Relocation Notice

To all my valued clients,

The time has come for an exciting change in my life.  My family and I have decided to move back to my original hometown of Napier.  The decision has come about purely for the benefit of our family and the desire to be closer to my parents and extended whanau up north.

It certainly will be sad to leave after eleven years in Christchurch, starting off with not much more than the clothes on our backs!  We’ve come a long way, and now have two beautiful boys, and their futures to also think about.

The Garage has also come a long way, and I truly value all the relationships that I’ve built over the past years - that’s why I wanted to communicate with all of you clearly so that you know exactly what’s happening.

So, what will this mean for The Garage, and our business relationship?  

The Garage will absolutely continue to run as usual.  Same guy, same contact details, same service, except now in Napier.  All going to plan I will be based in my new studio from June 1st 2016.

For a lot of you, I daresay and hope it will not affect our relationship at all.  I’ll still be contactable at the same email address and phone number, and my business will continue to run as it always has.  I’ve always put a huge emphasis on positive communication so any delays or periods where I’m transitioning will be clear to you so that none of this affects delivery of your work.

If you have any questions I’m more than happy to talk through any potential issues we may have to work through so that I can continue to offer the same service.  I’d also love to hear from you if you have any words of advice or support as I go through this transition.

I’ll keep you updated through this news page every step of the way!

Once again, I really do appreciate working with all of you and hope that we can continue on long into the future.

Thank you.

House Of Mountain

Been doing a bit of mixing for these fine fellows...  here's their first track 'Kiwi Hit' :)

Thanks as always to Mr Ben Delaney for the mastering jelly!

What superb gentlemen...

TV Series Audio Post Roundup - Big Angry Fish

Last year I was contracted by the team behind Big Angry Fish for the audio post production on their TV series.  BAF plays on TV3 here in NZ and also across Australia and has a large passionate fan base so it was great to get involved.  The production team for the show is a real example of how production workflows can exist today.  The core of the team, Nikolaj, Milan, Nathan and Anne Marie are based in Tauranga.  They take care of all the organising, script writing, filming and catching fish! Ryan, the editor is now also based in Tauranga although last year he was based in Wellington.  We were able to work together flawlessly by communicating well and sending files back and forth.  

Fantastic people to work with, the team create a show that inspires and educates anglers as well as having a strong focus on respect and admiration for the sea and it's inhabitants.  

Before receiving any files at all I communicated with the team and offered advice on the best way of capturing sound while out in the boat.  The overall mix ultimately relies on good location sound so spending time on this was the first thing to get right.  It's not exactly a controlled environment to film in so the set up has to be easy to use and reliable.  

In the end all the sound recorded for the series comes from 2 high quality wireless lavalier mics, protected well from the wind and sitting high on the chest of each presenter in their life jacket rig. These worked great, capturing dialogue clearly - but that's about it.  The small amount of ambience they captured did little to create the sense of space that conveys reality and immersiveness in a video production.  So I went to work creating ambiences and atmosphere tracks I could sit under these mic tracks that would fill out the stereo field and make each scene feel more real.  

I made a field recording trip out on a boat similar to that of the BAF team (the 'Techno Viking') and made various recordings of all the sounds you hear while out on the water - motors, ambiences, water lapping etc.  These formed a basis to work upon and I layered them with other sound effects from my library to get the atmospheres I was after.

The aim was not to go too overboard with the additional sounds, but to create a more realistic soundscape that helps to pull the veiwer into the action.  The mix of course also relies on getting all the basics right - dialogue and voiceover clean, clear and consistent, good levels of dialogue, effects and music and a tight consistent mix delivered at required spec.

Along with delivering audio at loudness spec for TV in NZ, I also delivered for DVD and Australian TV, plus to TVF International in the UK for worldwide distribution.  This involved providing various audio stems at specific levels so that the show can be re purposed for other languages.

The post production work on this year's series is just about to kick off, so if you like your fish big and angry - get amongst it!

Anatomy Of A Song – Season 2 On Air

Last year I worked with RDU to produce the first series of this unique radio adventure, which played on RDU and also Radio New Zealand National during Music 101 on Saturday arvo.  They liked it so much that they wanted more, so here we go again this year with series 2!

As I write this we are half way through the broadcast schedule, so you can already check out the first 6 episodes at this link... HERE, and as time goes on they will all be uploaded.  
Series 1 is also HERE if you want to check that out.

The episodes give you a glimpse into the recording and creative processes that go into the songs - and a pretty unique chance to hear the songs de constructed before your very ears.  We've had some great feedback from listeners and the bands themselves.

The list of artists we've had on board includes The Phoenix Foundation, Ladi 6, Opiou, Beastwars, Lawrence Arabia, Marlon Williams, Delaney Davidson, Trinity Roots, Tiny Ruins and many more.  

Enjoy! ...and big uppity ups to my partners in this crime, Rachel Morton and Spanky Moore XXX

Resonate showreel

Here's a really nice project I recently finished work on with Simon Waterhouse at Resonate.  

I've worked on quite a few of their projects over the last couple of years so it was a real treat to have a selection of the best bits together in one video and the chance to create and mix sound for them.

My hand in the project started with voice selection.  I've worked with George Henare in the past, and when Simon mentioned what he was after George immediately popped into my mind.  Being based in Auckland we connected via Source Connect for the recording session so that we could produce and give direction from here in The Garage.  What can you say about that voice?!! Magic.

After selecting takes, editing and placing the voice parts in the timeline I set about creating the sound design for the piece.  With so many different scenes and a lot of fast edits it was a pretty complex job -a challenge for both creativity and attention to detail.  In the end we were all very happy indeed with how it turned out!

Thanks again Simon from Resonate.  

Monitoring System Upgrade

I recently upgraded my monitoring system to Genelec 8240 Smart Active Monitors, and wow am I happy that I did.  

For people reading this that aren't familiar with studio loudspeakers, Genelec make some of the finest available, and they can be found in most top recording studios and audio post facilities around the world.

Recently they also introduced the SAM series (Smart Active Monitors), which have the ability to adjust the sound they reproduce depending on the room they are in.  Very cool.  Basically you pair them up with the GLM kit, which includes an interface and microphone.  The speakers perform a filter sweep from low to high frequencies and the room's frequency response is captured by the microphone.  The the speakers can then compensate for any room resonances or abnormalities so that what you are listening to is not coloured by the room you are in.  

What all this means is that you are hearing a flat response - and that allows you to make good decisions when mixing.  Ultimately the goal is for your mix to sound great in any room, under any circumstances, and these monitors help get that result.