Sound design for Elizabeth Avenue teaser

I recently completed sound design and mix at Dreambase Studios on a teaser for a new animated TV series called Elizabeth Avenue, created by Amanda Evans.

Produced by Martyn Niman of Elstree-based King Bee Entertainment, the series is based in a beautiful London street, lined with grand Victorian houses. It follows the adventures of a select pack of unpredictable, yet charming cats and dogs, each with their own distinctive characters, designed by Rafi Nizam and animated by King Bee Entertainment.

The big streets of London are bought to life through the antics of Lucy, Alfie, Ron, Reg and and a host of other characters as they go about their daily discoveries.

I sound designed and mixed the TV project, which includes music specially composed for the series by Barrington Pheloung.

Full details of the project can be seen by visiting the Elizabeth Avenue Site but for now here’s the teaser:

Sound Post for Verity’s Summer

I recently completed sound post production at Dreambase Studios on Verity’s Summer, a new feature film by Palme D’Or nominee Director, Ben Crowe.

Verity’s Summer is the story of a young woman’s journey from the security of childhood to the compromises of adulthood and moral ambiguities of love. It is also an intimate portrayal of a family coming to terms with the traumas and violence of distant war that are brought back home.

The film stars, Indea Barbe-Willson, Martin McGlade, James Doherty, Nicola Wright, and Christian Hogas and was shot on location in the North East.

The ambiences are very important in Verity’s Summer and I wanted to create definite ‘backgrounds’ for each scene. The coast is ever present in the film and so from a ‘sound tag’ point of view I wanted to make sure the sea sounds were distinctive and repeatable if necessary in order to reinforce the scenes.

I spent a weekend in West Wales recording lots of different locations for the film. I’d already spotted the film for what I needed to record but I took a rough cut of the film on my iPhone so I was able to get an idea of perspective there and then when making decisions on where to position the microphones for the best recording. I took many different sound perspectives from close up to the waves, to many hundred meters away, at times. I also took recordings of the countryside nearby as these also play an important part in many of the scenes in Verity’s Summer.

A chance recording I made of some sea birds defending territory on one of the beaches was also very useful in several scenes during post production. I chose Wales partly because it offered the same ‘sound feel’ as the visuals had suggested to me but also because it is largely free of interference from transport such as aircraft, motorways and trains. In fact, recording on location in many parts of Wales is, at times like having your own outdoor studio, such is the absence of external sound interference. And I also love visiting this area, so it was a good excuse for a short break!

Ambience recordings were combined with other sounds in order to subtly change the mood of the film as a scene progressed. For example, I was keen to make sure we had simple but dark textures in some scenes, particularly the more difficult dialogue subjects. In others, such as Verity’s garden I wanted to make the sound detailed and comfortable, as the garden is often a place of solace for her.

Among the many Foley sounds we recorded, were a variety of Trangia sounds for when one of the characters (Martin McGlade, as Castle) is eating in his encampment. My Dreambase Studios co-director, Mark Kenna enjoyed a lunch of cold baked beans and stale bread that day in order to complete the Foley recording for the scene, but once edited in it worked tremendously well and was absolutely necessary due to rain interference on the original production tracks.

Verity’s Summer premiered on 21st April at London’s Shortwave Cinema.

Sound Post for ‘Harsh Light Of Day’

I recently completed the sound post production at Dreambase Studios on British Independent Horror film, Harsh Light of Day. Directed by Oliver Milburn and produced by Emma Biggins at Multistoryfilms. I worked with them to create a dynamic, theatrical mix that keeps you on the edge of your seat.

SYNOPSIS: After returning home from the launch of his book about the occult, Daniel Shergold’s house is broken into by thugs, who beat his wife to death and leave him paralyzed. A depressed agoraphobic in his secluded country cottage, Daniel mourns the death of his wife while being cared for by home nurse, Fiona. He is unable to accept the lack of success the police have in finding his wife’s killers. Daniel accepts a visit from a mysterious stranger who insists he can help him reap revenge. He agrees and is thrown into a strange and horrific transition into darkness. With renewed strength, Daniel sets out to avenge his wife’s murder, but at what cost?

From the outset HLOD needed a soundtrack that was set ‘completely in reality’ one minute and then going ‘off on one’ the next. These dynamics were intended to give the viewer a full gamut of aural experiences, from a comfortable almost anodyne setting to uncertain, or at times excruciating pieces.

Shooting outdoors and on the coast presented the usual sound issues, so wild tracks, Foley recordings and sound design were used extensively to convey the appropriate sentiment in these scenes, from water lapping on a pebbly beach to the atmosphere of a dock yard. In contrast, the ‘sound’ of the house in the film is almost silent, again to emphasise the isolation of the cottage and to ensure the film exhibited plenty of sound dynamics.

The film’s producer Emma Biggins commented at the premiere: ‘the screening went really well tonight – looked and sounded fantastic’

HLOD is released in cinemas on Friday 13th April 2012 and the theatrical trailer can be seen here:

Music for ‘Lisa’s Story: On My Sleeve’ documentary

I recently completed some music compositions and a sound mix for Stephanie Palmer’s documentary about asthma sufferer Lisa and the steps she’s taken to cope with the condition. Called ‘Lisa’s Story: On My Sleeve’, the documentary was made as part of a series of films for Asthma UK and Big Up Your Chest TV to highlight the condition and how it affects the lives of those who suffer with asthma.

The guitar pieces for the film were intended to be simple and light-hearted but also to have a thoughtful tone and feel. This was designed to convey the subject matter and Lisa in the best possible way, and to complement Stephanie’s editing style. The edit audio from Final Cut was remixed and treated to reduce the large amounts of location interference from pedestrians and other building-related sounds. Extra ambience was added to add emphasis to the different locations in the film.

The film can be seen here:

Logo Ident Sound for Wootton Bassett Rocks Charity Music Video

This is the ident I made for the just-released ‘Wootton Bassett Rocks! Wake Me Up When September Ends’ video, now showing on You Tube: http://youtu.be/NCvQa3cX0Cc

It was designed to go with the logo graphics designed by Lime Park Studios and animated by Rendermedia. The sound is a composite created by playing both the start riff notes and the solo notes at the same time, taken from the ‘Wake Me Up when September Ends” song. The guitar riff was played on my trusty Epiphone ’56 Gold Top with Fender Brownface amp setup, and was overdubbed 4 times and processed with a stereo flanger, multi-tap reverse roll delay, along with a medium reverb. Guitars are accompanied by some sizzling and plane sound effects.

The official music video can be downloaded on iTunes: http://bit.ly/vhnwdO.

Copyright © 2011 Hudd Sounds.

Theme Music for Hoverchase 4D

This is the theme I composed in Logic Studio as part of the overall sound design Mark and I did at Dreambase Studios for a theme park ride called Hoverchase 4D. It’s a breakbeat style intended to keep the pace of the ride from beginning to end, and to complement the speed of the visuals and the multilayered sound effects in the ride.

Hoverchase 4D was produced by Lightworx Media and is distributed by The Juice. The trailer can be seen here.

DIY Binaural Head – Part 1

I’m in the process of designing a binauaral head with the aim of using it to capture sounds for some of the projects I work on, both commercial and personal. This might include ambience (winds, traffic hum, water, etc.) or even location dialogue. I know what you’re thinking – surely that’s just for playback on headphones? Well true, it’s at it’s best in that application. However I’m also experimenting with settings that will translate the location binaural recordings into effective audio sources for playing on normal loudspeaker systems. Binaural is already mono compatible though.

The head

So what happens first? Well I bought a polystyrene head off Ebay. I chose a man’s head because I couldn’t find a woman’s one that I liked and this example was suitably macho and ‘hi-tech’ – I think!

'Straight Outta Ebay'

Microphone mounts

I then fixed some large wood screws in each ‘ear’ of the head. These will be used to hold the microphones in position. I found the 5 x 70mm Screwfix ‘Goldscrews’ to be best for this purpose, with a sure-footed thread into the poly and enough diameter to spread the load in the relatively soft head material.

'Screwed'

The paint

I painted the head with some household paint that I had left over from decorating the cinema room. The Dulux ‘Potters Wheel’ matt emulsion gave a hi-tech [that word again!] look to the head.

'Paint Your Head'

The next time

That’s it for now. In Part 2 I’ll be painting it again (and maybe again), and I’ll be making the all-important ‘shock mount’. We will also look at the mics and various accessories that go with the head.

Stay tuned for Part 2…

Using Logic for Post Production Sound

I was interviewed recently by my industry peer, Ian Palmer regarding my use of Logic in Post Production Sound. The article originally published in the excellent Designing Sound can be read here and is also extracted below under a Creative commons Licence:

‘Dreambase is the result of Alex and Mark’s (two ex-Dolby employees) desire to setup their own post-production sound facility and work in the more creative side of the film industry. Dreambase is located in the former GWR radio studios with two edit rooms and a VO Booth/ Foley Room between the two rooms.

I visited there last year simply to say hello and was surprised to learn that they were editing and mixing feature films using Logic. Inspired by the recent Mix article I thought I would write this article to find out why they are using the DAW instead of the industry standard Pro Tools.

Ian Palmer: You’re a relatively new studio. What made you choose the Apple/Logic platform?
Alex Hudd: Initially it was for cost reasons. I had used Pro Tools since 2000 for music recording but as a Mac user was aware of what Logic was capable of, and the extensive tools it possessed out of the box. The software is so intuitive and the audio library browser is well integrated with the package that track-lays for sound design and composition are very quick to rough out and start working on. Of course Logic’s strength is the ability to compose and this had also been very useful in some projects that I have composed music for. The recording take management in Logic is excellent for ADR sessions as it’s very easy to find the best lines from multiple takes, compare them and bounce out to a composite.

IP: What have been the advantages of such a decision? 
AH: We saved money on the initial start-up costs which for a studio can be quite considerable, especially as we had overheads like rent to pay each month.

IP: Have there been any drawbacks?
AH: Lack of compatibility with studios running Pro Tools exclusively is a drawback but the projects we have worked on have been mostly ‘in-house’. At the end of the day we can bounce out any number of stems to take to another studio and import into their own systems but not being able to pass over automation or plug-ins is a disadvantage time- wise.
Editing is not as quick as with Pro Tools as Logic doesn’t posses the equivalent of a ‘Smart Tool’. Also the I/O setup is pretty basic so complex bus routing is not as easy as it is in Pro Tools. We use both Logic 9 and Pro Tools 9 at the studios depending on the project we are working on. And with OMF/AAF interchange it’s easy to exchange files between the two systems.

IP: What hardware are you using?
AH: We use an RME Fireface 800 as the main I/O which is used with Logic and Pro Tools, plus a Rosendahl Synchroniser. We use the Euphonix Artist Series as hardware controller with has excellent integration with both Logic and Pro Tools.

IP: Have you ever worked with another studio and used OMF exchange files?
AH: Yes, we have had OMFs from other facilities and been able to import into Logic with no problems. We have also exchanged Logic projects with other studios running the same software. For example, they might have track-layed and premixed in Logic and then passed the project to us for a final surround mix. It makes for a very quick turnaround.

IP: Pro Tools has AudioSuite to apply changes to audio files quickly without having to setup channels routing and re-recording in real time. How does Bounce-in-Place compare?
AH: Bounce In Place is fine but you have to be organised to make sure you keep track of the tracks! I would love to see an AudioSuite equivalent in Logic (a bit like Soundtrack Pro), however you can do a lot of basic processing such as gain and pitch shift by using the Sample Editor in Logic and applying the processing from there. But beware, you canʼt apply processing to multitrack sound files from within the Logic Sample Editor. Soundtrack Pro has this one covered but it would be nice to see this in Logic now.

IP: You run a Mac Pro without any additional processing hardware. How has the software/ hardware combination performed? This is especially interesting for your feature film work. How does the system hold up running so many tracks and plugins?
AH: We run an 8-core Mac Pro and the performance has been excellent so far. Occasionally you get unexpected crashes, much like you do with Pro Tools but it’s incredibly rare. On a recent feature film we used Logic for Dialogue Edit, ADR, Foley, Sound Design and Final mix, and it handled everything beautifully whilst maintaining good sync between the video and audio. In the final mix we had Dynamics and EQ on most channels along with bus sends to several different Space Designer 5.1 reverbs and it worked very well. Merging separate dialogue, music and effects projects for the premix and final is very straightforward too.

IP: How much in depth automation control do you get with Logic and the MC Artist control surfaces? It uses the EuCon protocol, how does that compare to ProTools?
AH: You can automate pretty much everything in Logic from plug-in and surround panning parameters to mute and bypass. The usual Write, Latch and Touch and Read modes are all available. It doesn’t have a Touch/Latch combo mode as Pro Tools, which can be especially useful for small setups where you want certain parameters to latch such as plug-in automation where it might not be easy to keep your hand on the controls and others to touch such as the fader level. Manual editing of automation parameters is also very easy, which is incredibly useful for very complex sound moves in action and animation projects.

IP: How useful is Audio Quantizing for dialogue and ADR editing?
AH: The Audio Quantization Engine in Logic is excellent, especially for syncing alternative dialogue takes on scenes. In the last film we did with Logic one of the scenes had some prop noise during the shoot so it was decided to wild-track the dialogue from the scene whilst it was still fresh in the actors mind. The scene was probably around 3-4 minutes I think, which is a long time! Using the Flex Time tools in Logic, syncing the dialogue syllables and nuances was much quicker and ultimately more accurate than cutting and cross-fading. For ADR it means that even a close-up can be re-voiced with great accuracy.

IP: Do you use any other 3rd party audio software such as SoundMiner or izotopeRX? If so how well do they interface into Logic and your workflow?
AH: I have the PPMulator meters for the broadcast work we’ve done, but apart from that I tend to use the stock plug-ins. I work in quite a traditional way I guess, so rather than purchasing the latest ‘do-all-analogue-warmth-celebrity-mixer-transformation’ plugins, I tend to use multiple processing to get the effect that I’m after, understanding the physics of sound more than just pushing a magic button. In Logic you can easily save channel strip settings so I have a whole variety of channel strip setups to get rid of Red Camera noise, telephone a voice or bus compress the dialogue, for example.

IP: I’ve heard good things about Space Designer as a convolution reverb, how does it perform for film mixing and the requirement of realism?
AH: Space Designer is excellent and has plenty of surround-ready presets out of the box which you can EQ and process as necessary to get the environment you’re after. You can also record impulse responses from locations and to put those into SD for the ultimate in realism! As we all know though what you hear on location and what you hear in the studio can be different so I would expect a little tweaking to take place before we arrive at the realism (or non-realism!) that we are after.

IP: How well do the plugins that come with Logic perform in relation to post sound? Have you bought any additional 3rd party plugins?
AH: the standard plug-ins in Logic are very comprehensive. My favorites are the Match EQ which will take a reference response of a piece of dialogue for example, then apply that EQ characteristic to another piece of dialogue in order to match the overall spectral response of the original. This is great for matching boom and radio mics or for matching ‘boom-over’ and ‘boom- under’ recordings in a film. The Expander is also great for reducing background noise, and this, coupled with the narrow notches on the standard EQ are very effective at removing unwanted interference from cameras or lighting, whilst maintaining the quality of the dialogue.’

END OF ARTICLE.

If you use Logic for Post Production Sound do get in touch to share your own experiences.

Sound Design for ‘Hover Chase 4D’ ride

At Dreambase Studios Mark Kenna and I have just completed sound design on what is probably one of the most exciting experiences to come out this year. Produced by Lightworx Media and distributed by The Juice, Hover Chase 4D is an attraction ride experience that takes you on a hover bike race through city streets, oil refineries, forests, and caves. Participants in the ride not only experience 3D picture and 5.1 sound, but are also treated to moving seats, wind, smell, and water effects, amongst others.

The challenge for the soundtrack was to create a believable and powerful sound for the hover bike. You experience the ride from the point of view of one of the racers and so the sound of the hover bike had to react to every twist and turn during the 5 minute ride. The rise and fall of the engine was designed to compliment the speed and direction of the hover bike. In addition to this the other bikes in the race had to be sounded and directed as they moved on the screen in such a was as you really feel part of the action and excitement, not to mention the flyby’s, battles and explosions. Mark and I worked together over several weeks to create and mix the sound design for the attraction.

The atmospheres of each of the locations in the race were designed also to bring a sense of being there for the ride’s participants. I composed the underlying music score to help keep the pace of the ride throughout so that from start to finish the experience is one that you’ll never forget and one that you’ll want to come back for more.

The ride is now available for licensing from The Juice.

Surround Sound for Tritton Headphone Promo

I recently completed the sound mix at Dreambase Studios, in partnership with Echoic Audio for a gaming headphone promotional animation.

Tritton Technologies Inc. manufactures a range of gaming specific headphones, most with multiple speakers in each ear cup. As part of their promotional campaign they needed an audio visual promotional piece to take to trade shows and to put up on-line to show off the products.

I worked with Echoic Audio to mix an engaging and dynamic soundtrack with enough surround to really show off the capabilities of the headphone system.

The sound on this video uses special audio encoding which mimics the effects of surround sound on a standard pair of headphones, sit back, put on a ‘normal’ pair of headphones and enjoy the ‘out-of-the-head’ experience on this fantastic project. The Tritton headphones have 4 tiny speakers in each ear giving a discrete surround sound experience.