Visionaire.mp4 Watch on Posterous

Visionaire is a “publication” that deals with fashion and art. It’s a “publication” rather than a “magazine” because it is not always made of paper.  Editions, which are limited, have been made of all sorts of things, like wood or patent leather or even a stack of compact discs.  For issue #60, "Religion," Machine Head's Creative Director, Stephen Dewey, gave life to the pages of a book turning over.  Carefully gathering a palette of sounds from an old library, Stephen's task was to record the sounds of flipping through the pages and the creak of the book closing.  "Sounds that seem easy are often the most difficult, but after experimenting with a few dozen books and page turning techniques, I harvested the right sound," Stephen explained.  "To help bring the pages to life, I used wind sounds like those from films of the ’60s and ’70s to animate the pages and create a sense of mysticism."  After a lengthy editing session, the pages were successfully brought to life.

We would like to thank Greg Foley, Creative Director of Visionaire, for including us.

Machine Head also participated in Visionaire's #53 Edition ‘Sound’ as artist’s.

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Air Date: 7/22/11

Agency: McGarry Bowen

Director: Peter Darley Miller

Producer: Cherie Appleby

Art Direction: Jessica Terlizzi

'Often, the right sound comes from unexpected places. For "Belt Of Technology", I created a robust buzzing for the lanyards using highlighters and other office paraphernalia rubbing against the spinning tires of a BMX bike that was randomly in the editor's office. For authenticity I visited a Verizon store to check the ambience of the store and my reference field recording made it into the mix!'

-Stephen Dewey, Creative Director

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Air Date: July 2011

Agency: McGarry Bowen

Director: Russel Heubach

Producer: Chris Aruda

Music Producer: Patrick Oliver

Editor: Dick Gordon

Verizon continues it's current 'Testers' campaign with "Rescue", in which practical tests are performed to compare the speed of Verizon and it's competitors' networks. In this story, the testers visit a fireman training facility, and race to download a complete music album to avoid a fire hose drenching.

"From my standpoint, the task was to create as much authenticity, urgency and humor possible within a super realistic sound stage. The spot has a lot of dialog so the entire tapestry of sound had to work hard not to encroach on the dialog.  I kept the audio cuts very tight with as little spill as possible so that the action was crisp and easier to follow...And I stayed dry throughout the process!"

-Stephen Dewey, Creative Director

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Director: Ken Morrison

Production CO: Twisted Fiction

Creative Director: Josh Mayer

Group Creative Director: Neil Landry

Producers: Debbie Koppman and Kathy Hirsch

Copy: Lori Archer

Music: Skoringwerks / David Torkanowsky

Post: Maison Post

Editor: Kyle Curry

When Jazz artist David Torkanowsky gave me a call and invited me to work with him on a project to promote Louisiana tourism, I was stoked.  In addition to music, the direction was to create very specific sound design to help impart the unique and alluring character of not just New Orleans, but the state as a whole.  There were so many impromptu street-recordings, including street musicians, church bells, trams, the ultimate tram bell and squeaky wheels, including a snippet from David's performance at the Jazz Fest that made it's way into one of the final tracks.  My hand recorder was more like a 'sound camera'.  

I floated in the notorious Louisiana swamps, gliding amongst alligators, herons, frogs raccoons and all kinds of wildlife, whose staring eyes were heard but certainly not seen.  One spot needed a very specific splash sound that an alligator makes when it stops acting like a floating log and without warning flips it's powerful tail, sending itself spinning under the surface. It's likely that the local guide knew this was going to happen but I didn't.  I can still feel the shock as the animal performed this maneuver only 4 or 5 feet in front of me as I sat in the bow of the boat. That gator was huge!  

After returning to Los Angeles, the sounds of New Orleans were woven in with David's music tracks to help create the counterpart to the alluring imagery of the film. The sounds were organic and authentic to the portrayed environment, but deliberately very loose sync and slightly unorthodox mix levels were used to heighten the sense of mystery and possibility of the scenes, rather than rendering them in a true documentary or sentimental way. This was a concept that Creative Director Josh Mayer cleverly stewarded throughout the process and is a large part of the success of the finished work.

-Stephen Dewey, Creative Director

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Lenny Kravitz "Stand" from Machine Head on Vimeo.

We've been Lenny Kravitz fans from the beginning.  Recently, we had an amazing opportunity to work with Lenny on his new music video for "Stand" alongside Director Paul Hunter and Rami Hachache.  In the video, Lenny acts the part of a morally derelict game show host, an impish drummer and a strutting preening lead singer in a scenario that quickly runs amok.  Making the lines audible with some micro surgery editing, we recorded ADR from the backseat of a mini-van on the part of Lenny himself, as well as stitching the sound of the crowds to match the visual and story dynamics.  

We're happy to hear Lenny's feeling 100% better after audio surgery....priceless.

Air Date: July 2011

Record Label: Roadrunner/Atlantic 

Production Company: Prettybird

Director: Paul Hunter

Producer: Jonathan Wang

Art Direction: Mark Snelgrove

Editor: Rami Hachache

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K-Swiss "MFCEO" from Machine Head on Vimeo.

What's not to love about the Kenny Powers K-Swiss short film up showing up at Machine Head!

Working on 'MFCEO' was a hoot...we threw TV remotes to create the sound of the Blackberry hitting the floor in the Matt Cassel scene, we used self inflicted choking sounds to create the feeling of being utterly winded in the scene where an adoring woman is 'clotheslined', and we carefully selected sounds for the finicky tapping of the bourbon bottle on the fake boob mug, not to mention the SLURP that ends the scene.  Ah yes, just another day at the office!

Thanks to the gang at 72 and Sunny, and to John Bolan who did a great mix!

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A test track driver leaves the confines of the facility and embarks on a global odyssey of harsh driving conditions to submit the car to the ultimate test, in Nissan "Around the World."  Stephen Dewey reflects, "The story presented me with the tricky task of orchestrating a dynamic and environmentally rich sonic palette into a narrative that would complete the visual.  This led to a dense and busy track that conveyed a sense of stress and the exhilaration of driving.  The scenes of the montage needed the music and voiceover to act as sonic glue to bind the soundtrack and picture together.  Of all the sounds, from camels to Tuk Tuks, one highlight of my process was to get the sound of gravel hitting the body of the car just right.  I decided the best way was to hop in the rental car I had at the moment and take it to a graveled parking lot for a quick spin. Literally." 

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Air Date: June 2011

Agency: TBWA Chiat/Day Los Angeles

Director: Gerard de Thame

Producer: Angelo Mazzamuto

Copywriting: Joe Hagel

Art Direction: Kat Ford

ACD's: Michael Richardson, Shawna Bigby

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Zabeth, Machine Head composer Greg's girlfriend is a comedienne. Recently she made an internet gag poster of herself for her improv team as shown below. Today a friend sent her this photo taken outside a gyro shop in Greece that she happened to be walking by !  Amazing how the internet works.....

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Something came up....and reminded us of this ad we worked on a little while ago.....

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This is what our Fairlight did the other day.....

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Here's our latest Droid work...for the New Incredible....

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Here's some more of the work that has been keeping us very busy recently. The visuals made by Trevor at The Embassy in Vancouver, sounds by Machine Head and mixed by Peter at Sound Lounge. Expertly guided by Suzanne Mark and Aaron at McGarry Bowen

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The Rescue Surgery Fund is a collaboration between Dr Louis Schwartz of Overland Veterinary Clinic and Machine Head Music and Sound Design

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Music and Sound Design by Machine Head on behalf of Versus for the Stanley Cup Playoffs

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Music and Sound Design

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