Archives for December 2002

Richard Marvin considers himself the luckiest guy in Hollywood, as this week he begins scoring the third season of HBO’s highly regarded Six Feet Under. The 13-episode season will air in March 2003.

Marvin, whose credits comprise numerous film and television scores, including the highly regard U-571, scores 4-6 minutes of original music for each episode. “This show has spoiled me for other television. It’s so touching and real that everything else that I work on seems so commercial. The people involved are just fabulous; it’s a great experience. Alan Ball is very clear about what he wants – It’s almost like doing a movie every week; we’re using the same sort of approach.”

Just as he values the quality of the process, Marvin also values his creative tools. Running a Digital Performer-based Macintosh desktop system, Marvin uses the Mackie UAD-1 Powered Plug-Ins, Propellerheads Reason, Ableton Live and various plug-ins from Native Instruments to create the uniquely characteristic music for Six Feet Under which Marvin describes as “an interesting hybrid between ambient electronica and acoustic music with solo piano and orchestral violins”.

He first came across the Mackie UAD-1 when looking for a way to ease the processor demand on his system. “It’s working so great; it’s flawless – I’m using it all the time, every day. My favorite plug-in by far is Nigel. I just love it. I use it to fake guitars. I can put anything into it, really, and by tweaking it I can get a guitar sound that I’m happy with. There are so many variables to it, so many great qualities to the sound. I’ve used a lot of different things like Amp Farm, the MOTU Preamp, but this has a rich quality to it – it’s real believable. But I also use it on drum loops – it’s just so strange and easy to use. I simply pull up one of the presets to get started, tweak some of the controls and get really interesting sounds.”

Building on the success of his tenure with Six Feet Under, Marvin is looking forward to the numerous film and television projects now on his plate. He also looks forward to expanding his Mackie UAD-1 with the recently announced DreamVerb plug-in.

Mackie Designs Web Site

Propellerheads Web Site

Native Instruments Web Site

Pinnacle Systems announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire all of the stock of Steinberg Media Technologies AG based in Hamburg, Germany. Steinberg specializes in digital audio software solutions for consumers and professionals (Cubase, Wavelab, Nuendo etc).

The companies expect to close the transaction in early January 2003 and have agreed on a total purchase price of approximately $24 million, consisting of $8.2 million in cash and $15.8 million of Pinnacle Systems common stock. At closing, Pinnacle Systems will acquire all products, software, and intellectual property rights, along with all other assets and liabilities of the company. Pinnacle will account for this transaction as a purchase in Pinnacle Systems’ fiscal Q3, ending March 31, 2003.

J. Kim Fennell, President and CEO at Pinnacle Systems said, “We are delighted to welcome Steinberg’s customers and employees into the Pinnacle family. Steinberg is a recognized industry leader in digital audio and this transaction significantly broadens Pinnacle’s digital media offerings. By adding the talent and technology of Steinberg to our company, we believe we can bring our customers an even stronger solutions portfolio.”

“Steinberg is pleased to be joining forces with Pinnacle Systems. Our customers and products will benefit greatly from the combined resources of the two companies and we look forward to bringing audio production expertise to the award-winning Pinnacle Systems’ product lines,” said Manfred Rürup, President of Steinberg Media Technologies AG.

About Steinberg Media Technologies AG

Steinberg Media Technologies AG is known the world over for its professional audio software. The company has been developing, manufacturing and selling software products for professional musicians and producers in the music, video and film industry since 1984. Steinberg products are also enjoying success in the fast-growing consumer market with music creation and other multimedia applications. Steinberg is today one of the world’s largest audio software houses.

About Pinnacle Systems, Inc.

Pinnacle Systems provides broadcasters and consumers with cutting-edge digital media creation, storage, and play-back solutions for use at Home, in the Studio and on the Air. Pinnacle Systems’ award winning digital media solutions are in use around the world for broadcast, cable and satellite television, video editing, DVD and CDR authoring, and the Internet. A recognized industry leader, the company has received eight prestigious Emmy Awards for its technical innovations and carries this commitment throughout all of its product lines.

Steinberg U.S.A. Web Site

Pinnacle Systems Web Site