Ravers experience the ultimate zero gravity bass drop with Desperados

Ads, Creativity

We are Pi and Desperados have teamed up with Mike Cervello and Wave Studios Amsterdam to mastermind the ultimate sonic gravity experience.

Lucky festival-goers took to the skies in a fully decked-out plane-cum-dancefloor which nose-dived intermittently to induce weightlessness whilst Mike Cervello dropped his massive tune. The unique stunt is part of the tequila-flavoured beer brand’s wider ‘Release Your Inner Tequila’ campaign that promotes wild experimentation in dance music culture.

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This innovative experiment is released as the music video to Dutch DJ Mike Cervello’s epic dance tune, ‘Smack!’, which he remixed especially for this project. Scientifically researched and engineered, Mike worked closely with the science team and agency, We Are Pi, to discover the best way to optimise the bass drop, stretching the sounds to enhance the transition to zero gravity.

As Sound Design and Mix Engineer, Alex Nicholls-Lee of Wave Studios, was responsible for immersing the viewer in the cabin experience, whilst maintaining the integrity of the track. After deconstructing Mike’s track, he rebuilt the builds to sync perfectly with the edit, and carefully recreated the crowd anticipation, excitement and cheers.

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“I had unbelievable fun with this project,” comments Alex. “The track needed to be explosive, so it was important to develop the narrative of the flight and steadily build the anticipation of the drop. The key was to strike the right balance between FX and music, so as not to distract too much from the in-flight entertainment!”

Desperados ‘Bass Drop’ is online now.

Credits

  • Creative Agency: We Are Pi
  • Agency Producer: Stephanie Whitehead
  • Creatives: Barney Hobson & Rick Chant
  • Production Company: @Radical
  • Director: Ralf Schmerberg
  • Producer: Melissa Murphy
  • Executive Producer: Ben Schneider
  • Post-Production: MPC
  • Music Company: Barong Family
  • Composer: Mike Cervello ‘Smack (remix)’
  • Sound Design & Mix: Alex Nicholls-Lee @ Wave Studios

 

Wave is a globally acclaimed sound design and audio post production company, with offices in the heart of Soho and Amsterdam containing some of the world’s best sound designers, mixers, recordists and supervisors. Creating sounds for Skype and award winning ads for Lurpak, Sport England and the iconic Guinness’ “Surfer”, Wave has cemented its place in audio history by winning the only D&AD Black Pencil awarded specifically for sound work on Honda ‘GRR’. In 2012 the joint owners of Wave Studios, Johnnie Burn & Warren Hamilton, were presented with the fellowship award at BTA Craft.