Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #SoundDesign
Most recents (17)
If you're into sound, you should always be prepared to wow friends and family with a few fun factoids.
Here are our top five fun facts about sound:
🧵🧵🧵
#sound #audio #sounddesign #gameaudio
Here are our top five fun facts about sound:
🧵🧵🧵
#sound #audio #sounddesign #gameaudio
The loudest sound ever recorded on Earth was the eruption of the Krakatoa volcano in 1883, which produced a sound that could be heard over 4,800 kilometers (3,000 miles) away.
The sound of a whip cracking is actually a small sonic boom created by the tip of the whip traveling faster than the speed of sound.
I’m cutting BGs (a.k.a. backgrounds, ambiences, atmospheres) on a film right now and looked over some advice I got years ago from a veteran editor. I’ll share some of it with you all here 🔊🧵
#filmsound #filmaudio #soundeffects #fieldrecording #sounddesign
#filmsound #filmaudio #soundeffects #fieldrecording #sounddesign
• Think of sounds for transitions, and how to define small changes in space (bottom of cliff vs top). Think of contrasts, e.g. temperature, size of space, mood.
• Play perspective and scene transitions with a punctuation, something big to get into the next scene. Punch cuts for effect using dynamic range (explosion on the cut etc.). Think outside of the box too, think in abstracts, nonliteral elements.
Hi #GameAudio! I’ve recently been mentoring some folks starting out on their audio journey.
I thought I'd share some of the most common feedback I've found myself giving when it comes to beginner's #sounddesign showreels! (thread)
I thought I'd share some of the most common feedback I've found myself giving when it comes to beginner's #sounddesign showreels! (thread)
(disclaimer - this is all my very subjective opinion! These aren’t necessarily the most important things to address, just small things that I’ve noticed across almost every showreel I've seen!)
1. Add more detail to ambiences!
I've never really noticed it myself until recently but ambiences in showreels can be overlooked! The first thing I always do when making a soundscape is build up the ambiences as much as possible. Here are some tips!
I've never really noticed it myself until recently but ambiences in showreels can be overlooked! The first thing I always do when making a soundscape is build up the ambiences as much as possible. Here are some tips!
Does the future look grim?
(On next steps of interactive audio authoring)
1. A thread 🧵...
#gameaudio #gamedev #sounddesign #reaperdaw #audiokinetic #wwise #fmod #ue4 #unity3d
(On next steps of interactive audio authoring)
1. A thread 🧵...
#gameaudio #gamedev #sounddesign #reaperdaw #audiokinetic #wwise #fmod #ue4 #unity3d
2. The most difficult thing is making decisions!
(because you have to think)
(because you have to think)
3. Making decisions requires bravery, experimentation, and exploration of the unknown.
If you are not practicing that then you are just gambling.
If you are not practicing that then you are just gambling.
Milestone today – 50 #gameaudio job rejections (in 2 years – screenshot from spreadsheet with the automated rejection counter)!
Here are some of the lessons I’ve learned and things I’ve observed, hopefully this can help people in similar positions!
Rejection – A Thread (1/18)
Here are some of the lessons I’ve learned and things I’ve observed, hopefully this can help people in similar positions!
Rejection – A Thread (1/18)
Any job application you’re not 100% “in” on, you probably shouldn’t bother applying. Some applications I’ve put in, I haven’t been convinced that even I would give myself the job – so someone else certainly won’t! (2/18)
They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. It’s easy to just keep applying with the same material, but at points you must question whether what you’re applying with is reflective of your best work. (3/18)
I’m going to rethread over this older thread with specifics about how I approached the initial sound design and FX organizational workflow for #Encanto. We had four sound effects editors, plus me and one assistant. Just me designing sounds. 🧵 1/?
First watch, I gathered character names, relationships, gifts, and listed out design elements like candle and door magic, casita stress/cracks, animals, ambience ideas, where and how often things repeated (e.g. casita formation in opening and ending). 2/?
I also note my feelings about the themes, character arc, narrative shape, setting, and focal points of the story, because story needs to be my core focus from the start. This will inform the aesthetic direction and also where I spend my and my team’s energy most efficiently. 3/?
gimme yer #gameaudio tips.
•transient designer followed by a clipper for big punchy impacts. gives the impression of a really sharp transient even though it’s shaved off
•transient designer followed by a clipper for big punchy impacts. gives the impression of a really sharp transient even though it’s shaved off
•envelope follower is great for gluing a bunch of layers together (one sound controls the amplitude of all the others) and makes things cohesive
•for snappy sounds, break the rules and use hard cuts with no fades (gasp!) and sometimes even tiny amounts of complete silence (GASP)
🔊Post your Low End Tricks 🔊
**PARALLEL SATURATION/DISTORTION** - Copy a track and add saturation/distortion so the highs punch through. Blend that with the pure low end so you have the original sub/bass with a mid/high end cutting element.
#sounddesign #musicproduction
**PARALLEL SATURATION/DISTORTION** - Copy a track and add saturation/distortion so the highs punch through. Blend that with the pure low end so you have the original sub/bass with a mid/high end cutting element.
#sounddesign #musicproduction
**COPY AND PITCH DOWN 1-2 OCTAVES** - A manual way to to do the lo-air trick. Duplicate a track, pitch it down and octave or 2, add a LPF filter and effects to get heavy weight to a sound that’s too thin.
**SIN WAV SUB** - Nothing punches a sub like a pure sine wave. Adding a pure sine tone to patches for music, or accentuating sound design with a pure sin hit always gets that bass hitting in a pure way.
A common mix trick is to use sidechaining to gate the sin sub.
A common mix trick is to use sidechaining to gate the sin sub.
This week, I was tasked by Sound Supervisor Nicolas Becker to figure a way to record "heavy metal rattling" to feed the soundtrack for a film taking place on a container ship.
Prepare your best Sound Of Metal jokes, this is a #sounddesign & #fieldrecording thread.
1/18
Prepare your best Sound Of Metal jokes, this is a #sounddesign & #fieldrecording thread.
1/18
Nicolas had designed a bunch of low/sub textures to evocate/sonify the ship's 100 000 CV motor (Yeah, 100kCV).
This brought the "heavy/oppressing" character of the motor to the soundtrack, but lacked the close-up detail of "stuff on the boat reacting to the motor's energy".
2/18
This brought the "heavy/oppressing" character of the motor to the soundtrack, but lacked the close-up detail of "stuff on the boat reacting to the motor's energy".
2/18
So I came up with a simple idea : feeding the motor's textures through some transducer stuck to the metal to record the "organic" reaction.
A drummer friend of mine had told me about "buttkickers" : basically "solid speakers" that shake a drummer's seat with sub.
3/18
A drummer friend of mine had told me about "buttkickers" : basically "solid speakers" that shake a drummer's seat with sub.
3/18
bit overdue but here's a thread of the most common mistakes I saw while going through #gameaudio entry level #sounddesign reels you guys sent a while
back. Its just my personal take but hopefully some will find this useful...
Audio vets chime in too!!
back. Its just my personal take but hopefully some will find this useful...
Audio vets chime in too!!
1. Dead space - a lot of reels contained slow or eventless moments. Replace slow moments for more action and chances to show off your skills. You can show
ambience design, but make it tastefully short
ambience design, but make it tastefully short
2. Repeat Plays - many segments contained SD (sound design) shown multiple times (repeated creature attack or gunshot). If you want to show any variations, two will be good enough with tasty variation.
I can rewind the reel when I hear something awesome.
I can rewind the reel when I hear something awesome.
We’re hiring for a couple of sound design roles at @HexanyAudio so I thought I’d share a bit what that process looks like at our studio. These things are true for us alone, not every studio. #gameaudio #sounddesign #gamedev
Reels 1: Our very first step is a blind review of demo reels. We don’t look at names, years of experience, resume, or anything else. We’ll pass if your reel isn’t excellent. And if your link doesn’t work, we move on. Pro Tip: Test your link a private window before sending.
Reels 2: We’re looking to hire video game sound designers. If your reel is 100% film and doesn’t contain anything at all from a game and your resume doesn’t have anything related to games, you’re probably not the best fit for this position.
Hey new sound followers! This seems like a good time for a roundup of the various #SoundDesign craft threads I’ve done this year. Thread thread! 👇🏼
Animal recording!
Q&A 2
#NiaHansen #sounddesign thread on EXPLOSIONS and fun with liquid nitrogen. Because liquid nitrogen is fun. Don’t try this at home. 💥💦❄
#filmsound #soundeffects #fieldrecording #audiopost #postproduction #gameaudio
#filmsound #soundeffects #fieldrecording #audiopost #postproduction #gameaudio
This explosion recording day was for War Horse. World War I is a time period that not very many living people have actually HEARD. This gave the sound designer and editors some liberty to be interpretive and nonliteral with some of the war environment, guns, vehicles, etc.
We tried various things with the liquid nitrogen, which all had very different qualities. When sealed in a plastic jug, it will eventually explode (or implode a trash bin). We tried different sized jugs… and different material cans.
Another #sounddesign thread, this time about #soundeffects #fieldrecording for film!
#audiopost #postproduction #filmsound #filmmaking #gameaudio
#audiopost #postproduction #filmsound #filmmaking #gameaudio
We don’t always have the time or budget to collect many new/unique sounds for every film, esp. on Marvel projects which are so busy. We also may not know what we need until a visual effect shows up, or we learn that something cut/designed isn’t working.
Ideally, we put together a recording wish list at the very start of the project. These are sounds we don’t have in the library, or have but want better recordings of/variations of, or textures & components to use for designing.
How about another #sounddesign thread? With gifs! This time about #BigHero6 and some tricks for humor.
Animations are fun because no sound is recorded on “set.” It’s a blank slate.
#filmsound #soundeffects #filmmaking #fieldrecording #audiopost #postproduction
Animations are fun because no sound is recorded on “set.” It’s a blank slate.
#filmsound #soundeffects #filmmaking #fieldrecording #audiopost #postproduction
I love recording funny sounds. Baymax’s squeaky body was a yoga ball I sat on at work (good for spine!). There are so many ways to perform a squeaky prop. I manipulated every phrase I could out of it. Fast, slow, rhythmic, impacty. It had a nice resonant “inflated” feel.
A lot of humor both visual and sonic comes from rhythm and pacing. (Sometimes in writing too!) A squeak in just the right moment, or a beat of silence so the next sound has more impact. Play with expectations.
Long #sounddesign thread! First half will be obvious stuff to people in #filmsound #audiopost #postproduction, but maybe interesting to outsiders. Second half is about rhythm and the importance of silence.
#soundeffects #filmmaking #fieldrecording #WinterSoldier
#soundeffects #filmmaking #fieldrecording #WinterSoldier
Viewers often think all sound is recorded magically on set. Nope! 90% of the sound is added in during post production. Ambiences, crowds, foley (footsteps, props, cloth movement), sound effects. Not just for films with lots of visual effects.
The focus of on-set recording is to capture clean dialogue, and often even that may be replaced later if it’s too noisy, the line needs to be changed, or director wants a different performance.
Some people enjoyed my #sounddesign craft thread the other day + they’re fun for me, so let’s try another! This time I want to talk about hard-to-describe sound concepts. e.g. Vormir in #InfinityWar
#filmsound #soundeffects #filmmaking #fieldrecording #audiopost #postproduction
#filmsound #soundeffects #filmmaking #fieldrecording #audiopost #postproduction
Sometimes the hardest part is translating clients’ explanations & descriptions into a sonic experience. Esp. true for surreality, ambiguous objects/powers, magic, etc. Often deciphering comes down to “just make it really cool”—which is all all about drumming up creative ideas.
The Vormir plateau was more or less pitched as giant stone/magnetic tuning forks vibrating to create tiny vacuums in spacetime… I can’t go out and record giant vibrating stones or spacetime vacuums or mini black holes. So, where to start?
