Final Writeup

So for my final project I mixed and mastered 3 songs [4 mixes] of a band I recorded in the beginning of the semester in the CFA studio. I was mostly happy with the results and I think the band will be happy once they hear the final mixes.

Made in America (2.0 and 5.1) I liked the 5.1 mix better then the 2.0 mostly because I was able to use all the additional space to create a less cluttered sound. There is so much dubbled and in the was in the 2.0 that I never could quite get the balance right.

Newcomer (2.0) this is my favorite that we recorded and I think it came away sounding the best. Unmixed it wasn't awful and with a few tweaks it worked well. I used a Royer 121 to record all the redone guitar and it was such a smooth sound I loved it.

I Can't Know (2.0) somewhat musically annoying but the overall band worked together well for it. The bass never sounded great even when I added in some plugins but the player liked the sound so we did not go over it again.

Final Write Up

Danny Bresson

Audio 3 Major Project write up

For my major project, I mixed a rap song named Green by a local artist named Abel Battery...  This song was very interesting to say the least.  This was the first rap song I have ever mixed and I thought it would be good to try something new because this is my last semester where 006 is available to use.  This wasn't an easy project for me because a majority of the tracks, when I first received the project, were constantly peaking.  This mix took many hours to sound better but I think I made the mix sound a lot better than it originally was.  I am also mixing the rest of the album, which added 8 times the work I have mixed on the first song.

To begin this project, I had to re-record some of the vocal tracks.  The problem with this was the fact that some of the vocals had to be kept in the song because there were many artists contributing to the song and I couldn’t get them into the studio to rerecord their parts.  A lot of the parts had many different levels and in the original tracks there was sometimes a lot of background noise from loud headphones playing into the microphone.  After re-recording some of the vocals, I started with the levels with the drum set and bass to have them flow together.  Some of the drums were very tinny sounding and were hard to fix.  After finding those levels I added the song sample the artist chose to use and found the level for that. I finally added the vocals, which took a majority of the time mixing.  There were so many vocals and ad libs that I had to pan to different positions, so the vocals weren’t so jumbled together.  That was another hard part I had in the song. The music tracks did not blend in easily with the vocals and the female vocalist was a lot better than the male vocalists and the song shows that. 

After turning in rough cuts I decided to try another song due to explicit language, many peaking levels and used a better flowing song off of the album.  After changing songs, the process went a lot smoother. 

I am not sure if I am proud with this project but I spent a lot of time on it and I believe I made it sound a lot better than it originally sounded.  This being my first time mixing rap music, I didn’t know where to start like I would a rock song or a jazz song.  It was a new experience for me and I think I did the best I could on a new genre and the only way to learn is to try new things and leave your comfort zone, which I felt like I did.

           

      

Major Project Writeup and Time Log

              For my major project in Audio 3 I decided to take on something I haven’t really done before: sound for video. It’s a shame that more classes don’t incorporate the audio and film tracks, I know there are some, but I’ve never taken any; I had a friend who could lend me a video and the original audio files for a class she did last year. It was a short film called Perception, the story is vague and mysterious, but it’s about a man who has multiple personality and his experiences. It was interesting since you don’t see the same character changing who he is, but rather, how the personalities see themselves. I had my work cut out for me though, since the team that worked on it were film majors and didn’t give as much thought to the audio as the visual.

              I got all of the original audio tracks, but I noticed a few things about them that weren’t that great, such as a lot of background sound, since they filmed outside in town, and inside of busy buildings. My first task was just getting a rough edit together of the script, which was also given to me by my friend; so I sorted out the lines into different scene tracks. I then looked for the best takes, and synched those up to the mouth movements to match the scene. There was a lot of background noise, so to cut that down I added a high pass filter on almost all of the tracks. The pass filter started at about 200Hz so it wouldn’t interfere with anyone’s dialogue. This had a very noticeable effect on the background noise, it cut it down and made the dialogue pop out much more. I never really wrangled the music to where I wanted it to; I questioned if it was the right choice, since I’m not sure if it conveyed the right emotion for the story of the video. I kept it though, since it matched what was happening, and I couldn’t really find a better choice. I was automating it from the outset, but kept changing how much went into the different scenes. I even changed the script a little, where I cut some of the dialogue to fit what was happening, at the part where the old man and the girl are in the park. I also used some of what I was given as background noise, so I readded it to fill in the gaps in the dialogue. After some automation for levels I had the sounds synched up to the video, so I had the base of the video done.

              After that I wanted to add more to it, and flesh out the story, since I got some criticism about how the story doesn’t really make sense. My idea was to have the other personalities talk and interact in the downtime between dialogue. Hopefully this helps drive home the point about how there are different minds in the same body. I took the extra takes and the used takes and ran them through the Yamaha outboard gear in the studio, which has some very nice reverbs, I then printed those and used them in conjunction with the original audio. I added the reverberant tracks back into the parts that didn’t have any dialogue. Those parts were very open and needed something to fill them out. I set up a few scenes, and it makes the narrative more interesting, but what I really wanted to do was add in new dialogue. I wanted to get the actos back into the studio and have them start a new conversation, one that actually explains the story; since the visuals are vague and don’t really seem connected. I had to scrath doing that, because of time contraints of using the studio and the actors were hard to get in touch with.

              After adding in those extra scenes, I added some more sounds. There’s a scene where a child is running, and I manually added in each footstep at the right time. I also got some more background sound to add more space to the scenes. Plus a sound effect of a door opening, because I needed one. I could have easily spent another 20 hours adding in more effects and more parts, but I just didn’t have the time.

              The stereo mix was pretty simple: music, dialogue, and abiance in the center. I used the secondary dialogue happening at different times to experiment with the stereo image, like moving a line from the left to the right and things like that. With surround I had the same idea; the dialogue and music were in the middle, but the extra sounds were moved to the surround field, making the experience much more interesting and confusing.

Time Log

April 9^th 2 Hours in the labs

April 12^th 4 hours in 006

April 16^th 2 hours in 006

April 26^th 4 hours in 006

May 2^nd 3 hours in 006

May 7^th 2 in the labs

May 9^th 3 hours in 006

Total Hours: 20

Total hours in 006: 16

WAMM Fest Write up

Well this is a little late but hey, better late than never right?!

So even though WAMM happened a little bit ago I still remember it vividly. It was a very fun experience actually. I wasn't expecting to win anything either, I was happy and surprised about that. I did like all the short films that were shown.

What was very interesting about everything shown is that there wasn't just one sort of short film that was shown. There was a different mix of things from documentaries to cartoons to experimental films. It gave me a great broad spectrum of short films. Each of them were extremely well done as well. I give all the credit in the world to those film makers for making such great short films.

I have never really been to a film festival before so I didn't really know what to really expect. I did like how two of the film makers were in the audience. I don't think I could have been there and screened my own work. Again, much credit due to them. To hear these women talk about the process of what they did and how they came up with what was on the screen was a very unusual concept to me. Usually when I see a film, the film maker isn't there to explain anything. It was very cool to see all the dedication and passion of something first hand.

Even though all of the films were very well done and interesting I think my favorite would have the be the cartoon one where they were playing the game "Bob Hope". Which is pretty much the floor is lava. What I really didn't understand is where that dang chicken came from but it was very well done, very funny and entertaining.

I thought this was a very fun and eye opening experience. I wish I didn't wait this long to have gone to WAMM. And I wish I would have gone to different days and saw the other work and other mediums of work that other people did. There's always next year right?!

Major Project Write Up

This song was pretty fun to mix in surround sound. Going from the whole sound of surround sound, to stereo wasn't fun. Stereo didn't have the width and color that surround, but it again wasn't too bad to mix. 

It actually took some time to just set up all the sub mixes and do all the busses in surround, just because there were so many tracks, and they each were not really named so I had to go back and name them all, bus them, color them accordingly. It was a necessary evil though, it helped bunches with the organization of the session. After I got that done, the mixing wasn't too hard either. 

I started mixing the surround first. It seemed that the stereo would be easier because its only two speakers, and surround was five. I started out fixing the vocals, doing a lot of doubling and adding compressors to make the vocals stand out and have a much warmer quality to them. I did the same to the backing vocals. I panned the backing vocals more towards the back and wanted to only have them back there, but it seemed too distant from the rest of the song, so I pushed them more toward the middle of both front and back speakers. It worked out nicely. As for the stereo mixing of the vocals, I just had to adjust levels really and panning a little.

With the main vocals, I ran one of the tracks through the T.C effects processor and used a lot of reverb to give it more body. I took that signal, pushed it to the back speakers and buried the vocals. As for the stereo, I just buried them behind everything. 

The kick had a few tracks on it but still it didn't seem to really pop the way I wanted it to. I put one of the tracks through the API compressor and buried that signal under the other kick tracks. It really add more punch and a little more defined low end to the kick that I thought it was missing. I did the same thing with the bass. It was a very muddy, flimsy bass sound. I, at first, wanted to just bury it under everything, but I put the signal through the compressor and used the compressed track over the original. It gave the bass more body and more punch. 

I used the song “Wagon Wheel” by Darius Rucker as my influence. In that song he uses a lot of traditional country instruments and sounds, along with more contemporary instruments and sounds. The song I mixed has the same sort of mix between contemporary and traditional use of music and instruments that I couldn't really find anywhere else. The song also had a very warm welcoming tone to it just like what I wanted to portray as many songs in the country genre have.

One of the major differences in-between my mixes is that one is in stereo and one is in 5.1 surround sound. In the 5.1 versions though, I have a few different versions. As I was bouncing the song, I would hear something that didn't sit right with me in the mix, either the vocals were too loud, or not sitting right in the mix the way I wanted. It wasn't much anything that had to do with the instruments too much. It was really a lot to do with the panning and volume of the vocals. 

Then when I switched to the stereo mix, it was more of just volume automation. The backing vocals really gave me a hard time. At some points of the song they were too loud, the others too soft. So it took more time to even that out but once I got that done it was just listening to see if everything was sitting right. I did side chain the instruments to the vocal sub so the vocals could sit more evenly in the mix rather than on top of everything. I also had to almost mute the outboard reverb because there is so much of it in the stereo mix. It was easier to bury them in the surround mix. 

I think both mixes came out extremely well and I would want another chance to mix in surround again. The possibilities are endless to what I could do with panning and effects. I liked mixing this song very much it was very fun and frustrating at the same time, but I think all my hard work did pay off end the end.

*inhales deeply* 

 Smell that?  It smells like "not doing projects" and it smells fantastic.  Not that I dislike projects--in all actuality I enjoyed the heck out of my 5.1 project because it gave me the opportunity to work on something that, otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to (mostly because I can't afford the necessary hardware).  My major project was much more enjoyable than my minor project (which I will never again listen to unless it's necessary to cure HIV), so let's discuss my overall experience and process.

Originally, I had planned to work with a group of guys I went to high school with (who are fantastic musicians BTW) and are just finishing up another album, but like always their productivity was overshadowed by their laziness and they never sent me anything.  Which really is unfortunate because they have a style all their own (look up Symphonic Haze if you get the chance).  Thankfully Jordan, the lead singer of a band called Fiction 20 down and owner if his own studio, gave me the stems (grr....we'll come back to this) of a song they had just finished--so I had my project.  

With most of my audio projects, the first thing I do is get the drums sounding the way I want.  This brings me back to the stems I mentioned earlier: They recorded and mixed the drums at a different studio (owned by Drew Mazurek), and considering they dumped them all down into a single stereo track, they actually sound pretty awesome.  But with the drums shrunk down to just a single left and right, that really limited my options for surround panning--so I had to get creative.  Basically I just duplicated the entire stereo track, cut out a lot of the low end (to get rid of some of the punch and help add some "air"), and bussed it mostly to the back.  This helped me spread the kit out a little bit and add some excitement to the rear channels.  I did have to be careful though, because It can get a little phasey at times.  It was interesting to  walk from the front of the room to the back while the drums were playing.....just to hear the phasing.  The only other "creativity" I did with the drums, was the stereo jumping delay on the kick.  All I had to do was duplicate the drum track again, split it into mono, and delete the parts I didn't want to play--pretty simple.

I didn't really have to do too much to the other tracks, they were all pretty straight forward.  I duplicated, and split into mono all of the vocal stuff, just so I could have independent control of the levels going to the center channel and surrounds.  I added some reverb to just about everything, but added a quiet delay to a couple of the main vocal tracks.  Just to spice things up a bit.

I basically left the guitars alone, except for the bass.  I sent it out through the API compressor to help level it a little bit because it jumped around some (and because I HAD to use outboard gear even though it wasn't really necessary on anything).

My stereo mix is very similar to the 5.1, I just dropped a lot of the duplicated tracks and boosted the vocals a little bit more to make it a little "poppy-er"....at least in my brain.

When I tried my hand at mastering, I realized that you can actually do a lot with a little parallel compression and some very specific eq'ing.  I forget the exact frequencies I messed with, but I found that I could actually adjust how well all the vocal tracks blended together.  I think it was around 1.5k, but if I adjusted the q and the level, it would kind of "mush" everything together or pull it apart.  Cool stuff.  It wasn't what I would call an amazing improvement, but it definitely helped.

And that was basically that.  The major project was a lot less stressful (read: terrible) than my minor project. I spent most of my time trying to figure out where to pan everything.  I think I got it all sorted out, but to be honest with you.....I'm ready to give my ears a little break!  

WAMM Fest Write up

Not sure why this was blank for the past 2 weeks, I  wrote my reaction during WAMM and must have never uploaded it. Anyways...

I was very glad to be a part of WAMM fest even as just a mere spectator. I was surprised with not only the quality of the work but the great diversity of styles and stories. It was a Tuesday night when I attended and one of the Filmakers was even in the screening room 204 (I could watch just about anything in there, great set up).

Her film was on one of the most controversial yet true story about cross burning in the United States. It was a very interesting and she did a wonderful job casting  especially the children. I was honestly unaware that such a brutal form of racism is still practiced and it defiantly opened my eyes to the subject. I also think the music was great in the end scene, as I usually have a tendency to focus more on the audio aspects when watching any kind of film. WAMM had a great diversity in topics from dead serious ones such as cross burning to a touching story about a Mexican turtle poacher gone wild life protector.

The story of the wild life protector (can't think of his actual title) was very well done and showed a man do a complete 180 in terms of career and life path. Turttles are my favorite animal by far so this was obviously my favorite film. The music was sublime in this film and combined with the beautiful sun over the water in Baja it made for a fun, relaxing film with a great message. One thing that all the entrees shared was sincerity and pretty grippy topic that at time where hard to watch. Well all of them except the Prius Backup camera moving which was pure silliness. Some of the films I found hard to watch yet compelled to see the concussion. So I can understand the sort of shock appeal the directors were going for.

All in all I loved the experience, and thank you Elsa for motivating us to be a part of WAMM. Although I am not a woman I was very proud to see all female works as I feel they don't get enough credit in the media field and are obviously of equal if not better quality than their male counterparts in the field. I look forward for WAMMs to come as I will definitely be in attendance.

Surround Sound Mix Analysis

Flaming Lips DVD
Free Radicals



DVD Times

5:22
Real cool intro
Reversed groaning vocal that starts in the left and right speakers then works into the middle.
Weird analog synth beeps and saw sounds are panned to the right and left through that sound and can be heard going from left to right and vice versa

6:09
Deep voice "No, no, no" panned behind you

6:30
Main two chords "Dun Danh" are layered in the back speakers as well

6:50 
Ahhhh back up vocals in the back right
Main vocals in the center
add libs and such like "yeah" and "uh huh" panned to the right and left


8:02 
Intro Vocal comes back and pans from left to right

8:06 
Nice reverse drums


8:28 
Many Layers of vocals, "ahhhh" in the middle and the back
Two different singers or takes on left and right

8:45 
Many layers and different singers
The back 2 speakers are mainly used for that "ahhhh" sustained vocal and the higher percussion elements such as hats, crash, rides and such.

WAMMfest experience...

I know, I know, I'm terrible at this whole blogging thing.  But that's because I completely forget about it.

So, my experience at WAMMfest.  I went Friday night, which was the night they showed all the "winners" of a certain category, but to be honest with you, I would've really liked knowing WHAT category they had entered.  The [seemingly] endless line of back-to-back videos, sans-introduction was, in a word, monotonous.  Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that the videos the artists put together were boring, I just think a little bit of background info would go a long way.

I'll admit it, I didn't stay the entire time because I could have sworn that the schedule said 7-9, and considering my drive back to good ol' HARCO, I may have left at 9:30.  I would say though, that the last video/film/whatever that I saw before leaving, was the most intriguing to me.  It was the one about the "open" relationship, and the writer did a fantastic job of relaying the tension in the room when the two girls accidentally meet.  It was the kind of thing that was borderline "too much", because you could actually feel what was going on--even though it was complete fiction [i hope].

The other one that was interesting and disturbing was the video about the pig, and that women are butchers.  Which I found slightly ironic because its a WOMEN and minorities festival.  All in all, entertaining though.

Ok, so that's my WAMMFEST recap/experience/review/yaddayaddayadda.  Sorry for being so late, but at least I went!  

WAMM FEST WRITE UP

I really enjoyed WAMM FEST. The videos kept me really entertained and some even puzzle (which I think was the intent for those). The video with the 2 girls and the ocean, I believe they were ballet dancers, was really deep. Some of the more abstract pieces such as the one with colorful lines really intrigued me mostly due to the fact that that must have take a lot of time to sync up the animation with audio. One thing that confused me was the fact that most of these pieces dealt with the same subject matter, dancers, and I began to wonder if there was a theme. I also really enjoyed the piece with the women speaking on the behalf of the female soldiers describing war to us. All in all I'm really glad I went.

WAMM fest impressions

I went to the WAMM fest screenings on Wednesday and Friday of last week, to see the screenings for music; and the category winners. It was very interesting to see the different entrees and the variety of submissions. On Wednesday, my favorite selection was the post modernism tutorial, since it was a tongue in cheek spoof of modern art. On Friday I really liked the Mae and Ash short film, since it had great writing and acting, even if it made everyone in the audience cringe a lot.

Video Analysis 4

For the purpose of this Analysis I wanted to choose something in the fantasy category where sounds are created by combinations of odd layers. I have picked a videogame Skyrim which is especially connected to me because the games developers, Bethesda Softworks, are from my hometown of Bethesda.

Scene One

15:00 Dialogue 

15:01 Lots of ambient noise from the fireplace in the distance, and rustle of trees in the wind pretty soft compared to the dialogue 

15:02 Low Erie synth 

15:10 Synth cuts out, Dragon roar in the distance lots of reverb 

15:20 Dialogue  continues 

15:32 Footsteps 

15:35 Bird Chirps 

15:36 Erie synth comes back very low 

15:44 Prisoners knees hit ground then head clunks against the chopping block, two very distinct sounds

15:48 Crickets in the distance 

15:57 Swing of an axe

15:58 Short thud of the decapitation

15:59 Man closest to you muddle "Oh God"

Scene Two

16:30 Same ambient noise of fire and trees/grass rustling

16:37 Thud of your knees and then head on the chopping block clunk 

16:44 Dragon Roar closer and less reverb as you can see it in your screen approaching

16:45 -16:48 Flapping of dragon wings cues dramatic orchestral score 

16:50 Big thud as dragon hits the tower nearby, this is synced with the bass drum from the orchestral score which I thought was a cool effect. 

16:53 Swords are drawn making a shhhling sound

16:56 Dragon breathes what look like lightning balls and makes a loud lightning crash whenever it does 

17:04 Solider Dialogue "Guards get the town people safe!"

17:10 Lots of crashes and explosions from the dragon 

17:16 Footsteps cannot be heard over large explosions  

17:20 Dialogue as crashing continues in the background 

17:21 Very dramatic Orchestra continues with choir now kind of Star Wars style.

I think the best part about this game is the use of constant ambient sound. The use makes it seem as if your are in another world and are very subtle. Little things like birds chirping and crickets combined with very realistic graphics give the game a life like feel. I particularly enjoyed the dragon roar sound effect and  thought it was great how when it was originally in the distance you heard the roar with lots of reverb and a large room size that gave it such great space. Out of nowhere you there are explosions everywhere as your character races thru the interactive environment. Most notably in the interactive mode is the dialogue which would vary in decibel and timbre, which would vary as you would walk away or into a new room. Sound design for video games seems to be a very daunting yet fun task as anything can really go. I believe Skyrim is a great combination of peaceful ambient sounds and roaring explosion. 

Great video on the use of a real bavarian choir for the main title song: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=XJ7lmWc14uo

In the podcast (link under this) Mark Lambert strips all the effects off the voice that makes the dragon roar, really cool, would love to have that effects chain!

http://www.elderscrolls.com/community/making-dragon-sandwich-sound-skyrim/

Another awesome  pictures about the field recording, super cool! : 

http://www.elderscrolls.com/community/making-dragon-sandwich-sound-skyrim/

Sound Editor: Mark Lambert 

Studio: Bethesda Softworks 

Video Analysis 3

For the purpose of this Video Analysis I will be checking out the famous "Hamburger Scene" from the classic Pulp Fiction.

Scene One 

0:00 Travolta Exhales
0:02 Victim unlocks door latch and opens
0:03 - 0:05 Dead silence
0:06 Samuel Dialogue "Hey kids, how yah doin?"
0:10 Door Slams
0:11 Samuel Dialogue
0:12 Victim 2 puts feet back onto couch, very low dB on the  noise
0:20 Samuel Dialogue
0:29-0:31 Dead Silence
0:32 Samuel Dialogue
0:36-0:38 Dead Silence 
0:41 Victim 3 Dialogue "Yeah" 
0:42 Samuel Dialogue
0:48 Victim 3 Dialogue "Yeah.. I remember" 
0:49 Silence
0:50  Samuel Dialogue


Scene Two

4:00 Victim 3 Dialogue 
4:10 Loud Gunshot
4:11 Samuel Dialogue "Sorry did I break your concentration?" 
4:23 Gun click noise 
4:24 Samuel Dialogue 
4:25 Whimpering of Victim 3 in background very low 
4:37 Victim 3 Dialogue "What?"
4:38 Samuel Flips table pretty loud
4:39 Table crashes on the ground
4:40 Loud interchange of dialogue between Samuel and Victim 3 back and forth
4:55 Samuel Dialogue "Say what again"
4:57 SFX of chair creaking as the Victim 3 leans back in it
4:58 Samuel Dialogue

Tarantino is famous for his choice of music within his films but I choose a scene without music to show the importance of silence. Silence is not only useful for providing dynamic range in a track but also crucial for tense scenes like this one in Pulp Fiction. There are many almost awkward silences as the victims are scared beyond belief and Samuel is almost toying with their fears. By using silence and loud SFX the viewers are just as startled as the victims in their apartment. An example is when there is no warning before Samuel unloads a single bullet into the second victim on the couch and the gun shot is very loud. By not having any music in the scene it seems very life like and tense, even though Samuel is literally killing them with kindness. The combination of dynamic range and great sound effects make for a thrilling film.

The Sound department: 

Rick Ash	....	sound re-recording mixer
David Bartlett	....	sound editor
Dean Beville	....	sound editor
G.W. Brown	....	sound editor

Video Analysis 2

For the purpose of this Analysis I picked the classic TV show Seinfeld. Since it was such a large scale show, and in my opinion the best non-animated show of all time, I knew there had to be a lot of people behind the curtain and I was right. With over 20 plus personel in the sound department you can tell Seinfeld took great pride in its audio component.


From the episode "The Pick": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRhOIkYxUIE

Scene One 
0:01 - 0:03 Crazy slap bass solo that I still can't play
0:04 George Dialogue 
0:06 Laugh Track
0:06 Jerry Dialogue 
0:09 Newspaper turns page sound effect
0:10 Laugh Track
0:14 George Slams Table
0:19 Laugh Track
0:20 Elaine speaks from outside the room 
0:21 George Dialogue 
0:22 Laugh Track
0:23 George Dialogue 
0:25 George snaps fingers
0:30 George Dialogue 
0:35 Laugh Track
0:43 Sofa Thud as George sits down
0:50 Jerry's spoon taps his cereal bowl
0:57 Georges slides out antena of old school style chord-less phone
0:58 Jerry's spoon SFX again

Scene Two 
4:00 Kramer Dialogue 
4:01 Handheld vacum SFX
4:04 Jerry Shuts door
4:05 Jerry Dialogue 
4:09 Kramer from his apartment yells "The Beach!!!" -great job by doing this, really gives a feeling of realism and space that Kramer is all the way in his apartment as it is slightly muffled.
4:10 Woman Dialogue 
4:11 Laugh Track 
4:19 Kramer woah noise 
4:20 Laugh Track 
4:24 Kramer Slaps the page
4:29 Kramer tares page out
4:30 Slap Bass solo in between scenes
4:32 Therapist dialogue 
4:34 George dialogue 
4:38 Both sit down on separate sofas
4:50 George fumbles around with his zipper on his jacket makes a rustling noise
4:51 George dialogue 
4:59 Laugh Track 

People obviously credit Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld for the beauty of Seinfeld, but I believe it was those in the smaller roles that made this show brillant. People often overlook the importance of sound even in a sitcom. The emphasize in some sounds such as Jerry's spoon hitting the bowl really make you feel as if you are in the room with them. These sounds make the show apear to be real life and they are never distracting or take away from the main focus of the scene. The laugh tracks are often criticizes as being cheesy but I think they are mixed so well that most people don't even notice over the sound of there own laughter. I believe Charlie McDaniel and Craig Porter have done an outstanding job bringing Seinfeld to life thru sound.




Here is a list of the major contributors in the Sound Department:

Dennis Kirkpatrick	....	boom operator (166 episodes, 1991-1998)
Charlie McDaniel	....	post-production sound mixer / sound re-recording mixer (132 episodes, 1992-1998)
Craig Porter	....	post-production sound mixer / sound re-recording mixer (114 episodes, 1992-1998)
Pete San Filipo Sr.	....	sound mixer / production sound mixer (110 episodes, 1991-1996)
Norman Webster	....	sound mixer / production sound mixer (58 episodes, 1991-1998)
Larry Ellena	....	sound recordist (22 episodes, 1991-1996)
Kathy Oldham	....	sound re-recording mixer (21 episodes, 1996-1998)

Mix Analysis 14

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Time Code

                   SFX 1             SFX 2              Music             Background

00-16            -                        -                     Yes                    Street Sounds

17-18           Lighter Sounds                            Yes                Street Sounds

19- 31             Fuse Sounds      -                      Yes                 Street Sounds

32-33                Bike Sounds     Ramp noise       Yes                 Street Sounds

34- 41         Crashing Sounds    Bike/Ramp          Yes                  Street sounds

41-45            Tv click           Remote on table                      -                       -

46-59           Lighter              Wind                      Yes             Street sounds

1:00-1:13          Fuse            Lighter close                yes                 street sounds

1:14-1:27           Crashing sounds     thump                yes           street sounds

1:28-1:34      Fireworks          -                               yes           street sounds


This scene was done in a way that would create a realistic street environment. The focal sounds was the background music to the video being made and then street sounds were placed under neath of that. Then other sounds were added on top to add to the drama in the scene. This scene however is not meant to capture complete realism. Instead this scene has comedic value and that helps to carry the sounds effects


Joshua Snyder-Sound re-recording mixer -7th Heaven and Charmed
Jeff Clark- Supervising Sound editor- Shawshank Redemption, Face Off

Studio- unable to find

Mix Analysis 13

The Life of Pi (Surround)

Time Code
                      SFX1    SFX 2          Music        Background
00-04-         Wind       Waves             -                     -

05-10            Water on Boat
                                     Cloth Sounds

10-13                Tiger Sound
                                   Hit in the face with fish
13-19               Water   Jumping fish                    Tiger

19-30              Tiger      Skipping fish on water      dialogue/ wind

31-35               Tiger     Mass of fish toward boat        water sounds

36-47                High pitch flying sounds              Tiger
                                         Fish swimming       
 48-49             Slamming boat sound fish sounds

49-53              Fish flying     boat noises               movement noises

54-1:03          More fish sounds   tiger                   boat movement

1:03-1:10      High pitched sounds  tiger             boat movements

1:11-1:18       Tiger     High pitched sounds        boat movements



This clip was very intricately layered. The sound effects used were also used throughout the entire clip almost. However the way they were put together makes for a believable soundscape. All of the tiny little sounds captured the realism of the scene creating a really unique environment. The timing and the layering for just this scene must have taken a very long time. All in all I think they did a great job in capturing this environment

Ron Bartlett

-

sound re-recording mixer- Prometheus and Die Hard

Eugene Gearty

-

supervising sound editor- The Departed, Hugo

Studio-RBQ studios













   

Mix Analysis 12

Regular Show
"Wrestling Rigby"
2013
Supervising Sound Editor: Kris Zimmerman
Two other works: THe Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, Smurfs
Re-recording Mixer: Timothy J. Borquez
Two Other works: Adventure Time, Chowder
Studio where mixed: Cartoon Network Studio


0:00: Crowd cheering, Rigby speaks
0:03: Arm swings in air
0:08: Slap on arm
0:09: Trampoline sound, thud on ground
0:10: Punching stuffed animal
0:12: Foot steps
0:13: Grunts, thud on ground
0:15: Thud on ground, grunt, Stretching sound
0:16: Common punch sound, grunt
0:18: Rigby moans
0:19: Mordecai speaks
0:20: Rigby moans
0:21: hand clap
0:22: Dragging sound, Rigby drinking a lot of liquid while there are chugging noises
0:24: Can hits ground, small splashing sound
0:25: Rigby yells, can slides across the floor
0:26: Small creaking sound, foot steps
0:28: Foot steps up on top of a metal filing cabinet
0:29: Rigby speaks
0:31: Fabric rubbing when Mordecai picks up Rigby
0:35: Mordecai speaks
0:38: Both start screaming
0:41: Wind sound when Rigby is thrown, trampoline stretching and metal bending
0:42: Rigby yells
0:43: Loud thud into the wall, bricks and wall cracks and falls, Rigby thuds into trash can
0:44: Cans bounce around trash can
0:46: Rigby moans with a reverb effect in trash can
0:47: Foot steps
0:49: Rigby moans get louder and turn into a scream, can hits floor, trash can thuds on floor
0:53: Mordecai laughs
0:55: Wing flaps
0:59: They both start laughing
1:01: Laughing abruptly stops


"Geese vs Ducks"

0:00: Music starts, bushes shake, birds singing in background
0:01: Rigby speaks
0:05: Wings flap
0:06: Mordecai speaks
0:11: Metal pens quick shake, Mordecai and Rigby laugh together quietly
0:13: Electricity buzz, geese gawk
0:15: Geese gawk, geese then honk
0:18: Mordecai talks
0:20: Lots of flapping wings, geese gawk louder
0:21: Mordecai and Rigby cheer
0:23: Small high five
0:25: Wings flapping far away, Rigby, "huh"
0:27: Bushes shake, Goose honks, music gets darker
0:28: Mordecai and Rigby scream
0:29: Bush shakes, loud thud to the ground
0:30: Music gets louder, geese gawk as a group
0:32: Dust blows, electricity buzz
0:34: Loud punch, Rigby yells
0:35: Loud punch, Mordecai grunts, more loud punches
0:38: Rigby moans, geese gawk louder, dust blows
0:40: Loud scream, loud thud onto dirt
0:42: Mordecai and Rigby moaning
0:43: Geese gawking gets louder
0:46: Mordecai speaks
0:47: Loud electricity buzz, large explosion
0:48: High pitch voice speaks
0:51: Guitar solo joins in, feet thud on ground
0:54: Mordecai and Rigby excitedly yell together
0:55: Baby duck speaks
1:01: Loud electricity buzz
1:02: Evil deep voice speaks, music changes
1:18: Baby duck speaks
1:20: Wings flap, loud music comes back

Regular show's sound sounds realistic where the show is clearly fictional with talking animals and talking inanimate objects.  The show brings a realistic take on odd fictional characters.  If you close your eyes and don't see the cartoon characters, the sounds could make the same scene sound like the event being portrayed is actually happening in some cases, like in the first clip when they are wrestling. The same sounds come from the cartoon movements as they would from a realistic standpoint.  I believe this way of mixing the sounds, makes this show unique compared to other cartoons hows, where the sound is very animated.

Mix Analysis 11

Adventure Time
"Finn and Jake visit Wildberry Princess"
2013
Supervising Sound Editor: Timothy J. Borquez
Two other works: Aladdin, Chowder
Re-recording Mixer: Eric Freeman
Two other works: Regular Show, Spongebob
Studio where mixed: Frederator Studio

0:00: Drawer closes, knives clinking, music chimes in
0:01: Foot step
0:02: Wildberry Princess speaks
0:03: Wildberry sighs, organ music starts playing
0:04: Foot steps, Wildberry singing
0:07: Dishes clink on table and slides across
0:08: Wildberry makes noises with her mouth
0:09: Jake speaks
0:11: Shuffling noise, Wildberry speaks
0:13: Finn speaks
0:14: Wildberry speaks
0:18: Dog eating pie
0:24: Human swallows pie slice whole, Finn speaks, Wildberry speaks
0:26: Both Jake and Finn chewing on pies
0:28: Both Finn and Jake spitting out pie
0:30: Finn gags
0:31: Jake makes chewing sounds
0:32: Finn coughs, Jake speaks, music becomes slower and not as bright
0:33: Wildberry speaks
0:37: Finn speaks and chain shakes
0:40: Jake speaks
0:43: Chewing on metal, makes "om om om" sounds
0:44: Wildberry speaks, music starts to bring tension
0:46: small footsteps across the room
0:47: Synth music joins in
0:49: Finn speaks
0:52: Paper picked up
0:56: Organ sound and everyone gasped
0:58: Dog licking bowl, Finn speaks
1:02: Music becomes happy, Jake goes, "om nom om", licking of the bowl gets louder
1:04: Jake speaks
1:10: Jake laughs

Adventure Time
"Sassage Party"
2013

0:00: Music plays with foot steps
0:02: Foot steps up ladder, Jake speaks, elastic sound
0:04: Creaking of wood
0:06: FIre crackling
0:09: Sizzling in frying pan, BMO talks
0:11: Fabric sound, foot steps
0:13: Finn speaks, animal grunts
0:16: BMO speaks
0:17: Little dude, "huh"
0:19: "huh", biting sound
0:20: Finn yells
0:21: Thuds instead of footsteps
0:22: BMO yells, Little dude climbs up stool
0:24: Spatula hitting Little dude, Little dude grunts
0:26: Feet hitting glass
0:28: BMO hits the floor, spatula falls soon after, Finn gasps
0:29: BMO is screaming, stretching sound, Little dude grunts
0:35: Little dude grunts louder, BMO speaks, Finn speaks
0:42: Foot steps
0:46: Finn sits down, bowl slides across table, Finn speaks, Little dude grunts
0:49: Bowl is placed on table, BMO speaks
0:52: Sizzling in frying pan
0:53: Jake speaks, slides milk across table
0:54: Milk is poured into glass
0:55: Milk carton placed back on table
0:56: Milk splashes
0:58: Finn and Jake, "om nom"
1:00: Jake speaks
1:01: Jake scratches head
1:03: Stretching sound, bowl shaking
1:04: Bowl thuds on table, Little dude grunts
1:06: Finn speaks
1:11: Loud mouth noises
1:13: Finn takes a bite of sausage
1:15: Stretching noises, bowl shaking
1:16: Loud grunt, bowl flies off screen


Adventure Time is mixed very well and sounds professionally mixed.  The sound effects make are very animatic and contribute greatly to the success of the show.  When the music plays in each scene, the mood is set and effectively makes the show.  The sound effects are also very cartoony and makes the show very funny.  A lot of the times, the music contributes as a sound effect by following foot steps, playing along with the dialogue and bringing the show together.  This show is very well mixed and the right sounds are always used.

Mix Analysis 12

 Finding Nemo:

Supervising Sound Editor - Gary Rydstrom (The Legend of Bagger Vance, A.I Artificial Intelligence) and Michael Silvers (Up, Zack and Miri Make a Porno)

Re-Recording Mixer - Gary Rydstrom (Brave, Lincoln)

Dory Speaking Whale: 

00:10 - Dory dialogue, gentle sound of water is continuous
00:15 - music starts
00:17 - Marlin dialogue
00:18 - Dory dialogue
00:20 - Marlin dialogue
00:26 - Dory singing, water swishes as they swim
00:28 - Marlin dialogue
00:30 - Dory humming
00:38 - Marlin dialogue
00:40 - Dory dialogue
00:41 - Marlin dialogue
00:42 - Dory dialogue
00:47 - Marlin dialogue
00:48 - Dory dialogue
00:53 - Marlin dialogue
00:54 - Dory dialogue
01:00 - Marlin dialogue
01:02 - Dory dialogue
01:03 - Marlin dialogue
01:10-01:13 - Marlin and Dory both talking
01:14 - Dory grabs Marlin, Dory dialogue
01:23 - Marlin dialogue
01:25 - Dory dialogue
01:28 - Marlin dialogue
01:46 - Dory dialogue
01:48 - Marlin dialogue
01:52 - Dory dialogue
01:53 - Marlin dialogue
01:54 - Dory dialogue
01:57 - Marlin dialogue
02:00 - Dory dialogue
02:10 - Marlin dialogue
02:14 - Dory dialogue
02:21 - Marlin dialogue
02:22 - Dory dialogue
02:23 - Marlin dialogue
02:24 Dory dialogue
02:26 - Marlin dialogue
02:27 - Dory dialogue
02:34-02:38 - Dory clapping her fins together while she talks
02:39 - Marlin dialogue
02:44 - Whale call
02:45 - Dory dialogue
02:54- Marlin interrupting Dory’s whale talk
03:38 - Crill dialogue
03:40 - Dory dialogue

This scene is pretty fun.  The constant sound of gently moving water really helps to create the environment that they are in.  The reverb on their voices during this particular scene really emphasizes the vastness of the area, and the fact that they are in open ocean with not much around.  It lets us know that Dory and Marlin are alone and makes you feel a little uneasy about their situation.  I think the sort of bubbly sound of their swimming is also a lot of fun.  It’s small and fast, which is different than the sound of the approaching whale.

The trench:

00:11 - Music starts, Dory dialogue
00:15 - Dory dialogue, dialogue echoes through trench
00:21 - Marlin dialogue
00:24 - Dory dialogue
00:30 - Marlin dialogue
00:33 - Dory dialogue
00:35 - Marlin dialogue
00:38 - Dory dialogue
00:39 - Marlin dialogue
00:40 - Dory dialogue
00:43 - Marlin dialogue
00:44 - Dory dialogue
00:45 - Marlin dialogue
00:46 - Dory dialogue, the water swishes as they swim away
00:54 Marlin dialogue
00:59 - a squishy spring sound starts
01;00 - Dory dialogue
01:02 - Marlin dialogue
01:03 - Dory dialogue
01:10 - sharp electrical sound, Dory cries out
01:11 - Marlin dialogue
01:12 - Dory dialogue
01:15 - Marlin dialogue, smacks jelly, makes a sort of buzzing cry as it is knocked away
01:17 - Dory and Marlin both speak
This is just a little fun scene. Like the last one I analyzed, in the start of the scene some reverb is used to emphasize a space, this one being a large trench.  It looks menacing and it’s emptiness seems eerie and unsafe.  When they swim to the top of the trench, the open area and the smaller sound of the voices makes this area seem like it was the better choice.  The eletrical zap of the jelly sting is loud and clashes with the quietness and gentleness of the moving ocean. 

Mix Analysis 11

The Hunger Games:

Supervising Sound Editor - Lon Bender (Drive, Shrek)

Re-Recording Mixer - Michael Keller (Green Lantern, 2012) and Mike Prestwood Smith (Casino Royale, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix)

Training Scene: 





00:00-00:03 - Whooshing as the machete is swung, mannequin parts being cut off, grunting as the boy moves
00:02 - music starts
00:05 - grunt, whoosh as spear is thrown
00:06 - spear hits target
00:09 - bow is pulled back
00:10 - arrow is released, hits target
00:17- - mechanical targets moving
00:23-00:25 - knives thrown, hit targets
00:27- Peeta climbing rope, grunting
00:31 - Peeta struggling in rope, rope creaking
00:34 - Peeta falls, lands on mat and grunts
00:35-00:37 group of kids laughing at Peeta
00:39 - Katniss dialogue
00:41 Peeta dialogue
00:45 Peeta dialogue
00:47 Katniss dialogue
00:52-00:54 - Katniss footsteps, away
00:59-01:02 - Peeta footsteps
01:03 - Peeta grabs heavy metal object
01:04-01:07 - Peeta drags object off of rack
01:08-01:12 - Peeta staggers up stairs with the object
01:17 - Group laughs
01:20- Peeta grunts, hurls metal object
01:21 - object hits rack of metal spears
01:22-01:24 - spears clatter to ground
01:26-01:32 Peeta breathing heavily

This scene is pretty much all about the skills these kids have.  There’s almost no dialogue involved, so the sound effects used for each of the weapons is very important.  The point is to make these kids seem extremely dangerous, so the more sinister the sound of their weapon flying through the air, or the bigger sound the impact of the weapon creates, the scarier the kids seem.  The sound of the movement is important, as it shows a sense of speed and agility, which is different from when we hear the struggling of Peeta on the rope wall.  The satisfying thud and the clatter of the spears changes the way the competition sees Peeta because we know the metal object is very heavy, which is also conveyed through the sound it makes and the way his footsteps and movement changes while he is carrying it.

Style Prep:

00:00 music starts
00:02-00:11 - indistinct crowd chatter and movement
00:10 - Caesar dialogue
00:17 - Seneca dialogue
00:22 - Caesar interjects, Seneca continues
00:27 - footsteps
00:29-00:33 shower head running
00:35-00:37 - gentle hair brushing
00:40 - pluck with tweezers
00:43- showerhead running
00:45 - scrubbing Katniss
00:46 - cut hair with scissors
00:47-00:48 - footsteps walking away
00:49 - pull off wax on leg, Katniss grunts
00:50 - pull off wax again
00:54 - Katniss dialogue
00:58 - stylist dialogue
01:07 - metal shifting
01:08 - Cinna dialogue
01:15 - Katniss dialogue, Katniss sits up on metal table
01:16 - Cinna dialogue, sits down in chair
01:22 - Katniss dialogue
01:24 - Cinna dialogue
01:35 Katniss dialogue
01:37 - Cinna dialogue
01:41 - Katniss dialogue
01:43 - Cinna dialogue
01:50 - Katniss dialogue
01:53 - Cinna dialogue
02:06 - Katniss dialogue
The part of the scene where Katniss is going through the stylists is throughly helped by the sounds used with each step.  Each of the sounds are harsh and isolated.  It’s the capital, transforming Katniss into what they think she should be, so the sounds are exactly happy because it is to be viewed as a negative thing by the viewer.  We know what they want her to be is unnatural, so they are putting her through this makeover.  

Mix Analysis 12

Surround (in stereo)
Radiohead-Vegetable
Tempo-108
Time Signature- 4/4

Levels:

Vocals: 6
Lead Guitar:8
Rhythm Guitar:  6
Bass:5
Kick:6
Snare:7
Cymbals:6

Pan:

Vocals: C
Lead Guitar: 5
Rhythm Guitar: -5
Bass: C
Kick: C
Snare:C
Cymbals: -4/4


Time Code:
Guitar, Bass and Drums are consistent throughout the song. Vocals are in and out from part to part of course. 

00-11      Intro
12- 33     Verse 1
34- 49     Pre-Chorus 1
50-1:00    Interlude
1:01-1:23 Verse 2
1:24-1:38  Pre Chorus 2
1:39-2:00  Chorus 2
2:01- 2:18 Verse 3
2:19- 2:40 Solo
2:41-3:14  Chorus 3/Outro

Producer: Sean Slade (Hole, Pixies)
Engineer: Sean SladeChipping Norton Recording Studios and Courtyard Studios (England)
Mastering Engineer: Not found

This song I imagine would be really straight forward in surround. I picture some vocals in the rear but mostly up front. The guitars would probably be toward the back and the solo would be off to one side. All in all its a really listenable song and very easy on the ears. The tones are well blended and the song flows. The arrangement was very simple yet still effective.

Mix Analysis 11

Flobots-Handlebars
Tempo: 140 bpm
Time signature: 4/4

Levels:

Vocals:     8
Trumpet:  7
Bass:        6
Guitar:     5
Viola:     6
Kick:       6
Snare:      7
Cymbals: 7

Pan:

Vocals: C
Trumpet:
Bass: C
Guitar: -4
Viola:  4
Kick: C
Snare: C
Cybmals: C

Time Code:

00-13        Intro- Just Viola
14-27        Chorus 1- Drums, Viola, Bass, Vocals
28-53        Verse 1- Drums, Viola, Bass, Vocals, Guitar
54-1:06     Pre-chorus- Drums, bass, trumpet enters at end, guitar, vocals
1:07-1:34  Verse 2- Drums, Viola, Bass, Guitar, Vocals
1:35-1:48  Pre-chorus- Same as first
1:49-2:14  Trumpet solo with viola, bass and drums
2:15-2:40  Verse 3- drums, guitar, bass, viola, vocals
2:41- 3:07  Pre Chorus Same as before
3:08-3:29   Chorus same as chorus 1

This song was, in my mind, really well written. Even though this song is incredibly simple the feeling the music gives with it helps to really convey its message. The vocals in this are used more like an instrument than lyrics. The vocals are certainly the focal point of this song until the trumpet comes in playing the accompaniment.

The only information provided about this song is the band member, no studio, producer, or engineer information was able to be obtained.

Full Video Analysis

My first analysis for video is a video game, Battlefield 4 schedule for release in Fall 2013

Audio Engineer - Stefan Strandberg
Full interview: http://www.gamespot.com/features/sound-byte-meet-the-audio-director-of-battlefield-3-6307723/
Developers - DICE/EA

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8HVQXkeU8U

Starts with at 0:05
"Total Eclipse of the Heart - Bonnie Tyler"
with a lot of added reverb that fades in

0:24 ambient bass heavy noise comes in (blowing wind)
0:33 High pitch reverb ring
0:30 Dialog "Andy... look  I'm sorry..."
0:35 Moan
0:39 Filter effect as the view from the water goes into the view of the 4 men in the submerged truck.
0:41 "Turn Around" switches to a lo-fi radio quality track and plays throughout
0:43  Dialog "Rucker you conscious? get back in the game brother.."
0:47 Loud foot stomps against glass
0:50 Dialog "That's some of the finest driving I've ever seen... till the end."
0:55 Light flashes on with a flicker
0:57 Dialog "Oh shit, the seat won't budge"
0:59 Bang against chair, water starts to drip
1:01 Heavy breathing *song stops*
1:05 Dialog continues - "Shoot out the window or we'll all die"
1:30 Shoots window underwater bass thump and then the rush of water FX take place

Next Scene

5:26
Troops rally in the woods to get to the extraction zone.

Ambient dark music plays with a bass drum on the 1 and 3  and odd sounding percussion on the 2 and 4

5:26 Loud food stomp into shallow water, swamp like
5:29 "Clear this side of the train tracks"
5:30 Reverb crash
5:31 Foot Steps
5:35 Bush rustling noise
5:39 Reverb crash
5:40 Erie detuned rolling bass comes in
5:41 Radio command comes in lo-fi to mimic real walkie talkie
5:47 low digital beeping noise appears as your new mission objective comes on screen
5:48 Multiple footsteps
5:53 Rumbling train comes by over top, which isn't very loud
6:00 "There's the house"
6:03 Faint bird screeching gets louder as your approach them, very well done
6:04 Low panting as you sprint
6:13 Very realistic landing sound as your jump off a ledge because there is the sound of you hitting the ground loudly, then softer as you pick yourself up.
6:14 Foot splashing as you run thru shallow water
6:20 A cool mix between seagul noises and car engines as they approach in the distance
6:24 Low panting starts again as you sprint away


When watching this 17 minute gameplay trailer I was engulfed by sound from the very beginning. I really enjoyed the use of Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler in the intro where there is nothing but darkness surrounding you. It quickly cuts to the troops in a submerged vehicle and I really enjoyed how the song continued to play on the car radio with a lo-fi effect. The ambient sound of the water pressure forcing itself onto the vehicle was also a great effect. The mixing of the dialogue was even better because the volume would vary weither the character was facing the speaker or not and would vary as the distant between you got greater. During battle scenes, there is no music and constant explosions and gun fire. As soon as you finish the task and begin creeping around again thru the woods, an erie ambient music plays which is subtle but really sets the tone. The mixture between the super realistic graphics and the seamless audio makes for a virtual real war experience.


This quote from the audio engineer Stefan Strandberg really shows his dedication to his craft,

"So, one example would be when we ran around with weapon replicas in a public park to get snow footsteps and equipment sounds. Let me remind you that there are civilians in almost all parks in Stockholm. Not only does it look extremely silly when two guys [are] running in sync with a lot of recording equipment attached to them, but it would probably make me want to go call the police immediately and report two lunatics with weapons running around, crunching and proning in a park."

I thought this was simply amazing and portrays a very funny image as well. Stefan must really enjoy his job. The rustling of your equipment as you sprint around is very realistic as modern troops often carry up to 80 pounds of gear at time. For a real life experience, there is no better way to get your audio than going out in the field. Stefan and his team really take pride in utilizing the outdoors. There was over 20 footprint clips used in combination,  anywhere from running on sand, snow, shallow swamp, creak, 2 foot deep water. I am sure the average video gamer does not notice these minute details and that is the point. The sounds are so realistic and well mixed that you often don't notice the many small environmental sounds that occur. If a sound was too loud, or unrealistic it would stick out like a sore thumb but this is never the case. More often than not the best way to get a sound is to go out there and grab it. 

Stefan on the term "Sound Designer":
"This title means different things in different companies, I would argue. But the basic concept of this labor is to create audio concepts and solutions for the title you are working on. It includes the craft of making noises, but that's only a small part of it if you work inside a studio that is making games. The list of tasks can be long, but it includes a wide variety of recording, editing, mixing, talking, getting the thing to work, banging your head against a wall, and not giving up."

I was confused with all the different titles floating around the field and this cleared it up for me. Not only does he go out and craft all the sounds, which seems like a large enough task, but he handles the audio the whole way until the game hits selves. I especially sympathize with the last two steps: "banging your head against a way and not giving up." It's nice to know that I am not the only one that gets frustrated during the audio producing process, and that even such  a decorate professional loses it every once and a while. I found this very inspiring because I realize its ok to get frustrated but it is not OK to simply give up. Sometimes the best thing to do is just walk away and save it for another day, and remember that working with audio, if you are an audiophile, is supposed to be a fun.

Mix Analysis 7

Song: The Boy Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn 

Artist: Alison Krauss & Union Station  

Album: New Favorites 

Year: 2001

Engineer: Gary Paczosa

Mixer: Doug Sax

Studio: I could not find it. 

Sound Source                    Pan                      Level

Male Vocals                      0                           9 

Female Vocals                   0                           8

Guitar                            -6 to 6                      7

Bass                                 0                        6

Dobro                           -5 to 1                     8

Mandolin                         -6 to 6                     7

Fiddle                             -3 to 3                      8                                            

Banjo                                 5                          8

You may have heard this song on "Oh Brother Where Art Thou". The dobro works so well for this song with the way it can express almost like another voice. The fun part about the style is that there is no percussion the whole rhythm is driven by string instruments. 

Song Form

Intro  (Dobro and Guitar) 0:00-0:37

Verse 1 0:37-1:10

Guitar and Dobo Interlude 1:10-1:15

Verse 2 1:15-1:50

All the instruments come in 1:50-2:14

Verse 3 2:14-2:37

Fiddle Solo 2:37-2:58

Verse 4 2:58-3:20

Banjo Solo 3:20-3:41

Verse 5 (Alison and Dan) 3:41-4:05

Verse 6 (Instruments drop out) 4:05-4:41

Mixing Analysis 9 Comparison

For the purpose of this Analysis I will be comparing my thoughts on Aaliyah's  Rock The Boat. This was Ed's 7th mix analysis, and I picked it at complete random in hopes to hear something completely different. 

Aaliyah - Rock The Boat
BPM - 89.5 

"Produced/Mixed by Eric Seats  & Rapture Stewart, a production duo known as Key Beats. They have worked with Pati Labelle and Montel Jordan.

Recorded at Manhattan Center Studio." 

Intro 0:00 - 0:30

Ambient Beach noises 

Features Seagulls and footsteps with sync with Aaliyah in the video.

Cool intro, goes great with the concept. 

Sets a cool tropical vibe to the track.

Pre-Verse 

Sounds like a vocoded guitar ala Peter Frampton style.

Synth panned towards right is an octave higher than one of left.

Percussion

Shaker and a reverberated electronic clap 

Vocals

Aaliyah ad libs "mmmm" "yaaah" 

Guitar 

Funky twangy guitar with reverb 

Bass  0:46 

Two nice rounded bass stabs, Sounds like an 808 Kick 

Transitions with a horned synth play 3 stabs that leads into the verse 

Verse 0:51

Great full beat 

On the 3/4 beat there is a synth ambient stab 

I love the symbol at 0:53 and wood hit at 0:54 and the tom hit at 1:03

Not a lot of hip hop/Rn'B producers seem to use acoustic drum samples so I found this refreshing and interesting to listen too, they fit together real well and makes for a great groove

I agree with Ed that Aaliyah's voice in the verses seems to be for ambience and though it is fairly dominant the elements of the beat gain most of your attention 

A lot of different samples are used around to give this a pretty complex sound, there is always a really low ambient synth that fades out and the end of every 2 bars. 

1:32 Nice Snare and Tom fill that leads to Chorus 

Bass

2 Stabs at the beginning of one bar every 2 

Chorus 1:34 

Same percussion elements 

Bass - 18 dB definitely the most dominant in terms of dB in the track 

Same pattern as verse 

New lead comes on the 3 note of the first bar, very moog like and funky plucking style with a short release and delay. 

Vocals are a little louder and more dominant in chorus 

Verse   1:52 

Same as verse one except, ambient synth elements are taken out which give  a more raw in your face sound. 

Synth Lead from chorus is added.

2:20 

New Ad-Lips are added and the "Let's coast" is louder than the normal vocals and noticeably dry in comparison.

Producer just a great job of using a lot of different instrumental elements while not over crowding and over layering. 

Also everything after 15000 Hertz is brick wall filtered with no Q. Not sure about this technique but I see it on more and more tracks as I analyses them  i'll have to look into it. 

2:38 Chorus 

New ad lips 

"work it babe" 2:44

Noticeably dryer and louder than normal vocals 

Chorus is 16 bars as opposed to just 8. 

3:20 Bridge

The funky delayed guitar stab really sets that sexy tone that song is going for at 3:25

no Kicks in the first bar  nice technique

3:46 Verse 

Vocals are starting to take dominance, great chorus effect using multiple layered tracks to give a full sound yet very subtle like a whisper. 

Chorus 4:26

Heavy Ad-lips 

Outro

1 bar of no beat just lead and vocal

New beat with a kick infront of the snare. Real cool outro, not many producers would have done something unique like that in this field. 

Little high pass filter sweep at the end and thats all. 

I thank Ed and agree with him on most of his points. I like the use of the term "hypnotic mix", and believe this track is a great example. The beat has such a great groove that it stays constant the whole track with only a couple of transitions. I love the layered Aaliyah vocals at the end and it seems that after the first chorus she just keeps getting more dominant in the mix. I don't care for the dry ad libs too much and find them to be kind of distracting. 

The guitar is one of my favorite elements, and though it sits pretty low in the mix it is crucial to keep that sexy, funky vibe going. Ed did a great job in pointing out the narrowness of the mix. When I checked it out in iZotope Ozone 5 and there is a lot of width on the vocals which gives them such presence and mellow sound chorus-y sound. This track makes me want to get into  producing of some R n' B tracks. I love the simplicity and emphasize on the basic elements of voice and percussion.