Sound design is an art, and though it can be a lot of work and is also a serious business, it’s fun! “Sound design” is really sort of a fancy name for foley or sound effects, though it is really a bigger thing that encompasses both of those things. Sure, you can argue terminology, but in a nutshell, sound design is what is responsible for all the non-dialog (and non-music, usually) sounds you hear while watching a movie. You know the sounds – the footsteps, howling winds, rain, hail, sizzling steaks, monster noises, creaking, cracking, and sounds for things that don’t even exist.
Essentially, it could be argued that sound design is responsible for about half of the artistry of a film, though it is so weaved into the fabric of it all that it almost goes unnoticed.
You cannot really teach it out of the box, but there are some tips that you can follow to make it wilder! Check out the article by Music Tech where they highlighted 6 sound design tips.
Archives for March 2016
About Compressing Reverb
Post-reverb compression
What is post-reverb compression? Or put another way, what does it mean to compress reverb? According to Audio Fanzine’s article “More About Compressing Reverb,” placing a compressor right after the reverb on the corresponding aux bus, or more simply, “in the effects chain” since DAWs don’t really need to rely on auxiliary busses. That term is pretty specific to having a hardware mixing board in your recording set-up.
Anyway, post-reverb compression can lead to several different results, including diametrically opposite results. The article starts with the least subtle the effects, which will thrill fans of John Bonham (Led Zeppelin)-like drum sounds. See more information about this topic in the full article – Read here.
Introducing IK Multimedia's Lurssen Mastering Console
During the last NAMM Show, a new audio mastering application for Mac, PC, and Ipad was introduced. IK Multimedia’s Lurssen Mastering Console is an audio mastering application that claims to help users get professional mastering results taking advantage of the signal chain and settings used every day at L.A.’s own Lurssen Mastering. To read more about this application, click here.
Few Lessons from the mastering Engineer
It’s amazing how easily our ears can be tricked into hearing something that’s not really there.
Here is an article written by The Recording Revolution about how do we perceive sound, and specifically loudness can dramatically change how we perceive a piece of audio.
To read more, here’s the article.
Waves NX Virtual Mix Room Plug-in – Review
Waves NX virtual mix room plugin is a revolutionary plugin where you can put on your headphones and mix in a virtual control room with perfect acoustics, wherever and whenever! This is quite a plugin that is great for those who records at home, or outside the home. Want to know more about this amazing plugin? Check out Audio Fanzine’s review of this plugin here.