iPod Volume Levels: A Suggestion

We have all been there.  You are sitting in a public place, plane/lobby/school and someone sits next to you with their ipod blasting their music.  If you can pick out the artist and tune playing, the volume level has to be plenty loud for the user.  Prolonged exposure to music at high volume can lead to long-term hearing loss, and with the prominence of iPods and earbuds, not only is the noise an annoyance to others, it can hurt the listener.

Cory Portnuff, and audiologist in Colorado did an interesting study on iPods and teenagers that showed that:

• Teens play their music louder than adults, and may have an inaccurate perception of how loud they are playing their music (no surprise there!)
• A typical person can listen to an iPod for 4.6 hours per day at 70 percent volume, or 90 minutes at 80 percent volume without increasing their risk of hearing loss
• Listening to music at full volume for more than 5 minutes a day can increase your risk for long term hearing loss 

Hearing loss is permanent.  Once the delicate hair cells in the inner ear that convert mechanical vibrations into electrical signals are damaged, they cannot be repaired.  That being said, everyone’s sensitivity is different, and what causes hearing loss in some, may not in others. 

Apple lists a couple suggestions on their website about listening responsibly, thinking about levels, etc.

Apple also has a way to restrict the iPod's maximum volume on their iPods, which can prevent you or your kids from turning up the iPod too loud.  I guarantee that if you check your kid’s iPod, this setting is in its default “off” position.  This is a good idea, but it requires the user to take proactive action.

A Suggestion

What if Apple took things a step further by providing a visual “reminder” that the levels of which we are listening to are getting too loud.  Nothing drastic, just a slight adjustment to the visual design with universal warning colors.  Maybe this would cause us to think twice when we crank up the volume.  I, for one, would appreciate the extra concern.

Just a suggestion, what do you think?

Production Notes: The Phantom Radio Signal

 

Anyone who works in production knows that when you are on a shoot, there are many details that need to be taken into account to ensure a professional product.  Sometimes, no matter how much you prepare, a gremlin shows up in your video or audio, and you will have to deal with it.  Hopefully, by sharing my stories with you, and how I recovered from them, you can learn from my mistakes, and prevent them from happening to you. 

The Situation:

On a recent video shoot at a local sound stage, somehow, all of our audio tracks were “infected” with the static-like noise of a local radio station.  The noise, which clearly had a DJ’s voice, commercials, etc. rendered all our audio tracks useless.

By the time I realized the audio tracks were contaminated (all 5 hours), I was back in my studio importing the footage.  My first reaction was sickening terror, realizing we would probably have to re-shoot the entire program.  This meant re-hiring the makeup artist, re-booking the studio, and putting the client through another day-long shoot.  Many colorful words were uttered as I stared in horror at my monitor.

My Setup:

Camera: Canon GL2
Mics: 
Sennheiser M101 Wireless Lav System (primary - right channel)
Sennheiser ME 66 Shotgun (backup - left channel)
Mixer: Shure FP-33
Cable: 6 Pin to XLR
Beachtek XLR Adapter

How did this happen?

We called the stage the next day, and they confirmed that a local radio station signal did have a tendency to “appear” in audio tracks.  Their explanation was that it was usually caused by a faulty wire in the production chain.  Translation: “There is no way in hell we are going to comp you studio time to re-shoot your video.”  

Why didn’t I hear the distortion on the stage?

I didn’t hear the signal because I monitored the audio via headphones from the mixer, not the camera.  The broken link in the chain was between the mixer and the camera, either the 6 pin cable, or the Beachtek unit.  Had I monitored from the camera, I would have heard the signal, and we would have been able to correct it on the stage.  Lesson learned!

Options:

We were left with two choices:

1. Re-shoot everything, which required another day full day at the studio, a full day for the makeup artist, as well as a full day for the client.  This was a tough pill to swallow, due to the fact that we would have to absorb the extra costs, and the budget was already stretched as far as it could go.
2. Fix it somehow

The Solution:

In the end I was able to fix the audio tracks.  Click the video link below to see a step by step guide on how I did it.

Now THIS is how you use Twitter for Customer Service

I use the company Influxis to stream all of my video content.  Their service has always been fantastic, but last night the planets aligned, and I ran into issues logging in.  Of course this always happens at the worst time, which describes my evening to a T.  This was literally the last task I had to do before I could sign off on the beta test for a 9 month project!

I threw a line in the water (Twitter) and posted a question to see if anyone else was having the same issues I was.  Well, it turns @RichardBlakely was listening, and what resulted could be used as a template for how to use Twitter for superior customer service.

These interactions make it very easy for me to stay with a vendor.  Oh, and it is worth mentioning twice, this all took place between 11PM and 2AM!

(Click the image below for the timeline)

CLICK IMAGE for full size version

Accessibility...to the Core

Joshua Davis' acclaimed book Flash to the Core

One of the things of which I get the most joy is finding sources of inspiration in artists, designers, and musicians. When I see something that is truly beautiful, I usually go through two phases…the first being the “wow…I’ll just sit back and enjoy that beautiful thing” phase, which is usually followed closely by the phase of “I wonder how the hell they did that?” There are a lot of artists that absolutely astound and inspire me with their work, and one of them is Joshua Davis. But this story isn’t about his work…it’s about him.

A couple years ago, before I had even heard of Social Media, I was trouncing through the internet on one of my inspiration quests, and I came across Joshua’s site, praystation.com (which has since been morphed into his current site joshuadavis.com). If you haven’t seen his work, it is worth a look. To me, his combination of technology and art was the stuff I could spend hours going through. Once I started reading about how he creates his art, and how he tries to push his tools to the limits, well…I became an instant fan. How many layers can you have in an Illustrator document before you kill your computer? Ask Joshua…he can tell you.

I found out Joshua wrote a book about Flash design called “Flash to The Core: An Interactive Sketchbook”, and jumped over to Amazon.com to pick one up. To my dismay, at the time, all my searches for copies ended up with an “out of print” notice. I was out of luck.  As a last ditch effort, I sent an email to his studio in New York, with the hopes that maybe an assistant could help me find a copy. To be honest, I expected a boiler plate message indicating that “due to the popular demand of Mr. Davis’ book unfortunately we are unable to…..blah blah,” but I figured it was worth a shot.

Instead, fifteen minutes later, my phone rang.

“Hi Dave, this is Joshua. I’m sorry you’re having some trouble finding copies of my book. I only have a couple copies left myself… but if you check eBay, you can still find some used copies.”

No assistant, no week delay in responding or straight up ignoring. It was the guy himself making a personal phone call to a complete stranger with a tip (that worked by the way) on how to find his book.

I was pretty floored. I can’t even get my cable company to commit to calling me back within a certain timeframe, and Joshua took it upon himself to call me personally so I could find an out of print copy of his book. It took him 15 seconds to call me, but it was his personal attention and accessibility that made the impression on me.

One of the cool things I see more and more with the onset of social media tools is the leveling of the playing field. The old barriers of business and celebrity are being knocked down and replaced with direct and immediate contact. What an opportunity for celebrities and companies to create more fans or ambassadors of their brand by these small, but meaningful connections.  It doesn’t take a lot of effort, but it does require a shift in thinking. Tools like Twitter are great new ways to provide accessibility and directly connect to your fans and customers, IF you choose to commit to the idea of a personal level of service like I received from Joshua.

We all know what it is like to have an experience that is so good, we tell others about it. Usually, it is not a huge event, but a small detail that stood out as a personal surprise. I’ll always remember the call I received from Joshua, and how special it made me feel.  Oh, and by the way, the book is fantastic!

How about you?  What surprises have you encountered that resulted in a story you like to tell?

Playing For Change

What an inspiring project.  Mark Johnson uses music to break down barriers to bring peace, and unite each other...literally through song.

It is an awesome concept, captured beautifully.  Try to watch this without getting a chill.

Playing For Change Website

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