NEWS

WHOS AT WHAT
ISSUE #63
amps
A Publication of the Association of Motion Picture Sound
AMPS AT CTBFs
GLEBELANDS
RADIO MICS:
CH 38 ?
FULL DETAILS
amps JOURNAL
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We thank all our Sustaining Members for their continuing support
AMPS SUSTAINING MEMBERSHIP
www.audio.co.uk
www.nagraaudio.com
www.sennheiser.co.uk
www. r i chmondf i l mser vi ces. co. uk
www.audioltd.com
www.everythingaudio.co.uk
www.rycote.com
www.fostex.co.jp www.aaton.com
www.tacet.tv
www.dolby.com
www.bettersound.co.uk
www.mayflowerstudios.com
www.pinewoodgroup.com
www.twickenhamfilmstudios.com www.technicolor.com
www.delanelea.com
www.ascentmedia.co.uk
www.micronwireless.co.uk
www.nftslm-tv.ac.uk
www.visuals.co.uk
www.zound.co.uk
www.reelsound.com
amps JOURNAL
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JOURNAL
the
# 63
CONTENTS
04 News and Items
05 The Journal Page and Chairmans Comment
06 Membership matters
07 AMPS Charity : A project for CTBFs Glebelands
08 AMPS News
09 Editors Selection
10 Whos At What: Dave Humphries brings us your news
14 Meet The Members : Nico Louw and John Salter
16 So What About Channel 38? - Sandy MacRae on an RF future
20 Letters: Colin Miller bids farewell
21 Editors Oddments - Parking in LA and super Velcro
22 Norwegian Dialogue - Dave Humphries goes Nordic
24 Conch Awards - Full results
25 New Products
26 Obituaries - Peter T Davies, Angie Marshall
28 Dr Whos Doing What? - Antique pictorial
07: Installation at Glebelands
10: Whos At What
16: Channel 38s OK where?
COVER: A detail from the Sonosax SX-ST: a popular analogue mixer choice for
many production sound mixers. Available in 8 and 10 input congurations,
it is equipped with comprehensive EQ, adjustable limiters and 8 bus routing. A digital
output module is optional as is the 8-track internal recorder (see Spring 2008 issue of
The Journal). Sonosax are distributed in the UK by Audio Ltd. Pic: Tim White AMPS
amps JOURNAL
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8
NEWS & ITEMS
GEAR SHOWS : The opportunities to see professional audio
equipment at a trade show in the UK have been decreasing over
the years. The IBC decamped to Amsterdam in the 1990s; the APRS
Exhibition petered out some years ago; The Audio Engineering
Society Conventions have avoided the UK for some time ; and the
list continues.
This year we had the cancellation in August of the Sound Broad-
cast Equipment Show (SBES), scheduled for November, apparently
due to a lack of bookings. This would have been the 34th show
but we understand that the organisers have gone into administra-
tion while the web site (www.sbes.com) simply states SBES is no
more.
However, there are a few positive signs. The Broadcast Video
Expo 2010 does appear to be trying hard to reverse this trend.
Scheduled for Earls Court 2, 16-18th February 2010, the organisers
are working hard to encourage audio equipment exhibitors despite
the visual orientation of the show title.
AMPS has been approached to take a stand under an arrangement
that would not cost the Association in exchange for publicising the
show to our membership and providing assistance to the planned
seminar/workshop programme.
If the idea of manning an exhibition stand for a few hours, with
two or three other AMPS colleagues, appeals (it can be quite
fun) please contact Brian Hickin in the AMPS ofce or e-mail
admin@amps.net. AMPS hasnt taken an exhibition stand at any
show for three years and the Council believes that this is a good op-
portunity to wave the ag for the Association and sound.
Take a look at www.broadcastvideoexpo.co.uk
Post Script : After writing the above the Journal has just learnt that
the AES is returning to London for its 127th Convention - May
20-23 2010 at the ExCeL, east London. This will be the rst time the
Convention has been here in 23 years!
THE TABLE TOP SALE : Gorgeous weather was a very welcome
topping to the latest AMPS Table Top Sale which was held on
Sunday the 27th of September, and allowed the event to take place
in the open air instead of indoors. This event followed on from a
similar one held at the beginning of the year. Sellers and buyers
were invited to Longcross Studios in Chobham, Surrey where the
facilities were kindly made available by General Manager Bob Terry.
This event, despite being promoted to IBS, BSC, GBTFE, GBCT
and BECTU Sound branch, was sparsely attended, probably
reecting the present depressed state of our industry. In spite if this
there were lots of genuine bargains to be had and much surplus or
redundant equipment was bought and sold in addition to the very
social aspect of the occasion.
Freshly brewed coffee and tea, with pain au chocolat, croissants
and sticky cake were provided by an IBS member, Richard Merrick,
and the pitch charges of 70 have been donated to the AMPS
charity fund.
SCREENINGS : The rearrangement of the seating in Pinewoods
Theatre 7 to allow the tting of a Digidesign Icon console was com-
pleted with little impact on the Screening schedule. There are still
115 seats in the Theatre but importantly for Pinewood it now has
the capability to be used as a premixing/mixing facility. However
with the Michael Johns GBFTE joint screenings having been opened
up to other Guilds it becomes more important that AMPS members
wishing to attend book their seats promptly and cancel them if they
are subsequently unable to use them.
Ian Sands AMPS
8
8
NEW AMPS FELLOW : JOHN ILES
Long time AMPS member John Iles was made
a Fellow of the Association in a presentation
following his Sound Of Silence - An Evening
With John Iles meeting at the NFTS in
September; an event that AMPS Council had
asked him to organise. The citation reads as
below:
The Council of the Association of Motion Picture
Sound is pleased to award Fellowship of the As-
sociation to John Iles.
John Iles began working in the audio industry
in 1964, joining a small studio in Mayfair as a
technical engineer where he built one of the earliest
portable transistorised consoles.
In 1976 he joined Dolby Laboratories and was
soon involved with the Dolby lm programme
where he helped usher in the early use of Dolby ster-
eo sound in lms produced in England, and later in
Europe. After working on secondment from Dolby
as a Re-recording Mixer at Delta Sound, Shep-
perton, John was offered the job of Head of Sound.
After two years of what he described as The best
and worst of times, he rejoined Dolby and contin-
ued to build a team of sound consultants overseeing
Dolby Approved Studios worldwide, being person-
ally involved with most of the major lms produced
in Dolby formats in the 70s and 80s in Europe.
Johns courteous and friendly manner always
made him welcome when assisting in the post-pro-
duction and exhibition of countless soundtracks
over many years and he is held in high regard
within the industry. He retired in 2008 after a long
and distinguished career and it is for his achieve-
ments in progressing Sound for Motion Pictures
that AMPS now awards him the honour of Fellow-
ship of the Association.

The presentation was made by AMPS
Chairman Peter Hodges. A full recording of
the meeting is available in the AMPS website
Members Area.
amps
EDITORIAL COMMENT
amps JOURNAL
05
...from AMPS Chairman
I recently had the pleasure of presenting John Iles with a
Fellowship of the Association following his talk at the NFTS
about a Life in Sound and in particular his work with
Dolby Labs. It was a fascinating insight to some of the prob-
lems Dolby had in establishing new standards and getting
them accepted by Producers and Cinemas. We should be
very grateful to Dolby and the work John did in promoting
the use of Dolby Stereo which became a defacto standard
for feature lm soundtracks. He also reminded us of the
fact that when SR was introduced the audio quality of the
recordings was superior to digital recordings of the time and
I certainly remember being very impressed by the sound of
mixes on 16mm magnetic using Dolby SR. We were joined
for Johns talk by a few of the sound students from the NFTS
who enjoyed the evening and I hope that it made them think
about how lm soundtracks have evolved over the years.
Behind the scenes several Council members continue to
work on behalf of everyone in the Association by addressing
issues such as Training, Skills Passports and Health & Safety.
Another matter that is of great concern is Managed Migra-
tion, which does nothing to encourage overseas produc-
ers to use UK crews and some would argue that it actually
discourages the employment of our technicians.
As you will see, elsewhere in the Journal, we need to
increase our subscriptions next year. You may remember
that we deferred the increase this year because of the gen-
eral economic situation. Although we run the Association as
economically as possible, over the last couple of years rising
costs and marginally increased expenditure has been slowly
eating into our reserves and now we need to at least break
even and possibly rebuild some of our reserves for the
future. Our regular ongoing expenses include the Film
shows and other meetings, the Journal and the Website.
We are currently looking at ways of upgrading our site and
while we are fortunate to have very clever people in the
Association working on this we also need to bring in outside
expertise and this costs money. We can all help to increase
our income by recruiting new individual members and also
by encouraging new sponsor members to join.
On a positive note may I remind you that AMPS is able to
offer members access to an excellent private Health Insur-
ance scheme with WPA, as well as special deals on Mobile
or other telephone communication services via Premier
Telephones. AMPSConnect offers us a great way of sharing
information and experience - were very fortunate to have
access to this pool of knowledge within our membership.
Finally in these difcult times may I wish you all every
success working with sound for picture.
Peter Hodges AMPS
Chairman
JOURNAL
the
The AMPS Journal (The Journal)
is published quarterly by the
Association of Motion Picture Sound
It is distributed to all members and
associated organisations. The Journal is
a forum for discussion and it should not
be assumed that all opinions expressed
are necessarily those of AMPS
A version of the Journal is also available
via the AMPS website (www.amps.net).
All contents AMPS 2009
Edited by Keith Spencer-Allen AMPS
TO CONTACT THE JOURNAL
Tel: +44 (0)1732 740950
Fax: +44 (0)1732 779168
For general communications use :
journal@amps.net
For press releases, images etc use :
press@amps.net
TO CONTACT AMPS
The Administration Secretary,
Association of Motion Picture Sound
28 Knox Street, London W1H 1FS, UK
Tel: +44 (0)207 723 6727
Fax: +44 (0)207 723 6727
For general communications use :
admin@amps.net
MEMBERSHIP ENQUIRIES
Should be addressed to the Membership
Secretary at the AMPS ofce address as
above or direct to:
membership@amps.net
amps JOURNAL
06
MEMBERSHIP
from the
membership
secretary
membership@amps.net
As mentioned by the Chairman in his column, the Council
have now decided to implement the proposed increase in
subscriptions, originally intended for 2009, but postponed in
view of the nancial climate prevalent in October 2008.
Patrick Heigham AMPS
Membership Secretary
We welcome the following New Members :
Joshua WHITLAM Supplementary Sound Assistant Jul-09
Johnny WHITE Supplementary Sound Assistant Aug-09
Adam RIDGE Associate Boom Operator Sep-09
Marius STANESCU Full (Overseas) Boom Operator/ Sound Recordist Oct-09
Jo VALE Associate Sound Assistant/Boom Operator Oct-09
So, the following new rates will apply as from January 2010:
JOINING FEE: Once only charge of 15 payable by all categories except Student and Overseas.
ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION:
Full, Associate, or Afliate Member: 75 by Standing Order or Cheque
Supplementary Member: 50 by Standing Order or Cheque
Student Member: Free during approved course & subsequent
rst year or 25 by Cheque
Retired Member: 35 by Standing Order or Cheque (no change)
Overseas Member: 40 UK Sterling (Pay method to be advised)
Sustaining Membership 350 per annum (no Joining Fee payable)

Members who currently pay by Standing Order (very preferable) will or have been sent an
amending instruction for their banks to act upon. Those members who have previously paid by
cheque will be encouraged to use the SO method, but are welcome to continue using cheque, or
internet transfer to the AMPS account. Please make cheques payable to the Association of Motion
Picture Sound. We regret that payment by Direct Debit or Credit Card is not available. PayPal
might be possibility in the future.
amps JOURNAL
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Captions: (from top)
Glebelands exterior - library
behind conservatory;
library interior; Ian Sands
tting induction loop; the
AMPS install team - Simon
Clark , Brian Simmons and
Ian Sands.
AMPS CHARITY
AMPS AT GLEBELANDS
This summer saw our target for the very worthy CHASE
Childrens Hospice comfortably achieved and a new
charity to be chosen. When selecting a suitable AMPS
charity Council works to a brief that, wherever possible,
the charity should be connected with hearing loss or have
a requirement for some form of support that involves a
sound connection.
Council put its collective heads together
and took the decision to investigate our
own Film and TV industry-wide charity
- the Cinema and Television Benevolent
Fund. Enquiries established that oil
needed to be poured on troubled water
at Glebelands, the home to many individuals
who have worked behind the scenes in the world of
lm, cinema and television. Some residents were having
difculties hearing the cinema and TV sound from the
viewing facilities in the Library, whilst others were content,
leading to the inevitable disputes about listening levels!
A recce established that the solution would be to install
an Induction Loop system, permitting residents utilising
hearing-aids individual choice while keeping the over all
sound at a comfortable level.
The solution threw up two problems. Glebelands
requested that the installation should be done as soon as
possible as it was one of their higher priorities, and the
Library had recently been completely re-decorated. AMPS
resolved the rst by taking the decision to supply and
install the equipment, thus helping to keep costs down, and
replenishing its charity funds with anticipated donations.
The second was more problematical. The loop itself
had to be as inconspicuous as possible yet it needed to be
installed round a large and fairly complex room. This had
to be achieved without disturbing the decoration, yet it was
not possible for the loop to be concealed under the polished
wood oor or in the ceiling.
The solution was to use the ceiling coving. Its prole has
a vertical at surface of slightly wider dimension than the
plastic cover strip for the copper foil loop tape. With careful
tting and a coat of matching emulsion we were condent
of success!
The amplier and loop materials were purchased and
Simon Clark, Ian Sands and Brian Simmons were delegated
to be surrogate Installation Engineers. After a lot of
measuring, cutting, mitre-ing and considerable mounting
and dismounting of step-ladders the task was completed
in one day. Four additional receiver/headphone units for
the use of residents were supplied as part of the package
and a test-run demonstrated the effectiveness of the system
throughout the Library.
AMPS has received a letter from Steve Jaggs, Chairman
Glebelands Committee on behalf of the residents, trustees
and members of the CTBF expressing their gratitude.
You can have a good view the Library by going to
www.glebelands.org
and selecting the 360-degree Virtual Tour
amps JOURNAL
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AMPS NEWS
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
Broadcast Video Expo 2010
- February 16-18, 2010 - Earls Court 2, London
- www.broadcastvideoexpo.co.uk
AES 127th Convention
- May 20-23, 2010 - ExCeL, London
- www.aes.org
AES 128th Convention
- November 4-7, 2010 - Moscone Center, San Francisco
- www.aes.org
This is a list of forthcoming industry events that may
be of interest to AMPS members, to varying degrees
- check their websites for more details, and because
event organisers are notorious for changing dates and
cancelling shows. Let us know (journal@amps.net) if
weve missed any relevant shows. Editor
SOUND FELLOWS EVENT
As publicised, on the 19th of October, a
Sound Fellows event was hosted jointly at
Pinewood Studios by the APRS and Pinewood
Studios. In addition to the widely promoted
hearing tests, hog roast and studio tours, there
was a panel discussion about our industry and
a presentation by a hearing specialist.
To hear and see both the discussion and the
presentation, log into the members area of the
AMPS website, navigate to the AV Recordings
Archive and choose one or both les which are
in Windows Media Video format.
Ian Sands
DAVID LANE
The unexpected death of David Lane in Oc-
tober took a large section of AMPS member-
ship by surprise. David was the unchallenged
master of the Nagra analogue tape machine,
maintaining and modifying them and ad-
vising their owners. Most Nagra equipped
production mixers entrusted the care of their
Nagras to him, often taking the time to carry
them down to his base in Torquay. Many
counted him as a friend. In more recent times he was also based at
Richmond Film Services where he was awarded an AMPS Honorary
Membership last year in recognition of his service to the industry.
There will be a full tribute in the next issue of the Journal.
At a graduation event in July at Doggetts, South Bank, London,
twenty nine young people received certicates conrming their
successful completion of a 44 week pilot lm and television
industry apprenticeship-style training scheme Changing
Technologies for New Entrants.
This FT2 training has been funded by the industry through
Skillsets Film Skills and TV Freelance Training funds.
Skillsets Director of Film Neil Peplow said:
Skillsets own research reveals that keeping abreast of new
technologies is a high training priority for workers in the lm
industry. I am delighted that Skillset has been able to support this
fantastic scheme, delivered by FT2, to help make sure that new
entrants in our industries are able to hit the ground running and
are skilled in these priority areas.
Pictured above are the graduating Sound Assistants with FT2
advisor Chris Gurney AMPS. (L to R), Alan MacFeely, Dash
Mason-Malik, Chris Gurney, Ishmael Harris, and Johnny White.
FT2 SOUND GRADUATES
SAVE OUR SOUND CAMPAIGN
You may have heard or read some of the
coverage generated by this PR campaign to
alert the country to the perilous state of the
entertainment world should the radio mic
issue reach an unsatisfactory conclusion. The
Press Release masthead below shows the
strength of supporting organisations behind
it with the AMPS logo prominently in there.
www.saveoursounduk.com
amps JOURNAL
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TECH BITS
De-Reverbing
Weve all had times when you wish there was less
reverberation on a recorded signal. The mic may have
been too distant or something in the surroundings
changed. Maybe you are trying to match two voice re-
cordings with different amounts of ambience. Whatever
the reason, the tools to reduce or remove reverb have
been fairly limited and may only work in very restricted
circumstances. Id always assumed that this was some-
thing that DSP would address at some stage although
quite how the software would remove ambience from a
signal that it didnt have a completely dry reference for
or a construct for the reverberation applied to it, seemed
some way off.
Well, we can now see where the technology has got to.
The IBC and AES Conventions saw the rst showings of
a plug-in from the Japanese company Tacsystem which
claims to reduce reverberation. Known as NML RevCon-
RR is currently a plug-in for Pro Tools and Audio Suite.
It was developed by the Communications Sciences Labs
of NTT which is the Japanese equivalent of BT. They
describe the it as using novel dereverberation technol-
ogy steered by multi-step linear prediction algorithym
which sounds complex but the operation is apparently
simple with just a single big reduction knob. A full
analysis display is shown on screen - spectrogram and
audio envelope display with additional controls to ne
tune processing for dialogue.
The early demo I heard suggested that this is a product
in development and that it is still rather crude but on the
website (www.tacsystem.com - but select English rather
then Japanese) there is provision to download a manual,
before and after processing WAV les, and a demo ver-
sion of the program. Anyway, this is a good rst step on
the development of a new tool. The Journal would very
much like to hear your experience with NML RevCon-
RR if you have a go.
THE EDITORS
SELECTION
Sound Editors may nd the Save Our Sounds project
from the BBC World Service of interest. They are asking
for sound recordings from different parts of the world
allowing website visitors to click and listen to the world.
Quality is variable but always of worthwhile and may
provide clues to local ambience at the very least. www.
bbc.co.uk/worldservice/specialreports/savoursounds.shtml
BLUE COW CABLES AND ADAPTERS

Blue Cow is the name that AMPS member John Perkin uses for his cable and
connector business most of which is to full those non-standard connecting
requirements. He sent these details on one of his (probably) unique adapters.
This adapter is female XLR 5 to Female 3.5mm TRS housed inside a Neutrik NC5FXX plug
with a sturdy one piece feel to it. Its designed as an alternative for when a production mixer may
require a second set of tails which have an XLR 5 return rather than a 3.5mm jack.
The 3.5mm jack socket holds a jack plug securely and a slight extra pressure is require when inserting.
There is also a thread which will t any screw locking jack plugs. As for the Neutrik XLR plug, I feel Neutrik have done a fantastic job
on updating the very commonly used range X series plugs with the newer XX series.
Take a look at www.bluecowcables.com for more useful ways of completing that signal path.
Laser-Accurate Microphone Technology
Just before the AES, a press release from NY-based
Schwartz Engineering & Design received a lot of coverage.
It described an approach to microphone design that was
radically different from anything currently available. At
the centre of the concept is a laminar stream of air in which
are suspended microscopic particles (a bit like smoke).
When affected by
changes in air pres-
sure (sound) these
particles move and
that movement is
detected by a laser
that shines through
the air stream and
is picked up by sen-
sors on the opposite
side. The positive
side is that theres
no moving parts; no
diaphragm etc to colour the sound and no practical upper
and lower limits to its frequency response.
When inventor David Schwartz demonstrated the Laser-
Accurate microphone at the AES it quickly became clear
that this was at a very early stage in development.
While it did work, few were very impressed. Contribut-
ing to various news groups after the show Schwartz was
quite candid that Prototype One does sound horrible and
inferred that he was actually only trying to prove the con-
cept detailed in his patent. Then he would invest in a better
prototype and the pointer laser, coffee stirrers and sawn off
funnel would go!
Despite being guilty of over-hyping the concept
Schwartzs idea has value and we will watch with interest.
amps JOURNAL
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Whos At What ....
- a listing of members
activities, based entirely
on information provided
by yourselves.
The productions listed
are in no particular order.
AMPS members are in
coloured bold type.
If you would like to
let everyone know what
youre doing, send a short
e-mail with the relevant
details to :
whois@amps.net
and youll be in the next
issue.
Wed also be pleased to
hear any additional
technical information
such as what key
equipment, recording
format etc, you were
using.
Many thanks to those
whove sent pictures
- more are encouraged.
Looking forward to
hearing from you.
Dave Humphries AMPS
NB: For anyone without ready access to
e-mail, send details by post or fax to the
usual AMPS ofce address.
.... Boom Operator Chris Atkinson AMPS is currently working with American
Production Sound Mixer Ed Novick, on Director Christopher Nolans Inception.
.... Supervising Sound Editor Colin Chapman AMPS says Sonic Trax are working on
Identity for ITV, Cosi Fan Tutte, a movie for Director Chris Menaul and The Turn Of
The Screw for the BBC.
.... Production Sound Mixer John Rodda AMPS says, Im away shooting The Pillars
of The Earth in Hungary and Austria, from June to November. These are 4 x two-hour
episodes for TV International Television and probably to be aired on Sky in the UK
during 2010.
Set in medieval England its an epic Ken Follet story, about the nancing, construction,
politics and skulduggery which surrounded the building of a 12th century cathedral.
Im recording on my new Zaxcom Fusion 12, were shooting mostly two but regularly
three cameras on HD with all the joys and dramas of timecode, digi-slates and tri-level
syncs.
.... Production Sound Mixer Richard Manton, Boom Operator Steve Fish and Sound
Assistant Mike Taylor, all AMPS members, are currently shooting four lms for Lewis
Series 4. Produced by Chris Burt for ITV Studios, each 2-hour story is shot in Oxford
and locations to the west of London. Richard is giving a rst outing to a new mixer
developed for him by Sustaining Members Audio Developments. He writes, Its
basically an AD146 (8 into 4) but with much more sophisticated monitoring. It mates
perfectly with my Sound Devices 744T. Roger and Tom listened to all my requirements
and met them all. I believe this new version is now in production
.... Production Sound Mixer John Mooney AMPS says, Ive just nished off doing
the 2nd Unit and last couple of weeks of the main unit of Ridley Scotts Untitled
Robin Hood Adventure for Universal, with Boom Ops Paul Schwartz AMPS, Stuart
McCutcheon, Jethro Hegarty and Denise Yarde and have moved straight onto Series
2 of the BBCs Bristol-based Being Human with Boom Op Stuart McCutcheon and
Assistant Emma Cogan.
.... Production Sound Mixer John Hayes AMPS has completed Centurion which was
lming in Scotland and leafy Surrey, with Paul Schwartz AMPS on Boom and Andrew
Rowe on Second Boom.
He says, We are now recceing and prepping for a London based lm called 4-3-
2-1. Early days on the recce front but it is all the usual places (Its time the location
managers started looking a little further aeld. I have already lmed in one location at
least twice!)
Along with my DEVA and Audio 255 we will be using a Nagra LB for background
tracks and FX; having had a loan from Richmond Film Services of an LB, I just had to
have one!
.... Re-recording Mixer Alan Sallabank AMPS sends this in:
I have been mixing Garrows Law - 4x1hr period TV drama for BBC, Dialogue Editor
Phil Barnes, FX Editor Louise Sinclair, Production Mixer Brian Milliken AMPS, Foley
from Universal. Doc Martin - 8 x 1hr for ITV, Supervising Editor John Downer AMPS,
Dialogue Editors Peter Bond AMPS & Sarah Morton,
Production Mixer Simon Hayter, Foley from
Everything Audio.
I am also happy to have made the shortlist of the UK
Screen Sound Awards 2009 for best sound on a TV
Drama on Crooked House, Dialogue Editor Chris
Roberts AMPS, FX Editor Louise Sinclair, Production
Mixer Alex Thompson AMPS, Foley from Clarity.
.... Production Sound Mixer Barry OSullivan AMPS
is shooting Last Word in Glasgow with Boom
Operator Tony Cook, his third still to be conrmed.
Hes shooting on a Fostex PD606 with a Sonosax
SX-S mixer and his trusty Sennheiser MKH 50s and
60s. The lm stars Ewan McGregor and Eva Green.
WHOS AT WHAT
Barry OSullivan AMPS
amps JOURNAL
11
A
.... Sound Editor Sue Lenny AMPS writes
that she is back working on another series
of Lewis for ITV, starting on 21st September
as Sound Effects editor. Harry Barnes is
again doing Dialogues and John Downer
AMPS will be the Supervising Sound Editor
and Gareth Bull will be mixing.
.... Production Sound Mixer David
Lascelles AMPS is shooting Chatroom, a
Ruby Films British feature lm, shot at
Shepperton Studios and on location in
Wimbledon and Camden Market. The lm
is based on the play of the same name.
He writes, Shot on two 35mm Arri
cameras, I recorded sound on a Deva 5.8.
There are ve main characters so we had
ve radio mics (RMS2020s) and two
booms (MKH50s) on every scene. Our
biggest problem was a raised oor on one
of the main sets. When it got hot it would
creak under the weight of a dolly and nine
crew. Not good when we did 360 tracking
shoots!
Shooting in Camden Market with 100s of shops and
stalls all playing different music provided difcult. A
combination of radio mics and bribes saved the day!
.... After a long stint painting and decorating Nick
Lowe AMPS writes that he is gainfully employed
supervising Meant To Be in Antwerp. ADR is
scheduled to be shot at Sonic Magic in Culver City,
Studio LEquipe in Brussels and Twickenham Film
Studios. Mixing will take place at Studio LEquipe in
Audio 1.
.... Voice Casting Director Louis Elman AMPS says,
We have been casting voices on the following; John
Maddens feature The Debt for Ian Wilson and Andy
Shelley; The Prisoner TV series, for the US and ITV.
Doc Martin TV series for John Downer and Steve
Barker. Married, Single and Others for Matt Skelding
at Boom and Planet 51, a feature for Paul Conway.
.... Sound Designer Paul Weir AMPS writes, Im
currently working on the computer game Thief 4 for
Eidos as the audio director and sound designer (and
composer!). Its early days but weve already recorded
a test Foley session with Peter Burgis and are looking
forward to various location recording days. For me this
is an exciting opportunity as I have the time to build
the team I want whilst retaining hands on creative
control.
.... Production Sound Mixer John Hughes AMPS says,
Im currently in the middle of lming Series 6 of
Hustle which has relocated to Birmingham, though it
is still set in London. The stage is a warehouse on an
industrial estate, so very reverberant, with seagulls on
the roof and the usual likely ADR when it rains! Im
sure many others are battling with these very issues
elsewhere!
Tim Partridge is boom op and Paul Brookes is the
sound assistant.
(from left) Jim Hok AMPS, AMPS member Helen McGovern and David Lascelles AMPS,
on set of Chatroom
.... Re-recording Mixer Neil Hillman AMPS writes from The
Audio Suite, We had Robert Glenister, undertaking ADR in his
role as Home Secretary for Series 8 of Spooks and Max Beesley,
recording his commentary for Spungold TVs The Duchess on
the Estate. Max has also returned for ADR on several episodes
of the BBC drama Survivors, series 2.
Series 16 of the true motoring-enthusiasts number one TV
show, 5th Gear, was re-versioned for International Syndication
following its successful UK season, and we welcomed back Suzi
Perry, Jason Bradbury, Ortis Deeley and Jon Bentley for Series 12
of The Gadget Show. Were incredibly proud to say that every
one of the 120 episodes so far have been audio post-produced
here, starting from the original pilot.
I have also sound designed and mixed a UK Film Council/
Screen West Midlands short for Writer/Director Simon Bovey,
called Studs, a gritty insight into the sometimes darker side of
Rugby Union.
.... Sound Assistant Simon Bysshe writes Earlier this year I
worked as Boom Operator for Sound Mixer John Midgley on
Nowhere Boy, the feature lm directorial debut of Sam
Taylor-Wood. The lm charts John Lennons teenage years and
the formation of his rst group The Quarrymen. With us was
Neil Hillman AMPS with Robert Glenister at the ADR session for
Series 8 of Spooks.
WHOS AT WHAT
amps JOURNAL
12
A
Dash Mason-Malik as our sound trainee. It was a fantastic
experience and a real pleasure to work closely with DOP
Seamus McGarvey and camera operator Peter Robertson.
Since then I was fortunate to be invited back with John
Midgley this time on the comedy feature Gullivers Travels
directed by Rob Letterman and starring Jack Black who
plays a very contemporary Lemuel Gulliver. My role was
as second boom operator alongside June Prinz on main
boom and sound assistant Charlotte Gray. This was a
highly complex shoot for us and regularly involved dual
motion-control shots on both Gulliver & the Lilliputian
elements simultaneously on separate sets. In order for the
artists to hear each other we would rig induction loops
around each set and mix dialog from the opposite set into
the artists earpieces. The lm was shot on Panavision
Genesis HD cameras which for us posed many problems of
fan noise from the magazines on quiet interior sets. We sent
a guide track to all cameras via a Sennheiser IEM unit and
jammed Ambient Lockit boxes on each camera to 23.976
using an Ambient Master Controller which would then jam
Johns Deva V.
.... Production Sound Mixer Billy Quinn AMPS is shooting
an American/British co-production feature lm comedy
called Swinging with the Finkels, recording onto his
trusted Aaton with the lm being shot on Sony F35 High
Def camera. His Sound Team are Boom Op Richard Jay
AMPS and Sound Assistant Jimmy Benton. The lm is
being shot around London & Cambridge in Aug/Sept, and
starring Martin Freeman, Mandy Moore, Melissa George
and Jonathan Silverman including the comedy genius of
Jerry Stiller. Director Jonathan Newman, Producer Deepak
Nayar.
.... Supervising Sound Editor Eddy Joseph AMPS says,
Soundelux London are now part of C.S.S Studios. They
are the new name for Todd-AO, Soundelux and Hollywood
Edge.
We have had a quiet summer but are enjoying a better
autumn. At the time of writing: Green Zone is within a
week of completion (nally), Nowhere Boy, Sam Taylor
Woods rst feature (about the teenage life of John Lennon),
is premixing and Nine, Rob Marshalls musical is temping
and prepping for an October mix. We hope to be involved
in Roger Michels Morning Glory in a few weeks time.
The Conch is nearly upon us and we are anticipating a
great evening. Who knows, we may even win something
for Quantum of Solace!
(Many congratulations to Eddie and the team for their
subsequent success at the Conch Award, DH)
.... Sound Editor Chris Roberts AMPS writes, Ive recently
completed three new episodes of Foyles War for Greenlit/
ITV, with Stephen Grifths AMPS handling Sound Effects
and David Old mixing. Foley was supplied by Mint.
Currently on leave, I will be returning to Supervising/
Dialogue Editing on a second series of the BBC police
drama Five Days. Louise Sinclair will be covering Sound
Effects editing and Alan Sallabank will be mixing.
.... Head of Sound Dave Turner AMPS writes about his
move to Pepper Post. Having never submitted anything
to the Journal before there is quite a lot to say, especially
given all the recent changes. Pepper Sound took over the
old Future Post last November and since then we have been
busy refurbishing the studios and restructuring the team.
On the people front we have taken on Howard Bargroff
AMPS (Senior Dubbing Mixer), Rob Weatherall (Mix
Technician) and Sam Matthews (Technical Engineer) among
others, not to forget myself of course. We have also built a
couple of new Pro Tools based studios as well as investing
in new equipment and upgrades for the existing rooms,
including the purchase of a Digidesign D Command and
Video Satellite system for Studio 3.
However the biggest change has been the rebuild of
Theatre 1 involving a full re-design by Munro Acoustics,
new sound system, wider screen, new speaker wall, higher
ceiling, DFC Gemini USP upgrade, V Cube upgrade and
improved studio layout with new furniture. The theatre
has also been upgraded to Dolby Premier status the rst
dubbing stage in England to receive this accreditation.
Everyone seems to really love the feel and sound of the new
theatre, certainly Mike Prestwood Smith AMPS and the rest
of the Green Zone team seem extremely happy.
On the work front we have mixed a number of feature
lms and TV dramas including the aforementioned Green
Zone, Planet 51, Dread, Lesbian Vampire Killers, Law & Order
UK (TV drama), Sherlock (TV drama pilot) and Enid Blyton
(TV drama). We continue to record ADR in our ISDN
studio.
Both Howard and Law & Order UK were shortlisted for
Conch Awards.
Some of the Pepper Sound team (bottom row L-R) John Rush,
James Seddon (Dolby), Dave Turner AMPS, (top row L-R) Rob
Weatheral. Fred Gibert, Sam Matthews
WHOS AT WHAT
amps JOURNAL
13
.... And nally, congratulations to Boom Operator Paul
Munro AMPS (seen above with Production Mixer Colin
Nicholson) and Re-recording Mixer Paul Hamblin AMPS
for winning an Emmy for Best Sound Mixing on a movie
or mini series at the 61st Emmy awards in Los Angeles.
More of Pepper Sound team L-R: Fred Gibert, James Seddon
(Dolby), Jane Coombes (Pepper MD), Dave Turner.
Pepper Sound Theatre 1
WHOS AT WHAT
GREATEST MOVIE SOUNDTRACKS
The October issue of Classic FM Magazine carried the
results of a vote by its readers and the listeners of Classic
FM for the 150 Greatest Movie Soundtracks. While a self-se-
lecting electorate they do presumably have an interest and
appreciation of music so the results do carry some weight.
With 150 selected there are bound to be some oddities
although the inclusion of the 1955 Russian lm Ovud
with its Dmitri Shostakovitch at No 60 is something of a
surprise. Perhaps it isnt unexpected that the themes are
orchestrally weighted, and that the bulk of the entries are
from the late 70s and after but the earliest in there is Charlie
Chaplins own score for City Lights from 1931 (#127),
followed by Max Steiners King Kong from 1933 (#128),
Arthur Bliss Things To Come (1936) (#118); Arnold Baxs
Oliver Twist from 1948 (#76); and of course, Max Steiners
Gone With The Wind from 1939 (#30). Some of these and
other lesser known titles such as Dangerous Moonlight
from 1941 (#52) and Lieutenant Kij from 1934 (#83) are
probably a result of skewing of the results by their presence
on Classic FMs playlist.
That said, here are the top 15 and top bottom ve scores:

1 Star Wars John Williams 1977
2 The Lord Of The Rings Howard Shore 2001
3 Gladiator Zimmer/Gerrard 2000
4 Chariots Of Fire Vangelis 1981
5 Schindlers List John Williams 1993
6 Pirates Of The Caribbean Klaus Badelt 2003
7 Doctor Zhivago Maurice Jarre 1965
8 The Mission Ennio Morricone 1986
9 Out Of Africa John Barry 1985
10 Dances With Wolves John Barry 1990
11 Titanic James Horner 1997
12 Jurassic Park John Williams 1993
13 E.T. John Williams 1982
14 The Godfather Nini Rota 1972
15 The Great Escape Elmer Bernstein 1963
16 Blade Runner Vangelis 1982
17 The Deer Hunter Stanley Myers 1978
18 The Good, The Bad And The Ugly Ennio Morricone 1962
19 Lawrence Of Arabia Maurice Jarre 1962
20 Raiders Of The Lost Ark John Williams 1981
-
146 On The Waterfont Leonard Bernstein 1954
147 Quo Vadis Miklos Rozsa 1951
148 The Red Violin John Corigliano 1998
149 Richard III William Walton 1955
150 The Queen Alexandre Desplat 2006
amps JOURNAL
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This issue kicks off an occasional but continuing series in which we meet individual AMPS
members for a chat about the business - past, present or future
M
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NICO LOUW AMPS
A BRAAI WITH NICO
It is not the rst time I have enjoyed the hospitality
offered by Nico Louw, one of AMPS well-known overseas
members, in his Johannesburg home. My wife is of
South African origin and we have enjoyed several trips
here, her home town, over the many years we have been
married, and I last had the opportunity to visit Nico about
three years ago. However, I rst met him in the UK at a
wonderful Rycote Weekend
some six years ago, in 2003, on
one of his post-production
trips to the UK. He is an
imposing, congenial giant
of a man, more than 6 feet 6
inches in his socks and still a
bachelor. Over a 30-year career,
he has worked as a Production
Mixer on many Feature and
Television Films shot in Africa
and is now usually a rst choice for the Hollywood Brigade
when they decide Africa could be fun for a shoot. All this
he has built up through reputation and word of mouth.
As everywhere, he told me that lm work in South Africa
is very poor at the moment with many projects being
cancelled, even at the last moment. Recently, he was the
main Production Mixer on the ITV Series Wild at Heart,
shot near Johannesburg, but now shooting their last series
without him because of budget cuts and highly unrealistic
rates now offered! Does this sound familiar? He also
worked on The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency, with the late
Anthony Minghella directing, shot in Botswana, produced
by the BBC and HBO, and recently enjoying some success
in both the UK and USA. However, more budget cuts have
forced the cancellation of further series of this rather novel
African detective agency. He is currently on a shoot in
Kenya for the
BBC.
There is no
doubting his
passion and
professional
commitment
to his job. He
trained at the
only Film
School that
existed 30 years ago in Pretoria, South Africa, deciding
early on that he wanted to freelance and work on Feature
Films. This was not a popular decision with his family who
thought he should get a proper job with medical aid and
pension scheme heard that before, somewhere! South
Africa has very limited local professional sound resources
and thus very poor backup. As a result, he has developed
personal relationships directly with US and European
suppliers and post-production houses. He makes the effort,
when work permits, to come to London to sit in on the
dubs of his productions, something even our local mixers
rarely do. After many years with Nagra and a brief urry
As part of the AMPS History Project, Council members
have been looking for colleagues who may be willing to
participate in a series of interviews to talk about their careers
and past memories. One man I always recognised as having
had a great career was John Salter. We met up in August this
year at The Marquis of Granby in Esher. It turned into a real
head scratching exercise for John, who was sifting through
old memories, trying to remember dates and pinpoint
who he worked with and when. Theres no doubt though
that Johns forty plus years as a Boom Operator have been
nothing short of illustrious. Our conversation started by John
wishing to stand by the 5
th
Amendment! Once I had talked
him out of that, he recalled his early years in the business.
JS: On leaving school, my original intention was to enter the
Navy but with the end of hostilities in Europe and demobilisation
the Navy were not recruiting. My mother advised me to look for
an alternative career, at which point my father stepped in and
found me a job at The Gainsborough Studios in Shepherds Bush in
the maintenance shop. After a time I made it clear that it was
my wish to work on the oor and eventually I got to work as an
assistant to Charlie Wheeler. I gained a lot of experience then,
especially with Mole Richardson Booms, and worked with other
mixers such as Sid Wiles and a Canadian chap named Al Lyne.
Charlie Wheeler at the time was heavily involved with the ACT,
JOHN SALTER : A LIFETIME IN FILM
with Deva, he now is a Cantar Man - a full convert, in fact.
Jean-Pierre Beauviala of Aaton personally delivered Nicos
Cantar to Johannesburg and Nico cannot speak too highly of
this wonderful personal service and rst hand tuition from
the man himself! He also speaks very highly of the support
he receives from our British companies and makes the point
it is just as important to know the man behind the equipment
as the equipment itself. I totally agree. He says, We out here
in Africa do a lot of facilitating jobs for foreign companies
and my motto is Ive got to be on par with any sound guy
that works with Post-production studios like Pinewood or
Goldcrest or Todd-AO in LA. That is what they are used to
work with. There are no excuses. Fork out money to buy the
best and then do the best.
I like the challenge. The best thing in the world is to sit
there and do sound and, despite all of whatever is going on
around you, you know that this is good sound and it will be
in the nal. It is nice when the Sound Editor calls and shows
his appreciation.
Everyone who comes to Johannesburg and contacts him
is invited to a Braai at his home, just to talk sound, and
he entertains many regular visitors. He tells all visiting
Soundmen who ask him where they can obtain local backup
just to call him and he will happily take over! That is their
backup. Fair enough.
I thank Nico again for the wonderful hospitality he has
always shown me and my wife on our visits.
Sandy MacRae AMPS
Nico Louw (right) with author
Sandy MacRae toasting
amps
amps JOURNAL
15
AMPS MEMBERS JOHN SALTER AMPS Hon
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John Salter with author Clive Copland AMPS
John Salter AMPS Hon
negotiating the BFPA agreement which resulted in a
48hr working week, and a considerable increase in
wages. I doubt we will see that again!
In 1948 John entered National Service and like many
youngsters his career was temporarily put on hold. After
this period he found a job in the Sound Dept at Pinewood
Studios and following a period of shifting grades he got
to work on his rst complete picture as Boom Op which
he recalls was either Genevieve or The Black Knight. The
year was 1954. Armed with an IMDb resume and a few
recollections I asked John if there were any experiences he
could share with us. We noticed a lm on the IMDb list,
Bunny Lake is Missing directed by Otto Preminger.
JS: Day one, Scene one, Take one. Preminger was a director
known for creating complex camera moves. We were about 30
seconds into the take when Preminger yelled (Austrian accent)
You, yes, you! I looked round and eventually realised he was
yelling at me, The microphone is in the wrong place. Put it over
there. No, its not. Its in the right place. I said. No, you put
it over there he responded. I then said if I stuck it over there it
wouldnt be any good. A confrontation ensued and I eventually
said to him Look you stick to directing and Ill stick to putting
the mic in the right place. From that point we got on famously; I
couldnt do a thing wrong.
Some of the directors and productions John worked on
in past years include Stanley Kubrick (Barry Lyndon),
Alfred Hitchcock (The Man Who Knew Too Much), John
Huston, Jack Clayton (Our Mothers House), Roman
Polanski (Dance of the Vampires), Raoul Walsh (The Sherriff
of Fractured Jaw), Nicolas Roeg (The Witches), Karel Reitz
(Isadora), Jules Dassin, Stanley Donen, Abraham Polonski,
Peter Hall and Charles Sturridge.
We talked about the lms he worked on in later years
Raiders of The Lost Ark directed by Steven Spielberg,
Electric Dreams directed by Steve Barron, Lady Jane
directed by Trevor Nunn and lms he did with the late Roy
Charman. John had worked with the late Peter Sutton on
several lms including Little Shop of Horrors directed by
Frank Oz and produced by Jim Henson; and three lms
directed by Blake Edwards: Trail of The Pink Panther,
Curse of The Pink Panther and Victor Victoria. John recalls
that working with Edwards was a good experience.
JS: He was a great comedy director, and always maintained a
good atmosphere on set. On one occasion he suddenly stopped
work and announced, Theres more to life than making movies,
Im going off shopping with the wife. See ya fellas! and he was
gone the rest of the day!
In 1979 John worked on Alien directed by Ridley Scott;
the Production Sound Mixer was Derrick Leather and
Second Boom was Pat Heigham. Once again John tried to
stand by The 5
th
Amendment but this time it was harder
to get him to budge. Lets just say it was a difcult
experience. he said.
John acknowledges the role of Boom Op has changed in
some ways over the years, especially with the
use of multi cameras and so much being shot on location
in adverse environments which has resulted in radio mics
being used as a priority.
JS: Early radio mics were not very reliable, they tended to be
used as a last resort. The last lm I did however was Wind In
The Willows directed by Terry Jones and on that lm we mostly
used the boom and radios were only used on a few occasions. I
remember using the Fisher Boom for the rst time on a picture
at Shepperton after Jim Fisher had arrived from the US to give
a demonstration. It was quite an improvement on the old Mole
Richardson boom.
Its important to strike up a good working relationship with
the DOP and Operator. I was on a picture in Ireland, which was
made up entirely of US crew. On one occasion, late in the day,
there was a rush to get a shot in the can. I racked the mic out
only to nd the sun was giving me problems with a shadow. The
Camera Operator said to me Put the shadow down in the grass
Kiddo. Itll be ne. I took this being
referred to as Kiddo as an affront.
When I spoke to a member of his
team I was informed that it was the
operators way of saying he trusts
you, he sees you as a professional,
on top of that he was right about the
shadow - it disappeared among the
grass and was never seen in dailies
I asked John how people went
about getting work years ago.
Apparently the routine was pretty
much the same as it is today; individuals were called
directly depending on their reputation (No CVs !) or if
they had previously worked with a director or producer.
Sometimes names were thrown into a hat followed,
hopefully, by a series of interviews.
JS: I received a phone call one day and was asked to go up to
the West End for an early evening interview with an American
producer making a picture in Yugoslavia. Anyway the place I
was going on this occasion was near the German Centre so the
plan was to take my wife there for dinner afterwards. I put a suit
on, a Chester Barron I seem to remember, a smart tie, my brolly
and I borrowed a bowler hat. I arrived for my interview dressed
as such, only to be greeted by the producer with You dont look
like a goddam Boom Operator. Well, I am! I replied. Dressed
like a city gent it took a while to reach an agreement on my wage
but it worked out well in the end.
Looking back I feel proud of my career, one reason I always
stayed as a Boom Operator was that I was always working. I kept
a good roster of mixers to work with, as well as recommendations
from Production Ofce staff. I used to call them the John Salter
Supporters Club.
Clive Copland AMPS
amps JOURNAL
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RADIO MICS
Its Great In 38, Its Not Fine In 69
(Suggested BEIRG Promo)
As we go to press, we are still waiting for Ofcom
to produce their statement on the PMSE Funding
Consultation which closed in September, and also their
decision on issues raised with the migration timetable from
Channel 69 to Channel 38. The present situation with radio
microphones is far from clear, so let me try to lay out how I
understand it.
Ofcom are insisting that Channel 38 is ALREADY available
to us and they will kindly let us have temporary access
to Channels 39 and 40 to compensate for restricted use in
some areas. If you look at the Outdoor Availability Map,
Figure 1, produced by JFMG Ltd for Ofcom, you will see
the restrictions on radio microphone use as of 3
rd
December
2009, when the Granada region completes their Digital
Switch-Over (DSO). What particularly affects our industry
on this map is that there are fairly large no-go areas in
red, where no frequencies are available in Channels 38,
39 and 40 and even larger areas in black where only three
frequencies are useable. But it may be worth noting that if
you have a location shoot in the Highlands of Scotland, the
Lake District, Norfolk, Cornwall and Devon, or the West
of Wales, you have a good chance to operate up to nine
frequencies in these Channels from December 2009. Thus
Ofcoms claim is partly true, but what they do not make
clear is that the use of all these frequencies is currently
only available on a coordinated site by site short term
License, controlled by JFMG Ltd. They are NOT included
in your Channel 69 Shared Frequency License. Most of
us have never had to buy into the Coordinated Licenses
and a call to JFMG Ltd revealed that they charge 8.50 per
frequency per 48 hour period, thus a 6 day week shoot with
4 frequencies would cost 102 per week, an awful lot more
than our Annual Shared Frequency licenses! This would
have to be budgeted for with your production in some way,
a new concept for them and perhaps even a non-starter.
But I have been told by Ofcom that they are working
with JFMG Ltd to produce some type of Annual Shared
Frequency License to include Channel 69 AND Channels 38,
39 and 40 to be announced soon and probably for the same
Annual License fee, but until the nal DSO, use of these
new frequencies on specic locations will have to be cleared
with JFMG Ltd. It has been suggested that this will be a
light touch, with possibly just an on-line tool to enable
users to check for available frequencies at any geographical
location to avoid interference. It should also be noted that
inclusive use of Channels 39 and 40 are only available to
us in the short term and, after the nal DSO or even before,
these channels may be occupied by Digital TV services,
although they should then be available on a site by site
interleave basis, similar to Channels 67 and 68. We are also
hoping that the poor Radio Astronomers will be kicked out
to South Africa ahead of 2012, freeing up more frequencies
in these Channels and the situation will certainly improve
as more and more regions switch over to Digital TV, so it
is worth considering the move now. But make no mistake,
the Mobile Phone companies are champing at the bit to get
us out of the 800 MHz Band, including Channel 69, so that
they can start up their new (high powered) services. When
this happens, there will be little chance to continue using
your old gear.
So what advice can be given if you need new radio
microphones now? Presently, the only legal and clear
nationwide channel is Channel 69, and JFMG Ltd are still
issuing their Annual Shared Frequency Licenses. Talk to
them, they are always helpful and they will point you in
the right direction. Also talk to the Manufacturers who
are usually well up to speed on the latest situation. But
bear in mind, under the current Ofcom ruling, any new
or replacement Channel 69 gear bought now will NOT
qualify for future Replacement Funding. This is an absurd
situation and it is being hotly contested. What if you just
need to replace a lost or stolen transmitter, for example?
The whole concept of the early cut-off date has simply not
been thought about in any depth. But if you need some
extra kit, to beat the expected rush and avoid that hit
on your nances, you should consider early adoption
of Channel 38. This newer range of Radio microphones
will be tuneable over 24 MHz (3 TV Channels) and cover
Channels 38, 39 and 40. Buy into them with the hope that
Ofcom will approve those new Shared Frequency Licenses
soon and that you will not have an early shoot in the Red
(no-go) Areas and only have light shoots in the Black
(three frequencies only) Areas. Unfortunately, this latter
restriction covers most of the London area and also to the
west of London, where so many productions are made, but
remember that these three frequencies will be in addition
to Channel 69. But I have made the point to Ofcom that we
cannot direct where a Production wants to shoot, based on
their maps.
Ofcially, PMSE use of Channel 69 will be withdrawn
on the 1
st
January 2012 and Channel 38 then becomes our
home, but there will still be analogue TV transmissions on
Channels 37 and 39 in some areas until the nal DSO in
about September 2012, and my information is that this will
restrict the use of Channel 38 to only three frequencies in
those areas for this period. Those areas are clearly shown
on the FULL Channel 38 Coverage Map as of 1
st
January
2012 in Figure 2, produced for us by JFMG Ltd. Please note
that the grey areas signify a restricted range of available
frequencies in Channel 38 and that this number will vary
geographically. It is possible that most of Channels 39 and
40 will be clear in these areas and this is where we might
nd the extra frequencies that we will desperately need to
replace Channel 69, and I understand that Ofcom will allow
us the inclusive use of the extra Channels until the nal
SO WHAT ABOUT
CHANNEL
38?
by Sandy MacRae AMPS
amps JOURNAL
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RADIO MICS
Key:
Light Grey - 9 frequencies
Dark Grey - 6 frequencies
Black - 3 frequencies
Red - 0 frequencies
Outdoor Wireless
Microphone availability post
Granada : Channels 38, 39, 40
Figure 1 - Outdoor availability
of spectrum for 10 mW wireless
microphones in Channels 38-40
from 3
rd
December 2009
Reproduced by kind permission of JFMG Ltd.
amps JOURNAL
18
RADIO MICS
DSO. More clarication needs to be done on this scenario
and denite plans announced.
As it stands, we will have NO clear nationwide radio
microphone channel available to us on 1
st
January 2012.
However, some inside information suggests that the
handing over of Channel 69 and, indeed, the whole of the
800 MHz Band, might be delayed until sometime after the
Olympic Games and the 1
st
January 2013 has been oated
as a possible new end date. This could give us a tiny
overlap window of about three months to make an orderly
change over, far short of the two to three years overlap that
we were promised by Ofcom, but better than nothing, and
maybe with full Ofcom cooperation, we can make this work
for us. It would certainly simplify the surrendering of old
Channel 69 gear if we could have a proper overlap period.
But again, we await decisions from up high!
So far, I have been talking about the legal situation. One
interesting call to a manufacturer friend revealed that some
people are already sneaking in on Channel 38 and nding
that they can get good, interference-free coverage on these
frequencies, in spite of the ofcial restrictions. The Radio
Astronomers have not yet felt their collars, so it would
appear that they are not causing the expected interference.
I know that the Astronomers only occasionally listen to
Channel 38 and usually during the hours of darkness, so
perhaps they have been lucky, so far. Some time ago, I
talked with Ofcom about a plan to coordinate the Radio
Astronomers and ourselves on this basis, but the idea was
dropped since it is not a complete solution because of the
continued need to protect TV transmissions on adjacent
channels in some areas. But this does reveal another
problem. Why should anyone take the hit by buying new
Channel 69 gear and then replacing it or paying to have it
converted in only two or three years time, with no prospect
of replacement funding, if Channel 38 appears to work
now, albeit unlicensed? So already, Ofcoms indecision is
encouraging unlicensed and unregulated use of the new
frequencies, something we wanted to avoid, and this
could adversely affect us all. And please dont blame the
manufacturers, they need any business they can get to
survive, and they are not the licensing policemen, nor do
they want to be.
One further thought before you nally surrender
your Channel 69 gear. Channel 38 is not a European or
international radio microphone Channel and you will
not be able to use these frequencies in Holland and the
Low Countries because of their continued use for Radio
Astronomy. Also Italy broadcast high powered TV on
Channel 38, so that would be a wipe-out. And those are
only two examples of the problem and there may be others.
Channel 69 is also being withdrawn from its current use
throughout most of European because of harmonisation
of Mobile Phone frequencies, so that situation is further
complicated, and it is unknown where our European
colleagues will end up with their radio microphones. But
those who have enjoyed success with Channel 69 in some
other parts of the world might like to reect on their
requirements. One set of gear for the UK, another for your
favourite foreign locations?
I have kept away from most of the funding issues in this
article since we are contesting nearly everything Ofcom
have come up with so far! When Ofcom rst announced
their early cut-off date for Replacement Funding, it caught
us by surprise. There was no apparent logic to this date.
Ofcom had not provided any alternative frequencies that
legitimate users could buy into, so we were at a loss.
Ofcom said it was their attempt to prevent potential fraud
- what? There was some half-baked bureaucratic idea that
we would all rush out and buy up old Channel 69 gear and
claim new Channel 38 gear from the funding and perhaps
prot from it, if there was no early cut-off date. This, to me,
shows the kind of disjointed thinking that has hindered our
negotiations. Firstly, there is only a small and nite amount
of old Channel 69 gear in the marketplace and secondly, it
can be sensibly argued that it is in the interest of the new
owners of Channel 69 that ALL existing gear is removed
so maybe any collection method should be encouraged!
What is going to happen to this uncollected gear now, I
wonder? Under some pressure, Ofcom changed the cut-off
date by a few months but this is STILL illogical since there
are STILL no clear alternative frequencies available. It does
not take a great intellectual leap to realise that this cut-
off concept without an alternative would create a market
failure, a vacuum where no one wants to buy into uncertain
or short-term use of expensive new equipment, leaving
our manufacturers in trouble with no orders. So far, our
warnings and protests are falling on deaf ears. The cost
of a manufacturer failure must greatly exceed any extra
amounts that could be claimed from the funding and it
would be an irreversible tragedy for our industry. The
purpose of the funding MUST be to keep our industry alive
and working. We are being evicted and now we are victims
of muddled Government thinking. Too much time and
effort appears to be spent trying to water down the funding
and in preventing anyone from gaining from it, when
what we really need is a speedy, practical and professional
solution to the whole migration crisis. And what we are
asking for, in the way of replacement funding, is only a tiny
proportion of the expected revenue to the Exchequer from
the sale of our old spectrum, so what is the problem?
Over the last 5 years or so, I have spent many hours with
BEIRG and Ofcom, trying to come up with solutions to
our continued and necessary presence in the UHF band. I
keep emphasising that time is running out and decisions
HAVE to be made now, otherwise chaos will ensue. We
have recently put AMPS name to the Save Our Sound
Campaign - www.saveoursounduk.com - and with this, we
are joining in a major lobby within Government circles and
the Press. All we can do is to keep applying the pressure
and hope that someone in Government will see the sense of
our arguments that the PMSE sector is a valuable National
Resource and that we must be accommodated, and even be
compensated, in their great Master Plan. But the reality is
that the situation is still about as clear as mud! Come along,
Ofcom and Government, time is really up.
You can read the AMPS Submission to the Ofcom Funding
Consultation on my Blog Page on the AMPS Website and if
you are interested in what others have to say, go to - www.
ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/pmse_funding/responses -
this makes for some interesting reading. A must read is the
submission from our own Ivan Sharrock - sock it to them,
Ivan!
Sandy MacRae AMPS
amps JOURNAL
19
RADIO MICS
Ch 38 Outdoor Wireless
Microphone Availability:
1
st
January 2012
After Radio Astronomy
Restrictions are lifted
Key:
White : Full Channel Availability
Grey : Part Channel Availability
Figure 2 - Outdoor
availability of Channel
38 on 1
st
January 2012
Reproduced by kind permission of JFMG Ltd.
amps JOURNAL
20
LETTERS
Fade Out - The End

Dear Friends and Colleagues
It is with heavy heart and great regret that Im writing to
announce my retirement as a Sound Editor (Not before time
some might say). As for many others, the last two years have
been very lean for me so this has helped me to make my deci-
sion. I have had forty-plus wonderful years of almost continuous
work on all kinds of lms and TV projects; at the last count it was
ninety-one in total. Unfortunately I was unable to make it 100.
Throughout those years Ive been privileged to work on many
worthwhile projects with some ne established editors and Id
like to take this opportunity of thanking them, including Spencer
Reeve, Alan Osbiston, Ale Roome, Dickie Best, Ralph Kemplen,
Tom Priestley, Russ Lloyd, Ernie Walter, Norman Wanstall, Anne
Coates, Malcolm Cooke, John Glen, Leslie Walker, John Grover,
Jon Gregory, Mike Bradsell, Eddie Mansell, Oral Norrie Otty and
Pia di Ciaula. Great people and so many happy memories.
I actually entered the business at the very end of the optical
sound era and was raised on magnetic. I can still remember
handling it with white gloves as though it was negative and cut-
ting it with brass scissors. I think we always knew that some day
technology would move forward and make our lives easier, but
one cannot over-estimate the satisfaction we gained from taking
a length of magnetic track and editing it precisely to t the scene,
or making intricate incisions in a line of dialogue to t perfectly to
the artists lips.
During this time there were various stages of development in
magnetic stock. First there was acetate, then polyester. It came in
single stripe, 3-stripe and full-coat. Brand names such as Zonal,
Pyral and Mylar come to mind. If I remember correctly, the Mylar
stock was a particular problem in that it was so strong it could
wreck your machine rst before it broke. That, coupled with the
fact that it was so thin that it didnt take up on the spools at the
same rate as other stock, was very frustrating. Im glad to say
it wasnt around for very long. Our editing machines had to be
adapted to take account of the changing format of the magnetic.
Single heads, moveable heads, 3-track heads (sometimes 6-track),
heads over, heads under etc, all so different from the way we work
today, but we all took it for granted.
When I rst joined the cutting rooms as a trainee, it took years
before one was qualied to become a sound editor. As a young
assistant I worked for six years with highly experienced dialogue,
Foley and effects editors who gave me an excellent all-round
training that enabled me to nally branch out on my own. All my
colleagues of that time progressed in the same way to learn their
craft. Sadly, I doubt if many of todays sound editors have taken
that route.
Since my early days as an editor I think of the loyal and dedi-
cated assistants who worked with me and without whose support
my job would never have been so enjoyable. Thank you Maureen
Howard, Jean Short, Jim Pattenden, Bob Mullen, Bill Barringer,
John Nuth and Geoff Brown. A few of the older members will
recognise some of these names.
Over the years Ive been fortunate to have worked with some
great producers and directors who were very sound conscious and
who brought with them a new dimension of experience for me.
I just wish that some of those today had half their knowledge. I
feel they should Google the article by Peter Cowie called Philip
Noyce on his views on Sound for Films. They would learn a lot.
I also count myself lucky with the quality of work delivered to
me by such Production Sound Mixers as John Mitchell, Bob Allen,
Pat Heigham, David Crozier, Brian Simmons and David Steven-
son, to name but a few. What a great help their dedication has
been to my job on so many occasions.
Then again I owe a great debt to those fellow sound editors who
have worked with me over the years: Allan Sones, Don Deacon,
Derek Holding, Vernon Messenger, Peter Musgrave, Brian Blamey,
Stefan Hendrix, Bill Trent, Dino Di Campo, Nanita Desai, Mike
Hopkins, Nick Lowe, Max Hoskins, Howard Halsall, Steve Felton,
Stephen Little, Jacques Leroide, Gerard Loret and Paul Weir.
I have also worked with many great sound recordists on ADR
and Foley whose work doesnt always get the credit which it
deserves. Peter Lacey, John Bateman, Ed Colyer, Ted Swanscott,
and Peter Gleaves are some who come to mind. I thank them for
their expertise and tolerance in dealing with me during our many
sessions together.
In my days of working in Pinewood, Shepperton, Elstree, Twick-
enham and London, there was a certain magic in those times that
you dont seem to get now. There was something so special about
walking into a cutting room block and to hear the sound of Movi-
olas and Steenbecks; the sound of rushes being synchronised; to
hear music, dialogue, and effects echo down the corridors; to see
full trim-bins, hear rewinders and numbering machines whirring
away, to bump into producers and directors in the corridor who
were visiting; all this was part of the magic of working in the
cutting rooms.
There was also the excitement of going to view the rushes at
lunchtime or evening with all the crew. To be surrounded by great
talented people, to go to the canteen or nearby pub and meet up
with fellow workers and exchange friendly banter, or even nd
out where your next job may come from. Being able to see the
lm stars as they walk around the studio, this is what the younger
generation of today is missing. The camaraderie of that time was a
great experience; you felt you were part of something great, rather
than merely a means to an end as seems to be the case today.
In those days we worked hard and we played hard. During
lunchtimes at Shepperton there was cricket played on the lawn
in the summer. Darts were played in the Black Horse pub during
lunch near Pinewood. The occasional game of cards was played.
It was an era when editors and their assistants formed a close-
knit team and the assistants were dedicated to becoming the next
generation.
Through the years I thanked my lucky stars to have worked
with some of the industrys nest re-recording mixers, namely,
Ken Barker, Gordon McCullum, Bill Rowe, Ray Merrin, Graham
Daniels, John Aldred, Bob Jones, Graham Hartstone, Nic Le Mes-
surier, John Hayward, Robin ODonoghue, Buzz Knudson (USA),
Aad Wirtz, Paul Carr, Gavin Fernandez (Canada), Mike Dowson
and Adrian Rhodes. I thank them for their patience, guidance and
understanding when dealing with my work. Learning, always
learning.
Probably one of the greatest changes Ive seen that has affected
the industry is the decline of an active union. It wasnt popular
with everyone at the time, but for all its restrictions and rules it
ensured fair pay and working conditions for everyone and pre-
vented the rather chaotic free-for-all that is so evident today. You
didnt get to work unless you had a card (the shop steward would
always check you had one). You received holiday pay at the end
of production and you were paid a reasonable rate. If you had
occasion to work late or at weekends you were paid overtime and
given a meal allowance. Sadly, practically all of these benets are
now things of the past.
What concerns me now about post-production is the pressure
put upon sound editors. If youre lucky enough to go from one
job to another, sometimes the hours you are expected to work
can be excessive. This can have a serious effect on ones health.
Productions are only too well aware that the editors will get the
job done whatever the schedule and theres no way theyll fail
to deliver. There still seems to be a lack of nancial and creative
appreciation for the job. The attitude of if you dont want to do it
well nd someone who does is wrong. Its wrong for the person
and wrong for our industry. There are many editors today who
can tell tales of working excessive hours and the effect it has had
upon them.
Its a bad sign when one continually talks about the good
amps JOURNAL 21
NEWS ITEMS
THE EDITORS
ODDMENTS
Joe Wright, the British director of Atonement and more recently The
Soloist, starring Robert Downey Junior and Jamie Foxx is on record as
saying that he wanted to make all his lms in the UK.
When he appeared on BBC Radio 4s Film Programme following the re-
lease of The Soloist he was asked about that statement because this lm
is clearly made on the streets of Los Angeles. He replied that he wasnt
so much making a lm in America but about a lm about the bums on
skid row and that he would still prefer to work in the UK when possible
but then went on to suggest some of the LA experience that he found
very frustrating.
Filming in Los Angeles went very well but it is so expensive. We spent
$3.5 million just on parking charges which is crazy!
Later in the interview he mentioned how important sound was so
him and how you have to take great care because it can easily get lost
when strong visual images bully all the other senses.
The US company Sound Devices has come a long way in the produc-
tion sound market in just a few years. Last month they did something
rather unusual in our business - they announced that the SD442 had
ceased production. Normally what happens is that a new model is
launched and the old one just gradually fades away while the manufac-
turers shift the last few at a discount. There is a replacement, the SD522
which adds another mixer channel, a two track WAV/MP3 recorder and
a host of other features. Interesting with be the Synthetic Voice Enhanced
Navigation system (or SVEN), a voice menu system that talks to the
operator through your headphones giving menu choices, record/play
mode and other mode information. I assume that it can be turned off but
what is the consensus about info and audio in your cans?
Velcro is a simple concept learnt from the natural world that is virtu-
ally indispensable for so many uses and always surprises by how much
weight a small strip can support. But what about a related fastener that
could carry weights of tons and at temperatures of up to 800 degrees
Celsius? The Technical University of Munich has announced a product
called Metaklett made from perforated 0.2 millimetre thick steel strips -
one with steel brushes and the other with steel spikes, It is claimed that a
square metre would be capable of supporting 35 tons in the plane of the
strips; 7 tons at right angles to the strips. And it can be opened up and re-
used without any need for specialised tools. The designers are looking at
uses in cars and buildings but might there be a few in our business look-
ing for a step up from traditional Velcro which just isnt going to move?
old days but I accept the industry has moved
forward into an exciting new era. In times past
sessions of ADR, Foley, music etc. would be
arranged through the production ofce, which
has now been replaced by Post Production Su-
pervisors. I admit I initially resisted this change
when the post came into being, but over the
years I have changed my mind by virtue of the
fact that Ive been lucky with those Ive worked
with. They are Jannette Haley, Tania Blunden,
Mike Saxton, Steve Barker, Steve Harrow,
Gary Evans (Canada), Clair Oliver and Louise
Seymour. My sincere thanks to them for all their
help.
Then of course one has to recognise the ben-
ets brought about by the advent of the digital
age. Most of my long-time colleagues retired
as the new technology came into being, but I
was eager to embrace it and apply my skills.
It was indeed a very steep learning curve for
me. Fortunately since the advent of the new
technology Ive had great assistant-support,
such as Ian Morgan who started me off by
guiding me through the maze of Audiovision.
Then there was Alistair Sirkett who had the
unenviable task of manoeuvring me through
the DAR quagmire, followed by James Boyle
on the Akai and then back to the Audiovision
again with Martin Cantwell. Finally, my thanks
go to Gerard Loret who dragged me scream-
ing and shouting on to the ProTools system.
So many systems, so much learning, so little
time! I claim no credit for what I achieved but
perhaps just a little pride, as those names that
Ive mentioned have gone on to be great sound
editors in their own right. I wish them well for
the future.
In these latter years Ive worked mainly with
two post-production facilities, Steve Felton at
The Sound Design Company, and Max Hoskins
and Glen Freemantle at Reelsound (as they
were then). I would like to thank them and their
staff very sincerely for all the help they gave me
on various projects we worked on together.
Finally, my heartfelt thanks go to Louis El-
man, who for years has supplied me with some
wonderful, creative, humorous and talented
voice artists who have made my work so enjoy-
able. Im going to miss them all.
And so, friends, its time to say farewell. As
Ive said, Ive had over forty wonderful years
in the industry and wouldnt have missed one
fabulous moment of it. To those youngsters
coming through today, I only hope you can look
back with such fond memories as I have had
after the same period of time. Good luck to you
all in the future.
Colin Miller AMPS
The Journal welcomes letters on all topics
relevant to AMPS. You dont see many
because we dont receive them but our pages
are always open to those who who wish to
communicate to the AMPS Membership and
the Journals wider readership.
LETTERS
Metaklett, a
steel Velcro
8
8
8
amps JOURNAL
22
SOUND TAKEN SERIOUSLY
In January 2008, I gave a lecture on ADR to the IBS at their
Audio Weekend. Ian Sands videoed the event, which was later
put onto the IBS web site. This was the reason that a week later I
received an e-mail from Florian Camerer, asking if I would repeat
it in 21 months time in Norway. Fast forward
Leaving Heathrow a day earlier than necessary, my wife
Sue and I ew to Oslo to take in a brief look around the
capital and do some sightseeing. The rst thing that struck
us, never having been there before, was the high cost of
living. Meals, drink and everyday items were 10-20%
higher than the UK (We later found out that wages were
correspondingly higher). But, on the plus side, the air was
cleaner, the city tidier and the people all spoke English as
a second language (they start in the fourth grade). Luckily
the sun was out and we spent a relaxing day wandering
the streets and shops, dodging trams and cyclists and
being regular tourists (by sitting in a bar on the fashionable
harbour front for a couple of hours!)
The Nordic Sound Symposium is held every two years
at a large hotel in Bolkesj (pronounced Bol-ker-shur)
which is 67 miles west from Oslo. NRK, the Norwegian
Broadcasting Corporation, which now runs the symposium,
organised a coach to take us there, through the pine clad
hills, to the start of the Telemark Mountains.
The view from our hotel window was jaw dropping. The
peace and tranquility of the area was amazing. The low
rumble that seems to sit everywhere in the UK was gone
and you could really open your
ears and relax all your auditory
senses.
Many of the delegates knew
each other from previous years
and the rst evenings dinner and
bar chat went on well into the
early hours. However, the event
had suffered from the global
economic downturn, as there
were only around a hundred
people there, as opposed to the
usual 170-180 in previous years.
It turned out that they had been
very close to cancelling the whole
thing, but with 2011 being the
25
th
symposium, NRK and the
committee decided that to stop now would be madness, as
the celebrations we have planned for the next symposium
are well in advance!
With a 7AM breakfast and an 8.30 opening address, the
rst day steamed into action starting with US Production
Mixer, Mark Ulano (Titanic, Kill Bill etc) giving a talk on
how he approached his craft. I followed him with my ADR
lecture and chose to use a sequence from Shameless, where
I had Sue revoice a character and add extra dialogue to
a scene. I then showed how to achieve a better t of her
performance using the VocAlign plug-in for Pro Tools.
An interesting idea followed in the next lecture which
was from Square Head systems the AudioScope
Microphone. A 1.5 metre circular array of 285 microphones,
with a built in wide-angle camera, allows you to select any
audio position via a touch screen to hear what is at that
location. The demos they showed included the selling oor
of the London Metal Market, where traders were screaming
bids and buying at unintelligible levels - with this system,
you were able to listen to ANY individual and what he was
saying; and a basketball match where you could hear the
referee, the coach or any player even a bubble gum pop
next to the coach. Amazing. (www.sqhead.com)
Morten Lindberg, a Norwegian recording engineer,
demonstrated his art of high bit rate and high sample rate
recording for classical music, which places his 5.1 array
within the orchestra, rather than the concert performance
position that many adopt. This was a very powerful demo
of perfection, and he explained how time consuming it is to
do this, but the end results are fantastic. (www.21.no)
He was followed by the legendary George Massenburg,
who showed how we are losing sight of audio quality,
living in our MP3 world. Playing a piece of Diana Krall in
5.1, we slumped into a comfortable, after lunch, relaxed
mode. Lets listen to a few codecs he mused, where he
then showed what losses there are within MP3, AC3 and
differing bite rate codecs, by phase reversing these with
the original track. We all groaned as the sound became
successively worse.
His main point was that we are not teaching the younger
sound engineers enough about original quality and the use
of higher sample rates. 96k should be our minimum, he
was saying; and judging by the results I heard he is right!
(www.blackbirdstudio.com)
Ronald Prent, from Galaxy Studios, opened Sunday,
explaining more about his theories of 5.1 mixing and
instrument placement, for current rock & pop albums, with
some very persuasive demos. He was followed by Darcy
Proper, a mastering engineer, who explained the whole
process of Mastering and what can and cant be done to a
track to improve it. (www.galaxystudio.com)
NORWEGIAN DIALOGUE
THE NORDIC SOUND SYMPOSIUM 2009
Hotel venue
Discussion
amps JOURNAL
23
SOUND TAKEN SERIOUSLY
Next, Florian Camerer gave a very illuminating talk
about the struggle to keep loudness in the broadcasting
chain under control, from such diverse mediums as lm,
advertising and radio. He is Chairman of EBU-group
P/Loud, and there is expected to be a paper released
sometime in 2011 showing the new guidelines. (http://tech.
ebu.ch/news/ebu-members-present-progress-at-126th-ae-08may09)
After lunch we had an engaging panel discussion that
veered widely from artist/engineer/producer relationships
to urban decay and parental control of the young. This was
an often emotive subject for some of the panel who lecture
at universities in Norway and Austria, where the MP3
culture of music for free is invading the up and coming
Tonmeisters pursuit for audio excellence.
Saturday evening saw the gala dinner where, amongst
the speeches and verbal entertainment (always in English)
there was the Song Competition. This was for 3 teams the
Norwegians, the Exhibitors and the Aliens (everyone else!).
The rules were that each team had to compose a lyrics
about the symposium to the tune of Its A Long Way To
Tipperary, props and costume were deemed important, and
(more importantly) there should be sufcient bribing of the
judges. What followed was a hugely entertaining show of
team spirit and national pride. For the rst time in many
years the Aliens team won; I like to think that our wine-
bottle percussion section helped, or maybe the small section
of dancing (choreographed by Sue) that tipped the balance.
We did, however, nd out that the bribe of cakes that were
especially brought all the way from Austria, helped!
On Sunday morning, breakfast was a little empty,
considering that some had only got to bed at 6AM; but
many turned up for Bob Walkers lecture on Early
Reections in Mobile Sound Control Rooms. After that
Eddy B. Brixen gave a very convincing demo of 5.1 for
ENG using a DPA5100 mic array. Not only was there a
camera mic that, as he said himself, looks like a bicycle
saddle; but he did explain how it was possible to add a
different centre channel mics for interviews and pieces to
camera. Everyones favourite part was the video demo of a
Maserati driving around the mic array at very high revs.
We nished the whole event with a new design entirely
from a young engineer (oh alright geek!) Leif Claesson.
He has built a system which turned the heads of all
the NRK engineers, which improved the quality of FM
broadcasting by removing the effect of excessive limiting
of an Optimod processor. By using a mini-transmitter live,
he showed the before and after effect of his software which
may give a longer life to FM as the best source of radio over
DAB (which, interestingly, nobody liked either!) All too
soon we were back on the coach to Oslo and the bullet train
to the airport (33miles in 19 mins!)
I shall certainly try to go to the next symposium in 2011,
not only to meet these enthusiastic, highly professional folk
again, but also to hear what exciting developments there
are in the future and to sample the warmth and hospitality
of a very generous nation.
Dave Humphries AMPS
www.nrk.no/soundsymp/program_e.html
Analysis
The Norwegian Team
George Massenburg with author Dave Humphries
amps JOURNAL
24
CONCH AWARDS
Film Soundtrack of the Year under 10m
Man on Wire (Sponsored by Munro Acoustics)
Slumdog Millionaire
The Boy in Striped Pyjamas
Film Soundtrack of the Year Over 10m
Hellboy II (Sponsored by UK Film Council)
Quantum of Solace
The Boat That Rocked
Audio on TV/Film Documentary
Evolutions, Evolutions
Man on Wire, Molinare
The Animals Guide to Survival, Halo Post
Audio on TV Drama (Sponsored by Whitemark)
Crooked House, Ascent 142
Doctor Who, Bang Post Production
Law and Order UK, Pepper Post
Red Riding 1980, LipSync
Commercial of the Year (Sponsored by Film London)
Formula One Launch promo, Hackenbacker
Hovis Go On Lad, Wave
Sony Bond, Wave
Audio on TV Entertainment (Sponsored by De Wolfe Music Ltd)
MTV European Music Awards, Richmond Studios Prods
Red Dwarf: Back to Earth, Evolutions
Top Gear, Evolutions
Production Sound Mixer of the Year (Sponsored by AMPS)
Chris Munro AMPS
Julian Howarth, Bang Post Production
Simon Hayes AMPS
Film Sound Editor (Sponsored by Goldcrest)
Claire Ellis
Eddy Joseph AMPS
Glenn Freemantle
Lisa McMahon
Film Re-Recording Mixer (Sponsored by Euphonix)
Ian Tapp AMPS, The Pinewood Studios Group
Mike Prestwood Smith AMPS
Paul Cotterell, Lipsync
Richard Pryke, The Pinewood Studios Group
TV Sound Editor of the Year (Sponsored by SADiE)
Ben Norrington
Chris Roberts AMPS, Ascent 142
Paul McFadden, Bang Post Production
TV Dubbing Mixer of the Year (Sponsored by Avid)
Chris Maclean, The Jungle Group
Howard Bargroff AMPS
Paul Cotterell, LipSync
Richard Ashley, Evolutions
Best Foley Project (Sponsored by Allan, Chapman & James)
Man on Wire, Molinare
Quantum of Solace, Soundelux
Red Riding Trilogy, LipSync
TV Facility (Sponsored by Scrub)
Ascent 142
Evolutions
Films @ 59
Commercial Facility (Sponsored by Hub +)
Angell Sound
Grand Central Studios
The Factory
Wave
Film Facility (Sponsored by Hireworks)
De Lane Lea
Molinare
The Pinewood Studios Group
The Fellowship Award
Keith Grant
Newcomer
Emily Nuttall, Sumners
Kevin Penney, Soundelux
Neil Whippey, The Facility
Simon Epstein, Molinare
Unsung Heroes
Andy Picton, The Pinewood Studios Group
Stephen Hart (formerly Soundelux)
Trevor Grifn, The Pinewood Studios Group
The UK Screen Association
hosted the annual Conch Sound
Awards 2009 on 23rd September
2009. The ceremony honoured
projects, people and facilities
from the Commercial, Film and
TV industries. The awards, which
were held at the new venue
of Kings Place, London, was
attended by over 300 professionals from the industry in
this, its fourth year.
AMPS sponsored the Production Sound Mixer of the Year
Award which went to AMPS Member Simon Hayes.
The full list of the awards below shows nominees and
winners, the latter being in bold.
amps JOURNAL
25
NEW PRODUCTS
NEW PRODUCTS
Some items selected from the information
sent into the Journal
TASCAM HS-P82
TASCAM unveiled the HS-P82 at the recent AES
- an 8-track location recorder, employing Compact
Flash card digital media. It features an internal
stereo mix down capability, in addition to the eight
discrete tracks. Audio quality is up to 96kHz/24bit
(8-track recording) or 192khz/24bit (4-track record-
ing) quality, with timecode and support for industry
standard Broadcast WAV (BWF) le format and
iXML metadata.
The light weight recorder is housed in an all alu-
minium chassis and features an upward angled TFT
colour touch screen. Eight microphone preamps
are each fed from balanced XLR mic inputs with
discrete phantom power and limiters. There is also
eight channel digital I/O on a DB-25 connector and
two balanced analogue outs on XLR. Input gain
pots are recessed on the control facia. Dual Compact
Flash slots provide for mirroring and seamless A/B
recording for backup. A USB2.0 port enables high
speed le transfer to and from Windows PC and
Macintosh.
Future software updates will also provide for
cascading of two or more recorders. Long battery
life is achieved through low power usage and vari-
ous power options include AA batteries (x10), NP
type, AC adaptor, external DC input, and optional
V-mount adaptor for ENDURA batteries. The mrrp
is 4999 (inc VAT).
www.tascam.co.uk
GRACE DESIGNS SPACEBARS
Anyone looking to record in 5.1 surround format
using ve microphones faces the problem of how to
support those microphones. Grace Designs, bet-
ter known for high-end mic pre-amps, launched a
range of Spacebar kits and components for stereo
applications earlier in year and at the NY AES
Convention added further congurations to encom-
pass multi microphone set-ups including 5.1, Decca
Tree, Blumlein and AB Stereo. With the kits the user
is able to custom congure virtually any miking
format with accurate, repeatable placement. They
may be supported from a boom stand or hung as in
a xed installation.
www.gracedesign.com
www.scvlondon.co.uk
or www.fostexinternational.com
FOSTEX FM-3 FIELD MIXER
The FM-3 marks Fostexs rst step into portable
mixers building on their 18 years building portable
recorders. It features three balanced input channels
and two balanced main outputs, with individual
signal transformers in addition, to a wide variety of
sub outputs, two phones and aux outputs. Built in a
rugged aluminum body with large fader knobs, the
Master, Trim and HPF knobs have a pop up mecha-
nism to avoid inadvertent operation. Uses a newly
developed Organic EL display with high resolution
metering to offer both VU and Peak level with
selectable Stereo and Mono indication. The
mixer's parameter setting status (mic/line,
phantom on/off, etc) can be seen on the display.
Main and Sub outputs have switchable level set-
tings at +4/0/ -20/ -60 and a dedicated monitor
return input is provided to check audio from VTR
or camera feeds. The Aux input can be merged to
the Stereo bus for cascade connection. Powering is
by AA (8x) batteries or DC12-24V external. Over 7
hours operation with alkaline batteries (phantom
off) is claimed. The RRP is 1399.00 (ex VAT).
amps JOURNAL
26
OBITUARIES
Peter Davies passed away in Switzerland, where he had
lived for several years, while recuperating in a small hos-
pice following hospitalisation for treatment to a blood clot,
shortly after his 86th birthday.
Peter made his career in the Film Industry. It was his life
asserts Shirley, his wife of 48 years. Certainly, the list of
lms, many of which are now regarded as classics of Brit-
ish Cinema that he worked on in various capacities, from
Sound Camera, Re-Recording Mixer to Production Mixer,
is an enviable record, and took him to countries in Europe,
North and South America, the Middle and Far East.
From The Foreman Went To France (1942) when sound
was recorded on 35mm optical, to Re-Recording Mixer at
MGM, ABPC, Denham, Pinewood & Shepperton Studios,
and as Production Sound Mixer on many lms including
Dont Look Now (1973) for which he was nominated for a
BAFTA award, the titles range through Brief Encounter,
Caesar & Cleopatra, The Red Shoes, The Fast Lady, The Ipcress
File, Ale, and Funeral in Berlin. Peters career encom-
passed all Sound crafts, and he would demand nothing
less than perfection from himself and his crew, in produc-
ing excellent soundtracks.
I never met Peter in person, although as Membership
Secretary, I often had telephone conversations with him;
he used to send over clippings of interest, and also some
historical slides of Denham Studios in the late 1940s,
which I scanned and printed for him, and now reside in
the AMPS archive.
Patrick Heigham AMPS

Peter T. Davies AMPS Hon
1923 - 2009
I was saddened to learn of the passing of our
highly respected colleague Peter Davies. One of my
rst encounters with Peter was in the summer of
1962, when he bravely agreed to Cyril Crowhursts
request to allow me to stand in for Danny Daniels
as Boom Operator on the Norman Wisdom lm
On The Beat for the duration of Dannys summer
holiday. I say bravely because at the time I was a
Boom Operators Assistant with only a few months
experience. I was very grateful for this opportunity,
his trust and his guidance.
I must have done OK, because I swung the old
blue Mole Richardson boom on another feature
for him later that year, as well as the many other
occasions at Pinewood when crewing during busy
times relied on temporarily upgrading junior
sound staff.
Peter and I corresponded frequently over the
years. In the mid eighties, he sought my permis-
sion to include parts of a paper I had presented for
the BKSTS in a secret project he was working on,
designing a Sound Department for a proposed new
Studio in the USA.
Latterly he would help me in some of my re-
search into Pinewoods early days, and I would
source historical information about Denham Stu-
dios for him. This task was quite onerous as I am
potty about details he reminded me in one of his
e-mails. Always the perfectionist he was incensed
by the inaccuracy of the IMDb.
My career was enhanced by his valuable
counselling and generous praise. My condolences
go to his wife Shirley and the family.
Graham V. Hartstone AMPS

I rst met Peter in 1945 when I was sent over from
Pinewood to Denham Studios to collect some light valves
which he was responsible for re-stringing. I then did
not meet up with Peter again until returning from RAF
National Service in 1949. I was reinstated for one year to
Denham where Peter was then on the Dubbing Desk. We
became friends socially often going with George Wil-
lows to ice-hockey at the Wembley Arena on a Saturday
evening.
When Denham closed in 1950, Peter was transferred to
Pinewood where he subsequently became a Production
Mixer during which time I lost touch until the late 50s. I
then began working with him as a Boom Operator and we
got on well together thereby renewing our friendship.
Peter was by now living in Watford and he later mar-
ried Shirley, and my wife and I began seeing them socially
on Saturday evenings and this continued when they later
moved to Beaconseld. We used to go out for a Chinese
meal, together with their two white poodle dogs.
In 1970, he and Shirley moved to Switzerland where we
still kept in frequent touch until Peters recent sad death.
However my wife and I have very many fond and happy
memories of our times together and we will always re-
member Peter with great affection.
David Bowen AMPS Hon

amps JOURNAL
27
OBITUARIES
ANGELA MARSHALL AMPS Hon
I can honestly say that I have seldom been more shocked than
I was to read that dear Angie Marshall had passed away. Even
though I left the movie industry long before the rest of my
colleagues, I never lost touch with Angie, and every year when
the Christmas cards came tumbling in I always looked forward to
reading hers. I loved to hear about the amateur plays she directed
and her annual Time-Share and her dream of moving to the coast.
For some reason she never mentioned Artemedia Loops but I
guess theres only so much one can put on a card. I begged her to
come to our annual Christmas get-together at Pinewood to meet
the lads but she never made it, and I always assumed her reason
for declining was the distance. Either that or she knew shed be
hugged to death if ever she walked through the door of Theatre
Five.
Every sound editor who went searching for tracks at the
Cinesound library will remember her with affection and on every
lm we worked on she became part of the team. Her knowledge
of the sounds on offer was second to none and it was impossible
to imagine the outcome if ever she left the company. And what
a sales-woman she was! I remember once I needed the sound
of a genuine pistol being red and when I rang her about it she
assured me she had just the sound I needed. Yes I said, but is
it a genuine Bedouin PISTOL? Well, I know its been used as a
Bedouin pistol she replied.
As we all know, Angie wasnt the most glamorous lady in town
and she never had the funds to make stylish clothes a priority
but she mixed and matched and rang the changes in an effort to
look different for the clients every day.
Angie was a great friend and colleague and a very special lady.
I had my suspicion that all might not be well when last year
her Xmas card failed to arrive. I often wondered if she felt life
could have treated her better, which is why she poured so much
energy and enthusiasm into amateur theatre. One things for
certain.. Ill never forget her! I still cant believe shes gone.

Norman Wanstall
Angela Marshall passed away at the Queens Hos-
pital Romford, Essex in October. Angie, as she was
known to all, spent her working life in the industry
and contributed to a vast array of TV and Movies
during that time. Even after retiring, Angie estab-
lished Artemedia Loops Ltd in 1996 and continued
to provide Ambient and ADR crowd tracks for the
industry. Her recent credits include (TV) Dr Who,
Torchwood, Robin Hood, Waking The Dead, Primevil,
Kingdom and Being Human; (Film) Shakespeare in Love,
The Full Monty, Troy, and Saving Private Ryan.
Angie wrote an article for the AMPS Newsletter (Is-
sue 26) in which she outlined her role at Cinesound
during the four decades that she worked there.
As you can imagine, all of us at Artemedia Loops
Ltd are shocked and saddened at the news but are
also proud to have known Angie as both a personal
friend and professional colleague since the early
seventies.
Stephen Bracken-Keogh
Director, Artemedia Loops Ltd
GEORGE GORDON HAY AMPS Hon
1913 2009
For the last few years of Gordons career he was Sound
Camera Operator in the recording channel in Theatre One
at Pinewood. There he worked on such illustrious titles as
The Man with the Golden Gun and Bugsy Malone among many
others, as well as numerous episodes of The New Avengers. In
those days, the nal Optical Negatives were exposed in each
theatre. Drawing on his previous experience he was some-
times pressed into manning the Dubbing Console.
In the 1950s Gordon worked for the Danziger Brothers at
Riverside Studios, and later for Pathe News at Gainsborough
Studios. He retired from Pinewood in 1978.
I fondly remember chatting with Gordon about everything
and anything during those heady days at Pinewood. A real
gentleman who enjoyed a long and happy retirement.
Graham V. Hartstone AMPS
GORDON DANIEL AMPS Hon
Gordon Daniel, Sound Editor, died in August. His
credits include sound editing on British motor racing
lm The Green Helmet in 1961 and later won an Oscar
for Sound Editing on Grand Prix in 1966. He spent
many years working in Hollywood on such movies
as Papillon, 1973, but retired to Cornwall a few years
ago.
It is sometimes difcult to prepare obituaries
for the passing of older members so we
welcome any information, details or
anecdotes that members may wish to
add for publication in a later issue.
amps JOURNAL
THE END
Dr. Whos Doing What?
This photo appeared some 45 years after it was taken, sent to me
by the chaps who are restoring the very rst episodes of Dr. Who,
believed to be from lm telerecordings.
It was in the property of the late Verity Lambert, who was the
executive producer of the early Dr. Who series and depicts Adrian
Bishop-Laggett and myself, with Verity, in the Sound Control
room of Studio D, Lime Grove (sadly non-existent any more, ats
now stand on the site).
Bish and I think it must have been around 1963-4, as he was the
Grams Operator at the time and I was double-banking him, prior
to taking over that job on his promotion to Sound Supervisor. I
stayed with the show for about three years, had a break and came
back to it again in 1968.
As a rule, the usual routine for working on the series, was attend-
ance at outside rehearsals in a drill-hall somewhere, to witness
a run-through, a chat with the director if anything special was
required in the way of sound FX, then back to Television Centre
for a pie and pint in the club, before hitting the Gram Library to
audition FX recordings needed. After that, a short journey down
to Studio R in Lime Grove, a dedicated sound facility, to assemble
the reels of tape to be used at the studio recording, which was
done in one day for a half-hour episode. The programme was
videotaped to 2 Ampex (405 line B/W in those days!) and any re-
cording breaks meant that the videotape had to be physically cut
and spliced. Spot FX were played in at the time, and any bridging
music links or changes in b/g atmos were added over the edits in
a re-recording session later.
Many of the sound effects were created by the Radiophonic Work-
shop at Maida Vale Studios and I often drove over to liaise with
Brian Hodgson and collect any specialised material. I do remem-
ber belting my mothers twin-tub AEG washing machine which
produced the most wonderful array of motor whines, switch
clonks and whooshes, when I could take home a Uher or Nagra.
The tape machines in the picture are EMI TR90s a beautiful
piece of kit, running at 15 or 7.5 ips with an amazingly fast start,
which made spot cueing a reality. They were two-track, which
was useful for long atmospheres, as the switch between them was
done with a quick ick of the faders.
BBC rotary faders had a 180 travel only, so from zero to at out
was extremely fast.
Later programmes, using the sound desks in TVC had the facil-
ity of a sound source auto-following the vision mixer cuts. It is
possible to see, disappearing off the nearest machine, a long tape
loop, which extended across the gallery and round a cine spool
mounted on a pencil taped to a mike stand! It was a challenge to
edit the loop so that the audio join was not discernable on either
of the two tracks. No computers in those days!
The Dalek voices were largely down to the actor Peter Hawkins,
who produced most of the characteristic metallic rendition,
helped a bit with a ring-modulator which put in the broken-up
pattern. If there were multiple Dalek speeches, then some were
pre-recorded and played in off-tape.
I remember one occasion when I looked down at my script,
realised that I had not cued the last dialogue line of the scene,
and left Deborah Watling (Victoria) with egg on her face, waiting
to react!
As most sound FX were relayed to the studio oor (foldback)
for actors to react, I did have a bit of fun with Carole Ann Ford,
who was due to leave the show, as she had fallen for a chap on
another planet and was not going to travel with grandfather
any more. Her dialogue line: Oh, David, I love you, I really do!
was absolutely asking for the addition of the soupiest, schmaltzi-
est Hollywood strings that I could nd and she got them! It
stopped the rehearsal, with her saying: Well, Ive never been
sent up like that before!
Pat Heigham AMPS
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Sometimes your past rises up ....