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Sound design is an art that is both highly technical yet driven by emotions. As with any art form, what better way to learn than by studying the great works that have come before you.

Here are 5 films to study for their amazing use of sound design and other audio elements.

The Matrix

The Matrix was a ground-breaking film on many levels, not only for each use of special effects and slick fight scenes but through its use of sound design to ground the audience in the world of the film.

Released in 1999, just as the world was bracing itself for the digital revolution, The Matrix places a heavy emphasis on sound design to convey the themes of man vs machine.

Phones, tv screens and computers are used as an access point between the real world and the matrix, so electricity sounds are used heavily in the film. "One of the unifying concepts of the movie is that everything is motivated by electricity which results in a lot of sparking and zapping in the future scenes."

‍Supervising Sound Editor Dane Davis conducted multiple recording sessions at power plants and even rented a Jacobs ladder to capture the arcing sounds used for the Hovercrafts.

"We rented a six-foot-tall, 30,000V Jacob's Ladder, and I obtained the sort of Dopplering arc cycles that I needed by recording this huge arc going very closely by the mic and making forward-reverse loops."

‍The Matrix also took a revolutionary approach to the sound of its fight scenes, Opting for a slick and stylish approach that was heavily influenced by the wave of Japanese animation in the 1990s.The Matrix also has a fairly stripped back foley track for a film of its size, which is quite interesting when you consider the amount of content that the film contains. This might have been done to enhance the artificial feeling of the world inside The Matrix.

Sinister

Sinister is widely regarded as one of the best Horror films of the 2010s and contains some of the creepiest and downright chilling sound design in all of Horror.

The films plot centers around a true-crime writer who discovers a box of old 35mm film reels in his attic. Upon watching the films, he discovers that they contain grisly footage of 4 families being murdered.This film is a masterclass in how to build tension through sound, and as is often the case in Horror, its what you don't see that I truly frightening.

Sinister is unique in that it boldly mixes traditional score with foley and sound design. This is something that is not often seen in Horror. Sinister makes use of music concrete, weird vocal moanings, demonic messaging and strange rhythmic tape loops.

Terminator 2

James Cameron's epic sequel to The Terminator upped the ante in nearly every single way, and its sound was no exception.

The sound team was headed by veteran sound designer Gary Rydstrom, and they were challenged to push the boundaries of what was expected in a blockbuster action film.

In Rydstrom's own words...

"In Terminator 2 Cameron's approach to sound was hyperrealistic. Everything had to be so much bigger than life. Every sound effect in Terminator 2 had to sound like it was injected with testosterone, it had to be inflated to unworldly possibilities."

The main villain of the film, T1000 is a bulletproof, self-regenerating robot that can warp through solid objects. What makes Terminator 2 stand out is the way it tackles complex sound design moments through incredibly simple and creative methods. No electronics at all were used and all of the effects came from recording real-world sources.

Some methods in this film include:- Wrapping a mic in a condom and dunking it into various gloopy mixtures.

- Slamming an inverted wine glass into a bucket of yoghurt.

- Dog food being sucked slowly out of a can.

Terminator 2 is proof that you don't need loads of fancy equipment to create amazing sound design, the only thing that matters are your ideas and execution.

Heat

Michael Mann's crime epic depicts an intricate game of cat and mouse between a bank robber and the cop whose job it is to catch him, set against the sprawling neon backdrop of downtown Los Angeles. Heat is generally regarded as a modern crime masterpiece and was used as a chief inspiration behind Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight.

Heat builds slowly and uses a realistic, almost documentary-style to draws us into the world of LA. The movie was shot completely in real locations and uses extensive location recording and production sound to flesh out each scene and bring the world of the film to life.

Heat contains, without doubt, the most well-crafted shootout scene in cinema history. The gunfight scene was shot using real weapons firing blank rounds on the streets of downtown LA. In the final mix of the film, the production sound was chosen over sound effects added in post, and you can hear the sound of the gunshots ricocheting off the concrete buildings for a truly visceral and heart-stopping effect. It is this realistic approach and painstaking attention to detail that makes Heat stand out as one of the best films to study for sound designers.

Saving Private Ryan

In what is perhaps the quintessential war film, Steven Spielberg places us directly in the thick of the action, showing us the raw brutality of war, and the effect it has on the men that fight it. Saving private Ryan is notable both for its scale and authenticity. The use of washed-out colours and disciplined camerawork creates an experience that is as close to non-fiction as possible, but it is the sound design and foley which elevates this film into something truly special.

All of the weapons sounds come from the real guns themselves, and that includes everything from the guns being fired, to the mechanism and handling sounds. This same approach was used for the clothing and equipment, footsteps and vehicle sounds.

Saving Private Ryan also shows us how to effectively use silence and other sonic elements to place you in the head of the character, as illustrated in the iconic shell shock scene from the opening sequence.

We hope you enjoyed this article!

Many of the world's most seasoned Sound Designers claim that natural sound sources garner more worthwhile results than synthesised ones. Even on exotic design elements such as sci-fi and fantasy weapons and creatures, the process of recording makes elements sit better in the mix, but why is this?

The Origin of Sound Waves

The biggest difference between synthesis and field recordings is the origin of the sound wave. Most subtractive synthesizers generate analogue waveforms like sine, square, triangle and sawtooth, each containing different harmonics which provide a timbre. The sound designer can then use a filter to remove low or high frequencies, further shaping the sound. Next comes modulation, envelope generators and low frequency oscillators which add movement to the sound.

Recorded sounds can be much more varied, due to the millions of possible sources available in the world. Human vocalisations for example, are generated in the vocal folds, through vibration - which then resonates in the throat to create recognisable speech. Because of the elaborate nature of this process, the resulting waveform is far more complex than those generated in subtractive synthesis.

Alongside tonal waveforms, many synthesizers can generate white noise. Natural sounds are also quite often noise based, but they constantly shift in frequency, amplitude, distance and timbre which makes them distinguishable from synthesised sound. All of these factors add modulation, resulting in a constantly shifting sound wave.

It is this modulation that helps make your sound design believable to audiences. Once a sound is being modulated heavily, it more closely resembles human speech and other natural sounds.

Designing Sound

Considering the ability of the human brain to process and evaluate these complex waveforms, we can conclude that using a synthesised source will allow your design to be more easily detected by audiences. Complex processing can help alleviate this to an extent, but a field recording captures these modulations at source. Recordings with processing will provide you with usable results faster than traditional synthesis.

However, emerging technologies and advances in computer hardware have allowed programmers to create alternative synthesis methods, such as additive and physical modelling, which use combinations of sine waves and resonators respectfully to replicate natural sounds.

Can You Hear The Difference?

Here we have an exterior wind sound - is it a synthesised sound or a field recording? Let us know what you think below.

https://soundcloud.com/344audio/sound-of-the-week-54-cold-wind-gusts-birds

Zoom's MS-70CDR MultiStomp Chorus / Delay / Reverb pedal is the first of its kind. It provides the full power of a rack-mounted multi-effects device in a compact stompbox design.

Using the Zoom MS-70CDR

We recently purchased the Zoom MS-70CDR to assist with live sound design during pre production. It is useful for a variety of effects in a small format unit, and has allowed us to create fast mockups of sound effects in front of clients, intended for use once post production starts. It's reverbs model much more expensive units, and the processing sounds great on voices and instruments, especially when pushed to it's limits with 3 effects in tandem. This product is an example of how to you can operate a piece of audio technology beyond it's intended use and create interesting results. Some of our favourites are the Pitch Shifters and 'Black Hole' reverb.

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The Korg Minilogue is a two VCO per-voice, four-voice, polyphonic analog synthesizer from Korg, designed by Korg engineer and synthesizer designer Tatsuya Takahashi.

Using the Minilogue

We recently picked up the Korg Minilogue and thought we would make a video demonstrating how we use it for sound design in our audio post production workflow. We have been using the minilogue for a little over a month now and have found it to be a very versatile tool. From creating custom sound effects for a video game to the bone chilling ambience of a horror film, there are many creative options with this synth. Our favourites are the unison voice mode, ring modulation and audio rate LFO.

Digital Synthesis/Sampling is an often underexploited tool in the modern world of Film and Game Sound Design, with many professionals choosing to record sound effects, use analogue synthesis or utilise effects libraries instead. There are some areas where Digital Synthesis is very powerful, especially with tools available in the free Reaktor User Library - check out some of our favourites below.

1. Drone-E

Drone-E is a free ensemble which uses a variety of unusual parameters to modulate samples. Granular synthesis, pitch shifting, reverb and a sub generator to name a few. All in all, this has got to be one of our favourite methods for creating drones in software ever.

Download Drone-E Here

2. Magma

Magma is a hidden gem in the free Reaktor User Library. When tracklaying volcano scenes, it can be difficult to get the consistency of the lava just right. Magma solves this issue with its generation of liquidy textures that sound VERY convincing in a tracklayed post session or busy video game mix.

Download Magma Here

3. FM Radio

Want that authentic classic radio sound in your mix, warts and all? You’ve come to the right place. The free but very valuable FM Radio has all the typical controls you would expect to find including frequency, noise and filtering. It works as an effect within Reaktor.

Download FM Radio Here

4. GRIP Grain Cloud Synth

Granular synthesis can feel like a complex task in some interfaces. The free GRIP synth can launch your samples into the cloud and soften them into tender droplets of granularity.

Download Grip Grain Cloud Synth Here

5. Metaphysical Scenery

An absolute classic ensemble reskinned for Reaktor 6. This generative drone synth has provided hours of endless fun at 344 HQ, as well as some serious alien planet soundscape goodness. This must needed makeover makes the seemingly complicated interface feel more logical, a must have for Reaktor users.

Download Metaphysical Scenery Here

So there you have it, 5 amazing free ensembles for Sound Design, let us know your favourites below in the comments section.

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