New TV Loudness Rules – The Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (CALM) Act was signed by President Obama in Dec. of 2010 but has recently been defined. The idea is to ensure consistent audio levels for both programs and commercials on both broadcast and cable TV in the U.S. Compliance is now mandatory on all commercial advertising transmitted, and applies to both the embedded national programming and local commercials. The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau will notify stations if it receives a pattern or trend of consumer complaints, and fines of as much as $10,000 per occurrence could be levied. The order provides an alternative “safe harbor” approach involving certification by programmers and spot checks by distributors. To be in a safe harbor with commercials and non-certified programming, larger stations and program distributors must perform annual 24-hour spot checks of channels carrying non-certified programming. The CALM standard is compatible with Europe’s ITU BS.1770 specs, and defines a set of methods to measure and control the audio levels of commercials and programming in the digital domain.
A Grand Piano Tweak – Specialist audio manufacturers have for years been offering special legs, supports, cones and bases for AV gear that are said to improve their sonics. Now a new firm out of Clearwater, FL is offering a hand-crafted customizations to grand pianos to enhance both the sound of the instrument and its aesthetics. Justin Elliott calls his invention the ResInno Effect, which increases the acoustic isolation of the piano thru adding a carefully-architected and engineered piano leg using a mix of materials to provide a sleeker and more stylish design. The result is a tone that is strong, clearer and more focused than with a stock piano. It reduces the unpleasant, non-harmonic frequencies normally heard in piano tones. More information at www.ResInno.com
Can We Digitally Preserve Our Culture? – is being asked by more than 250 archivists, filmmakers, production companies, TV producers, scientists, vendors, funders, and policy makers at Screening the Future Conference 2012 at the U. of Southern California’s Ronald Tutor Campus Center May 21-23. Digital archiving is the link between our past, present and future, and the conference will consider three key questions: 1) Should archives focus on data or media?; 2) How can archives match user demand with institutional capabilities?; 3) What can archivists learn from each other? The Associate Dean of USC Libraries observed: “As the history of film and audio recording stretches forward with more content generated faster than ever before, the challenges and opportunities of digital preservation have never been higher or more relevant.”
Wayne Shorter – In Memoriam
Rememberance of the artist
