G4TV visits Skywalker Ranch

Hello there 2011, we are back for some more. If I'm not wrong (the camera moves a bit hectically so I'm not 100% sure), the room that Matthew Wood shows, used to be the sound designer room mainly used by Gary Rydstrom and later on by Randy Thom.

There is little to be learned from this, but it is always neat to catch a fresh glimpse from the ranch and the great people that work there.

Closing some tabs

Hi there,
So, I had some more news left I wanted to share. Once I'm done with that I hope to post something a bit more interesting (other than just news) and I'm also preparing a little something for this holidays.

Ok, let's get to the news and close some tabs.

We can never get enough of good ol' Ben right? Check out this fun little Q&A with the always wonderful Ben Burtt.

- - -

 Matthew Wood (right) and David Acord (left) got interviewed by TheForce.net and the resulting podcast (or Force-Cast) is really funny. It's very insightful as well. Get it HERE.

- - -

Well, that's all for now. A couple of things about this blog. I don't really have an agenda (besides posting news more or less as they appear), there are things I know I want to do, but beyond than that is a mystery. Dear reader, you are more than welcome to leave your requests in the comments. If you'd like me to post about a specific thing regarding Skywalker Sound, whether is a sound designer, or a film, or a technical thing, just let me know and I'll see what I can do.

The other thing. Blogger users, dear loyal readers, I invite you to "follow" this blog (so I can have extra motivation for posting). It's right down there on the white sidebar. Did you just clicked on it? Thanks! you are the best.

See you soon.

Sound Treats

Hi there again listeners,

More news and info regarding Skywalker Sound:
  The latest Spencer Brewer album "Cinematic" was recorded at the scoring stage, and one song in particular was written in it, called "The Walls that Move" inspired by the actual moving walls in the stage (which can provide natural reverb). It was released on July 15 this year.

- - -


One of EA's latest games Dead Space, had it's score recorded at Skywalker Sound. The score features over three hours of music (composed by Jason Graves) recorded during two different recording sessions. In the first session Graves conducted sixty musicians of the acclaimed Northwest Sinfonia Orchestra at the Bastyr Chapel in Seattle, and a year later Graves conducted sixty players of the Skywalker Symphony Orchestra and twenty voice choir at the world famous Skywalker Sound Scoring Stage. During both sessions, co-produced by Jason Graves and Rod Abernethy, the orchestra was recorded individually by section (woodwinds, brass, percussion and strings) with multiple dynamic levels and variations to be implemented as adaptive layers of music in the game. EA’s audio team designed the music system to be multi-layered so the music could be mixed at run-time based on gameplay and situation.
Read the whole press release HERE. Dead Space was released on October 14.

- - -

Nice interview with Dustin Cawood, an assistent sound designer and sound effects supervisor at Skywalker Sound. Read HERE.

- - -

  The new Star Wars: The Clone Wars tv series has recently begun screening on Cartoon Network. Here is a nice behind the scenes video from MovieBeat:

- - -

And that's all for this week folks. See you soon.