Pumping Iron for Virgin Active

New work | 1 minute read

Pumping Iron for Virgin Active

In the Gym with the Mics for New Virgin Active Audio Mnemonic

Words by Paul Sumpter, Monday 25 Nov 2013

 

We were recently commissioned as recordists for the new Virgin Active audio brand identity. Armed with our trusty portable rig (Sennheiser MKH418-S into Sony PCM D50), our gig was to capture the various sounds of the gym which would in turn be used as the sonic basis for the 5 second audio logo itself.

Although the gym was busy at the time, which from a recording point of view is less than ideal because of background noise / ambience, we were able to have the inevitable EDM piped music turned off. We set about recording everything and anything associated with the Virgin gym experience. Treadmills, weights and resistance machine hydraulics, trainer squeaks, squash court ball hits, free weight drops, punch bags, swiss ball grabs, rowing machines, spin bike wheel spins...you name it, we pointed a mic at it and sampled the living be-jesus out of it.

Aside of the usual inquisitive looks you get as a field recordist, the session was a great success with a great palette of material attained. Here's just a smattering of the raw untreated samples we took.

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Posted by

Paul Sumpter

Founder & Creative Director

Monday 25 Nov 2013