Another article being published
I sent a press release to the Motion Pictures Editors Guild Magazine about the free gobo design. Editor Tomm Carroll got back to me asking if I could write an article for their tech tip column about this. I of course answered “yes”. So in the January/February 2011 issue, due out the last week of December, there will be a tech tip on the gobo, including construction tips, and information on how to figure out where to place them for the best performance. I’ll put a link here on the blog as soon as I have one to post. It’s good, informative reading for the quiet time (at least work-wise) between Christmas and New Year’s.
Free studio gobo design
I have recently completed the design for a new “super gobo” for recording studios and post production sound. Usually gobos have an absorbent side and and a hard, reflective side. This super gobo, however, has a high performance diffusor on one side, and an absorber on the other.
With casters on the bottom, you have a gobo that provides adjustable room acoustics that can be used for more than just adding some isolation to musicians. By exposing either the absorptive or diffusive side, and moving the gobo into different positions, you can experiment and optimize the acoustical signature of your room at will.
Sound editors can also use these to add very effective acoustical treatments to their workspace. Often times these are rooms like small offices or spare bedrooms, which were never designed with sound in mind.
And having casters on the bottom makes it easy to change between exposing the diffusor and the absorber, and adjust gobo angles for the best sonic performance.
Another advantage is, should you move to another workspace, the casters on the free-standing gobos make it very easy to move your investment in acoustical treatment to your next room. Nothing gets left behind.
The plans are free for any one to use for personal use, and are available as a pdf download at http://www.mediaroomstech.com.
So what am I trying to do with this?
I’ve spent over 25 years in post production sound engineering, and over that time I’ve found that acoustics is considered to be like a black art that is understood only by those who have sold their afterlife to some evil deity in return for “the secret knowledge”. As a result, a great many people working in things that acoustics touches upon have misconceptions about it, relying on what they heard from someone else, who heard it from “someone who should know”, who heard it from, well, you get the point.
What I want to accomplish with this blog is to replace hearsay and myth with good, reliable information that will help you understand acoustics and put that knowledge to use in your particular situation. From a home theater or listening room, to sound editing rooms and full-on film and TV mix stages, to music recording, to screening theaters and beyond, I want to show you how to make your sonic experience better.
I want to give you the knowledge to take acoustics from scary black magic to the understandable mix of science and art that it is.
manofacoustics 