The Boom Box Post blog provides insights into the creative sound design process of Boom Box Post's owners and employees.
Digital Foley is often a straight-forward and technical element of the sound design we create for a TV show, and it can become a simple skill for an editor’s toolbox that amplifies each episode. Though footsteps are a small detail in the entirety of a sound edit, it is sometimes tedious and overwhelming to transition similar Foley edits between episodes. Listed below are a few quick alternative solutions that I use when editing Foley.
In animation, large crowds serve to support the fullness and sonic versatility of a scene. However, it is easy to get lost in an audience’s hyperactivity and noise, which can potentially distract the listener instead of guiding them through the narrative of the show. Read below to see how sound effects editor Ben approaches a stadium crowd design.
It’s finally the day all of us at Boom Box Post have been waiting for–the relaunch of our internship program! Now an apprenticeship, we couldn’t be more excited to introduce our first apprentice post-pandemic, Kylina Aliotti!
As co-owner of Boom Box Post, I wear a lot of hats. I’m scheduled down to the 15 minute increment and often need to hyper concentrate on the task at hand. Still, I can’t control when a scheduling request or Slack message from my team will come through. Often times when I'm deep into a creative groove, I get hit with one of these important items that may not need to be handled at that exact moment, but I don’t want to forget. Distracted by the creative task at hand, I am actually quite prone to forget. I have employed various strategies to deal with it. Leaving messages unread, creating a reminder in Apple’s Reminder app or Slack, even Post-It notes. But I never had a perfect solutions. Until now.
Creating an exciting sound mix for television can be a HUGE challenge. Way back in 2020, I explained the basic structure of my mixing process, but there is a lot more to mixing than just following a list of steps. I also like to consider goals or objectives I want to achieve during the process. These vary from project to project, but here are three mixing objectives I often keep in mind while I work through each mix.
Not too long ago, I was given the creative opportunity to build a unique version of a camper van out of non-traditional motor sounds. The job was to make something that resembled a motor out of sounds that were not machinery or would sound like a realistic engine. This was a fun challenge and proof of concept that you can make a motor out of anything!
With such a wide variety of TV shows, our sound effects editors can end up designing some pretty out-of-this-world sound effects builds, like balloon nightmares, interdimensional time jumps, and even monster armies! For another imaginative look into some of the exciting sound effects we create at Boom Box Post, sound effects editor Natalia is sharing a deeper dive into how she approaches designing a magical tree transformation. Read more to learn how finding unique library sounds can contribute to a supernatural metamorphosis.
A new sound quiz has arrived! Let’s play!
Comedy is alive and well in both live action and animation. And as any sound designer worth their salt knows, our job is to support the script which often means supporting comedy. The best sound design can highlight what is already great about the picture and elevate it further by helping the audience to focus on it. So, how do we support a funny moment without dipping into our toony toolbox?
On occasion, a sound editor’s musical skills are put to the test when they are asked to recreate a tune or song for a specific sound effect. For example, in the second episode of Yuki 7, the alarm clock that goes off matches the theme song of the show, which you can listen to starting at 1:11 in the video below. For sound editors with no musical training, this task can be particularly challenging. So for this blog, I’m going to teach you how to recreate a melody to use with any sound effect just by listening to it!
As I’m building upon my sound editing skills, a critique I often receive is that my sound effects build is not utilizing a fuller frequency range, so it’s not as impactful during previews. Developing a dynamic frequency range into my builds isn’t just important for having powerful sound moments, it’s also essential for ensuring that the sound effects translate on all possible listening platforms, like a huge Dolby Atmos theatre and tiny pair of ear buds. In order to tackle this challenge, I asked two of our supervising sound editors, Brad Meyer, MPSE, and Tess Fournier, MPSE, to play a frequency-association game. I named some commonly referenced frequency ranges, and they followed up with sound effects that come to mind, and why these particular ranges are valuable for creating effective sound effects builds.
January has been a very exciting month for the Boom Box Post team. Following the holiday break, the team began to move into our new 520 S Verdugo location! Check out some recent updates, as well as pictures from move in day!
Constructing a portfolio reel for the first time can be daunting, but it’s an effective method to show recruiters and potential employers your skill set in post-production audio editing. I noticed in my own job search that many employers encourage and even require them. While many audio-post production internships or college programs can offer helpful guidance for building portfolio reels, not everyone has these resources. So, here are four tips for making your portfolio reel.
As an animation dialogue editor, I usually work with clean and high quality recording files. However, in the past two years, the pandemic changed a big amount of my work routine. The files I received are mostly recorded by voice actors themselves at home from Zoom meetings. Some files are recorded from a bad microphone position, some are recorded in a reverberant space, and some have frequency humming in the background. I spend a lot of time cleaning up the recording files as best as I can, so I’m always on the lookout for a good noise reduction plug-in. DNS One from Cedar has a good reputation from a lot of mixers and dialogue editors, so I gave it a try.
We had so many exciting project releases and accomplishments in 2021, including new TV shows, fresh features, and awards nominations! We started new ventures, ranging from moving into our new office building at 520 S Verdugo Drive, to working on our first Dolby Atmos mixes. Last year, we accumulated two Daytime Emmy nominations for Outstanding Sound Mixing and Sound Editing for a Preschool Animated Program for Mickey Mouse Mixed-Up Adventures and Muppet Babies.
2020 was a year unlike any other. So much so that it was hard to put into words how we felt about it. For that reason, at the end of the year I asked our Boom Box Post team to pick a sound effect that they felt best described 2020. We had so much fun with that post that we thought we would do it again this year. So again I asked the BBP team, “If 2021 was a sound effect, what would it be?”
2021 was a year full of adaption and learning a new hybrid form of remote and in-person work and life. Here at Boom Box Post, we began to master the new work flow as we focused on editorial on new shows and honed in on our skills. See some reflections from the team below!
I have come across a few free Chrome extensions that I have incorporated into my day-to-day workflow. These extensions have made a big difference in my productivity and I would love to share them with all of you.
As the holidays creep closer and the end of 2021 is in sight, finding the perfect gift can become increasingly daunting. Worry no more - we’ve got you covered with plenty of great gift ideas for all your closest audio friends. From the post-production pros, to the curious minds, to the creative designers, here is our list of gift recommendations!
