For me, the movie that changed film sound was Francis Ford Coppola’s essential war epic, Apocalypse Now. Released over 30 years ago, its groundbreaking audio design still stands out as the gold standard for the art of sound design. Don’t remember it?  Let me refresh your memory:

In Apocalypse Now, every piece of audio – from the dialogue to the choppers to the rock and roll soundtrack – was carefully captured, mixed, remixed, edited, and/or recreated to fully capture the surrealism that the characters were experiencing both on the river and in their minds. On-location audio was all but foregone in favor of studio recording, and even familiar sounds such as the passing of helicopters were deconstructed with synthesizers and rebuilt from scratch.  This close attention to detail helped achieve the dream-like effect that abounds throughout the film, and earned Walter Murch, Mark Berger, Richard Beggs, and Nathan Boxer the Academy Award for Best Sound. (To learn more about the sound design of Apocalypse Now, check out this interview with Walter Murch from Salon.)

Yet In 1979, when Apocalypse Now was released, audio technology had not yet caught up with the creativity of sound designers.  All film sound was done using big, expensive hardware, and every step in the process was lengthy.  Add in the time it took to share those recordings with others off-site (remember, this is before email), and then edit, re-edit, and finalize the audio, and now we’re talking about an incredibly time-consuming (and, hence, exponentially expensive) portion of the filmmaking process. As a result, high-quality audio was a luxury practically exclusive to big-budget films. Low budget films could not even dream of such a thing.

But thanks to some wonderful advancements in audio technology, this is no longer the case.  Today, virtually every film, from the student-produced and independent to the summer blockbuster, now has access to a wide array of audio tools that at one time were unavailable or prohibitively expensive.  Everything is being built faster, better, cheaper, and smaller.

One tool that has really revolutionized audio is the Digital Audio Workstation, or DAW.  The DAW, which allows for computerized, non-linear editing, manipulation, and mixing of audio came into widespread use in the 1990s and has since seen rapid improvements to its interface and sound-handling abilities. It has also gotten much more affordable. While at one time, one multi-channel tape recorder would cost $100k or more, now, thanks to innovations to the DAW and other equipment, a complete audio set-up can be had for under $25k.

Another part of this digital revolution in audio is miniaturization, and thus portability. Where once we would carry an unwieldy recording rig into the field to collect sound effects and ambient sounds, we now have ready access to pocket-sized, highly-portable handheld recording devices that are capable of full-frequency HD recordings. These devices, such as the Zoom H4n, are not only small, highly accurate and readily available; they are also very affordable.

So what does all this mean for filmmakers?

For one thing, it means a blurring of the traditional roles of film sound design. Whereas once there were very well-defined roles for the sound editor and the re-recording mixer, DAW technology allows the editor to perform mixing functions as part of his work and vice versa. As a result, it is now quite possible for one craftsman (or perhaps a small team) to complete a finished soundtrack without ever leaving the computer environment.

For another thing, it means no more waiting on delivery of film reels or video tapes. Just as you might get minute-by-minute project updates from your office via your smart phone, filmmakers can use similar technology to share audio instantly with anyone, anywhere in the world. Now, post-production crews in any location can be up and running in a matter of minutes instead of days; and they can easily, affordably, and quickly send experimentations and creative ideas back to the director to check sound concepts.

For students and teachers of film audio, this is all great news. Since equipment costs less, more young people can get hands-on, intensive training in this craft and have high-quality results in a short period of time. In our courses at Tribeca Flashpoint Media Arts Academy, for example, students can take to the streets to learn and experiment with the equipment they will be using on location. When they have questions, they can text an instructor from anywhere they might be, and even send the instructor short videos and audio clips to assist in problem-solving and troubleshooting.

Thanks to this increased access to better equipment and improved ability to collaborate remotely, young and independent filmmakers can now create sound designs as elaborate and nuanced as Apocalypse Now was over 30 years ago. For film viewers, this means that even the smallest indie picture can feel big using the beautiful, invisible magic of sound.

It’s not every day you get to stand in the presence of royalty, but last week, Tribeca Flashpoint Media Arts Academy students got a chance to meet a real, live Queen of Rock.

Before her concert at Lincoln Hall, the legendary Wanda Jackson sat down in her dressing room with six students from Film & Broadcast and Recording Arts to talk about her storied past, her new resurgence among a young fanbase, working with Jack White (The White Stripes, Rancontours), and releasing The Party Ain’t Over.

Watch Wanda perform with special guest Jack White on The Late Show with David Letterman:

The 129th AES Convention in San Francisco was once again held at the Moscone Center.

Tribeca Flashpoint Media Arts Academy was asked to serve on the panel at the Education Forum. This year’s topic was Creating the Out-of-Class Experience. Our presentation was titled PRODUCTION IN ACTION: An Innovative Approach to Collaboration with the Industry. Alex Case, AES Education Committee Chair, moderated the 90 minute session.

Other educators and professionals on the panel included Agniezka Roginska, Paul Geluso, and John Storyk representing New York University, and Nathan Breitling, Ryan Kleeman representing Art Institute of California.

Hundreds of exhibitors filled the large hall. Boutique manufacturers of everything from high-end analog front end mic pres and eqs to medium and large format consoles to loudspeakers were on display. We noticed a remarkable resemblance in many of these new products to designs of the past.

TFMAA also had a table at the Education Fair. More schools than ever were present talking with prospective students of audio programs. Sam Pasquesi, Tom Siuchninski, Dakota Serviss, Adam Hajnos, and Kyle Olson all made the trip to represent the Recording Arts Department and institution.

Nick Eipers

Chris Sphar, a representative from Sennheiser & Neumann microphones, led a workshop at Tribeca Flashpoint as part of the company’s educational division, “Sound Academy.”

Chris Spahr was joined by Nick Eipers, the president and recording engineer of “Chicago Sessions” – a local Chicago jazz music label. The workshop was intended to expose our students the process of managing and executing a recording session from the perspective of a microphone manufacturer and a Jazz music recording engineer.

The Jazz combo, lead by pianist Matt Nelson, was recorded with using only Sennheiser and Neumann microphones.

Matt Nelson

During the workshop, Chris demonstrated Neumann’s new digital studio microphones “Solution-D” and the new Sennheiser MK4 [below]. These microphones were placed along side other industry standard microphones for the recording session so students could compare by listening to the results first hand.

“Solution-D”

Sennheiser MK4

When you tour Tribeca Flashpoint’s campus, you’ll get to:

* Take a walking tour of our high-tech facilities
* Learn about the technology you’ll use as a student
* Hear from staff, faculty and/or students
* View examples of student work from your discipline
* Discuss housing and financial aid options
* Ask questions and get advice from our helpful team
* Schedule your student interview

To RSVP for this Saturday’s Group Tour,  please call or email Lindsay Drucker (312-506-0624).  And for a sneak peek at what you’ll see on the tour, check out the clip below!

The SoundWorks Collection is a new site and organization linking students and educators to industry professionals and “behind the scenes” source material to be used in the classroom and consumed by anyone interested in knowing about the world of post-production for the film and game industries. Below is an example of their latest piece produced by Michael Coleman highlighting the post process on the new film The Social Network led by Supervising Sound Editor Ren Klyce. Check it out:

• Film Society

The Tribeca Flashpoint Academy Film Society allows students from all disciplines to come together and explore a wide variety of films, meeting new people in the process. The Film Society organizes feature film screenings and sponsors a number of IMAX outings throughout the year.

• Women in Media

Women in Media connects women in all fields of media arts to create opportunities for future collaborative projects and act as a support group to motivate more women to enter the field.

• GSA (Gay Straight Alliance)

• Old People’s Club

Whether you are aging like fine wine or like milk, you are welcome to walker it on over to the The Old Peoples’ Club. The goal of The Old Peoples’ Club is to raise the comfort level of those who are above the average college age (21 and up), whether they’re in their first year of college or are going back to school.

• AES (Audio Engineering Society)The Audio Engineering Society – now in its sixth decade – is the only professional society devoted exclusively to audio technology. Its membership of leading engineers, scientists, academics and other authorities has grown dramatically throughout the world, boosting the stature of the society and that of its members. The AES serves its members, the audio industry and the public by stimulating and facilitating advances in the field of audio. It encourages and disseminates new developments through annual technical meetings and exhibitions of professional equipment, and through its many publications including Convention Papers, Conference Proceedings, Tutorials, online publications and The Journal of the Audio Engineering Society.

• Tabletop Gaming Club

The Table Top Gaming Club provides a place and community for non-electronic indoor games. The club is open to miniature games, card games, pen-and-paper games and whatever else players want to bring to the table (no pun intended).

• Quality Assurance

Quality Assurance connects game developers with game testers who will help improve the user experience across the full range of game genres.

• Scratch Paper

Scratch Paper is Tribeca Flashpoint’s online student magazine. Here, students showcase their work, ranging from various kinds of writing to visual art. Browse Scratch Paper here.

• Student Government

Student Government represents the student voice and aims to build a liaison between students, faculty staff, and administration to ensure the welfare of our community. Through strong leadership, Student Government strives to provide all students with opportunities to grow academically, artistically, professionally and personally.

Scott Case, President & CEO of Malaria no more, presented over 100 Tribeca Flashpoint students with a unique JumpStart this morning: instead of the usual speaker presentation and Q&A, he presented a challenge: Come up with an innovative, fresh way to persuade the public to join the fight to end malaria by 2015.

Nine student groups were each presented with a different audience – from tweens to African parents to the United States Congress – and a specific message targeting how that group can help. Groups were given 30 minutes to brainstorm and storyboard one or more concepts for how they would spread the message.

With only 30 minutes, our Flashpoint students’ creativity really shined – the concepts ranged from a Facebook game where users could “Swat the mosquitoes” to virtually save their Facebook friends from malaria to powerful PSA’s using chalk drawings of children to show that small donations could save a child – but our Congress can save thousands more.

Case told the group that in just 30 minutes they had developed more new concepts and ideas than Malaria No More had been able to develop in the last year, and that all of the ideas would be taken back to the home office for further development.

On Wednesday, September 15^th, we welcome accomplished director Zack Snyder to campus for an intimate Q&A with students.  Snyder, whose directorial credits include 300, The Watchmen, and the forthcoming Sucker Punch, will be discussing his role in bringing Kathryn Lasky’s Guardians of Ga’Hoole series to life in Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole.  Later that evening, students will also have the opportunity to attend a special advanced screening of the film at Chicago’s AMC River East movie theater.

Also on Wednesday, students will have the opportunity to attend The Main Event at Lasalle Power Company, an exclusive battle of the bands sponsored by Music Dealers in association with Billboard, Adweek, and Tribeca Flashpoint.  Those who take advantage of this invitation are sure to enjoy an evening of killer jams while networking with some of the most influential players in the national music scene.

Finally, on Friday, Tribeca Flashpoint will kick off the Jumpstart Speaker Series with a visit from Scott Case, CEO and Vice Chairman of Malaria No More.  Malaria No More a non-profit, non-governmental organization that makes high-yield investments of time and capital to speed progress, unlock resources, mobilize new assets and spur the world toward ending malaria deaths worldwide.  Tribeca Flashpoint are strong supporters of Malaria No More, and we’re really looking forward to hearing more about how this organization channels its resources, talent, tools, and social media savvy to make the world a better place.