, my track sounds nothing like white noise and secondly…how has someone copyrighted white noise! Have emailed Soundcloud and awaiting response. #udosuper6 #soundcloud #copyright

The Edge Of Somewhere

The Edge of Somewhere is the personal weblog of Jason Nicholas; you'll find journals, travels, and general musings on the state of the world and Cosmos.

, Sydney, Australia