Soundesign rolls out mobile recording studio

MANILA, JUNE 3, 2013 – "Wala na kaming excuse na hindi mag-attend ng recording! (Now we don’t have an excuse not to make it to recordings!)" was the general consensus among celebrities who have climbed aboard Soundesign’s OS Van.

The first of its kind in the Philippines, the OS Van is designed and owned by Soundesign, adobo Creative Rankings’ Top Sound Production House for 2011.

Housed in a decked out Ford E150, the OS Van is an onsite, on-demand sound recording studio on wheels. A sliding door unveils the mixing booth which consists of Soundesign’s Pro-Tools equipment, and rotating chairs for the engineers and the producer/director supervising the session. At the side is a small recording area padded with acoustic foam.

Ideas for the OS Van came sometime in 2010 but weren’t realized until two years later. The promise to address potential demand for on-site convenience was met with the challenge of providing the same sure quality of recording as with a regular studio.

The service was put to test on the OS Van’s first project with director Jun Reyes for Sun Life’s Sun Shorts. Shot in lively Pandacan, indie favorite Angel Aquino stars in 1945, an eight-minute flick set in Old Manila that tells the story of a father and husband’s transcending love for his family.

The audio for the film was recorded same day of the shoot.  Initial concerns of tuning out street noise proved unfounded – the end product was crisp and clean.

For now, the OS Van travels with the OS-R or On-Site Remote tailing behind to cover for clients’ special concerns or as back-up for possible technical problems. To date, there hasn’t been a case where the OS Van could not travel where it was needed.

Senior sound engineer Mark Vina is the head of operations for the OS Van. Rolling with him to location recordings are sound engineer Karlo Vicente; Emil Torres and Carlo Blay for technical support; and Bong Espano, OS mobile studio driver.  Also part of the team is Andro Blay who manages the operations and maintenance/development of the OS service.