MAY 2024
THE LATEST NEWS FROM DYNAMIX
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Most of the eastern part of the US is or will be soon suffering from the latest cyclical emergence of cicadas, so we're republishing our article on the cicada from 2019. Enjoy.
"Again and again, the cicada's untiring cry pierced the sultry summer air like a needle at work on thick cotton cloth."
Yukio Mishima
Recording location audio outside can be challenging at best. The video team wants an exterior shot because architecture or a landscape in the background can add to the image. But alas, there are often unwanted sounds like cars, HVAC blowers, and other manmade annoyances that we must work around. There's one sound though that is nearly impossible to eliminate, fix, mask, hide, or yell-at-to-be-quiet. It is guaranteed to ruin almost any exterior recording in the summer: the mating song of the cicada.
These little bug(ger)s come out of the ground periodically (mostly every 13 or 17 years here in the Ohio Valley) to anchor themselves to a tree and incessantly cry out for all to hear. It's not their little vocal chords that are producing these 120-decibel cries. The jar flies are contorting their torsos to flex in and out, causing two timbals, or ribbed membranes, to vibrate 300-400 times a second. This produces a noise that's as loud as a jet engine and between 3KHz and 16KHz - right smack in the middle of the human speech range.
Human speech generally falls between 3KHz to 5KHz, like the sound of an old-time phone call. The nuances of intelligibility, such as the consonants S, H, F, and so on, are heard above 5 KHz. That makes removing the background sounds of cicadas difficult because you could also remove subtle sounds of speech. Noise reduction software has become very sophisticated today, but dynamic sounds like cicadas (their cry rises and falls in pitch and loudness instead of being drone-like) poses many challenges. We can painstakingly "paint out" some of the offending sounds, but it's best to leave some of it in so we don't lose key frequencies in the voice. If a dialog track with cicadas is heavily edited, then this can result in having cicadas in one clip and not the next. Or falling in one clip and rising in the next. This is jarring to the listener and is very difficult to fix. We sometimes actually add cicada song back in underneath to mask those continuity-challenged edits.
While recording, we can sometimes position the microphone and talent to reduce the cicada song, but inevitably a critter in another tree fires up his belly to blow the take. There's just no easy solution to this dog day dilemma. The sound is so hated, Japanese television has a Godzilla-like monster called "Cicada Man," probably created by a sound engineer. They're so passionately tired of them in Mexico that Raymundo Pérez y Soto penned the great mariachi song "La Cigarra, sung here by Linda Ronstadt.
But leave it to the U.S. Navy to find the positives in the piercing cicada death song. The Navy is no stranger to harnessing wildlife to help their efforts. They have a marine mammal program that uses bottlenose dolphins and sea lions for mine detection, ship and harbor protection, and equipment recovery. What on earth could they use a cicada for?
The Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Rhode Island has been studying this tiny creature's anatomy with a CT scan-like technology called microcomputed tomography to try and figure out how it makes its loud chirp. They've found that a cicada's two tymbals act as dual speakers when the insect contracts and releases their ribs. It's a highly efficient way of producing twice the sound with one action. And why would the Navy be interested in sound? Why sonar of course. Doubling sonar's efficiency is like seeing twice as far with radar.
It seems that Raymundo Pérez y Soto was ahead of his time in the 1950s when he wrote La Cigarra. He may have foretold the odd marriage of the cicada and the Navy:
Don’t sing to me anymore, cicada
Let your singsong end
For your song here in my soul
Stabs me like a dagger
Knowing that when you sing
You are announcing that you are going to your death.
Sailor, sailor
Tell me if it is true that you know,
Because I cannot distinguish,
Whether in the depths of the seas
There is another color blacker
Than the color of my sorrows.
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Know someone that is looking to get into the audio industry? Are you curious about the magic that goes on behind the curtain? Then this book will push the right buttons.
Tape Op recently reviewed my book:
The next time someone asks me for advice on a career in pro audio I will immediately recommend this book, but with a few instructions: Do not skim read it. Read every one of its 585 pages and then read it again. Take notes. Take more notes. Follow every single suggestion about how to behave in professional situations. Learn how to dress properly for the job, and how to take care of your body when the long days occur (and they will). And do all of this with a smile on your face and a positive attitude.
-Larry Crane
Radio World recently reviewed it:
'If there was ever a single book that could give aspiring audio engineers an accurate look at the career, “Push the Right Buttons: A Practical Guide to Becoming and Succeeding as an Audio Engineer and Producer” is it."
-James Careless
Excerpt from the book:
You should always be working to keep the clients you already have. Getting new clients is hard, but I think keeping them is even harder. You must prove to that new client that you can deliver at or above their expectations. If they come back, then you must prove yourself again and again. I still feel this way about clients I’ve had for decades. I want to be indispensable to their success. I hope they tell their colleagues about me, because word-of-mouth marketing is so much easier than targeted marketing. I’m also trying to reinvent myself over time so that I grow along with my clients.
Following all the rules at the beginning of this chapter will get you started on the path to keeping clients, but you must also go the extra mile for them. You want your client to walk away thinking that they got a lot more for their money than they anticipated. Most of my clients think about their budget, but they’re most interested in creating an effective product. If I go out of my way to find a special music cut, custom record a sound effect, or orchestrate a complicated audition session, a client will remember. If you’re not willing to give this extra effort, they will pick up on that and assume you aren’t interested in their success. Imagine that you’re at a restaurant and your server just slaps down your plates and doesn’t check on how you’re doing from time to time. You’d feel like chopped liver, wouldn’t you? You want your client to feel like they’re your favorite one, because they are. No client of yours should get more favorable treatment over another. Each one is your best customer.
You goal is to be top-of-mind when your customer needs audio production. How? Stay in contact with them. Calling them occasionally to remind them you’re still on the planet is one way, but I find that a little pushy. If you call, have a solid reason. Maybe they were in the news recently for an award or recognition. Perhaps they had a career milestone or were promoted. These are great reasons to keep in touch. But make your call short and to the point because your customer is more than likely busy and in the middle of a project.
•Paperback version, 585 pages
•eBook version
More on our web site here.
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Dynamix Productions, Inc. is an audio production facility in the heart of thoroughbred horse country, Lexington, Kentucky. Some of the many audio services we provide are: sound-for-picture, corporate communications, advertising, narrations, audiobooks, podcasts, live broadcast, SourceConnect, ISDN, location and remote recording, restoration, and tape/LP to digital transfers.
Since our opening 20 years ago in 2003, we have won or been a part of nearly 100 awards; including more than 75 ADDY’s (American Advertising Federation), 10 Telly's, 2 Silver Microphones, 1 PRSA (Public Relations Society of America), an Eclipse Award, and an Emmy nomination.
Why do professionals from desktop producers to Fortune 50 companies choose Dynamix for the highest level of production? We Listen.
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We produced some of our regular podcasts:
- AgFuture podcast (Alltech, Nicholasville, KY)
We also produced a number of audiobooks, including:
- "A Leaner Meaner Midlife" by Robyn Peterman Zahn
- "The Black Dragon" by Kathryn Le Veque, narrated by Brad Wills
- "Tales of the Shield Knight", an omnibus of short stories by Jonathon Moeller, narrated by Brad Wills
Other projects of note were:
- Radio campaign for UK HealthCare featuring UK baseball coach Nick Mingione (Team Cornett, Lexington, KY)
- Radio / TV campaings for Legoland New York, and Legoland Florida (Team Cornett, Lexington, KY)
- Interview with author and chef Edward Lee for Milkstreet Radio (Hear it on 88.9 WEKU, WFPL, WEKH, WEKF, and WEKP).
- UK HealthCare "Be Healthy Bash" radio campaign (Team Cornett, Lexington, KY)
- Political radio/TV/web campaigns for Grit Creative, Frankfort, KY
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RISE is a documentary series which airs periodically as part of 88.9 WEKU’s Eastern Standard weekly radio show/podcast. It came about in response to unprecedented flooding experienced by many southeastern Kentucky communities in July of 2022. The first six episodes, which aired for six consecutive weeks, explored what contributed to the disaster, how communities responded and the leadership, programs and resources needed to address the challenges and opportunities ahead.
The RISE series is produced by a team of reporters, producers, and external collaborators, including Dynamix Productions in Lexington. The team is led by Tom Martin, who is the host and senior editor of Eastern Standard. The team’s goal is to explore important policy issues affecting a region that is in transition due to shifting economic, social, environmental, and political realities.
Since the first six episodes aired, the RISE team has continued to produce occasional episodes focused on specific issues of importance to Eastern Kentucky. RISE is also available on Apple and Spotify.
Listen to all the episodes online at www.weku-rise.org.
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Dynamix Productions, and WEKU-FM, Eastern Kentucky University’s public radio station in Richmond, KY, partnered in 2018 to move primary production of the popular long-running radio program EASTERN STANDARD to the studios of Dynamix. The first program produced at Dynamix aired on July 19, 2018. By bringing the production to Lexington, producers have easier access to Central Kentucky business, healthcare, and education leaders, as well as local artists, entertainers, and other newsmakers. The move underlines WEKU’s commitment to providing the area’s most concise and in-depth coverage of news, issues, and ideas that directly affect Central Kentuckians.
Hosted by network news veteran Tom Martin, EASTERN STANDARD is a public affairs program that covers a broad range of topics of interest to Kentuckians. Resources for topics include WEKU’s reporting partner, the Ohio Valley ReSource, a partnership with seven public media outlets across three states; the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting; and National Public Radio. EASTERN STANDARD can be heard Thursdays at 11:00 AM / 8:00 PM and Sundays at 6:00 PM on 88.9 WEKU-FM, and online at www.esweku.org.
Did you miss the live show? Listen online.
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TELEVISION PROGRAMS PRODUCED AT DYNAMIX
THE RIGHTEOUS GEMSTONES on HBO
From Danny McBride (HBO’s Vice Principals), this critically acclaimed comedy follows a world-famous televangelist family with a long tradition of deviance, greed, and charitable work. Left flailing in the wake of their patriarch Eli Gemstone’s (John Goodman) semi-retirement, Season 3 finds Jesse (McBride), Judy (Edi Patterson), and Kelvin (Adam Devine) in charge of the vast Gemstone empire. When their long-lost cousins come out of the woodwork, the siblings must work together if they want to keep the Gemtsone legacy intact. An irreverent look at the lives of holy rollers, The Righteous Gemstones explores the salacious world of those who offer salvation… to the highest bidder.
GEORGE & TAMMY on Showtime
A limited series chronicling country music’s king and queen, George Jones and Tammy Wynette, whose wild and troubled love story inspired some of the most iconic music of all time.
SCOTT'S VACATION HOUSE RULES on HGTV
Scott turns problem properties into profit in his new series, Scott’s Vacation House Rules. With years of smart real estate investing and renovation experience, Scott and his secret design weapon, Debra Salmoni, unlock the rental potential of even the most uninspired properties. Finding and transforming tired, dated, and rundown spaces into unique and buzz-worthy Canadian cottage hotspots, the series proves that any dream property is always within reach if you follow Scott’s Vacation House Rules.
THE WHITE LOTUS on HBO
A social satire set at an exclusive Hawaiian resort, the series follows the vacations of various hotel guests over the span of a week as they relax and rejuvenate in paradise. But with each passing day, a darker complexity emerges in these picture-perfect travelers, the hotel’s cheerful employees, and the idyllic locale itself.
SECRET CELEBRITY RENOVATION on CBS
A new one-hour series that gives celebrities in sports, music and entertainment the chance to gift a surprise home renovation to a meaningful person who helped guide them to success. Hosted by Nischelle Turner (ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT), SECRET CELEBRITY RENOVATION provides stars with a hands-on opportunity to show their gratitude to someone who has had a significant impact on their life’s journey by helping to realize the renovation of their dreams. Those participating in making these heartfelt gifts include Emmy® and GRAMMY® Award-winning singer and choreographer Paula Abdul; award-winning singer-songwriter Lauren Alaina; Emmy®-winning actor and comedian Wayne Brady (LET’S MAKE A DEAL); NFL MVP and CBS sports analyst Boomer Esiason; GRAMMY®-winning artist Eve; Emmy®-nominated actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson; SURVIVOR winner “Boston” Rob Mariano; NBA All-Star Chris Paul; GRAMMY®-winning singer, songwriter and actor Anthony Ramos; and Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Emmitt Smith. The series also features the design team of home improvement contractor and television personality Jason Cameron (“Man Cave,” “While You Were Out”) and interior designer Sabrina Soto (“Design Star,” “Trading Spaces”).
ESCAPE TO THE CHATEAU on HGTV
Lieutenant colonel Dick Strawbridge and his partner Angel Adoree trade their English apartment for a dilapidated, 19th-century French chateau. The pair work to restore, renovate and redecorate the estate into a fairytale castle for their upcoming wedding.
YOU LIVE IN WHAT? INTERNATIONAL on HGTV
Architect George Clarke is on a mission to find inspiration for his outrageous, space-age concept house. His journey takes him around the world to meet the visionary people who build and live in some of the most unusual homes ever seen.
COUNTRY COUNTDOWN on The Circle Network
PODCASTS PRODUCED AT DYNAMIX
Vote Worthy helps to inform voters about the issues and challenges surrounding the 2020 General Election.
The Cancer Crisis in Appalachia"
Compelling stories from the next generation of leaders in the fight against cancer in Appalachia.
From UK's Markey Cancer Center.
"Tales of American History" with Kent Masterson Brown
"The Tyler Gossett Podcast"
GoFundMe podcast "Todd Oldfield and Wendall Gill: A Community Comes Together"
"Embedded" podcast from NPR
Al Cross in a series of podcasts about Mitch McConnell
AUDIOBOOKS PRODUCED AT DYNAMIX
  
     
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
OTHER PROJECTS PRODUCED AT DYNAMIX
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OUR MAILING ADDRESS IS:
Dynamix Productions, Inc.
333 N Ashland Ave, Ste 120
Lexington, KY 40502
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