Magic Audio was asked to record the sound for the Jazz and Blues TV pilot programme in London. It was great to work with such talented musicians. We are looking forward to providing all sound services for the new series which begins Autumn 2017.
Art of Noise live at Liverpool Dock
Magic Audio supplied a Fairlight CMI system to Art of Noise for all rehearsals as well as the live show. James Thomson performed on stage with the band at Liverpool Dock where they supported The Human League. James is on the right and JJ is on the left !
Bath Spa University - Creative Music Technology
James was interviewed by Jack Bateman who is currently in year two of his Creative Music Technology degree course at Bath Spa University. After showing Jack around the studio, the interview was done in the Solarlux room which is joined onto the studio. The interview covered James's early days working with sound up to current sound mixing and voice recording projects. It was recorded and will be transcribed for inclusion in Jack's current essay assignment.
Nigel Barber - Actor & Voiceover Artist
Nigel Barber was in the studio this week to record a voice over for London client Punderson's Gardens. His voice will be used for the introduction and ending of a five minute promotional film for new residential development Waterline Square which is situated where 59th Street meets the Hudson River in Manhattan, New York. We had to connect the New York office ' live ' to the studio to enable client direction for the duration of the session. Nigel had the role of Head of Nation America in the most recent James Bond film Spectre. Here is his 2016 actor's showreel.
Zaxcom Maxx
The Zaxcom Maxx is a 10 track location mixer / recorder and is now in frequent use by James on location. The Maxx is extremely lightweight, compact and has very low power consumption. James has recently used it on BBC Studio's The Musicals, Darlow Smithson's Megastructures and Bartle Bogart Hegarty's Tesco West Country cheese commercial.
Art of Noise
The founding members of Art of Noise, JJ Jeczalik and Gary Langan recently spent a day in the Magic Audio studio with James and the resident Fairlight CMI 2X sampling system. During the early 1980's JJ was one of the most in demand Fairlight users in London working with Kate Bush, Yes, Frankie Goes to Hollywood and ABC. Gary has engineered many hit albums by Queen, Yes, Malcolm McLaren and ABC. The Fairlight was one of the first musical sampling systems and became available in 1980. From 1981 - 1985 a Fairlight could be purchased at Syco Systems in Paddington for £ 35,000 which at the time was the price of a one bedroom flat in London. It is still in demand today due to its unique workflow and sonic character.
Grand Piano recording - Bush Hall, London
James was recording presenter Neil Brand and his grand piano at Bush Hall, Shepherds Bush in London recently for the upcoming BBC4 series The Musicals.
Gramophone recording - Bristol Hippodrome
James recently recorded an old gramophone at the Bristol Hippodrome for a new series for BBC4 called The Musicals which is due to air in January 2017. The series is presented by Neil Brand.
Page R Sound Design
James's current project brief requires some unusual sampled rhythm ideas. Fairlight Page R from 1980 is always a good place to begin!
Fairlight MFX-3
At Magic Audio we use the tactile Fairlight MFK controller. Steve Pasek who provided extensive Fairlight support for many years in Los Angeles and London believes the MFK controller is still the most well thought out interface ever designed by Fairlight. For performing detailed audio edits and crossfades it is very intuitive to use.
GPJ Sound Edit
Here is a screen shot of James's current project for global events company George P. Johnson. James recorded the dialogue on location and is now editing it down to a duration of ten minutes. The final audio will be played out at the One Young World event in Ottawa, Canada at the end of September. Currently running the Fairlight as a 24 track project although it can be converted to a 48 track project if required.
Natural History Network coffee morning
James attended the Natural History Network morning coffee event this week which is a monthly networking event in Bristol for people working in the wildlife film industry. It's a great way to meet other people working on wildlife programming here in Bristol. The chosen venue was the recently opened Everyman Cinema on Whiteladies Road. There was a guest presentation by Brian Leith of Brian Leith Productions who showed us a trailer of their new film Born in China. They are based in Bristol and specialise in wildlife film making.