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Colorado SoundGirls – KCSU and Bohemian Foundation Venues

Join our Colorado SoundGirls Chapter for a tour of KCSU radio station at Colorado State University. SoundGirl Hannah Copeland (KCSU General Manager) will give us a tour of their operation there and tell us about station and audio facilities at CSU. Then we’ll pop over to the newly-renovated Washington’s – a 900-capacity venue with a brand new state-of-the-art lighting and sound system – and get a tour from Production Manager, Kevin Gregory.

This is a free event – but please register here

Fort Collins is about an hour north on I-25 from Denver. We’re hoping to get a crew to carpool from the Denver-Boulder area. Contact Anna Frick if you are interested in carpooling anna@airshowmastering.com

 

 

 

Review of Daphne Oram’s An Individual Note

I discovered this book on a trip to Moog in Asheville, NC.  After the incredible tour, I was drooling in their gift shop with a small wallet.  It was this beautifully packaged book with a soft matte white hardcover that caught my attention.  Vaguely waveform-like shapes and a subtitle that paired music with electronics led me to skim the summary.  From there it checked the final box: a book written by an audio pioneer who just happened to be female.

Daphne Oram was an electronic musician and sound designer when these terms were in their infancy.  She co-founded and was the first director of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, famous for the ethereal sounds of the television show Dr. Who and the radio drama Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.  Through Oram’s vision, BBC Radiophonic Workshop was an incubator for musique concrete, experimental compositions that focus on sound manipulation.  Oram herself left BBC Radiophonic Workshop soon after its creation and pursued electronic sound synthesis in her facility and on her own terms.

There is a story behind the edition I acquired, and one can feel the love in its creation.  This publication was commissioned by the Daphne Oram Trust and funded through a Kickstarter campaign.  The manuscript was re-typed, the diagrams were digitally redrawn, and new photographs were added in addition to the originals.  The new outside cover is unique unfinished paper with abstract designs, and while reminiscent of a textbook it is smaller and gives a soothing feeling.  Inside the endpapers are dark green rastered photos. Daphne Oram’s portrait graces the front, and her studio is featured in the back. Each page is a thin cardstock that gives weight to the words printed.  Topic guidelines are added to each chapter heading and reflect the style of writing within. A preface has been added that offers a fitting tribute to Daphne Oram, as well as preparing the reader for the mind from which the main text was created.

An Individual Note of Music, Sound and Electronics is written as a guide to understanding the philosophy of sound and its creation.  Starting from the definition of sound, Oram leads the reader through the path of that note as an individual to overtones, chords, and various ways of creation.  The final result is her Oramics Machine, a synthesizer that uses pictorial waveforms as the control interface. And like her device, An Individual Note combines different academic disciplines to reach the sonic goal.

Admittedly when I picked up this text, I had thought it would be filled with formulas and circuit diagrams.  And while there is mention of Fourier and the basics of an oscillator, this is book favors humanities and art.  Even Oram’s writing style is almost more poetry than prose with her use of alliteration, repetition, and metaphors.  Nearly every single chapter had a reference to her coined term “cele” as a counterpoint to “elec” (electricity). These flourishes are interspersed in a stream of consciousness that does not reveal its goal until the last few chapters.  Complex formulas and jargon are set aside in favor of the nuances of emotion and thought experiments. And some of those thoughts stretch too far in the realm of speculative fiction. In comparing resonance to consciousness and manipulation of it as a form of signal processing drugs become white noise.  “You will be using white noise to overwhelm yourself…” Up until the end, I was impatiently waiting for the secrets to proficient analog sound synthesis and methods for tape manipulation. Instead, I found a succession of somewhat restrained nonsequiturs leading towards a creative thought process.

One cannot build the illustrious Oramics Machine from this book unless one has a background in Electrical Engineering, but An Individual Note can serve as a preface to experimentation with pre-made synthesizers.  Often she refers to Francis Bacon’s New Atlantis, a text which feels anachronistic.  “Wee also have diverse Strange and Artificial Eccho’s…”  And Oram is not afraid to look into the past to find inspiration for the future.  Nothing is off limits to influence the creation of sound. Daphne Oram does not write a how-to book, but a why-to.  This is a text to inspire curiosity and to provoke new perspectives, as Daphne Oram did. And I guess I should co-opt a term from Oram herself and say that this book is a muse.

 

Festival Guide Part 1: Guest Engineer

I have spent over seven years working in-house at nearly every major festival in the UK, and plenty of the smaller ones. Festivals can be some of the most rewarding shows to do, but they come with their own set of challenges. I hope this guide helps you to have a good show.

Step one: Be prepared. You should always have a clear, up-to-date stage plot and channel list (make sure any colour-coding works in black and white. They won’t get printed in colour). Send them, and a show file for the in-house desk if you have one, to the festival in plenty of time. I’m talking weeks, if not months. It’s no good sending your advance in on Friday morning when the gear left the warehouse on Tuesday. Try your best to keep your information accurate for that particular show, too. A lot of festivals will be run on “festival patch”: every band shares channels for similar instruments (e.g., kick drum inside mic is 1, guitars all go in channels 13-16, brass in 25-30, etc.), which means someone will have been tasked with going through everyone’s advances to figure out how to fit everyone in (another reason to send it in early!). If you turn up and tell them you were only touring the 37-piece children’s choir for your headline shows you will have caused a lot of hassle for nothing. It isn’t usually a big problem to add an acoustic guitar, but inviting the mariachi band you made friends at the campsite last night to join you for a few songs might not be possible. Even if the stage is running “1 to 1” (every band is patched according to their channel list), the more accurate your information, the more the stage team will be able to help you in advance.

Step two: Be prepared. Check what the weather is meant to be like, then bring layers and waterproof clothes anyway. Figure out how many socks you’ll need for the duration and pack twice as many. You won’t always have access to running water. A lot of festivals provide alcohol gel instead of taps, and they might not get refilled regularly. Bring your own sanitiser, wet wipes, toilet paper and diarrhea medication. If you have a uterus, bring sanitary products that don’t involve… well, you know. Pack plenty of drinking water and snacks; even though you’re with an artist, you might not be given more than one meal for the time you’re there. If you have any dietary requirements, make that evident as soon as possible and have a contingency plan in case the message doesn’t reach the caterers/runners.

Step three: On the day. Be prepared. Set off as early as possible. Traffic can be absolutely awful getting into a festival. Leave literally hours earlier than you would normally. Make sure you know which gate you need to head to, which may not be signposted. Allow for a long wait to get your passes at the gate. Bands have missed their set because they only got to the site for the time they were meant to be setting up. Being five minutes’ walk away from the stage is by no means the same as being five minutes from the stage!

When you get through security, head straight over and talk to the in-house team. Don’t be surprised if they don’t have your up-to-date spec, even if you sent it ages ago (but thanks for trying)! There are so many different layers of organisation and management involved with a festival; information sometimes falls through the cracks despite people’s best intentions. Keep a few printed copies with you, and have your show file on at least two USB sticks. I guarantee you, you will leave one in a desk somewhere and not notice until the next day, and you might be in a different country by then.

Check with the stage manager whether there’s space to unload and set up your gear. The earlier you get ready, the more time you’ll have to line check and fix any problems. It’s tempting to reward yourself with a few beers in the dressing room after the painful journey onto the site, but that might delay the running of the stage, and you’re risking wasting precious set time fault-finding. Get everything ready and check when your line check slot is (either just before your set or often during the changeover before yours if they’re using a rolling riser and double desk system). If you haven’t used the in-house desk before, you can ask whether there’s any time to play with it before your set. If they’re running two desks at each end, you should have at least the set before yours to get used to the layout. If not, it’s no big deal, because you checked out the offline editor for it beforehand, right? Because you’re so prepared?

Arrive back for your set in plenty of time. If possible, smuggling some cakey treats out from artist catering for the stage crew will win you major brownie points (especially if they are brownies). If you’re still unsure how to use the desk, or anything else, there’s no shame in asking the in-house engineers for help. It’s what they’re there for! No-one’s used every desk out there, no matter how experienced they are. Your host should be more than happy to help, and even show you some of their favourite tips and tricks if there’s time. It’s also very common for engineers to cover for each other over festival season, so it might be your first show with this band, and that’s fine. These experienced engineers can spot a bluffer a mile away, and if you’re too proud to let them help, they’re well within their rights to step back and watch you crash and burn. No-one wants you to have a bad gig though, so make friends with them early (hint: brownies)! If you’re mixing FoH from a tent or tower, walk outside of it at least once. It can sound completely different in the crowd compared to by the desk, even with reference monitors, so don’t just mix for yourself in your little bubble.

Once you’ve finished the show of your life because you were so on it because you were so prepared, all you have to do is grab your USB stick and headphones (don’t forget to bring your headphones by the way. Seriously), pack your gear away and celebrate! Please don’t skip straight to celebrating; there are lots of other bands to get on and off the stage, and there isn’t space to leave your gear set up until you feel like taking it away. So after a grueling 20-minute loadout and thanking the crew, you can kick back and enjoy those well-deserved beers (or soft drinks if you’re the driver) before heading to another field to do it all over again.

More info on working festivals

Festival Guide Part Two

Working Coachella and Surviving Festival Season: How Two Monitor Engineers Approach Festival Season

Coachella Music and Arts Festival: Two Companies that Did!

Rat Sound Answers Your Questions about Coachella

 

Missed this Week’s Top Stories? Read our Quick Round-up!

It’s easy to miss the SoundGirls news and blogs, so we have put together a round-up of the blogs, articles, and news from the past week. You can keep up to date and read more at SoundGirls.org

March Feature Profile

Natalia Ramirez – Tuning her way into the music industry

The Blogs

The Mental Game of Unemployment

Anatomy of an Event

Round-Up from the Internet https:

SoundGirls News

SoundGirls Members can receive a complimentary pass for Music Expo Miami – email us for code with your SoundGirls member ID
Music Expo Miami 2018
SAE Institute, 16051 W Dixie Hwy, Ste 200, North Miami Beach, Florida 33160
Saturday, March 24 10:30AM-5PM
What: Over 20 sessions covering songwriting, recording, mixing and mastering, business discussions covering artist branding, revenues, music showcase, beat battle and product demos.
musicexpo.co
Tickets: website: musicexpo.co/tickets
Facebook page: Fb.me/musicexposf
Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1760156890981845/
Twitter: twitter.com/musicexposf
Instagram: instagram.com/musicexposf

SoundGirls Winter Newsletter

iZotope Workshop at Emerson College

The Studio Side with “JP ‘The Specialist’ Negrete”

Columbus Live Sound Workshop

https://soundgirls.org/event/alberta-soundgirls-chapter-launch-social/?instance_id=1223

https://soundgirls.org/event/orlando-soundgirls-social-2/?instance_id=1224

Round Up From the Internet

http://www.ta2music.com/podcast/episode-1-susan-rogers/

Live Design Online – Feature Amanda Davis

Meet The Woman Engineering Your Favorite South African Hip-Hop Releases

50 Feminist Sound Collectives

Grammy’s Take Note – Women in Music

SoundGirls Resources

Member Benefits

Events

Sexual Harassment

The Mental Game of Unemployment

Years ago, I got burned by some friends who hired me to work for them then fired me months later out of the blue. It was the most surprising and crushing experience of my career. There’s been plenty of times I’ve had people say they’d hire me then didn’t (that’s normal). I’ve been turned down for work by friends before and that’s ok, too (it’s part of the business). This was different because I was working and completely confident in my job. I had dropped most of my other clients and gigs to work for them, too. When I was fired, I reached out to everyone I used to work for, but it was too late. I had already been replaced, or they didn’t need anyone.

Being unemployed is a mental game. You’d think it’d be time to relax and enjoy some freedom, but it’s totally the opposite. I felt rejected. I questioned my skill and ability. I felt silly for not having a backup plan. I had seen friends, and colleagues go through periods of unemployment but thought I was immune to it because I was a hard worker and always found something else.  I realized my whole career I had a false belief, “You can achieve anything you want if you work hard enough.” I think women hear this message a lot: “You can do it all.” For the first time, I was trying really hard, and it didn’t get me anywhere.

I hit a tipping point when I finally had to admit: “I can’t do it all, and I can’t make it happen.” Something about saying that lifted a huge weight. It was then ok to share how scary it was to be out of work and how much I doubted myself after being fired. I was so humbled by the generosity of friends and connections. One friend went so far as to get me an interview with someone she met a couple of days before.

It took a couple of months, but I started getting calls for work again and eventually got a couple of job offers. My chops came back quickly, but something was different about it. Since I wasn’t trying to “make things happen” all the time I was more relaxed. I don’t know what changed, but I could work faster, more efficiently, and communicate better. I felt more appreciation for every opportunity I was given.

At the time, one of the things I was most bummed about was one of the projects I didn’t get to work on with my friends. It was a major tv show with big names and a lot of buzz around it. I thought I lost a once-in-a-career opportunity. A year later, that show had poor ratings and got canceled after it’s first season. Meanwhile, one small gig I landed while I was unemployed went on to win a Golden Globe. I had no idea I was working on something that would be significant while I was doing it.

I haven’t talked to my former friends since getting fired, and it doesn’t matter. The experience made me realize how much I value honesty, transparency, and openness in any relationship. There’s politics in business, and sometimes decisions have to be made that hurt people you care for. How someone chooses to handle it is the true sign of their character.

Before my unemployment, I would have said success was a measure of what I worked on. I wanted to work on great projects, win awards for my work, and have a reputation for being a “great” mixer. What I’ve since realized is all those things are subjective. Success doesn’t have to be based on what other people think of you or your work. It definitely doesn’t have to be other people judging you for what you work on (or don’t work on). Today, I view success as a reflection of character. It’s something you can “make happen” every day.

Anatomy of an Event

Planning a successful event involves many responsibilities and steps – preliminary planning, preparation, pre-event check-in, execution of the event itself, and post-event wrap-up. The timeline of these stages may differ depending on the size and details of the event, but each stage is important.

Preliminary Planning

First determine the purpose, goals, audience, and budget of the event, then set your sights on the location, date, and time.

Determining whether an event is held for entertainment, education, business, or any other variety of reasons is vital.  Acknowledging the purpose can influence the goals, and in turn, help to pinpoint the target audience. Knowing your intended audience will help drive the direction of the event and budget. It also enables you to create an experience for your audience to remember. Equally important is setting a budget.  Plan your budget to meet or exceed the costs.

Securing space for a desired date and time is a crucial first step towards making an event dream a reality.  Know the specific requirements of any featured guests, and make sure that the venue can honor these needs. Consider things like insurance policies, space capacity, furniture and technology capabilities, and parking. Work to find a common date that’s available for the speaker/artist and the venue.  Before contracting with any artist or venue make sure all aspects of the contract are covered or have determined amendments that all parties have agreed upon.

Preparation

Preparation includes the finalization of any contracts, marketing the event, and day-of-event arrangements. Make sure the artist, venue, technology support, traffic & safety plans, and catering contracts are all aligned with the proper dates, times, and location.   Next, advertise for the event, keeping in mind the branding of sponsors, as well as appealing to the target audience. Send save the dates and invitations to your VIP attendees, hang filers, send emails, and make one-on-one connections with those who might be interested in or benefit from the event.  This stage is all about communication.

Pre Event

All plans, including attendance, furniture, security, and catering should be double-checked and finalized no less than two weeks prior to the event. This lead time allows planners to iron out any missed details before the big day and allows the people doing this work the proper time to do what they do best.

Event

This is it! If special care has been taken to complete tasks in the previous steps, the event should be fully formed and ready to go! There will always be last-minute things to handle, but these are minor details that can be quickly resolved.

Post Event

The event was a success, but it’s not over yet! Now is the time to leave a lasting impression.  As the night unwinds and the cleanup commences, be sure to thank those involved. In the days following the event, reach out to the vital people that supported the event with a written note of thanks. Pay invoices promptly upon receipt. Take note of what went well and what can be improved. Hold a debriefing meeting if needed, and then take what was learned and apply it to the next event as it begins to take shape!

Each step within an event is important, and noticeably as SoundGirls we are one crucial part to an event, but it is valuable to know how the planning process should begin and the many moving parts involved within each event. Plus, our days will likely be much easier if the groundwork has been laid by the event planner during each step of the event.

Missed this Week’s Top Stories? Read our Quick Round-up!

It’s easy to miss the SoundGirls news and blogs, so we have put together a round-up of the blogs, articles, and news from the past week. You can keep up to date and read more at SoundGirls.org

February Feature Profile

Anna Frick – Being Fed by the Universe

The Blogs

DISEÑO SONORO – Foley

SOUND DESIGN – Foley

Changing the World: Audio Engineering Society UK #HeForShe Event

Round-Up from the Internet https:

How Women are Changing the Face of Engineering and Producing

Ebonie Smith: Why Are Female Music Producers Everywhere, Yet So Invisible?

Music Festivals Pledge 50/50 Gender Equality

Women Purchase Weinstein Company

SoundGirls News

SoundGirls Members can receive a complimentary pass for Music Expo Miami – email us for code with your SoundGirls member ID
Music Expo Miami 2018
SAE Institute, 16051 W Dixie Hwy, Ste 200, North Miami Beach, Florida 33160
Saturday, March 24 10:30AM-5PM
What: Over 20 sessions covering songwriting, recording, mixing and mastering, business discussions covering artist branding, revenues, music showcase, beat battle and product demos.
musicexpo.co
Tickets: website: musicexpo.co/tickets
Facebook page: Fb.me/musicexposf
Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1760156890981845/
Twitter: twitter.com/musicexposf
Instagram: instagram.com/musicexposf

SoundGirls Winter Newsletter

iZotope Workshop at Emerson College

The Studio Side with “JP ‘The Specialist’ Negrete”

Columbus Live Sound Workshop

https://soundgirls.org/event/alberta-soundgirls-chapter-launch-social/?instance_id=1223

 

SoundGirls Resources

Member Benefits

Events

Sexual Harassment

DISEÑO SONORO – Foley

 

Los efectos de sonido en la filmación comenzaron cuando las películas dejaron de ser mudas para pasar a transmitir sonidos y voces. En 1927, Jack Foley desarrolló múltiples y diferentes técnicas de sonidos para cine, gracias a su colaboración en la película “ShowBoat”, en donde realizó los efectos de sonido sincrónico en tiempo real y así comenzó el efecto sala, mejor conocido como efecto Foley.

El sonido tiene la capacidad de hacernos sentir parte de una historia; algunas veces pasa desapercibido, pero si no estuviera ahí, la película no generaría el mismo sentimiento.

El foley puede comprender desde el sonido más sutil y cotidiano, hasta efectos sonoros creados para dar más sentido a algo en concreto, por ejemplo:  la ropa, puertas crujiendo, vidrios rotos y el mar, entre otros.

Al inicio, puede ser confuso comenzar a recrear los efectos sonoros. ¿Qué sonido es el mejor? ¿qué pasa si no me gusta el Foley que estoy creando?

Con esto en mente, hay que centrarse en tres áreas principales: pasos, movimiento y accesorios específicos. A continuación, se muestran distintos escenarios de lo que podría suceder, así como algunas recomendaciones de lo que puedes hacer al respecto:

Experimentar hace al maestro: Crea tus propios sonidos, prueba varios materiales, fábricas, suelos, etcétera. Esto te ayudará a tener una idea de un sonido y decidir qué es lo que requieres, en la medida que te funcione. Muchas veces, el producto final termina siendo algo que no esperabas, también te ayudará a crear un flujo de trabajo y en proyectos futuros podrás tener tus técnicas de grabación listas.

Prepárate para ensuciarte: Sí, ser un artista de Foley es un trabajo sucio, es recomendable utilizar ropa que no te moleste manchar, ya que estarás en el estudio durante varias horas y además te proporcionará comodidad para poder realizarlos. Trata también de usar ropa que haga poco ruido, para evitar que se filtre algún sonido externo.

Crea plantillas: El orden en las sesiones optimizará tu tiempo; crea plantillas en tu software de grabación (DAW) con tiempo. Independientemente de cuál utilices, el trabajo será más rápido y esto también les hará más sencilla su labor a los ingenieros de edición, de mezcla , etcétera.

Tener un diario se convertirá en tu mejor amigo: En él deberás registrar cada movimiento que estás haciendo, con su fecha y hora respectiva, desde lo más sencillo, como: “Tuve un error de grabación” o “No logré el paso adecuado”, hasta lo más complejo: “Hoy aprendí una técnica de grabación”. Puede ser tedioso, pero a largo plazo será de gran ayuda si llegaste a olvidar a crear un sonido, o también, cuando realices proyectos similares, tendrás una idea de cómo trabajarlos, gracias a tu journal.

Ir al cine: Ya sea para referencia o inspiración, esto te abrirá la mente, no sólo para ver efectos especiales, escuchar pasos en diferentes tipo de relieve y demás; también podrás ver cómo los géneros en el cine varían en Foley, en su manera de ser creados, grabados y mezclados.

Habrá cambios de último momento: Es la ley de la vida y más en la producción de películas. Ten en cuenta que puede haber proyectos que te pidan entregar al día siguiente (yo he tenido que entregar desde una hora o hasta media hora antes de la proyección), por lo que tendrás que trabajar bajo presión, pero no te preocupes, no siempre será así y aprenderás mucho.

Guarda todo: La regla de oro. Graba todo y si no estás segura de que lo hiciste, vuelve a guardar.

Colocación de micrófonos

Los micrófonos sensibles son excelentes para captar matices sutiles en efectos de sonido. Dentro del estudio de Foleys, puedes utilizar los siguientes modelos de transductores:

Trata de que la dirección del micrófono no esté muy cerca de la fuente que quieras captar; aléjalo unos cuantos centímetros para tener un poco del sonido del cuarto.

Estos son algunos objetos y técnicas sugeridas por artistas de Foley en Hollywood:

TÉCNICAS

OBJETOS

Cada película es distinta; además, cada producción y dirección provocan procesos diferentes, por lo que siempre aprenderás cosas nuevas. Así que al final, en todo momento sigue intentando nuevas ideas y guárdalas, nunca sabes cuándo las podrías usar.

By Tania Moreno and Carolina Anton

Tania Moreno – Nació en Ciudad Obregón, Sonora, el 2 de abril de 1996. Estudió la preparatoria en el Instituto Tecnológico de Monterrey en Monterrey, México, y actualmente es estudiante de Ingeniería de audio en el Instituto Tecnológico de Monterrey en Monterrey, México.

Ha estudiado una segunda carrera en Francés y también ha estudiado y realizado prácticas en Helsinki, Finlandia.

Es locutora y artista de Foleys para proyectos de animación y actualmente acaba de fundar su productora de audio Happy Dog Productions, especialista en la creación de diseño sonoro, scoring, mezcla y masterización.

Carolina C. Antón – Originaria de la Ciudad de Mexico, con más de 9 años de constante crecimiento, amante de la música, su primer acercamiento fue tocar la batería, inmediatamente inició de manera autodidacta e independiente, comenzando a realizar grabaciones en vivo, diseños y optimización de refuerzo sonoro y Head de audio para festivales internacionales a nivel internacional. Actualmente es ingeniero de mezcla para en vivo (FOH / MON). Ha mezclado para varios artistas, participando en giras mundiales.

Desde el 2016 comenzó su representación de Soundgirls.Org en la Ciudad de Mexico

Agradecimientos a la comunidad de Artistas de Foley: Peggy Vázquez, Estefanía Monroy (BHD estudios) y Alexa Castillo (BHD estudios) por aportaciones de consejos.

 

 

SOUND DESIGN – Foley

Using sound effects in film began with the passing of silent films. In 1927, Jack Foley developed multiple techniques of sounds for cinema, thanks to his collaboration in the film “ShowBoat,” where he made the effects of synchronous sound in real time and thus began the room effect, better known as the Foley effect.

Sound has the ability to make us feel part of a story; sometimes it goes unnoticed, but if it were not there, the film would not generate the same feeling.

Foley can be the most subtle and daily sound, to sound effects created to give more meaning to something in particular, for example, clothes, doors creaking, broken glass and the sea, among others.

In the beginning, it can be confusing to begin to recreate the sound effects. What sound is the best? What happens if I do not like the Foley I’m creating?

With this in mind, you have to focus on three main areas: steps, movement, and specific accessories. Below are different scenarios of what might happen, as well as some recommendations of what you can do about it:

The experiment makes the teacher: Create your own sounds, try various materials, factories, floors, and so on. This will help you to have an idea of a sound and decide what you need, as long as it works for you. Many times the final product ends up being something you did not expect, but it will also help you to create a workflow, and in future projects, you will be able to have your recording techniques ready

Get ready to get dirty: Yes, being a Foley artist is a dirty job, it is advisable to use clothes that do not bother you because you will be in the studio for several hours and it will also provide you comfort to perform. Also try to wear clothes that make little noise, to prevent any external sound from leaking out.

Create templates: The order in the sessions will optimize your time; Create templates in your recording software (DAW) with time. Regardless of which one you use, the work will be faster, and this will also make it easier for editors, mixers, etcetera.

Having a diary will become your best friend: In it you will have to record every movement you are making, with its respective date and time, from the simplest, such as: “I had a recording error” or “I did not achieve the adequate step “, even the most complex:” Today I learned a recording technique “. It can be tedious, but in the long term it will be very helpful if you forget to create a sound, or also, when you do similar projects, you will have an idea of how to work them, thanks to your journal.

Go to the cinema: Whether for reference or inspiration, this will open your mind, not only see special effects, listen to steps in different types of relief and others; You can also see how the genres in the cinema vary in Foley, in their way of being created, recorded and mixed.

There will be changes at the last moment: It is the law of life and more in the production of films. Keep in mind that there may be projects that you ask to deliver the next day (I had to deliver from one hour or up to half an hour before the screening), so you’ll have to work under pressure, but do not worry, it will not always be the case, and you will learn a lot.

Save everything: The golden rule. Record everything and if you are not sure that you did it, save it again.

Placement of microphones

Sensitive microphones are excellent for capturing subtle nuances in sound effects. Within the Foleys study, you can use the following models of transducers:

Try that the direction of the microphone is not very close to the source you want to capture; move it a few inches to have a bit of the sound of the room.

These are some objects and techniques suggested by Foley artists in Hollywood:

TECHNICAL

OBJECTS

Each movie is different; In addition, each production and direction cause different processes, so you will always learn new things. So in the end, at all times keep trying new ideas and save them, you never know when you could use them.

By Tania Moreno and Carolina Anton

Tania Moreno – was born in Ciudad Obregón, Sonora, on April 2, 1996. She finished high school and is currently a student of Audio Engineering at the ¨Instituto Tecnológico de Monterrey in Monterrey¨, Mexico. She has studied a second career in French and has also studied and completed internships in Helsinki, Finland.

She is an announcer and artist of Foleys for animation projects and has just founded her audio production company Happy Dog Productions, a specialist in the creation of sound design, scoring, mixing and mastering.

 

Carolina C. Antón – Originaria de la Ciudad de Mexico, con más de 9 años de constante crecimiento, amante de la música, su primer acercamiento fue tocar la batería, inmediatamente inició de manera autodidacta e independiente, comenzando a realizar grabaciones en vivo, diseños y optimización de refuerzo sonoro y Head de audio para festivales internacionales a nivel internacional. Actualmente es ingeniero de mezcla para en vivo (FOH / MON). Ha mezclado para varios artistas, participando en giras mundiales.

Desde el 2016 comenzó su representación de Soundgirls.Org en la Ciudad de Mexico

Acknowledgments to the community of Artists of Foley: Peggy Vázquez, Estefanía Monroy (BHD studies) and Alexa Castillo (BHD studies) for contributions of advice.

 

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