Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/161463
NEWS Sound Libraries Colossical library offers new twist on classics N Megatrax revamps classic studios H OLLYWOOD — In the mid 1990s, Megatrax (www.megatrax.com) purchased and privatized the three-room studio King Sound. In their heyday, the rooms were in demand by artists such as Bruce Hornsby and Don Henley. Last year, Megatrax performed an exhaustive technical makeover of the rooms, which are once again available for rent by recording artists and media productions. According to Megatrax chief engineer Derek Jones, the company was careful to update the rooms without drastically changing them acoustically. "The studios have been designed and tuned over the last 27 years to sound perfect, and any changes to the physical space could ruin the sound of the studio," he explains. "So while we did renovations and upgrades to the studio, it was all behind the scenes so as not to affect the pristine sound of the space." Of the three studios, Studio A is the flagship. The large room is well suited for big-budget albums or film-score sound. It can accommodate 40 people and has two isolation booths, one of which is 210 square feet. Studio A is also home to a new Avid ICON D-Command 24-channel mixing console, a Yamaha C5 grand piano, 34 new and upgraded mic preamps, 30 new microphones from Neumann, Peluso, Cascade, AKG and others, and a Pro Tools HD|3 system with a Prism ADA-8 IO, in addition to three Avid 192 IO giving a total of 40 ins and outs. All three studios and the six editing stations have the benefit of being hooked up to a Studio Network Solutions networked hard drive system. This allows for fast and secure recording and instantaneous access for editing, overdubs and reviews. EW YORK — Production music company VideoHelper (www.videohelper.com), which offers promo-centric music and sound design libraries, has launched "Colossical," a new concept-driven library featuring classical music that's been specifically formatted for ads, promos and movie trailers. Breaking from the traditional arrangements of classic masterpieces, Colossical immediately highlights the iconic melodies and themes that make them instantly recognizable. VideoHelper has made the tracks easy to edit and loop with modular hit points, multiple climaxes and paste-able endings. Colossical is split into two colcol lections: "Orchestral IntensificaIntensifica tions" and "Hybridized ReimagReimag inings." Orchestral IntensificaIntensifica tions presents each piece as a cinematic, over-the-top, orchesorches tral movie trailer, with perforperfor mances from members of the Czech Republic's Capellan Orchestra. Multiple melodic variations are offered, as well as variations in mood and tonality. Hybridized ReimagReimag inings remixes the orchesorches tral versions and reinterprets them, be it dark, humorous or crazy. "There's no shortage of well-recorded classical production music out there," notes VideoHelper president/co-founder Joseph Saba. "But we wanted to give users a palette to creatively edit their own interpretations of these works, allowing them to create something recognizably unrecognizable." This initial release includes four discs, two per collection. New releases will follow in the future. Colossical is available for audition and download at SearchVH.com. Omnimusic releases 'Indie' collection P ORT WASHINGTON, NY — The Omni Music Group has released "Indie," an eclectic mix of quirky acousto-electric tracks by Dallas-based Music By Humans. The tracks were created using first-rate production techniques, but also show hints of retro styling, making them well-suited for independent film soundtracks. Indie's tracks are available for audition and download via the Omnimusic Website (www.omnimusic.com). The initial release of 300-plus tracks and edits will be expanded with regular additions from the Music By Humans creative team, which is headed by chief composer James Driscoll. "We pretty much threw out the book on production music to make this library," he notes. "We used a lot of wacky instruments, rhythms and styles you don't hear in production music — ever. We're glad people seem to love it!" 34 Post • August 2013 www.postmagazine.com