Ferrari California
16 December, 2009
We were commissioned by AKQA to create an online sonic experience for the launch of the new Ferrari California. This involved traveling to Marenello, Italy to spend time with the prototype Ferrari California car and putting it through its paces.
Super Sonic Roar
Milan Italy: It's freezing cold, it's 4am in the morning, and we are standing by the side of the Alfa Romeo test track in Milan, watching the camouflaged Ferrari F149 being rolled over the truck. This is the first time we have seen the Ferrari California outside of the factory in Marenello. It's classic Ferrari silver, one of only two prototypes, and we are about to put microphones in the engine bay, on the rear bumper and inside. We have no idea how fast the car is going to travel, nor do we know how the wind will aerodynamically shape around the rear and over the microphones or what impact this may have on the recordings. In short, we could be here all night setting up, listening back, moving the microphones to find the optimum position. So we have to be quick as no one even knows about the new car let alone has seen it, and we are told we have to hurry up.
We get the 8 microphones in optimal positions, ready the 8 channel multitrack recorder and get in the car. I clamber into the low slung seating, it's cramped, lots of test dials, computer equipment. I have to hold an 8 channel recorder that's like a huge brick with tentacles coming out of it and also a test laptop for Michele, our driver. I have headphones on, binaural microphones at the ready. In short, my brain is maxed, no more processing power available, so I tune into the sound and focus on the track ahead. The car starts, the engine growls with that distinctive timbre as we pull away from the pitstop, where my colleagues, test engineers and our Ferrari chaperone all wait and watch.
Michele our driver turns and says to me in a soft Italian accent, "you tell me, when the thumb goes up we drive faster, thumbs down we go slower". I'm mentally seeing images of Emperor Nero at the Colosseum giving the thumbs up for execution. I think to myself, well, if you're going to go out of this world, it will be quick, and what better way to go than in a prototype Ferrari in the middle of the night doing what you were born to do?
We pull out and we turn onto the oval test track, we are off! I'm busy hurrying the sound levels as best as I can, this car has a huge dynamic range, which means one moment it's quiet, the next it's a roaring beast. This is tricky. I want to capture the sound from quiet to loud, but have the wind traversing over the car hitting the microphones. We start to pick up speed, I look at Michele and nervously give him the thumbs up, we accelerate, we are now traveling at 100MPH [160 KPH]. I see my thumb going up again, and we pick it up a notch .. after 10 mins at 130 MPH [210 KPH] I start to become accustomed to the speeds and I see my thumb going up again and again. We reach 193 MPH [310 Kph] Top speed. As we sprint round the track the recording is being captured in full fidelity at the highest sound resolution. The experience of recording at such speeds is quite something else, so many sounds all being captured at any one time. We then take the car round various other tracks, from bending road to bumpy road, and afterwards we make straight pass-bys, the car approaches and zips past with the effect of a bullet. The recording session winds down and we focus the remaining time on capturing the car detail of doors, engine starts etc. Later when we listen to the recordings, we know we have something special to work with.
So back in London, we took the hours of recordings and compiled a playlist of what we needed to achieve. The main purpose was to highlight the "feeling" of the Ferrari California and its distinct roar and also to create micro stories, each one from a different perspective, walking towards the car, getting into the car, and driving the car.
We took the stories and designed them in Hollywood fashion, adding bass, augmenting the "whooshes" recorded as the car passed by with bullet ricochets, adding additional sounds to add weight to action - why? Because we are selling the emotion and the experience and this is a critical element in what we do.
Video
Images
More about this project
The Ferrari California Experience
The online launch site was created by AKQA. They knew they wanted to create an experience which would take the listener on a journey from approaching the car, driving and as an observer.
The sounds we captured and created were augmented by the visual waveforms you can see on the site.
The site was a huge success with a lot of people signing up and millions of hits.
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