Sound Devices Mixpre 6 review for The Audio Spotlight

May 31, 2017

I recently reviewed the Sound Devices Mixpre 6 recorder for the Audio Spotlight:

Hi there. I’m George Vlad, sound designer and recordist based in the UK. I work in game audio and I release sound effects libraries through Mindful Audio. I’m going to review the recently-released Sound Devices Mixpre 6 recorder from the perspective of a sound guy with an interest in subtle sounds (ambience, Foley), loud sources (vehicles, firearms) and everything in between. I don’t do a lot location or voice recording so I won’t insist on these aspects.

In my day to day work I use a Sound Devices 633 and a Sony PCM D100, but lately I’ve been meaning to add a few more channels to my main rig. I’ve been looking at the Sound Devices Mixpre-D, 302 or the 442 for this purpose. The Mixpre-D and the 302 can only output 2 channels which don’t quite fit my needs, while the 442 has the right number of outputs but boy is it heavy.

[Head over to the TAS website to read the rest of the review.]

Field recording trip to the Black River in Sweden

May 26, 2017

A few days ago I returned from a very productive trip to a place called the Black River in central Sweden. The trip was organized by Stefan Taylor and Kari Knight with the help of fellow sound recordist Richard Youell. We were also joined by Stijn Demeuleneare, sound artist based in Belgium and Tony Fulford, Ornithologist from the UK. Pete Smith had been to the place in April and only had good things to say about it, so I didn't think twice before booking my place.

Wildlife Sound Recording Society 2017 Spring meeting

May 15, 2017

This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending the WSRS Spring meeting in the Somerset Levels. It was a last minute decision since I had recently returned from my trip to Romania and I'm flying to Sweden for another field recording trip in two days. It's been exhausting but I'm really happy I decided to go even though the weather wasn't 100% cooperative.

I have to mention this is a new venue for the WSRS Spring meeting so I knew nothing about the place. The trip booking form mentioned Bitterns, Nightingales, Reed Warblers and other wetland species so it all sounded quite promising. Lodging was at Middlewick Cottages, a clean and cozy place just outside Glastonbury.

ASFX blog post on preparing for field recording trips

May 11, 2017

I recently wrote a blog post for A Sound Effect detailing how I prepare for field recording trips. I touched on most aspects involved, from transportation to gear and beyond. Hope you'll find it useful.

Hi, I’m George Vlad and I like to point mics at things. I record all sorts of sounds, from ambiences and wildlife to machinery and aircraft and everything in between. I’ve released a few libraries through Mindful Audio and I often share free recordings on the MA blog.

I’m currently planning a month-long field recording trip to the Carpathian Mountains and the Danube Delta in Romania. As is always the case, I have to go through extensive preparations so that once I get there I can forget everything else and focus on getting the best recordings. Having done this many times in the past, I’m going to go into some detail about how I prepare for a recording trip, from a short hike to flying halfway around the world.

[Head over to the A Sound Effect blog to read the rest of the article.]

Dispatch from the Danube Delta

April 21, 2017

Earlier this month I left my studio in sunny England and embarked on a field recording trip through Romania. I have visited multiple locations in the Carpathian Mountains, forests and woodlands in the Moldova region and now I'm in the Danube Delta. I'm joined by fellow sound recordist/designer Daan Hendriks with which I've been sharing the miserable weather that the month of April has so far thrown at us.

Recording of an old time passenger train

February 20, 2017

Instead of walking back I decided to take the train and record the short trip with my D100 (which I always have in my backpack). From the outside the train didn't sound particularly interesting or loud, so I wasn't expecting the recording to be anything spectacular.

Recording the 1990 Toyota Land Cruiser

January 13, 2017

...on one hot afternoon we managed to organize a vehicle recording session with one of the 4X4s that were used for game drives on the reserve. This was a 4-liter petrol Toyota Land Cruiser built in 1990 that still drove well, although it had seen better days as seen in the photos.

2016 Holiday Freebies

December 22, 2016

2018 update: there’s a new freebie library available. Get it here!

2016 is almost over and it's been a pretty good year for field recording. On the first day of the year I was in Romania recording ice, snow, dead silent forest ambiences, gears and a whole lot of other stuff. Some of these sounds made it into two sound effects libraries which were pretty well received.

Later in the year I attended a couple of field recording workshops with Chris Watson, I recorded a WW2 training airplane with the help of Rob Brown and Joe Cavers, and I got a Double MS rig which I then used for recording ambiences in South Africa. I'm still going through the recordings I made there and I will compile them into at least two libraries in the near future.

I've also done many smaller recording sessions which resulted in a multitude of very varied sound recordings, from water dripping in various places to beaches and from various vehicles to hits and impacts. They come in very handy in my daily work as a sound designer but they're also quite an eclectic mix that can't be organized in libraries. Therefore I thought I'd share some of these as a freebie set to thank everyone who has ever purchased a library from me.

Happy Holidays and may the next year be even better than 2016!