One of my favorite aspects of sound mixing is building up the ambient sound in the universe of each show and sculpting it all together into a cohesive sonic world. Diegetic music is one piece of the soundscape puzzle that is often misunderstood by new editors and mixers. Diegetic means that the element exists within the world of the characters, and is able to be heard or seen by them. This contrasts with the non-diegetic musical score, which exists outside of their world and is not heard by them.
As a re-recording mixer, it’s our job to create the final sound balance for a film or TV project. Here at Boom Box Post, we edit and prep both the dialogue and sound effects. The score however comes directly from the composers. The music has been both organized and mixed but it’s now our job to fit it in to the rest of the soundtrack. That’s where this post comes in. For this Music Mixing Basics posts, I’ll be covering the steps we take to work the score into the final mix.
Since opening our doors in 2015, we have had the privilege of teaching 25 interns and 5 apprentices. We reached out to a handful of previous interns and apprentice’s to see what they have been up to.
It’s very rare that a sound editor will cut in a single sound effect to match a visual on screen. Usually, we’re layering multiple effects together to create something new. Why do we do this? Because the result is usually something more rich and interesting than a single effect by itself. But layering can be unnecessary and frustrating for your mixer if you don’t do it with purpose. I’d like to talk about the right and wrong ways to layer sound effects to get the most out of your editorial.
We are so proud of our clients who have been nominated for a GLAAD Award! The GLAAD Media Awards is the most visible annual LGBTQ awards show in the world, sending powerful messages of acceptance to audiences globally.
A few weeks ago, Chad Anderson of Filmmaker U invited me to chat with him about sound for animation. Filmmaker U is a website that creates courses for film professionals to deepen and diversify their skillsets. So, as a huge proponent of being a lifelong learner, I was very excited to add the topic of animation sound to that knowledge base for their audience!
Last summer I found myself with a little extra time on my hands and a big idea. Coming on the heels of an original Boom Box Library offering, “Magic Chimes,” which I recorded back in 2021, I wanted to expand on the idea of an all encompassing percussion library. I received classical training as a percussionist at the Indiana University School of Music (now the Jacobs School). We would spend hours in master classes focused on one instrument, perfecting for example, the ideal triangle performance. Hours. On the triangle. Needless to say, I felt qualified for the task. Here’s my chance to revisit those roots and put together something really special.
We are extremely proud to announce the release of our latest Boom Box Library: The Percussion SFX Bundle!
The Percussion Bundle includes all four sound effect libraries in the Percussion Collection: Cymbals & Gongs, Magic Chimes, Hand Drums, and Auxiliary Percussion. All libraries contain high-quality recordings of professionally played percussion instruments. Various sticks and mallets were employed at numerous tempos and volumes.
Let’s discuss distinct winter sounds to capture and enhance your sound library!
We are extremely proud to announce the release of our latest Boom Box Library: The Auxiliary Percussion SFX Library!
The Auxiliary Percussion SFX Library is the latest member of our Percussion Collection and contains a wide variety of professional percussion sound effect recordings. Instruments include a bamboo horn, various tambourines, cabasa, castanets, claves, cowbell, various maracas and shakers, flexatone, toy glockenspiel, guiro, harmonica, kalimba, triangle, rainstick, sleigh bells, spoons, train whistle, and wood blocks. Each instrument is played at numerous tempos and employing various techniques.
We recently brought on a new Boom Box Post apprentice. It is our pleasure to introduce Andrew Shirey! We had a chance to ask him a few questions to better get to know him.
We are extremely proud to announce the release of our latest Boom Box Library: The Hand Drums SFX Library!
The Hand Drums SFX Library is the latest member of our Percussion Collection and contains a wide variety of professional percussion sound effect recordings. Instruments include the den den, djembe, doumbek, frame drum, and udu drum played at numerous tempos and employing various techniques.
For this library, all drums were played by our co-owner and classically trained orchestral percussionist, Jeff Shiffman, to achieve an incredibly high standard of quality.
Earlier this year, I sat down with GirltalkHQ, the digital publication which describes itself as “an inclusive digital feminist magazine amplifying diverse voices + stories,” for an interview. But, I wanted to be sure that the article they released wasn’t just going to appeal to women or feminists. Instead, I hoped to give an interesting look inside a post-production sound studio that happens to be co-owned by a woman and which maintains a 50% female and gender-expansive staff (something unique in a world where Women’s Audio Mission is still citing that only 5% of those employed in audio are women) without giving gender any weight during hiring decisions.
We are so proud of our clients who have been nominated for an Annie Award! The Annie Awards honors the excellence in the field of animation, and we are quite proud to be a part of that. See all of the Annie Awards Nominee’s here.
Boom Box Post co-owner, Jeff Shiffman sat down with Cory Stillman from Awards Radar to chat about working on the Prime Video series Invincible and more!
Over the course of this winter, Boom Box Post has diligently worked on a number of new shows and special projects. We are proud to announce that two feature films that we worked on are now streaming! They were both a blast to sound design and mix, and we are incredibly excited to be able to share them with the world!
We are honored to have been nominated for one Golden Reel Awards for 2023!
Congratulations to the Boom Box Post team for being nominated for three Children’s and Family Emmy Awards this year! We are so proud of all of our editors, and all of the hard work they put in. We are so honored to have been nominated, and congratulations to all the winners!
Over the past few years, Dolby Atmos has become an increasingly common format in the industry. We are starting to see more and more movies, TV shows, and albums released in Atmos. What was once originally reserved for Hollywood blockbusters, has now trickled down to smaller scale productions, animation, and even childrens content. Thanks to advancements in technology, Atmos has grown increasingly accessible. Gone are the days when Atmos was a gimmick that could only be experienced in major theaters. With new affordable products such as soundbars, Atmos has been introduced into households across the world.
2023 marked substantial growth for Boom Box Post, introducing new shows, seasons, and features. Let’s reflect back on the year and see what we have accomplished, and what we look forward to!
