Recorded Sound
A note on production sound for TV & film
Because of our culture’s visual bias,
many young filmmakers neglect
sound recording
Production sound recording
is a media “language”
Please learn its vocabulary
Production sound “literacy”
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
pre-production planning;
sufficient crew;
microphone selection and placement;
overhead booms are usually best;
know each microphone’s sensitivity and patter;
maintain continuity and consistency;
no buzz or room noise;
minimize equalization;
control input levels during recording;
attentive headphone monitoring;
wind protection;
no clothing noise; etc. etc
History
•
Edison's phonograph, 1877
•
was quickly followed by other technological innovations:
the gramophone,
•
Nickelodeons (1890s, cylinders) and the Victrola, 1906.
•
Today, audio technologies are being introduced at an even
more rapid rate.
History
•
The Record Industry initially resisted Radio
live music dominated until recording technology improved, and
the natural synergy of the two industries was understood.
•
1920’s -1940’s The golden age of American music?
– Jazz, big bands, swing. Composers like Irving Berlin,
Cole Porter, and George Gershwin. Vocalists including Bing
Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong
Record industry formats
Columbia
CBS founder William Paley
championed 33 1/3 rpm vinyl LPs
RCA
NBC founder Gen. David. Sarnoff
championed 45-rpm records
1947: Ampex developed magnetic recording tape
1950’s: format war ends: 33 rpm for albums;
45 rpm for singles popular on Top 40 radio
1950’s, 60s – music & technology
DJ Alan Freed; Col. Tom Parker with Elvis
Motown’s Berry Gordy, Jr.
Youth Culture spurred by car & portable radio
Rock superstars - cultural explosions: Elvis, Beatles
Younger consumers gained market clout
Post 1970’s
•
late 70’s, early 80's: cassette piracy woes
•
1980: “I Want My MTV” campaign
•
1983: Michael Jackson's Thriller
•
later 80's-mid 90's: Walkman, CDs dominate
•
late ‘90s, 2000’s: downloads dominate; iPod;
file sharing piracy threatens industry
Record Company Ownership
Universal Music Group
French owned by Vivendi,
Santa Monica based;
not part of NBC/Universal
Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Corporation of America
Warner Music Group
NYC - not part of Time Warner
The recording industry is in steady decline.
Piracy and Apple’s iTunes dissolved the old
music industry.
This is known as “creative destruction.”
Questions for discussion
Who programs your musical taste?
Are you exposed to enough of the classics:
Mozart, Bach, Gershwin, etc. ?
As piracy makes music less profitable,
w
Whose loss will it be?
Radio
Evolution of Radio as a Mass Medium
• Pioneers: Marconi; Armstrong; Sarnoff
• 1925-30: Improved receivers: 17 million AM sold
• Networks: CBS (Bill Paley); NBC (David Sarnoff)
• Communications Act of 1934; “traffic cop” of the
airwaves: Federal Communications Commission
• WWII -- Hitler, Roosevelt, Churchill use radio;
radio news comes of age: Edward R. Murrow (CBS)
• 1950’s transistor and car radios
• 1960’s FM usage grows, usurps AM for music content
• 2000’s: introduction of satellite and internet radio
Radio Program Formats
Pre-television: live music,
recorded music, talk, news,
sports, drama and comedy
series, musical variety
Since TV: recorded music,
talk, all-news, religious, sports
A radio station’s dominant
program style is called its
format
L.A. is the #1 radio market in the U.S.,
including many narrow niche formats
•
•
•
•
•
•
KUSC-FM (91.5)
KKJZ-FM (88.1)
KPCC-FM (89.3)
KRLA-AM (870)
KCRW-FM (89.9)
KXLU-FM (88.9)
non-commercial (classical)
non-commercial (jazz)
non-commercial (talk)
commercial (talk)
non-commercial (eclectic)
non-commercial (music)
How Radio is Supported
Commercial
Stations:
Ad Revenue
Ranks by Type
1. Local
2. National spot
3. Network
NonCommercial
Stations
Listener
Contributions
Educational
Institutions
Your Tax $$
Private
Foundations
Questions for discussion
Do you use internet radio,
satellite radio or radio via IPTV?
Will radio go niche and fragment
the way cable TV has?
Does your smartphone play
through your car’s speakers?