The OM’s power and clarity is born from Blackbird’s holistic approach to maximizing resonance: a proprietary hollow neck and head carbon-fiber uni-body construction, asymmetric design with off-set sound hole, as well as a head and body sound port. It’s also among the lightest guitars in the world which further helps produce a tone that evokes a custom wooden instrument, but this acoustic is nearly indestructible and impervious.

www.blackbirdguitars.com

# Carbon Fiber strength and environmental stability
# 3.5 lbs. among the world’s lightest guitars
# Resonance-driving hollow neck and head with sound port
# Offset soundhole for increased volume and bass
# 25.5″ scale length
# Asymmetric design for enhanced tone in a compact body
# Optional Fishman Matrix Infinity

Construction

The Blackbird Rider features an all-hollow uni-body shell setting it apart from any guitar in the world.
That is the body, neck, and head are cast in one-piece with the sound board, fretboard, tuners, etc. added to that main component.
Forming the main component in one-piece eliminates the weak and sound-absorbing joints associated with standard guitars. This patent-pending construction relies on the incredibly strong and stiff properties of carbon fiber as well as plenty of unique design features to create the strongest, most resonant small-bodied guitar available anywhere.

Materials

Carbon fiber comes in a variety of different styles and configurations which accommodates a huge range of applications. Blackbird guitars take full advantage of this versatility, utilizing a blend of uni-directional (super stiff in one direction), 90 degree (strong and stiff in two directions) and twill (wraps well in three dimensions) along with core materials to add strength and reduce weight even further.
Carbon fiber’s stiffness is what makes it physically superior to wood as a sound board material. Its durability and strength, no matter the conditions, makes for a perfect travelling companion.

The instrument also had a bank of expression keys that allowed the player to change the timbre and character of the sounds. A later (1938) version of the instrument featured microtonal tuning as specified by the Hindu poet Rabindranath Tagore and the musician Alain Danielou.

The Ondes-Martenot was quickly accepted and eventually had a wide repetoire, works were written for the instrument by composers such as Edgard Varèse, Olivier Messian, Darius Milhaud, Arthur Honegger, Maurice Jarre.
Here you can see how it works.

CPU
Intel® Core2 Duo ® (2.8GHz)

Memory
2 GB (upgradeable to 4GB)

Storage
500 Gigabyte (upgradeable to 2TB)

Drive
Slimline CD/DVD Burner

Connection
(8) USB 2.0 ports
(1) Gigabit (10/100/1000) Ethernet port
(2) DVI Video ports (1 DVI-I, 1 DVI-D)
(1) E-SATA port

Audio
Sample Rates: 44.1, 48, 96, 192kHz from internal crystal or externally supplied clock (no sample rate conversion)
Bit Depths: 24-bit I/O, 32-bit processing
E-MU E-DSP™ 32-bit DSP with 67-bit accumulator (double precision w/ 3 headroom bits)
Hardware-accelerated, 32-channel mixing, and multi-effects processing
Zero-latency direct hardware monitoring w/effects
ASIO 2.0, WDM/MME/DirectSound Drivers
EDI (E-MU Digital Interface) proprietary 64-channel audio link over CAT-5 cable
Anti-Pop speaker protection minimizes noise during power on/off
Ultra-low jitter, clock subsystem: < 1 ns in PLL mode (44.1kHz, Opt. S/PDIF Sync)

Analog Line Inputs (2)
Type: servo-balanced, DC-coupled, low-noise input circuitry
A/D converter: AK5394A
Level (software selectable):
- Professional: +4dBu nominal, 20dBu max (balanced)
- Consumer: -10dBV nominal, 6dBV max (unbalanced)
Frequency Response (20Hz – 20kHz): +/- .05dB
Dynamic Range (1kHz, A-weighted): 120dB
Signal-to-Noise Ratio (A-weighted): 120dB
THD+N (1kHz at -1dBFS): -110dB (.0003%)
Stereo Crosstalk (1kHz at -1dBFS): < -115dB

Analog Line Outputs (2)
Type: Balanced, low-noise, 3-pole low-pass differential filter
D/A converter: CS4398
Level (software selectable):
- Professional: +4dBu nominal, 20dBu max (balanced)
- Consumer: -10dBV nominal, 6dBV max (unbalanced)
Frequency Response (20Hz – 20kHz): + 0.0/-.35dB,
Dynamic Range (1kHz, A-weighted): 120dB
Signal-to-Noise Ratio (A-weighted): 120dB
THD+N (1kHz at -1dBFS): -105dB (.0006%)
Stereo Crosstalk (1kHz at -1dBFS): < -115dB

Digital I/O
S/PDIF:
- 2 in/2 out coaxial (transformer coupled)
- 2 in/2 out optical (software switched at ADAT)
- AES/EBU or S/PDIF format (software selectable)
ADAT:
- 8 channels, 24-bit @ 44.1/48kHz
- 4 channels, 24-bit @ 96kHz (S-MUX compatible)
- 2 channels, 24-bit @ 192kHz
MIDI:
- 1 in, 1 out

Synchronization
Internal crystal sync at 44.1, 48, 96, 192kHz
External sample rate sync via
- ADAT (44.1 – 192kHz)
- S/PDIF (opt. or coax 44.1 – 96kHz)

Power Supply
250 Watt Power Supply, Whisper Quiet Cooling Fans (Internal Chassis, Processor & Power Supply)

Dimensions:
19”(W) X 12”(D) X 1U(H)

More information: Open Labs

My boss at the time Professor Ian Whalley, had me compose music for the campus television production company. He also allowed me to record local bands and do the sound and music for student’s short films.

I worked on many short films and theatre productions before being offered my first feature film. It was a horror thriller called ‘The Ugly” and I was credited as sound designer. It was a definite crash course in sound post production and design. There was certainly a bit of sound library milking in the early days, but I did my best at the time to manipulate sound to create something unique. Through that process I learnt the importance in recording a fresh palette for every film.

DS: I can see that you are working in other projects with Peter Jackson… How is your relationship with him? How did you become involved with District 9?

DW: Peter is a driving force in the New Zealand film industry and he has an incredibly good ear for sound. He is always fantastic at articulating his minds ear and appreciates what we as a team bring to the table. I think most people who have the privilege of working with him would say any “relationship” would be one of respect for him.

We were all based at Park Road Post and we had just come off ‘The Lovely Bones’. The sound team down here in Wellington was primed and ready to move onto the next film. Fortunately for us, it was ‘District 9’.

DS: How was the communication with the director and the rest of the team?

DW: It was absolutely brilliant. Neill Blomkamp made himself available to us on any given day. He was fully open to experimentation and gave insightful and focused briefs. He really did know what he wanted, and enjoyed happy sound surprises from us too.

Supervising Effects Editor, Brent Burge and I discussed what needed to be done and he mapped out who was going to do what. My job was to come up with the alien technology palette and the language. The rest of the team new exactly what they had to do so the process of moving toward predubs was very smooth.

DS: How the concept of the film affect your decisions as sound designer?

DW: Initially on seeing the artwork I started building a very hi-tech palette for the alien technology. The Exo Suit is the classic example. We had an intensive record at a New Zealand Air Force base for hydraulics and all kinds of servos and tech devices. Version one was definitely more classic blockbuster sci-fi. Neill reviewed it and said he wanted it to be far more grungy, more real. He wanted it to be based on real world sounds, but with an alien core. So my concept took a 180° turn and I started on a new palette.

Neill also said the aliens were insect like and that their social structure was very hive like. The decision to record as many insects as I could was an easy one and the concept became one of the keystones to the design.

One of the major concepts was the lo-fi treatment in the security cameras. It was decided early in the piece that this would be done on the stage by re-recording mixers Mike Hedges and Gilbert Lake. That way they could control the amount and type of futz that was used in the final.

DS: Which were your main tools/processes for recording, edit and design sounds?

read the full article on designingsound.noisepages.com