Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/44580
sound effects tracks. One technique is to purposely overlay tracks of different keys to create tension. Long, droning effects work best compared to anything melodic. I like to pitch bend or alter the pitch to create angst. I also like to vary the volume of effects, such as riffing guitar solos to bring them, slowly, overlayed to meet with other effects all at the same point in time. Reversing effects can also have great results, especially low-keyed sustained piano notes. Overlaying reversed tracks that are melodically tense (such as flatted 3rds and 5ths) can create anticipation and get the heart beating, just before the end of an explosive crescendo. Loud, impacted low piano notes are also good punctuation sounds to mark the importance of a point in time. I love to overlay sound effects tracks because the result is many times very original and not something easily duplicated." DICESARE: "I work on Pro Tools|HD For the film Section 5 (pictured), Randy DeFord intentionally overlaid tracks of different keys to create tension. pitch shift and volume envelopes. Beyond that I will use the doppler and morphoder plug-ins from Waves and time compression and expansion for when a more abstract sound is required." POST: Can you talk about a recent project where you called on canned effects or music and describe how you used/manipulated it? CLOUD: "A little while ago I worked on a short film, called 10 EZ Steps to Mortician Success, that was ostensibly a live-action car- toon. For that project using sound libraries enhanced the feel of watching something quaint and old-school. As my strongest strength isn't design work, the re-recording mixer did most of the manipulating. "I relied heavily upon any old cartoon sound effects I could get from the Premiere Edition and Hollywood Edge libraries, in addition to the Hanna-Barbera library. "At one point I needed cartoon feet run- ning back and forth through a hallway, in the classic Merry Melodies-style of a chase, and was able to use lots of rapid pitter-patter sounds from Hanna-Barbera to accomplish the madcap, slapdash feel." DEFORD: "On my last feature, Section 5, I needed to create a soundscape for a night- mare sequence. The lead character was being pursued by her father, who was dragging a huge medeival axe through the woods, bent on her demise. I needed to overlay different 38 Post • October 2011 V.9 and there are a whole host of ways to alter library sounds. But recently, I found the pitch control in the sound effect database called Soundminer to be extremely useful. You can set up Soundminer to raise or lower the pitch of an effect when you are searching and auditioning your sounds. If you like what you hear, then you can transfer it to Pro Tools with the exact same pitch change built into the audio file. That way you don't have to remem- ber or recreate how much or little pitch shift- ing you did when searching. "For example, I did a test spot for Michelin Tires where I gave these rain drops a voice: they were laughing as they where making the roads slick and dangerous for the cars. I simply used stock adult laughter and pitched it up to sound like small little rain drops giggling. Every file I auditioned in Soundminer had my pitch setting done to it so I could hear instantly whether or not it I liked it for the spot. Once I had all the files I wanted, it was a simple mat- ter of layering the sounds in Pro Tools rather than recreating the pitch shifting. "And of course for music, there is a lot of music editing. I started out editing music on quarter-inch tape years ago, so for me editing music is not necessarily relying on a program, a cross fade, or plug-in to make it work. I usually can make an edit work by just finding the best edit point musically speaking. I com- pose music on my own, which is extremely helpful when editing library music to match the pre-exsiting timing of a video. "From my experience, there is no plug-in www.postmagazine.com or setting that is better than just thinking like a composer when dealing with stock music; this gives you better stock music searching skills. In fact, stock music searching is an underrated skill that really can make or break a session in the world of advertising." POST: Do you use/prefer created/synthe- sized sounds compared to natural/organic ones, or does it depend on the project? CLOUD: "Preference absolutely depends on the project. Every story will require differ- ent and wonderful things from their sound team to help tell the tale. Whichever corner of the universe that sound comes from will change constantly." DEFORD: "It depends on the project, but if I had to give a preference, I would say created sounds. I want as much control as I can get. But, that said, organic sources are often the inspiration for the created ones." DICESARE: "I don't really have a prefer- ence, as long as the sound typifies the action I am looking for. I mean, sometimes the actual sound of something does not sound like how people think it should. Test commercials and animatics can sometimes have very little movement on screen, therefore the audio has to work more like a radio spot. So, when I am doing sound design, I sometimes have to choose perception over reality. "For example, I was working on an Oral B toothbrush spot where a woman was brush- ing her teeth with a manual toothbrush. Well, the sound of someone brushing their teeth can actually be a little wet or sloppy sound- ing. In order to make it sound a little more pleasing, I used a cartoony sound effect of someone scratching their head. It really typi- fied the action and was a clear case of per- ception winning over reality." HOLLAND: "Everything is about serving the film/show/advertisement you are working on, but I usually like working with the synthe- sized and abstract sounds; you basically have free reign to interpret the visuals as you see fit. One particular client I work with requires both though. They are very into cutting-edge graphics and are constantly pushing the enve- lope visually, which requires me to create equally cutting-edge and exciting sound design. On the flip side, much of their programming is based around outdoor field sports and auto racing, and those viewers know the authentic sounds of the animals, guns and the cars, so you have to stay true to real life. There is a balance. Sometimes I find having a variety of both helps your mix stand out." POST: Can you name the libraries you call on the most?