Big bangs and booms are the quickest way to catch a viewer’s attention. Yet, in the midst, mixers and designers can find moments to work in small details that add to a scene’s realism.

I am always on the prowl for those small details that give that slight lift. This is something I like to do - turning location ambient into effect.

In The Maid, when Rosa Dimanno, the main character goes underneath the ‘wayang’ opera stage to look for a football, the ambient music of the troupe on stage takes a ghostly turn. Every few bars, I added a subtle low beat. So subtle that it is not really heard but ‘felt’.

Then, slowly, I add on more ‘other worldly’ cues letting the music climax. At the point just when the ghost child makes his appearance, I removed all the ambient for the length of a heartbeat, followed by the big ‘bang’... a mixture of samples and recorded material.

However, that said, I always do an A-B comparison to see if it is necessary, whether it adds to the story. If it comes across as trying to be clever and not adding anything to the scene, I will throw it out.

At the end of the day, it is all about levels, pans and placement. To me a great mix is when the viewer gets into the story, and doesn’t pause to even notice that gunshot, or that scream. It should and must be very natural without questions asked.

You don’t want to create a veil between the audience and the characters by playing something too loud or being obvious. You want to support the energy and the tension in the room.

More than adding layers to sounds, many are finding they have to add sounds to a score. Quite often, music is going to carry the film so the challenge is not to try to figure out how to poke through (the score), but how to complement it in a way that makes it better.

Apart from adding layers to sounds, I also add sound to a score. Or else, I will hear what the sound designer has done and wrap the score around his work. It is a must that both complement each other. Otherwise you will end up with material that ‘fight’ each other and cancel each other out.

One of the musical ideas for Rule #1 was to use ‘world music’ instruments, hints of frame drums and various other instruments and samples from other continents. It is to lend the musicscape a sense of ‘otherness’ that mainstream audiences may find alien yet familiar.

Likewise, in the plane of existence that our two protagonists operate (they see ghosts and hunt down the ‘possessed’), I wanted to

create a musical representation of the unholy world they are

in. I drew inspiration from

anti-music heroes that I was, and still am a fan of, like Einstürzende Neubauten and Suicide.

Besides the usual reverb, panning and levels, it is also about bearing to what’s on screen. Directors need to understand that a great sound job doesn’t necessarily have to include dialogue, effects and music all playing at the same time.

What tends to produce a powerful sound sequence is figuring out how to gracefully pass the ball back and forth from one department to another, rather than using all of your arsenal of weapons firing all at the same time.Sound design primer

Sound design is a composite of imagined sound that does not exist and sound that does exist but exaggerated for impact. Score is music. But the line is being blurred in recent times.

I think this is great. Being a fan of industrial noise and punk rock, I like to incorporate sound design to music as long as it enhances the story telling. There should not be fixed rules.

So what is sound design? How is it used in different media, and what is the process by which sonic tableaux are brought to the big and small screens? In the broadest sense, the purpose of sound design is to augment or enhance the telling of a story.

In most cases, that involves the creation, manipulation, and organisation of non-musical sonic elements. Those elements can include door slams, cricket chirps, or computer beeps.

The sound-design process is no real mystery. In fact, you can break most jobs down into seven key steps: determine what sounds are needed, collect the raw sonic materials, manipulate and edit the sounds, integrate them into the project, revise until satisfied or time runs out, mix the sounds, and deliver the finished product to the client.

The sonic elements in a project can normally be broken down into several layers that serve different functions. Often, different people work on different layers simultaneously. The sound layers are combined with dialogue and music during the mix, which creates the finished presentation.

Many would argue that, in terms of audio post production, feature films are the most challenging. Certainly the level of creativity and possibility in any facet of the profession pushes all involved to new highs, but in terms of dollars spent, demands and expectations, there is little that compares to feature films.

One of the factors that continue to drive audio post excitement over the medium is the diversity of challenges. One day, a sound designer could be working on an action-packed thriller and the next day a romantic comedy.

One day it’s building an ambience for a world that doesn’t exist except in the imagination of the writer and director and the next it’s attempting to clean up noisy dialogue tracks.

As demands for creativity increase, the tools of the trade continue to improve. It seems as if week after week there’s a new plug-in that hits the market or a new library of sounds that’s made available.

In the case of interactive media, the mix consists of programming the volume and pan levels of the various elements in code rather than on a mixing console.

The right equipment is essential. I like KRK monitors and trust my AKG 240 headphones very much. Call me old school but I’m still on Logic 7. Somehow I’m not in a hurry to move on Logic 8, especially after reading all the reviews from Logic 7 users.

For surround, facilities such as Bangkok’s Kantana and Hong Kong’s Cinedigit deliver in spades. Foley, dialogue, effects and premix work in Singapore can be accomplished in Yellowbox and the now defunct Mastering Suite.

Hand in hand with the state of technology, the level of audio post talent is at record levels. There’s an amazing level of creativity out there, and people are definitely working in a smarter fashion.

In planning the sound-design process, the nature of the delivery medium must be taken into account. Creative, appropriate sound is

important in all media, but each medium has overriding principles that define the approach.

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