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“We’re reliant on the high quality of our work to keep customers coming back and to entice new business.” Felix Bussman
Picture perfect An Avid System 5 is used for film work Sound Design Studios
Jake Young talks to Felix Bussmann, Manager and Sound Engineer at Swiss audio facility Sound Design Studios, the only THX- and Dolby-certified motion picture sound studio in Switzerland.
SOUND DESIGN STUDIOS (SDS), located in Bern, central Switzerland, offers a full range of audio post-production services for film, television, commercials, and corporate projects. It is claimed to be the largest and most advanced THX- and Dolby-certified recording studio in the country. Founded around 30 years ago, the facility’s services now include sound design, ADR, Foley recording, Dolby 5.1 mixing, and Dolby Digital mastering for both local and international clients. Felix Bussmann, SDS
Manager and Sound Engineer, runs the facility along with
38 September 2013
Sound Engineers Denis Séchaud and Hans Künzi, and Filmmaker Sean Wirz. Bussmann explains how he first got into sound engineering through music: “As a child I was always playing instruments, but I became as fascinated with live music technology and what went into a studio as I was with making music. This interest drove me to train to be a sound engineer so that I could finally turn my hobby into my profession.” Bussmann’s recent credits
include Marcel Gisler’s latest film Rosie; The Ninth Cloud, which was directed by Jane Spencer; Kader Ayd’s film Five
Thirteen; Markus Imhoof’s More than Honey; and Austrian director Ulrich Seidl’s Paradise cinema trilogy; but business is not easy at the moment. “The current exchange rate is making our European competitors – based mainly in Berlin, Paris, and Rome – very competitive in terms of cost,” says Bussman. “So we’re reliant on the high quality of our work to keep customers coming back and to entice new business.” SDS uses an Avid System 5
console for most of its film work, including the aforementioned Paradise trilogy. “We have recently invested in an Avid System 5
large-format audio console, as well as Pro Tools HDX and Avid Video Satellite, which lets us play HD and SD video sequences from Avid Media Composer in sync with the Pro Tools session,” says Bussmann. “The System 5 met more of our requirements than the other audio consoles on the market. The integration of Pro Tools and other third- party systems is simple, clear, and at a high quality level.” Bussmann is now a staunch
advocate of the System 5, which he says, “provides the powerful DSP SuperCore engine, EQ, dynamics, panning, filters, and much more”, and is particularly
impressed by the “very simple” integration into Pro Tools with the EUCON interface. Monitoring is carried out with the Dolby CP650 digital cinema sound processor, with a THX router in use. Additionally, SDS has tested a Dolby Atmos system with its existing setup. “The cost of investing in the Dolby Atmos system is currently relatively high, but with the System 5 and Pro Tools we are technically ready,” says Bussmann. “We’re just missing the Atmos now, with around 60 new speakers, the processor and a lot of additional amplifiers.”
www.sounddesignstudios.ch
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