Northern Audio -Visual Group

A report by Anne Harbron

We were fortunate to persuade Malcolm Imhoff, FRPS FAIC(M) to make the journey north to be our guest speaker, whilst Jill Bunting and John Smith had found time to examine all twelve Attendees Sequences very carefully and to record their comments and thought-provoking suggestions in their own clearly recognisable style.

Malcolm chose to centre his presentation around “Sound in AV.” It is always difcult, with a relatively unknown audience of mixed experiences and abilities, to know quite where to pitch the talk but Malcolm included something for everyone along with examples of his own AVs.

Malcolm had brought some of his own microphones and recording devices with an invitation, accepted by many, to handle and examine these closely. He raised awareness of a site called Fiverr, where those not happy with their own voice for “Voice Over” can purchase a recording made by specialists in that eld. We learned of more complicated techniques whereby “Audition” can be used to shorten or lengthen music so unobtrusively that the most listeners will have no idea that any changes have been made.

A very useful tip was always to use WAV les to process music for the same reason that RAW les are used to process photographs. Yet another was to record tracks in stereo and then use “Audition” to remove the seemingly empty track because therein lies unwanted noise.

For helpful advice (most particularly from the East Midlands AV Group) visit ( https://www.emavg.org.uk and then go to AV Guides and Tutorials to nd illustrations and examples.

Malcolm showed several of his sequences that many of the audience had not seen before. Sunrise on Helvellyn showed that, used in the right place, a wellknown piece of music can be the perfect accompaniment. By contrast, Faces of Nepal, showed the value of acquiring music from the actual area. Ambient sound and some video were included in Friends across the Bay a visual account of the walk across Morecambe Bay, from Arnside to Kents Bank.

The nal AV of his presentation was Love will Remain, his moving tribute to Maggie which resonated in a very personal way with more than one member of the audience.