As always, if you have suggestions (or complaints, if you want to be crabby about it) you can always find me, your humble editor, at blair@blairjackson.com.

SFX: The History Lesson Begins
As if learning about the history of production music libraries in previous editions of The Sampler wasn't torture enough, we're now going to examine the black art of sound effects. Cue clanking chains, creaking door, and evil demon voice drenched in 1.5 second reverb time with a little slap thrown on for good measure: "Moowah-ha-ha-ha-a-a-a-a." Nothing can save you now!

How far back do you want to go? I mean, chances are people were punctuating stories with mouth- and hand-generated sound effects as long as there have been people (and probably even before there was formal language). But that's going back too far. After all, we don't want to slog through 14 chapters before we finally get to the first paid needle drop on an FX record.

But it is illuminating to discover that sound effects have been part of organized theater dating back literally thousands of years. Back in the time of Aeschylus and Euripedes (trust me, that's a long time ago) performances of plays were often punctuated by offstage sound effects. To read the rest of this article, click here.

Hicks notes that Non-Stop's own library has proven to be a tremendous source for makers of film trailers. "It's become one of our biggest growth areas," he says, and that has, in turn, led to the creation of a new library series: the Non-Stop Premiere Library, which is due to be released within the next month. "It's been very exciting around here," Hicks says, "because we've really been putting a lot of time and effort into recording these powerful orchestral trailer cues. I believe we just finished mixing it this week. What makes them a little different is they were all recorded in surround sound, so this release is going to have a CD with a stereo mix and also a DVD which will have stems so people can work on their own surround mixes. I think it's going to raise the bar for movie trailers." To read the rest of this article, click here.

A PML Market Check: San Francisco
From time to time, we're going to make spot checks to see what sorts of music and effects libraries are being used in big commercial houses in different cities around the U.S. We just thought it would be interesting to see which companies have found their way into these top facilities, and thus are getting their music into a lot of national and regional television and radio commercials and promos (as well as in documentaries and independent films.)

We thought we'd start out in San Francisco, where Crescendo Studios, in the heart of the city's bustling financial district, has been a major player in commercial recording for many years. It's quite a studio environment, too. Far from being some bland, utilitarian facility, it is an exquisitely beautiful complex of studios and mix suites with an overriding Italian theme—indeed they boast names such as Roma, Firenze, Venezia and Capri. Of course if Crescendo didn't have the new equipment to match the old world ambience, nobody would record there. Its blend of Pro Tools workstations, the Fairlight MFX3 system, an Otari Status console, and plenty of fine outboard gear and plug-ins has it comfortably on the technological cutting edge. And primary mixers Craig Helmholz and Dave Baker each bring years of experience to the (Tuscan marble) table. It's no wonder that they attract work from some of the biggest agencies around for clients that include the likes of Taco Bell, Budweiser, Electronic Arts, Zima, and many others. To read the rest of this article, click here.

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