written BY Katie Maynard
MPSE SOUND EFFECTS EDITOR, BOOM BOX POST
Katie was given the fun yet challenging task of creating a roller coaster only consisting of materials that could be found thousands of years ago. The most challenging aspect of this build was that it is a modern contraption that couldn’t sound modern at all!
What was your thought process when creating this build?
I realized that a prehistoric rollercoaster would need to be propelled by gravity rather than a motor, and all mechanics needed to be made out of organic materials. That meant levers, pulleys, and brakes needed to be made out of sticks, vines, and rocks. For the story, it needed to sound very rickety and unsafe, so that gave me a great starting point in terms of what the wood needed to sound like, which is to say splintering, wobbly and fragile. I also knew it was going to need to be able to sound faster and less safe as it continued throughout the scene, so I needed to give it space to evolve into something bigger and creakier.
What was your step by step process when constructing the build?
Step 1: Design the Steady
The first thing I like to do when creating a vehicle of any kind is establishing its “steady” or the sound of the vehicle moving at a steady speed. The steady was composed of three layers: the sound of wheels rolling, the clacking of the wheels on the track, and something to give it a lot of weight. Here are those three layers I chose:
Step 2: Design the Bys
From there, I could make pass bys from a plug-in called Doppler. I made sure to make some slow bys, medium bys, and then fast bys when the roller coaster ramps up speed.
Step 3: Design the Sweeteners
After that, it’s SO important to add sweeteners! The sweeteners give the vehicle so much life. On heavy bys or loops, I added additional ratcheting so the coaster sounded like it was really struggling to hold on. I added some creaky structure layers to make the track sound like it was going to fall apart on tight turns. I added suspension bumps to the coaster occasionally as well, to really sell how man-made it was. Here are a few of those sweeteners in context:
Step 4: Design the Extras
Lastly, it’s important to make all the other things your vehicle may need, such as starts and stops, levers, seatbelts, doors - whatever you can to make it as full as it can be. You never know if you’ll need to expand this build in the future, so the more you can make, the better. Make sure to organize and save all of these pieces for the future!
How did you make this build your own?
I really wanted to make this coaster sound unique, so I built the clacking layer completely from scratch. I created a rhythm of bumps, creaks, and snaps of wood to mimic the sound of a roller coaster track. I knew the weight of the wood I wanted and how rickety it was supposed to feel, so it was much better for me to create a clacking layer from those handpicked materials than it would have been to use an actual roller coaster recording.
Did you run into any issues? What worked vs what didn't work?
It was pretty hard to find mechanical elements without any metal. Instead, I found rope pulleys and wooden ratchets to create all of that texture instead of gears or heavy duty machinery. I had to really compensate for how small wood and rope can sound, so I used lots of sweeteners, LFE, and rumbles to make it sound large.
What would you suggest to new editors on how to go about building a similar design?
I would recommend taking note on how your vehicle will evolve before you start building it. Don’t work chronologically! For example, in this case the roller coaster needed to feel more unsafe and much faster by the end of the story. If I were to build the biggest roller coaster possible right at the beginning, I wouldn’t have had any room to intensify it by the end.
Any plugins that you used that you recommend?
Whenever I’m cutting something with a lot of movement, Doppler and Soundshifter Graphic Mono are my favorite tools! They offer pitch and time changes to help give your vehicle motion. This, in combination with sweeteners, helped my roller coaster sound more dynamic and realistic. I also love Vari-Fi for the starts and stops. This plug-in simulates a power up or power down using speed and pitch.
Soundshifter Graphic Mono
Vari-Fi
Doppler
If you enjoyed this blog, check out these:
DESIGNING A TIME MACHINE
DESIGNING A NON-TRADITIONAL MOTOR