Audio engineering

Hello Tokyo’s audio is the stuff of nightmares. It’s a mix of narration recorded in my more-or-less quiet apartment and shots taken on the streets of Tokyo with all the usual traffic and background noises and in restaurants and shops with BGM and chatting customers. I spent days banging my head against my desk trying to make the hiss and hum disappear while keeping my voice intact. No matter what I tried, I ended up sounding like I was at the bottom of a well or in a large metal room.

MJ came over for half a day and got it sorted out for me. MJ is my hero.

She focussed intently on eliminating hiss, blips and imperfections. And it worked; the production is much better off now. She’s offered to come over again to help out with mixing the levels and easing remaining sore points.

It’s good to have a friend who’s trained as an audio engineer, especially when she accepts cookies and lasagne in payment for her services. I think this is the iitomo rate; better ask her real rate if you want her help.

Have a peek at the video’s first 2’44” - the title sequence and introduction as re-created in Final Cut and engineered by MJ. The full video will be premiered at Design Festa on November 15th & 16th; I’ll post more details soon, but I hope you’ll come to the event and say hello.

Hello Tokyo title sequence & introduction. 2’44” (6.8 MB MP4)

Posted by kuri at November 01, 2003 11:04 AM