The power of the modern digital audio workstation (DAW) is easy to take for granted these days. DAWs give us the power to sound design, edit and mix all from the convenience of an affordable consumer laptop. That obviously was not always the case. From the days of razor blades and magnetic tape, audio post-production tools have gone through major transformations over several decades. Here's a glance at a few eras that laid the groundwork to reshape how we approach sound editorial and mixing today.
As sound editors, it's crucial that we approach our edits with the mixer's needs in mind. In previous posts we’ve covered how to deliver clean, organized edits to help streamline the mixing stage. But what about processing to remove additional steps for our mixer? In this post, I’ll share simple but effective techniques to tidy up your sound editorial without causing a headache for the mixer down the line.
With a seemingly limitless number of plugins at our fingertips today, it's easy for the most rudimentary tools to go under appreciated. Among the Avid stock plugins, one of THE most frequently used, yet lesser discussed is the 'Reverse' AudioSuite. This tool is as simple as they come, but what it lacks in bells and whistles it makes up for in creative potential. Today I thought I'd discuss a few ways I like to use it and demonstrate with examples.
Did you enjoy our past editions of ‘What’s That Sound?’ quizzes? Let’s see if you can guess what sounds we have come up with this time! Listen closely, good luck and have fun!
With Spring in full effect and Summer right around the corner, the world is becoming more and more inviting to explore and record! We felt it was the perfect time to revisit some of the field recording blog posts we’ve written over the years that may have been forgotten deep in the blog archives. So here are the top 5 we’ve let resurface for your reading pleasure, to serve as inspiration and a guide for returning to the field!
As sound editors, we’re always looking for opportunities to fortify our sound effects library. A great sound editor can deliver excellent editorial with even the most limited toolbox. However, for a team that works on demanding series of varying styles with quick turnarounds—getting bogged down by a weak library isn’t an option.
It’s been some time since we’ve discussed the art of designing backgrounds here on the blog. Although backgrounds aren’t the sexiest food group in the sound editorial process, they’re absolutely crucial for providing the foundation of storytelling for every scene.
We recently found ourselves working on a Roller Derby themed episode for one of our shows. As you can imagine, this episode called for an abundance of roller skating sounds to cover a wide variety of performances. With the guidance of Re-recording mixer Jacob Cook, Tess and Tim took it upon themselves to plan and execute a recording session to help build up our library and turnover some much needed roller skating sounds for the episode.
I was recently cutting sound effects on a scene for my apprenticeship project that included a slo-mo sequence. During the spotting session, my supervisor was discussing proven ways to get in and out of slo-mo sequences with different stingers and sub dives as the bread and butter. He referenced this specific sound effect to me and I thought it would be a fun idea to try my hand at recreating it.
What’s that sound? The holidays are right around the corner! Use the provided sound effects along with the rhymes and written clues below to complete this winter holiday crossword puzzle!
I recently listened to an episode of the Ezra Klein Show podcast titled “Tired? Distracted? Burned-Out? Listen to This.” I don’t know about you, but as a parent of two small children, a business co-owner in a time of entertainment industry upheaval, and a creative professional who tries to eke out every last ounce of creative juice that I have on a daily basis, this title really spoke to me. I must say that I was riveted for the next hour as the host, Ezra Klein, and special guest, Gloria Mark, University of California Irvine professor and author of the book Attention Span, discussed how attention is not just a productivity tool, but part of our well-being and a precious resource that can be easily depleted, but also fairly easily restored if you know what to do.
We love to put our editors to the test to see what kind of SFX builds they can come up with! For Halloween this year, we thought it would be fun to see how well they can design a realistic, classic Halloween creature. From werewolves, vampire, and zombies, to banshees, let’s see what they came up with!
Do you know your sound terminology? Use the clues to test your skills in the crossword below! Type your answer directly into the crossword and it will turn green if correct!
To celebrate Halloween in a gruesome style, we decided to do part two of: Death by Sound Effect. We came up with a cause of death and put our editors to the task to create a gross, gruesome sound build. Let’s see what they came up with!
Foley is a crucial element in the world of filmmaking and audio production. It refers to the art of creating and recording sound effects to synchronize with the visual elements of a film or other visual media. The history of Foley can be traced back to the early days of cinema, and it has since evolved into a specialized and essential field within the film and television industry.
Jayson Niner recently moved from his position as assistant sound editor to editor here at Boom Box Post. We sat down with Jayson to get his thoughts on his new position, and if he has any advice to offer.
Did you enjoy What’s That Sound part 1, 2, and 3? Let’s see if you can guess what sounds we have come up with this time! Listen carefully!
Dialogue editing is an essential part of the post-production process for animated TV shows, and one we take very seriously at Boom Box Post! Clear, crisp, organized, and coherent dialogue is the bedrock of any TV show. Meticulously shaping, enhancing, and cleaning up the voice performances does wonders to breathe life into the characters as well as streamline the mixing process.
Knowing your SFX library is essential to becoming an efficient SFX editor. However, it can be quite daunting at first as there are so many different types of sound for the same object. Knowing how to read and use your SFX library to its fullest potential will greatly increase the creativity and ways to use those sounds. Our SFX Editor, Katie Jackson, sat down to teach the tips and tricks to making the most out of your SFX library.
For the last six months Isabel has worked as the Boom Box Post studio apprentice. She has done an absolutely stellar job, adapting to any task assigned to her. Isabel was kind enough to share some of her experiences and insights on the process for future Boom Box Post apprentices or anyone entering the sound industry for the first time.
![Death by [Sound Effect]: A Halloween Sound Design Challenge Part 2](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54813413e4b0034aade3a0bc/1696292819748-VS7VWLU2IR3EBJ71HYAB/image-asset.jpeg)
