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Radioactivity and Sound

With Halloween just around the corner, I wanted to explore the spooky ambience of radioactivity.  Nuclear radiation is a common mysterious force in science fiction and horror films. Its manifestations are generally physical sensations, like heat, or mutations rather than sonic phenomena.  However, there are fascinating sounds and ambiences that are connected with nuclear radiation.

Nuclear reactors are inherently spacious concrete buildings.  It takes concrete walls several feet thick to block the most penetrable of nuclear radiation from escaping to the outside world.  These make for excellent reverberation chambers. At the decommissioned B-Reactor in Hanford, Washington, a local vocal group, has taken advantage of that.  They have created a concert showcase about the Hanford Site and the Manhattan Project (of which the B-Reactor was initially built for), and are performing inside the building.  Nuclear Dreams is composed by Reginald Unterseher, performed by Mid-Columbia Mastersingers, and was commissioned for the 75th anniversary of the B-Reactor.

Isolation and silence also surround nuclear sites.  They are built away from busy urban centers, and often the wildlife reclaim the nearby land.  Irradiated animals inside nuclear tanks do not decay, and their sunken remains haunt silently.  Above ground, the radiation does little to change their regular habits. Humans interacting with the radiation often are enveloped in silence, either by their limited viewing capabilities via closed-circuit monitors or even by way of the radiation itself.  Journalist Igor Kostin of Novosti Agency, who was first on the scene at Chernobyl, recounted that when he opened the helicopter window to get a better camera shot, he heard nothing. Not helicopter rotors, not wind, just nothing. In his words, “deafening silence.”  It is possible that what happened was a physiological response, similar to what brain cancer patients experience during chemotherapy.

Then there is an eerie sense one feels at not being able to perceive the danger that they know exists at the nuclear sites.  The Chernobyl television series encapsulates this with its score.  Quiet drones pulse in time to sirens and are accented with distorted static.  Hildur Guðnadóttir’s compositions accent the tension and the panic of the unfolding disaster and subsequent cover-up.  The muted dynamics of the score allows the magnitude of the visuals to hit with more power. It is only disaster itself that causes the noise.  Wailing sirens and alarms, and the static of Geiger counters create a constant cacophony that follows explosions. Beeps from monitoring machines and sparse clicking of dosimeters are the soundtrack to a normal functioning reactor, not of a meltdown.

When building up the sound design of your nuclear-centric haunted house (or is that just me) remember the reverb, silence, and eeriness of the real thing.  The trick-or-treaters will feel isolated and on-edge. Have a Happy Halloween.

 

Impulse Response Testing and Field Recording 

The Mine 

One of the things that piqued my interest with sound design was all of the magical tools and abilities sound designers have at their disposal. As a young sound designer, I am still surprised and excited by all of this.

I go to school in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, at Michigan Technological University. The area is called the Keweenaw Peninsula and is at the very top of the Upper Peninsula. The northern woods and waterfalls are both beautiful and great for field recording, but one part of the Keweenaw that goes relatively unexplored by sound enthusiasts, are the mines. Mining was a large part of the economy during the 19th and early 20th century and was still at large into the 1970s and ’80s. Abandoned mines dot the Keweenaw peninsula, but one mine, in particular, has been reopened and repurposed.

The Adventure Mining Company of Greenland Michigan seemed to appreciate my enthusiasm for their mine. Through a connection formed by one of my professors, and the owner of the mine, I was able to go and see the mine for myself. Early last fall, I drove down to take a small tour of the mine and to see what sights, and more importantly, sounds could be found within. It was a fun-filled day, but I was eager to come back with recording equipment.

Before coming back, I established some goals for this recording session. The most important goal was to record impulse responses of the many different chambers of the mine. I knew this would take the majority of my time, but I also wanted to do some field recording inside and outside of the mine.

My second trip to The Adventure Mine was a bit wetter. Fortunately, I had been careful to not bring moisture-sensitive equipment as working in these kinds of environments can be both damp and rough. The company was also kind enough to lend me an old metal wagon that I stored most of my recording equipment into pull around the many chambers. The gear that I brought with me was a laptop running Logic, an RME Babyface Pro interface, and an Earthworks condenser microphone. I also included a Zoom H5 with a mid-side capsule for any ambient recording that I might have time for. To generate the impulses, I used balloons and a pin to pop them. I decided upon this method because the mine was so far from any power source, which meant I could not generate a sine sweep from a speaker for my impulses. I used the entire pack of 25 balloons, and the whole recording process took nearly five hours, but it was well worth the physical and mental exhaustion.

Processing the impulses was relatively simple in the end as I simply trimmed the tracks to the balloon pin strike and uploaded the files into Logic’s Space Designer reverb plugin. There are many helpful articles and videos for this process online. Audio Ease’s Altiverb is also capable of processing custom IR samples, and they have some useful information on their website as well.

Since this project, I have been intrigued by acoustics and the unique sound of spaces and rooms.  I live in a fairly isolated part of the world with many unusual spots, some that you can easily access. Some may ask, why bother? Not only is the experience of trekking into a dark mine for your job exciting and unique, but in many ways, that hard work translates into the work you do as a designer. I now have many impressive, and unique reverbs that I can use in my designs.

Safety for yourself and your equipment is imperative though, so keep that in mind. I would also like to share the fruits of my labor and invite all to my website, where you will be able to download two of my impulse responses from this project for free. It has been such a fantastic experience, and I hope to inspire other sound designers and recordists with my work.

 

Audio Tips For The Top High School Musicals Of 2019

NPR Ed has just published a database of the most popular high school plays and musicals in the U.S. for 2019.  Upon reading this list, I realized that I have designed all but two of these musicals, so I thought I’d share a few experiences I encountered with each.  I’m only touching on the musicals, but here’s the link to the original article if you’d like to follow along at home, and also read about the most popular high school plays in 2019.

Alright, here we go!  (I feel like David Letterman…digital high-five if you get the reference.

#10 Shrek, The Musical & The Wizard of Oz

No, this is not a weird mashup (but that would be hilarious, someone write this right now).  These two musicals have tied for 10th place. I’ll start with Shrek.  

I loved this musical, it was so much fun, and it’s a great option for high school casts.  The biggest hurdle I faced with this show was makeup. As you probably know, Shrek is green, Fiona turns green, and donkey is grey.  There’s also a giant dragon puppet. Shrek almost never leaves the stage. He also has a pretty complicated costume and heavy face makeup, so my first piece of advice is to double-mic Shrek.

Our Shrek wore a little beanie that was never removed, so I integrated microphone elements into that beanie. I asked the costumes department to sew a few small, elastic loops into the inside of the beanie, and threaded two microphone elements (which were Hellermaned together) through the inside of the beanie that popped out the front, landing in a nice little forehead position.  Shrek’s makeup was airbrushed on him each day, and our costume department was nice enough to give me a little bit of that green so that I could paint the elements in the same color.

This paint job had to be touched up about 2 times a week. Also, if your Shrek is wearing a fat suit, I recommend placing his transmitter on the outside of that rig. Depending on the transmitter and the fabric of the suit, they can have some difficulty cutting through all of those layers.  Fiona is a little easier, but has one very important scene to consider—her transformation scene. The transformation, including green makeup and prosthetics, needs to happen super quickly.

Since I could foresee green makeup flying all over that microphone element, I made the decision to have a second element prepped and ready for this quick change. This element was also painted in the Shrek green makeup. Human Fiona wore her element in a forehead position that ran under her wig (but not under the wig cap, which I would normally do), and during the quick change, the Human Fiona wig and element would come off, disconnect from the transmitter, her face was quickly painted green, and then the green element would replace the previous one and run under Ogre Fiona’s wig.  My A2 would handle all of the element work, including holding the capsule in place while the wig was being attached, and dressers took care of the rest of the change around the A2.

Our Donkey wore a head-to-toe bodysuit, so running his element under the hood of the bodysuit to the top of the forehead was my preferred method. Finally, the dragon. The dragon is a puppet that is manipulated by several operators. We had a separate actor voicing the dragon for her very fabulous song, Forever. Our vocalist was visible onstage, so I decided to match her R&B goodness with a gold-grilled handheld wireless mic.

#9 Into The Woods

I have never designed this show, but I really want to, so if you’re reading this blog and you are a producer, call me.

# 8 Seussical 

I designed this show over a decade ago, and it was for a high school company.  In fact, I’m willing to bet that 85% of the companies producing this show nowadays are middle and high school companies.  My biggest challenges on this show were the gear and personnel.

There are 12 principals, and an endless possibility for the ensemble.  I think my total cast size was between 50-60, plus we had an 18 piece orchestra. The school chose to provide their own gear as opposed to renting from my theater, so I had to work with what they had.

For the orchestra, I was given 5 pencil condenser microphones, 1 SM57, 1 SM58, and a handful of DI boxes. Luckily, I had enough DI boxes for guitars, keyboards, and bass. I ended up mic’ing sections instead of individual instruments, as would normally be my choice.  So, I put a condenser microphone on the reed section, brass section, string section, percussion section, and used one as overhead for the drumset. I used the 57 on the snare and the 58 on the kick. Some careful EQ really helped with this skimpy choice of mics.

For actor mics, I was given 12 wireless transmitters, 9 lavs, and 3 choir mics.  Yep, you read that right. Remember, this is a cast of about 55. I put all 12 transmitters on the principals, and 7 lavs permanently on those principals that had the most stage time. Now, I really, REALLY hate microphone swapping and avoid it whenever possible, but for this show, it just had to be done. Luckily we were only swapping 2 lavs between actors.  I put together a mic swap sheet and walked my high school student A2 through the process step by step.

Since I had 12 transmitters, the packs could all stay on their dedicated actor, and the A2 would just have to attach the lav as needed. For the ensemble, I had to bargain with the director a bit. The ensemble blocking was all over the place, and the director was hoping I would just hang those 3 choir mics evenly distributed over the stage, and they would produce the same sound as the principals in lavs.  I told her that one choice mic hanging 6 ft over the head of one tiny 13 year old was not going to give her the sound she was looking for, but 3 choir mics positioned in one area over a group of 40 13 years olds would get her closer. She was not willing to forfeit all of her blocking and make the ensemble completely stationary, so we chose 3 locations where large groups of the ensemble would land for musical numbers, and I hung a choir mic over each location. On the rare occasion that an ensemble member had a pop-out solo, we made sure they were standing next to a principal so that we could get a little more gain from that open mic.

I also had a high school student mixing at front of house, so I preprogrammed the show for him, made it as user-friendly as possible, and walked him through the scenes one by one. Designing this show was the first time that I realized student production does not necessarily equal easy. Given all of the constraints and restrictions, I’m happy with the way the show turned out, and I DEFINITELY learned a lot from that production.

#7 Little Shop of Horrors

Again, I have never designed this show, but it’s one of my FAVES, so if you need a sound designer for this, you know who to call!

#6 Newsies

I did this show a few years ago, and I absolutely loved it.  The cast was phenomenal, the music was great, my biggest and only enemy during this production was sweat.  If you don’t know the show, it basically features a group of stupidly talented dancing newsboys. If the show is done right, and I’d like to think ours was, they are dancing their little hearts out for the majority of the show.  That means lots and lots of sweat.

My regular transmitter protection protocol is to put the transmitter in a non-lubricated condom rolled all the way up with a cotton ball sitting between the connector and antenna. Most of the transmitters were in a neoprene mic belt, which is super protective against a sweaty body.  Because only a few of our mic belts had flaps on them for extra transmitter security, the excessive amount of dancing would sometimes cause my cotton balls to jump out of the mic belt, and onto the ground. I decided to add a rubber band around the length of the transmitter to hold the cotton ball in. In a few cases, I found that transmitters were still getting sweated out, despite the neoprene mic belt and latex protection.  For these few microphones, I added a layer of glad wrap around the transmitter. The sticky seal on this wrap really helps to keep the transmitter dry and happy. Remember to let the seal extend above the microphone connector and antenna. I then put the glad-wrapped transmitter in the un-lubricated condom and added the cotton ball.

I also had a few situations in which the microphone element that was rigged over the ear of the actors picked up an extreme amount of sweat regularly.  One of my favorite solutions for this issue is to add a tiny, rubber washer to the element that sits just above the capsule. The idea is that the washer will help distribute accumulated sweat out instead of down into the capsule. I got mine in a pack of 100 for less than $10 from McMaster-Carr.

#5 Mary Poppins

The most important thing to remember for this show is that Mary Poppins=FLYING!  This is important to remember because

#1:  In addition to her heavy costume, corset, and mic belt, Mary Poppins also wears a flying harness.

#2: Depending on where her take-off and landing zones are, you may not have as much off-stage access to Mary as you might like.

This becomes problematic when microphone troubleshooting becomes necessary. There are also very few moments that Mary Poppins is off stage, so I decided to double mic her.  I originally had her two transmitters on her mic belt under her corset, but I found that their antennas were having a difficult time cutting through all of the layers of heavy fabrics.  It was also quite uncomfortable for our Mary Poppins, given the extra belt of the fly harness.

I ended up moving one transmitter to inside her wig, and the other clipped to the front, outside of her corset.  The wigged transmitter was a Shure UR1M. I think this position would have been too uncomfortable with anything other than a micro-transmitter. The costume department helped by making a wig cap sandwich to help keep the transmitter secure, yet still accessible.  The actor playing Mary Poppins would pin curl her hair and wear a wig cap

#1 over the curls. On top of this wig cap was an added pocket for the transmitter. She then added a wig cap

#2, which was held on with 2 hairpins. The wig was then applied. There were many times throughout this run when we had to switch to the backup mic mid-show, so I’m glad we made the choice to double mic.

#4 Beauty and the Beast   

This is a BEAST of a show!  As we all know, there are many enchanted objects that live in the beasts castle.  If the mouth and/or majority of the face are obstructed by costumes, my advice is to build the microphone into the costume in such a way that it has better access to the mouth.

I chose a forehead microphone placement for our beast, but his hair/mane was worn so low on his forehead that it became necessary to place the capsule of his mic just above his brow line, which was fine, just required a bit of a different EQ.  Most productions, including ours, feature a Beast double for the final battle between Beast and Gaston. This is to facilitate the transformation of Beast to Prince.

There are several Beast lines that occur while the double is on stage, so as not to let on about our theatre magic, I chose to record those lines and have them played back.  There is a lot happening in this scene, and it should be pretty dark and scary, so there’s no need to worry about lip sync lining up. We had a second microphone element mounted on an ear rig for Beast’s transformation to the Prince, so during that costume change, we switched to the second element.

#3 The Little Mermaid

I am currently contracted to design this show, but will not begin the process for another few months.  So far, my biggest concern is, again, flying. While our production does not feature true flying, we will be using a few silks and ropes that actors will climb and swing on.  They will be harnessed, so I will be thinking of careful transmitter placement to guard against the actor or the equipment getting damaged.

# 2 Mamma Mia! 

Mamma Mia!  seems like it would be a pretty straightforward show, and it is.  The thing that required some extra thought for me was the large number of backup vocals.  We did not use pit or offstage singers, so I chose to record our ensemble singing all of the backup vocals.  Our production also features lots of dancing, so we did record some ensemble vocal overdubs to playback and sweeten those very heavy dance moments.

The curtain call of this show features what is basically an Abba concert. For this moment, I had originally planned on our music director and his assistant to be wheeled out on stage while playing live keyboards, but because of a personnel change very close to the opening of this show, we had to scrap that idea.  I’m telling everyone this tidbit because I’m hoping someone out there is able to up the stakes of this glimmering disco concert! I also insisted that the main six use handheld wireless microphones during the concert, and we even managed to add some blingy handle covers for good measure!

 

#1 The Addams Family   

 

It seems only right that this show is in the number one slot, it is definitely in my top three favorite designs.  If I’m being perfectly honest, I didn’t encounter too many issues I needed a creative solution for on this show.  I did get to play with a few fun effects, though. I don’t know if this is the typical casting, but our Cousin It also played the monster in Pugsley’s room.

Both of these characters featured a costume that completely covered the actor’s head. The monster costume was literally built on top of a motorcycle helmet worn by the actor.  As you can imagine, these are not ideal microphone situations. I chose to cover the echo chamber that these pieces created with effects. Since both characters made only sounds and not words, I was able to be pretty heavy-handed with the effects, as I was not worried about intelligibility or tedious balance.

For both characters, I used a dual pitch. I dialed both of It’s pitches extremely high, and both of the monster’s pitches extremely low. We gave the actor some time during tech to experiment with different sounds to see what could be produced through these effects. The outcome was very exciting, and a crowd favorite!

The opening number of the show features ensemble “ah’s,” which were sung offstage for our production. To give this an “other-worldly” feel, I basically drowned them in a large chamber reverb with a shockingly long 9-second decay. The same effect was applied to the women’s ensemble final “ah’s” in The Moon and Me.

Whatever musical you may be working on, remember that you do not always have to be beholden to budget, inventory, or personnel.  Creative solutions are out there, you just have to think outside the box. Also, remember your community if you get stuck! There is nothing wrong with reaching out to your hive, analog or digital, to discover just the right trick!     

The History of Sound Design

 

Although the term “sound design” has been around for nearly four decades–and the practice has been pursued much longer–its use has only recently become nearly ubiquitous.  A day cannot go by that I do not see #sounddesign appended onto the end of a multitude of tweets from around the world.  We now have the invaluable website DesigningSound.org, which distributes information about our community’s adventures, musings, and technical inquiries.  And our Boom Box Post blog often touts titles such as Creature Speech Sound Design Challenge or Smoke and Mirrors: Unexpected Sound Design Sources.

Why this sudden renaissance of the term “sound design”?  This week, I decided to take a closer look at the history of the term, the differences in how it is used across the film and television, interactive and immersive media, and theater industries, and its use and abuse.

Sound Design: A History

The term “sound designer” was used for the first time in film in 1979.  Francis Ford Coppola granted Walter Murch the title of Sound Designer for his work on Apocalypse Now, marking the first use of the term as a credit in film.  Until that point in time, the usual credit, Supervising Sound Editor or Sound Editor, was generally accepted as a purely technical role on a film crew. Coppola felt that this new title encompassed his feeling that Murch had been a key creative team member who added to the artistry and overall creative intention of the film.  It was also to be understood that Murch oversaw the overall sound concept of the film, including dialogue, sound effects, foley, and the final mix, just as a supervising sound editor would normally do.

Walter Murch’s creative storytelling through sound and his integration into the Apocalypse Now team as early as pre-production surely earned him this extra accolade.  I would love to wax poetic about the sound of Apocalypse Now, but that certainly deserves its very own blog post.  Instead, please read this interview with Murch himself regarding the sound of the film.

Surely, the sound design on Apocalypse Now was of the highest quality and extremely innovative for its time.  However, it is important to note that this was not the first time that an inventive sound editor played a critical role in a film’s sound.  Instead, this was the first time that the title Sound Designer was used to describe that work, thereby expressing the beginning of a shift in the industry’s attitude toward sound editorial.  The same job would have previously been listed as Supervising Sound Editor or Re-Recording Mixer.  Case in point: we can all agree that Ben Burtt’s work in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, released in 1977, was sound design. Afterall, he designed the sound of the lightsaber! Yet, he was originally credited with Special Dialogue and Sound Effects.  In the 1997 and 2004 re-released editions, his credit was changed to Sound Designer.

Sound Design Across Industries

One of the aspects that makes the title Sound Designer so interesting is that it is not controlled by any labor unions or industry organizations except in the arena of theater.  So, unlike many other roles which have been established and then held to the same set of standards over the years, the idea of what makes someone a sound designer is free to evolve.  Thus, every industry has taken this idea and slowly crafted a meaning that fits its own needs, resulting in a varied and sometimes confusing use of the term.

Film & Television

In the television and film industry, the Motion Picture Editor’s Guild, MPEG (local IATSE chapter 700) controls the titles which are used within union sound houses.  Each particular role on a sound team is segmented into specific job titles such as supervising sound editor (the person who oversees all other members of the team and advances an overall creative concept for the project’s sound), dialogue editor, sound effects editor, foley editor, foley mixer, foley walker, recordist, etc.  Ordinarily, a person’s film/TV credit will match his or her job title on a project.  However, there are several reasons why the title Sound Designer may be used in credits in lieu of these standard union titles.

One reason may be the traditional use of the term as it was established by Coppola and Murch: the individual has overseen all sound team members and has had an active, creative role in concepts that contributed to the storytelling of the film.  In this way, someone is given special commendation by the use of the title Sound Designer rather than Supervising Sound Editor.  In essence, they mean the same thing in terms of responsibility.  But, Sound Designer has a connotation of creative respect.  Another reason would be that the individual played multiple roles in the project (such as supervising sound editor and mixer), and as the term sound designer is outside the purview of the union, this can a convenient way to credit such a person. Keep in mind that in any large studio or union house, an individual may be credited as Sound Designer, but his or her official job title will be one of the union-specified roles.  Thus, sound designer is a colloquial term of respect and reverence toward the creative aspect of the work, but it is not an actual job.

Video Games

In interactive and immersive media (video games, VR, etc.), the title of Sound Designer is often used as a catch-all title for each member on the sound team.  In general, there will be a bevy of sound designers on each project, who are lead by the Audio Lead.  This person, in turn, is supervised by the Audio Director who works closely with the game design department.  On large projects, sound designers may be specialized in different areas such as technical sound designers who work closely with programmers, or integrators who specialize in fitting sound into the pipeline of the game.  They may also specialize in foley, dialogue, or sound effects.  However, on small projects, a sound designer may be required to cover all sound jobs as well as understand its technical integration into the media.  This use of the term as a broad descriptor of all sound personnel differs greatly from the use in television and film.

Theater

Theater sound design is a very different animal, indeed, and for that reason, I have left its history to this section.  Sound design for theater refers to the choice of music and sounds for a stage production, and the subsequent choice, setup, and use of live audio technology to play those sounds during a performance.  This implies an intimate familiarity with the work, and a close alliance with the director and possibly playwright to create an overall soundscape that enhances the work.

The first use of the term Sound Designer was in the 1968-1969 theatrical season of the American Conservatory Theater and was bestowed upon Dan Dugan who worked three stereo tape decks routed to ten loudspeakers.  As technology has advanced over the years and directors have become more accustomed to lush sound design in film and television, this role has become increasingly complex, and in many ways is linked to the role of Sound Artist within the fine arts community.

 

FOLEY 101: A Crash Course

In my journey to learn more about different jobs in audio, I have decided to share what I learn within these blog posts. My first topic is one that I am most familiar with: foley. As a foley mixer and editor, I am often asked: what exactly is foley?

If you’ve watched a film lately, you’ve heard Foley. Foley is the reproduction of sound for any visual medium. Foley is in film, television, video games, VR and digital media. The art of foley is named after Jack Foley, an early sound effects artist. Jack was a pioneering developer of performing sound effects live and in synchronization with pictures. We need to re-record these sound effects because often what is recorded on set is unusable. Microphones on set are focused on capturing the actors’ dialog as cleanly as possible; therefore all other sounds become neglected.  Everything you hear in a film – from footsteps to handshakes, kisses to puking – is created specifically for and in sync with a picture.

Foley, as we know it today, consists of a team of usually 2-3 people in a studio performing, recording and editing everything you hear on screen. Okay, maybe not everything… we leave the explosions to the sound effects editors. Each member of the team plays a different role in creating and capturing the sounds for a project. And those members are:

The Foley Artist

These are the people who begin to bring characters to life, sonically. They are tasked with recreating the sounds for anything the actors interact with and anything on screen that would make sound. The foley artist manipulates props to create these sounds as well as performing footsteps for the characters on screen.

The Foley Mixer

While the whole team has a role to play in the sonic quality, the mixer works with the microphones, preamps, and other gear that may be used to capture the foley. We generally use two microphones (a ‘close’ mic and a ‘far’ or ‘room’ mic) for interior locations on screen and one close mic for exterior locations. The mixer is in control of the balance of these microphones and uses the two in combination to create perspectives or distance in the sounds.

The Foley Editor

This is a fairly fluid role and is often varied depending on the foley studio. The editor may be part of the team before or after the recording stage. Sometimes the editor and mixer roles are combined. In general, though, the job of the foley editor is to ensure that all of the recorded sounds are in sync and without any artifacts or distortion. The foley editor uses software such as Pro Tools to perform these edits. The editor may also play a part in the creativity of the sounds; manipulating what was recorded into something different. For instance, they may pitch down a set of footsteps to give a character more weight.

The Process


An assortment of foley artist’s shoes
Photo by Jeremy Benning

First, we begin with the footsteps. The artist chooses a pair of shoes to suit the character and we go through scene-by-scene capturing footsteps. On our second pass-through, we cover all of the props. These are items that the actors interact with that would make sound. This includes simple things like putting down a glass or shaking someone’s hand to more complex sounds like swords unsheathing or a person skateboarding. The final pass is the cloth pass. This is where the artist manipulates different types of material to capture the sounds of characters’ clothing movements. The cloth pass adds another layer of subtle depth to the soundtrack; giving the characters even more life.

Once all passes have been completed, and everything has been edited and synced, we prepare the session for delivery to the final mix stage. There, our tracks will be combined with the sound effects, dialog, and music to create the complete, finished soundtrack.

When Foley is done well, you generally don’t hear it. That’s because it fits in so seamlessly with what you are visually seeing that you shouldn’t notice it. If something stands out, it can take the viewer out of the experience. That is what we aim for every day – our work to not be heard. It sounds bleak, but it is actually very rewarding. We often are so absorbed in what we are creating that it becomes almost a challenge to get a reaction out of each other. When the artist performs a perfectly in sync, great-sounding footstep pass, we all cheer. When we build a really gross sound, the usual indicator of where we’ve reached peak grossness is based on those reactions too. If the artist looks back and sees my face contorted in disgust, we know we’ve just made magic.  Ultimately, the natural human elements that foley can bring to a soundtrack are irreplaceable.

 

Delia Derbyshire – In Profile

Coventry is a city in the middle of England, known for the legend of Lady Godiva, the WWII blitz, and for many years it was an industrial boomtown and subsequently a ‘concrete jungle.’  It is my hometown, a place that has given us a diverse selection of musical greats over the years spanning from Ray King, The Specials, and Hazel O’Connor to The Primitives, and The Enemy.  Coventry was also the home of electronic composer Delia Derbyshire. Although I’ve had the pleasure of meeting, interviewing and performing in front of a number of this city’s musical giants, regrettably I never had the chance to meet Delia before her untimely passing in 2001.

Delia was a musical pioneer, a unique lady with a sharp sense of humour, humility, and an unbridled passion for creating.  The story of her contribution to the world has not taken up space as prominently as it should but is still quietly there nonetheless.  I’d like to turn up the volume and tell you a little about her life and work, and why she is an iconic woman in music, who in my opinion possessed all of the ‘cool points’.

Early life

Fifty years before I would come to exist and first set foot in my childhood home, the place of Delia’s childhood home lay just five streets away.  While I’m proud of where I come from, it is not a fancy area – it is one of honest, working-class roots. It’s still the kind of place today where earning the opportunity to study at Cambridge is an esteemed accomplishment only achieved by an exceptional minority.  Delia Derbyshire was exceptional: she graduated from Cambridge University with a degree in music and mathematics at a time when it was the most prestigious location for studying mathematics, and when only 1 in 10 students were women.

Upon graduating, Delia approached Decca Records for work in 1959 only to be told they didn’t employ women in the recording studio.  Heading to the BBC shortly after that in 1960, they were firm that they did not employ composers however Delia was hired as a studio assistant.  She cheekily referred to this as ‘infiltrating the system to do music.’ Later that year, she joined the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, a role that was traditionally only short-term, the reasoning of which was rumoured to prevent the onset of madness.  The Workshop provided sound design and music for a vast amount of TV and radio and was located in the mysterious room number 13, found at the end of a long corridor in Maida Vale studios.

The Radiophonic Workshop Years

Delia remained at the Radiophonic Workshop from 1960-73 and created her most iconic pieces in that time both freelance and for the BBC, the most well-known work being Derbyshire’s original Doctor Who arrangement.  The theme was commissioned in 1963 and had an amicable story relayed in Spinal Tap-like fashion by Derbyshire’s contemporaries of the time: composer Ron Grainer had given Delia not a full musical score but a scribbled idea on a sheet of the manuscript with vague directions that she interpreted perfectly.  His stunned reaction upon hearing the finished piece was to ask “Did I write that?!” to which Delia replied, “Most of it.” The original intention had been to hire and record a French band performing the piece on glass rims, however, the BBC budget was too tight, hence Delia was brought in.

It is worth noting that this period was before the synthesiser, and it may be useful to reflect on how incomprehensible it can be in our digitized lives to understand how Delia made electronic music in the mid-1960s.   She worked heavily with a Wobbulator (portmanteau of wobble and oscillator), which was a sine-wave oscillator that could be frequency modulated and is also called a ‘sweep generator.’ Delia made the sounds she used both painstakingly and organically by inventing, manipulating and shifting samples that she often created from scratch, and this was all captured on reels of tape.  For the Doctor Who theme, Delia used three layers and three tape machines at once for the final recording. Each note in the piece had to be individually cut and placed onto the tape reel. It is no wonder that all who knew her concurred that Delia was undoubtedly a perfectionist.

Whilst the Doctor Who theme has become her most famously known work; it came with its difficulties.  The BBC had a longstanding policy of anonymity for the staff in the Radiophonic Workshop, and even when composer Ron Grainer wished to split the writing percentages and give Derbyshire credit, the corporation refused.  Other creatives Delia had composed for made similarly fruitless acknowledgment requests. Years later, the BBC subsequently changed their rules on anonymity but declined to do it retrospectively. Delia got nothing for Doctor Who. Interestingly, the source of annoyance with the theme for Derbyshire was the number of times new producers at the BBC wanted to revamp it over the years. She was very vocal about her views and disapproved of all ‘tarted up’ versions other than Peter Howell’s.

The Swinging Sixties

Aside from her BBC work, the 60s were a most fruitful time for Delia’s solo creations, and she also collaborated in several electronic band projects including ‘White Noise’ and ‘Unit Delta Plus.’  These works blurred the pre-existing lines of genre and broke many moulds in their experimental nature. Delia and her peers were highly influential and pivotal in shaping the music scene at this time: her ‘Unit Delta Plus’ bandmate Peter Zinovieff had a studio in Putney where Delia would often work which was known as EMS – Electronic Music Studios, and this was equipped with Zinovieff’s pioneering VCS3 synthesiser. Derbyshire believed in the generosity of knowledge and wanted to share her techniques and new discoveries with others. Some of the most quintessentially 1960s stories and sounds resulted from her remarkable contribution by the end of the decade.

Delia was approached by Paul McCartney who requested she arrange a backing track for “Yesterday,” and he soon came in person to listen to some of her work at EMS.  Shrouded in secrecy, Delia was then involved in the somewhat fabled electronic Beatles piece “Carnival of Light,” a legendary experimental track, which was played once and is now impossible to find.  In a rare interview, she comically recalled “I did a film soundtrack for Yoko Ono. While she slept on my floor”, and the occasion when Brian Jones visited the Radiophonic Workshop and played with hand-tuned oscillators “as though he could play it as a musical instrument!”  Delia was also responsible for bundling Pink Floyd into a taxi to EMS after the band visited her at the workshop to introduce them to Peter Zinovieff and his famous VCS3 – see “Dark Side of the Moon” for the outcome of that.

Creative process

 

Delia’s methods for composing are thought-provoking to me: she looked at music very mathematically and often assigned ideas to pitch and frequency with a meaning in mind, her starting point always being the Greek harmonic series.  Being classically trained to a professional level pianist as a young woman meant that Delia’s music theory provided a solid knowledge of the rules in order to break them, her written notes highlighting this quirky combination with the use of graphic scores and colloquial musical and technical directions.  She believed the way we perceive sound should have dominance over any theory or mathematical working. Delia herself cited childhood experiences as the earliest influences on her interest in electronic sounds, notably the ‘air raid’ and ‘all clear’ sirens she had become accustomed to hearing as a young girl during World War II that had piqued her interest in sound waves.  I find it fascinating how such a combination of experiences can be a catalyst for such innovation and creation.

After the Workshop

Delia left the BBC in 1973 and is quoted as saying, “The world went out of tune with itself,” which is quite a heavy statement.  She felt electronic music, and the common usage of synthesisers had changed music for the worse – it wasn’t organic enough as she always wanted to physically get inside equipment.  It’s hard to know if her statement was borne from a reluctance to embrace the changing times and methods of making music, or perhaps how this had affected her role at the BBC, whom she openly blasted for being “ran by accountants” and “expecting her to compromise her integrity.”

Personally, I fear there may have been a sadness in Delia at this point, as she turned her back on working in music after leaving the BBC, taking on various non-musical jobs.  She wrote lots privately, however never recorded, released or collaborated in the same way as she had in the 60s. Delia described herself as a utopian who believed freedom of creativity was more important than getting work, and I believe her. Perhaps the many years of blatant sexism, lack of credit, and working long through the night after everyone else had left were no longer sustainable if, in addition, her creative process was now being micromanaged.

Thankfully, by the mid-90s, Delia felt music was returning to it’s “pure” state and during the last years of her life Pete Kember a.k.a. Sonic Boom made contact with her by searching the Coventry phone book, eventually putting Delia in touch with the current generation of musicians she had inspired.  He even persuaded her to collaborate, and she is credited as adviser/co-producer on two EAR albums, as well as co-writer with Kember on the track ‘Synchrondipity Machine’. Delia and Kember thought very highly of one another, and shortly before her death, she said “working with people like Sonic Boom on pure electronic music has re-invigorated me.  Now without the constraints of doing ‘applied music,’ my mind can fly free and pick up where I left off.” It is bittersweet that the collaboration came so close to the time of her passing after all the silent years she’d endured.

Delia’s legacy

Her partner Clive discovered Delia’s back catalogue of tapes spanning her career after her death.  The collection had been kept in the attic, stored neatly in cereal boxes, although time had not been kind to the labels that had once documented almost 300 reels of tape. A project to restore and archive the collection was undertaken by Mark Ayres, Dr. David Butler, and Brian Hodgson, and the complete collection now resides at The John Rylands Library at The University of Manchester and can be viewed by anyone upon appointment.  The last work in the archive is a cue for an unmade film from 1980, donated by filmmaker Elizabeth Kosmian. Delia’s fascinating graphic scores and workings are also included as well as digitised sonic versions of her archived works.

Delia’s legacy lives on physically in The University of Manchester archive, and their associated organisation entitled “Delia Derbyshire Day” (DD Day) which offers events and activities promoting the art of British electronic music and history via the archive and works of Delia Derbyshire.  For an interactive and family-friendly experience, Delia has a charming permanent spot of residence at The Coventry Music Museum. Online, there is wikidelia.net, delia-derbyshire.org, deliaderbyshireday.com, and of course, the many music download and streaming platforms on which Delia is still a presence.

Delia was a complex woman, one with oodles of personality and a sense of humour that shone through in the few rare interviews she did. Her friends and colleagues unanimously described her as an incredible planner, intelligent, analytical, fiery, and an eccentric genius. An enigma.  She remembered, “Directors who came to see me work used to say ‘you must be an ardent feminist’ – I think I was a post-feminist before feminism was invented!  I did rebel. I did a lot of things I was told not to do.”

Delia Derbyshire lived a fascinating life, and I wish I could have met her, to learn and understand more about her work and her mind.  I’d be interested to uncover her thoughts on the 5% of women currently working in audio in 2019 and compare notes on the things that have changed so much, and the things that haven’t changed nearly enough. One thing’s for sure – if we ever discover the secrets to make time travel via Tardis possible, you’ll know where and when to find me.

 

Designing Signature Sounds

The Project

I recently had the pleasure of creating signature elements for a new animated series which will likely air near the end of 2019.  We were brought into the process at a very early stage, the first animatic, which was incredibly exciting. If you aren’t already aware, in animation, an animatic is essentially a video of storyboard panels timed to work with the recorded dialogue and then exported as a video.  An animatic is a very thorough blueprint for the animation studio to follow. Adding sound design to an animatic can do a number of things: it can bring the animatic to life for the animation studio which allows them to better understand how to animate important moments. It can help executives to better understand the action when reviewing the animatic for approval. And it can establish signature elements early on so that the sound can help to inform the animators’ creative concept for the series.  Having clients who appreciate the importance of bringing the sound team into the mix (pun intended!) early on is a wonderful thing for us here at Boom Box Post! So cheer to all of our amazing clients!

The Process

Step 1: Brainstorm about an Overall Aesthetic

The key elements of the series are birds and babies (sorry to be cryptic about the premise, but it’s too early to share too much about this project!). My mind immediately started churning about how to incorporate these in a way that would be nuanced and special.  When designing sounds for a new project, it’s also important to consider the audience. This series is geared toward preschool-aged children. So I also wanted to create a soundscape that would be friendly and familiar to viewers in that age group.

First, I decided to make all of the items in this animated world sound like they are made out of materials familiar to preschool kids.  This would involve recording a ton of children’s toys to really let these textures shine through in the mix. The set locations look high tech and designing in that aesthetic is always fun. But isn’t it much more fun to design a baby’s take on tech?  Now that would be a challenge.  Second, I decided to incorporate the bird aspect of the series by creating new sci-fi sound effects for all of the tech elements by processing bird calls.  I didn’t want the bird calls to be in your face. After all, it doesn’t take much creativity to just throw a bunch of hawk calls on everything. But, folding them into my tech builds sounded like a fun challenge that would result in a truly unique signature sound aesthetic for the entire series.

Step 2: Decide which elements should be stand-out signature designs.

I consider anything that will clearly appear in a series again and again to be signature.  And so, even if it’s a mundane item, to me it’s an opportunity to add a little special flavor.  You might think it’s a waste of time to create special door open sound effects or record all-new hand grabs. But creating a new palette from scratch for all reusable elements can ensure not just stand-out sound design moments but an overall signature aesthetic for an entire series.

For this series, I decided that the sounds for all of the things in the main location should be signature: all doors, all grabs of items and furniture, all mechanical elements, etc.  Basically, anything that will clearly be seen again and again needed to be custom.

Step 3: Create a Custom Recording List

When I’m creating a recording list, I like to brainstorm things to record which might add to the overall aesthetic I’m trying to achieve while keeping in mind what I need to cover.  Sometimes, if you map out exactly what to record for each signature element, you close off your brain to considering other options during the process. Think about the general aesthetic you would like to achieve and come up with items that you think may help to achieve that aesthetic–whether you think you’ll use them now or they may just be handy to have in the future.

Here was my list.  Notice that I’m focusing on what I want to hear and not marrying myself to specific items just yet:

  1. Toy ratchet
  2. Toy click into place
  3. Different plastic items for grabs
  4. Toy rolling
  5. A toy which “pops” or “thunks”

Step 4: Browse for Items to Record

I took this list to a local children’s consignment store and roamed the aisles looking for interesting items and listening to how they sounded.  I chose a consignment store because it was cheaper, but also because the toys were not in their original packaging, so I was free to test them out.  Often browsing for things to record is best done in your own home or a friend’s closet for this very reason. Keep in mind that the best recordings are made from items which are different from what you actually see on screen. You want to achieve a certain texture, a certain sound, a certain feel. You don’t want to just record the exact thing you see in the picture.  Think about how an old loose doorknob is often used for gun foley or a piece of celery is broken for a good bone crunch. When choosing items to record, shut off the visual part of your brain that’s telling you to go for the obvious, and start listening to everyday items with your creative hat on. Evaluate each item solely on its ability to give you the sound properties you’ve already brainstormed in the above list.

Step 5: Record new sounds

Step 6: Edit your recordings to work with the picture.

Once you’ve recorded all of your new (or old) props, bring everything into your DAW and start playing.  Often I find that elements I recorded in hopes of covering a certain signature element actually work best for something else.  Don’t be afraid to play around and try new things. Use the clean recordings, process them to the point that they are unrecognizable, or mix them together with sounds from your library.  In this step, you are the sonic painter. Give yourself the creative freedom to use your full palette and don’t be afraid to make a mess. That’s how the best discoveries are made!

Step 7: Collaborate with your clients.

Sound is never a job that’s pursued in a vacuum.  We’re part of a larger project team, and most often that project is the creative property of someone else.  Once you’ve come up with your most alluring signature sounds, share them with your clients and let the collaboration ensue.  It’s incredibly important to realize that the creative process doesn’t end with you: it’s easy to think that your signature sounds are the best they can be when you’ve finished designing.  In fact, I find that they often get even better when I present them to the clients and they offer tiny tweaks and new creative insights. Sometimes muting one element or incorporating something else that you never even considered is the key ingredient to the perfect sound.

The Sounds

Here are a few of the original recordings I made with the help of our intern, Sam, and the signature elements that I designed using those recordings.  The recordings and designs may sound simple, but remember that signature sounds compound with each other in order to create an often nuanced and distinguishable scape for the series as a whole.  It’s the totality of all of your creative ideas that form an overall new and exciting aural aesthetic.

 

Going Freelance

Hello everyone and welcome to 2019! As a new contributor to the SoundGirls blog for 2019, allow me to briefly introduce myself.

I am a foley recordist/sound editor based in Toronto and have been working in the audio post industry for just over three years now. In late 2017, I left my salaried position at a studio to pursue a freelance career. 2018 was my first complete year as a full-time freelancer. As a recent newcomer to the freelance world, I would like to share what I’ve learned and what has helped me so far. Here are some tips I hope you find helpful if you are thinking about, or are in the process of going freelance.

FINANCES

This is going to be the most significant subject because it is the most important – in my opinion – if you are considering going freelance. Some of us don’t like thinking about the money part. It can be stressful, but it is one of the most important things you need to do to set yourself up for success and peace of mind. Freelancing can be unsteady. You may be swamped with work for a month and then not have a single job the next. This uncertainty requires advanced planning, financially. The first thing you should ask yourself is: “How long can I survive without work on the current savings I have?” It was recommended to me to have six months of expenses saved.
At the time I went freelance, I maybe had four. This is really up to you and what you’re comfortable with. For me, the timing was more imperative, and I felt the decision to leap into a fantastic opportunity outweighed my concerns of not having enough savings. What did help ease my peace of mind in those uncertain first few months was keeping a budget. Whether you use a simple spreadsheet (as I did) or go for software like the highly recommended YNAB, a financial tracker at the very least will help you see where your money needs to go vs. where it is going. One important thing you need to include in your budget: setting aside money for taxes.

TAXES

The word generally comes with a winced or exhausted expression from a freelancer. Being your own boss requires you to do the not-as-fun stuff that your employers would have done in the past. This means keeping track of and filing your taxes. Now since I am in Canada, my advice may not specifically relate to your region, but I will try to be broad.

Two pieces of advice here: 1. Keep all of your receipts for EVERYTHING and keep them organized. You will be doing yourself a huge favour if you can keep up the habit throughout the year. Buy one of those small accordion file folders and organize your receipts by category. Things like ‘work equipment,’ ‘travel fees’ are good business expense categories to file in. You should also keep a record of your invoices. (I have a digital record to save on printing.) You may also consider digitally tracking your receipts/invoices with software like Quickbooks or Wave (Free). Organizing this paperwork will make things easier to tally at tax time, and heaven forbid, keep things in order if you are ever audited. * knocks on wood *

HIRE AN ACCOUNTANT

believed I could file my taxes all on my own and I probably could have with relative success but having an experienced accountant or tax preparer handle this for you is well worth the money. (Plus you can write off their bill as a business expense.) An accountant who specializes in your industry will be extremely helpful as they will know all the ins and outs of what expenses you can write off. They will also be your best bet to save more of your money from going to taxes. I mentioned earlier that you should budget for taxes. Your accountant can help you to determine what percentage of your income you should be putting aside based on your estimated income. You should also set aside any sales tax earned (HST/GST/PST in Canada). Once again, your accountant will again be a useful resource in knowing how to file your sales tax return as well. Keep the money you set aside separate for organizational purposes and so that you don’t inadvertently spend it.As far as finances go, I’ve only just scratched the surface. I would highly recommend you research resources specifically pertaining to the region you live in – especially in regards to taxes.

Networking

It can be extremely daunting, exhausting, and anxiety-inducing for some, but networking in the audio industry is your best way to gain work and experience. This is a relatively small industry. Everyone typically knows each other – especially locally – so try and use that to your advantage. One connection can help introduce you to another.

My biggest piece of advice for networking is to try your best to be yourself and be genuine. Those who have been doing this for a while can sense when you are being fake or insincere. No one wants to work with someone with a bad attitude or an ego and those people will have a much tougher time finding work no matter how knowledgeable they are or how qualified they are for the job. Also, being a small industry, your reputation will go far. So just in general, be a good person. Also, never expect anything from someone else and appreciate whatever opportunities or experiences you may be given.

Stay Social

Freelance work can be very lonely, especially as a sound editor where you may spend your days working from home. I like to stay in touch with my other audio friends and make plans to meet up every so often. It’s helpful to have that community of like-minded people to bounce ideas off of. And they usually know some key commands you haven’t heard of yet that will change your life (I’m looking at you, OPT + CMD + V). That community can also be a great way to get more work. If we have work pop up that we are too busy to take, we often recommend or offer it to each other.

 

SoundGirls’ social media groups are a great way to connect to the industry.

 

As much as I dislike social media, it can also be a great way to stay connected to the industry, learn new things and even find work. There are tons of groups online for audio (including SoundGirls’ various social media sites) that you should definitely bookmark and keep in touch with.

I would not have been able to survive the leap to freelance if it weren’t for the amazing support I had in my professional and personal life. I was very fortunate to have great mentors share their own advice with me and I hope this information helps someone else. Freelancing certainly isn’t for everyone and that is OK! In the end, you’ll know what works for you.

If you have any other advice from your own experience or have any questions, please leave a comment or feel free to contact me.

I’m looking forward to sharing more of my experiences and what I’m learning in 2019.

 

Seven Ways To Make the Most of the Quiet Season

Last year I put together a list of activities to make the most of the end-of-year quiet season. Ten Ways to Make the Most of the Quiet Season

With another one fast approaching, here are a few more suggestions.

Make time for family and friends

Touring schedules and unsociable working hours means that many of us let family commitments and get-togethers with friends slide a bit during the year. Quiet seasons are a great time to reconnect with your nearest and dearest. If it’s cold in your part of the world, wrap up warm and grab an appropriate hot beverage. If it’s warm, enjoy a natter over a few cold ones in the sunshine.

Get healthy Part 1 – revamp your diet

If you’re coming off the back of a hectic year, chances are you’ll be run-down and more susceptible to viruses. Being ill over the holiday season is no fun, so ward off the bugs by increasing your intake of fresh fruit and vegetables and staying hydrated.

Get healthy Part 2 – personal system overhaul

Make time to do a full checkup of the kit you carry to every job: your body. You only get one, so it’s worth putting in the time and effort for regular maintenance. Book in with your GP, dentist, optometrist, audiologist, whoever you need to get your system back up and running.

Financial spring-clean

Boring but necessary! Get your accounts in order and your tax return ready. If numbers aren’t your thing, it’s also a great time to look for an accountant.

Get certified

If you’re anything like me, you have a list of new tools that you keep meaning to learn and certifications that you know you need to look into. With so much training and certification programmes available online, as long as you have a decent internet connection, there’s really no excuse not to get stuck in over a quiet period.

Get some rest

Your body needs it! Sleep, switch off, and rejuvenate.

This will be my last blog for Soundgirls for the foreseeable future. Thanks for reading, and I wish you a relaxing holiday break, wherever you are in the world.

SoundGirls note – We will miss Kirsty writing for us and we appreciate all the years and dedication she has dedicated to writing her blog.

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