Then rush over and download the demo of PhotoSounder because really, are you going to see anything cooler this week ? And at that price ?
PhotoSounder uses an idea that I first came across on the Audio Cookbook blog – processing audio files using Photoshop - but this video just makes it leap off the screen at you. In essence it’s simply a Spectrogram in reverse (here’s a great example of that), but that description hardly does justice to some of the amazing sounds and the images that “seeded” them here.
I particularly love the fact that a beautiful fractal image like the one at 0’40″ also sounds beautiful and fascinating – but my favourite is the second example in this video.
Taken from the fantastic DVD “Classic Albums: The Making of The Dark Side of the Moon“, this clip has loads of great things for audio geeks like us to enjoy, including (probably) the first time a band ever played to a tape loop (and how the loop was made), another great example of double-tracking (this time on a guitar solo) and a superb illustration of how quite extreme-sounding delay and reverb (on Gilmour’s vocal) sound great in the context of the whole mix.
The DVD has been in the Production Advice Bookstore since I first set up the site, and is strongly recommended viewing for anyone interested in writing, recording and mixing.
“Ellipse” by Imogen Heap is released on 24th August – if you’re like me you can’t wait.
Well, you don’t have to – here is the full album, streaming on Soundcloud ! (At the bottom of this post.) And, you can pre-order the CD here.
Why have I posted this ? Firstly because it’s a superb album, secondly because Imogen is an outstanding musician, for whom production is clearly inseparable from the writing process itself. In fact, she’s a perfect example of “21st century DIY punk“. And, she is certainly making the utmost of the possibilities of social media and Web 2.0 for musicians. (More about that in my post Why Musicians Should Be On Twitter)
But if you still need more persuading, check out her v-blog channel on YouTube – 40 or so video diary entries about the entire writing, recording, mixing and production process of Ellipse. (Anyone who plays music on the lighting panels in her studio’s ceiling is cool by me!).
I remember it very clearly, although I don’t know exactly when it was. Probably 1980, since the first TV series was broadcast in 1981 – so I would have been nearly ten years old. I think it was at my Dad’s suggestion, but perhaps not.
For whatever reason, on that particular evening, I curled up on the sofa and listened for the very first time to The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy on Radio 4. (It was a radio series first, before the LPs, books, TV and eventually film.)
It was the episode where The Heart Of Gold lands on the legendary planet of Magrathea, by way of improbability drive, imminent missile attack, sperm whale and a bowl of petunias, and I was transfixed.
Partly because for a nine-year-old, obsessed by a heady mix of Star Wars, Flash Gordon, Star Trek and The Goon Show, Hitchhikers was pure gold – but mostly because it was in stereo.
"Everything you have advised us on has been invaluable... We learnt a hell of a lot from those two emails. We will absolutely be in touch regarding future mixes"
“, this clip has loads of great things for audio geeks like us to enjoy, including (probably) the first time a band ever played to a tape loop (and how the loop was made), another great example of 
I remember it very clearly, although I don’t know exactly when it was. Probably 1980, since the first TV series was broadcast in 1981 – so I would have been nearly ten years old. I think it was at my Dad’s suggestion, but perhaps not.
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