Studio West Provides Last-Minute Solutions for WDCW, Philip Rivers & Activate Water

To keep one step ahead of the competition, you need to stay flexible.  When Los Angels-based advertising agency Wong Doody Crandall Wiener contacted us to record voiceover with San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers for Activate Water, naturally we were excited.  The radio spots would run in conjunction with a new photo/billboard campaign Activate is running with NFL quarterbacks Phillip Rivers and Josh Freeman as brand ambassadors.

The plan was to complete the photo shoot earlier in the morning, then have Philip drive to Studio West to do the recording for the radio spots.  As things would turn out, scheduling conflicts arose that didn't allow time for both the photo shoot and the recording session in the same morning.  The agency asked if the recording could be done at the photo studio.  Never a dull moment in the world of high stakes audio for radio!

We arranged with our liaison at WDCW to bring the necessary recording equipment to the photographer's studio in Solana Beach where the shoot was taking place.  With the help of Studio West intern extraordinaire Alfonso Wong, we turned an open-walled upstairs loft office with no AC into a usable booth for recording radio-ready v/o, all while Philip was being photographed downstairs. 

Alfonso testing the gear

Equipment included a MacBook Pro with a new MBox 3 interface as our input to Pro Tools.  On the front end, we used a Focusrite 430 Mic Preamp connected to a Sennheiser 416 shotgun microphone.  The output of the Focusrite was connected to the line input of the Mbox.  A six-channel Rane headphone amp provided audio confidence monitoring for the client, engineer and Philip.  Pro Tools 9 software ran without any hitches.  As it was a remote record and we didn't have a backup recorder running, we stopped record and saved after each set of lines.  The recording took about 30 minutes, and we were able to sneak this picture with Phillip after the session.  Go Chargers! 

L-R: Mark Kirchner, Philip Rivers, Alfonso Wong

So, in the space of about 90 minutes, and with the help of 25 spring clamps holding 10 packing blankets from rafter beams above our loft, we turned an unlikely recording space into a workable v/o booth. The client was happy, Studio West was happy, and Alfonso was happy!

The Billy David Band Records at Studio West

Studio Engineer Brandon Papsidero has just finished up work with The Billy David Band on their latest reggae/rock release.

"The live band was recorded in Studio A to get the groove of the songs," says Papsidero.  "We recorded through outboard preamps and some outboard gear, straight into Pro Tools 9."

"We then worked on the arrangement and overdubbed keyboards, guitars and vocals from a variety of singers featured on different songs all in Studio C using Avid Eleven for guitar amp emulation and Avid Instruments for MIDI keyboards. All vocals were done with a u87."

"Finally, we brought the tracks back into Studio A and Dennis Thorbourn mixed using the SSL and outboard gear like Distressors, Avalon Compressors, and API Equalizers."

The album is being mastered in L.A. and will be released late 2011/early 2012.

The Billy David Band is:
Billy David - Vocals
Michael Hyde – Keys (from Ziggy Marley’s Band)
Chris Armes - Guitars/Bass
Wade Youman - Drums (from Unwritten Law)
Rex Costales – Bass
David Moxley – Backup Vocals
Vincent “Billy” Newman – Backup Vocals
Carlton Coffie – Guest Singer (from Bad Boys)
Bunny Rugs – Guest Singer (from Third World)

Scott Gordon's New Release Recorded and Produced at Studio West

(L-R) Engineer Caleb Keiter, Scott Gordon, Producer Marti Amado 

Singer-songwriter Scott Gordon is getting ready to release his 6 song EP, Believin' In Love, recorded and produced at Studio West. Marti Amado arranged and produced the CD, Caleb Keiter recorded and Kellogg Boynton IV and Caleb mixed at Studio West.  Listen to Believin' in Love.  Read more about Scott and his inspiration for the project in this article from the San Diego Union Tribune.

Juan Cardenas Records for The US Army

New York Theater actor Juan Cardenas was in the studio last week to record voice over spots for the US Army. Produced by Bar1NYC, the session included an ISDN connection to NY.  As usual, the session went off without a hitch. Juan recorded the spot in both English and Spanish and we used the regular mic/pre configuration for v/o in Studio C, a Neuman U87 fronted by a Focusrite Red 7 with slight compression. The nature of the spot was fairly laid-back, with little to no dynamic in the line read. Juan will be in San Diego for a few months as a cast member in an upcoming production at the Old Globe Theater in Balboa Park.

(Juan Cardenas pictured, above, and with Engineer Mark Kirchner)

Robin Leach Visits Studio West

L-R: Intern Alfonso Wong, Engineer Mark Kirchner, Mr. Robin Leach, Studio Manager Jesse Maxson

He's unmistakably Mr. "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous"!

Yesterday, Robin Leach stopped in from a La Jolla vacation to record VO pick-up lines for a set of commercials produced by Shiny Objects Marketing just up the road in Orange, California. Robin was on a tight schedule and we needed to be in and out to keep his day on track. We connected via phone patch with the producer in Orange County and the session went off without a hitch. Robin has obviously been doing this for years - he was an absolute delight to work with!

Studio West Strikes Hard with Captain America!

Studio West has completed the soundtrack and mix to Sega/Marvel's game trailer for Captain America!
 
by Mark Kirchner

Brought in again by our favorite San Diego-based animation studio, Pendulum Studios, our own Gary Miranda completed the audio for this 6-week game trailer project in both Stereo and 5.1 Surround Sound.

Now that we've done a couple projects like this with Pendulum, we wanted give you a little idea of what goes on behind the scenes with them while working on a project of this caliber.  We're only touching on a fraction of what really happens in the Pendulum workflow but it's such an interesting process, we thought we'd try and share a little of it with you.

Pendulum is a relatively small company for the amount and quality of work they produce (make sure you check out their site for other examples of their fantastic work!).  When in production on the video game trailers for Captain America and Thor, Pendulum Studios had 16-17 people at a time working on the project in various stages of completion. Overall, there were about 25 animators and visual artists that worked on the two projects. With a team of this size, the visual elements for each trailer took about 70 days to complete, or about two and half months for each 2:30 spot.

Towards the beginning of the two and a half month project, Studio West would receive a rough 90% timed animatic of the trailer.  Location dialog from the motion capture stage was usually included. Animators no longer draw every frame from scratch; they suit-up actors in those cool dotted suits we've all scene on the cover of computer magazines, and let computers connected to video cameras translate most of the actors movement captured in the Motion Capture (MoCap) Stage to computer based wireframe-type mannequins that eventually become the final animated characters.

From the rough animatics provided by Pendulum via FTP, we generally produce 70% of the sound design that is used in the trailers.  The remaining 30% is produced in the last 3-4 days prior to delivery.  Iron Man 2, Thor and Captain America were all produced in 5.1 Surround Sound from the get-go, and there's a lot of information that needs to be kept track of when building sound design for surround.  Gary and Brandon could probably write volumes on the intricacies of their routing and bussing schemes!

For the Iron Man 2 trailer, Gary produced all the music for the trailer from scratch. In the case of Thor and Captain America, we received pre-edited music beds directly from Pendulum created from actual in-game music cues. For Captain America, Pendulum timed much of the animation to the music, so it was important that they have the music bed completed very early on to support all the action in the spot. It's possible that the music bed was the first thing edited together for the Captain America project. Gary did fair amount of "tightening" of their edits, but in the end, the timing remained identical to the supplied bed, so losing sync was never an issue.

Once we got into a consistent workflow with Pendulum sending newly rendered movies every few days, we would send rough mixes over to them and receive audio notes back about once a week. In the days just prior to delivery, newly rendered footage and audio notes came to us every day, and sometimes several times in one day.  Quite often, with newly rendered visuals, we'd want to take a completely different approach to the audio.  This is not always easy to do when you're under the gun with less than 48-hours till delivery.  Needless to say, things get a little stressful in those last two days. 

L-R:  Mike McCormick, Rob Taylor, Shay Goldenberg

Most of our daily interaction was with Pendulum Senior Producer Shay Goldenberg, however co-owners Mike McCormick and Rob Taylor were also very involved in providing on-going audio direction.  Michael is Director of 3D Production and Co-Creative Director and Robert is Executive Director and Co-Creative Director.  Shay was responsible for making sure our deliverables were received on time; he also interacted with Sega & Marvel funneling their feedback to us in regards to audio notes. Shay also provided much of his own direction to the project with detailed notes on how elements should sound, especially related to maintaining in-game continuity.

The gang at Pendulum is top-notch and we're glad they continue to call on us! Projects that Studio West has completed with Pendulum Studios include game trailers and in-game cinematic for Red Faction Guerilla, Singularity, Iron Man 2, Thor and now Captain America. 

Gary Miranda in Studio B at Studio West

Below are some questions I asked Gary about his recent work on the Captain America game trailer.

MK: What was different about the experience between Thor and Captain America?
GM: Captain America is so high action - everything is there in your face, and it needed to feel like it was in-your-face-happening. Thor was very ambient and dramatic and it almost made it harder to make less into more.

MK: Which one did you enjoy more, and why?
GM: I think I liked working on Captain America a little better. I really enjoyed putting together sounds of the soldiers getting CRUSHED! The impacts were just fun.

MK: What would you do differently on either one?
GM: I would probably mix them a little more dynamically.  A little more breathing room (with the music really) on both just to have certain elements stand out that I know are there but most people don't.

MK: What's your favorite section of the Captain America spot for sound design?
GM: Really? I have to choose which one of my kids is the favorite? I guess my two favorite spots are the ground pound and the scorcher beams. 

The ground pound (shield being slammed into the ground) was one of the first things I did when we received our first animatic. I knew exactly what I wanted for that, even before we had a decent render. That was the only thing that stayed pretty much the same from the start to final delivery.

The scorcher beams were a whole different beast. We received so many different versions of those beams. For some reason I just couldn't get exactly what was in my head out of Pro Tools. The final sounds were the result of a lot of hours playing around with different elements. There are so many subtleties and layers going there: library sounds, virtual instruments, Foley created sounds, warped sounds...a lot of tracks!

On a side note, the sound that makes me laugh every time is Bucky's gun. That is the most powerful 9mm ever! I wish mine sounded like that.

MK: How long did this project take compared to Thor?
GM: I actually had a little extra time for Captain America. From the first video, I had about 3 1/2 weeks. There were some times where I was waiting for new versions so I wasn't working full time at first. The last 2 weeks were full days just like Thor.

MK: How many tracks did you end up using on Captain America?
GM: The track total for Captain America was 98! Almost broke the hundred barrier. It wasn't unmanageable, though. Proper setup, track organizing, color coding and routing were essential in keeping everything where I wanted it.

Celebrating Our 40th Anniversary!

Forty years ago this July, Lee Caroll opened Studio West of San Diego.  A few weeks ago Lee stopped by the studio for a visit.  Needless to say, we think he was impressed by the studio's longevity, and proud to see that it is still so well respected in the audio industry!  

Pictured left to right: Hunter Levy, Kellogg Boynton, Darrell Harvey, Caleb Keiter, Jesse Maxson, Gary Miranda, Lee Carroll, Peter Dyson, Marti Amado, Amy Dyson, Mark Kirchner, Amy Ziegelman

Things have changed a lot since Lee opened the doors.  The facility was originally located in the Kearney Mesa area and relocated in 1986 to Rancho Bernardo, where we're currently located.  When Peter Dyson bought Studio West in 2004, he added an extra studio to the arsenal increasing the facility to three studios and two edit suites.  In 2006 we added a couple of classrooms and opened TRAC - The Recording Arts Center, our Education and Training division, bringing Audio Engineering and Avid Pro Tools certifications to San Diego County. By January of 2012, we're expecting to offer a year-long Occupational Associates Degree in Recording Arts with over 30 different classes included in the program. 

While Lee was visiting, George Varga from the San Diego Union Tribune dropped in to do a little interview about the milestone.  Click here to read the article and find out a little more about the history of Studio West.

Celebration has continued and this past week Brad Perry of Good Morning San Diego stopped by to do a piece on the studio and listen in on a demo that was being recorded in Studio A.  Click below to watch the video:

Acclaimed Studio West Turns 40 - Part 1

Acclaimed Studio West Turns 40 - Part 2

Thank you, San Diego - here's to the next 40 years!