Around 2 years ago I needed to record some atmos/SFX for a scene for a feature film which featured some driving in a van. To cover it adequately for a 5.1 surround mix I used 6 microphones and did some takes or passes where I was using audio cues in headphones to “perform” the driving … Read more Multitrack Recording Van/Vehicle Sound Effects
I few months ago I had the pleasure of presenting the inaugural Australian Wildlife Sound Recording Group online seminar. I presented about the use of wildlife sound in screen media, and the recording of the Zoom meeting is on YouTube now. Please note that audio quality on Zoom recordings is mono and a bit limited … Read more Wildlife Sound in Screen Media
Essa Hansen, a Sound Designer at Skywalker Sound, has written an article discussing what she has learnt about writing from her sound design work, referencing Walter Murch’s ideas about embodied sound and encoded sound. It is worth a read if you are interested in either sound design or creative writing, and you can read the … Read more Writing and Sound Design
I’ve been a member of the Australian Wildlife Sound Recording Group (AWSRG) since early 2019 and as part of the group’s way of adapting to the current COVID times the AWSRG will be presenting some monthly seminars over Zoom. I have the honour of presenting the first one on 20 October which will be about … Read more AWSRG Online Seminar
The Sound of Springfield YouTube channel provides short analyses of the sound design used in The Simpsons. A fun way to help teach people about some of the terms and techniques of sound design. The most recent video explains diegetic versus non-diegetic sound and might be a useful reference for some students:
A few years ago Tim Neilsen from Skywalker Sound compiled a sound effects category list in an effort to bring some more standardisation to sound library organisation, or at least to give people a starting off point. Details including the list itself were included in this article: https://www.pro-tools-expert.com/home-page/2017/6/27/sound-effects-categories-how-do-you-organise-yours Since then Tim and Justin Drury from … Read more Universal Sound Effects Categories
Mark Kilborn has written an article posted on the A Sound Effect website that discusses approaches to creativity in sound design. It touches on getting past your creative fears, and fear of failure. Read the full article at:
Marshall McGee put together a short video that shows how two different sound designers approach a subjective sound design for magic spells, using the same samples. Interesting to see the different creative approaches. Check it out here:
Jon Lefkovitz has put together a great feature-length documentary from over 50 hours of Murch’s lectures, interviews, and commentaries. It is like a 75 minute masterclass and discusses sound design, the role of music, film editing and more. Watch the whole thing here:
Randy Thom, one of the greats of sound design, has a blog post about being creative and embracing accidents and mistakes. One of my favourite quotes from it is: A Craftsman knows how to avoid accidents — an Artist knows how to use them Randy Thom Read the full blog post at Randy’s website: