Magic is always a massive challenge to do sound design for and we can alway use advice on how to tackle it. So we brought in the experts from the team behind the impressive new sound library Conjure, from Echo Collective. Rene Coronado and Brad Dale discuss their approach to magic sound design, recording new material and props, the tools they use i…

The sound work of the recent Netflix series "Avatar The Last Airbender" was a massive challenge on both the sound design and the dialog side of things. We talk with Re-Recording Mixers Joe Barnett & Adam Jenkins as well as Supervising Sound Editors Tim Kimmel & Luke Gibleon about how they made massive battle sounds for powers based on fire, water/i…

We talk with Norway's own Tormod Ringnes, about his excellent sound work on director Margreth Olin's new documentary, Songs Of Earth. As the film's title implies, the sound of the film is extremely important. We follow the director's 83 year old father as he hikes the rugged and beautiful nature of Norway in every season of the year. From intense i…

Tonebenders ran episodes with members of the sound teams of all five nominees in the "Best Achievement In Sound" category at this year's Oscars. So here are some of our favourite clips from each interview. Plus a few un-aired minutes from the Oppenheimer interview that we saved for this episode. Starting with James Mather talking about the epic Fia…

Richard King joins the podcast to talk about his amazing last couple of films, Oppenheimer and Maestro. He explains how his approaches varied between the two films, before spending the majority of the talk digging deep into some of the most arresting sound design scenes in Oppenheimer.LA based listeners, don't forget about The Los Angeles Tonebende…

Dane Davis will be getting the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Motion Picture Sound Editor’s Golden Reel Awards. So I asked him walk down memory lane and talk about many of the amazing films he has worked on over the years. In part 1, episode 250, you can hear him talk about his long and successful collaboration with The Wachowskis. In part 2, we…

For our 250th episode we got one of our all-time favourite guests, Dane Davis, to come back on Tonebenders. He is going to be receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award at the MPSE Golden Reels this year, so we took the opportunity to have him walk us through his storied career. In this episode, part one, Dane talks mostly about his long collaboratio…

The Creator is the recent film by Director Gareth Edwards, that features a sound design philosophy of Retro Futurism. The world is going to war over Artificial Intelligence and the robots, or simulants, powered by AI. Oscar Nominees for their sound work on The Creator, Erik Aadahl & Ethan Van der Ryn, give sonic life to multiple generations of futu…

Alan Wake II was released in the fall of 2023 to great critical acclaim. In this episode we talk with the sound team about their work crafting sounds for Bright Falls, The Dark Place, radio shows, strange commercials, a late night talk show, and all the other oddities that make up Alan's terrifying world. Joining us for this discussion are Richard …

We dig into the ambitious sound work done on Director Bradley Cooper's latest film, Maestro. They recorded the London Symphony Orchestra live on set with out any pre-recorded tracks. I am not sure anything like this has been attempted before? In addition to the huge orchestra scenes, there are intensely quiet scenes, that required a whole different…

We are joined by 5 members of the sound team from The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring. They walk us through their memories of working on this influential film, the sounds they created and the impact this experience had on their careers. Tim Nielsen (Sound Effects Editor), Katy Wood (Assistant Effects Editor, Foley Editor, Sound Effect…

Paul Hsu welcomes Tim and Teresa into his studio at C5 Sound in New York City, for this in-person interview. He talks about his epic collaboration with director Ari Aster on the film Beau Is Afraid. We dig into many specific moments and the over all approach to this mind bending work, where the sounds both help clear things up and further confuse t…

We talk about the challenge of creating the sound design for Marvel's newest super hero, Kahhori, introduced in the new season of the Disney Plus series, What If...? Supervising Sound Editor/Sound Designer Mac Smith and Re-Recording Mixer Jeff King take us through their design process, how the final mix came into focus and lots more.Show Notes: htt…

For the first time in a long time, all 4 Tonebenders hosts get together to hang out and do a draft of our favorite genres to do sound design for. Tim, René, Teresa and Mark take turns picking the types of movies we have always wanted to tackle in our own work. We each have to pick one genre from each of the following subsets:1 - Talkies:Mystery (Kn…

Crowds are so hard to make sound authentic & alive in sports films. So much work goes into designing large crowds that roar with emotion. In The Iron Claw, the wrestling scenes have crowds that sound fantastic and we have the audio team here to tell us how they created them. From capturing the extras on set and recording loop group, through sound d…

Picture Editor Hilda Rasula is joined by Supervising Sound Editor Mandell Winter and Supervising Dialog /ADR Editor Sang Jun Kim, to talk about their work on American Fiction. This film has excellent writing and acting, so it was up to the post production team to live up to those standards and carry it through to the end. They discuss the tight rop…

Michael Mann's new film "Ferrari", is a personal drama at heart, but we all know that it is the CARS that will draw people to see this one. Fortunately those cars sound amazing and we have the sound team with us, to talk about how they created and designed those sounds. Production sound mixer Lee Orloff, Supervising Sound Editors Tony Lamberti & Be…

Johnnie Burn joins in to talk about his work on the new Yorgos Lanthimos film, Poor Things. He discusses his working process with Yorgos, the sonic differences between the black and white portion and the full color parts of the film as well as how he figured out the vocals for the hybrid animals. We even briefly touch on his work on Zone Of Interes…

Friend of the podcast Mark Mangini invites us into his studio to talk about his work on the new documentary 32 Sounds. He tells us about his experience learning how to mix for headphones, what his personal "ghost sounds" are and lots more.Show Notes: https://tonebenderspodcast.com/238---32-sounds-with-mark-mangini/Podcast Homepage: https://tonebend…

Doing sound design for water is incredibly difficult, and this film involves a lot of water! We talk with Deborah Wallach & Grant Elder about their work on new Netflix film Nyad. They tell us about the challenges of making long cinematic swimming sequences sound dynamic and varied.Show Notes: https://tonebenderspodcast.com/237---nyad/Podcast Homepa…

Production Sound Mixer Nina Rice and Supervising Sound Editors Ai-Ling Lee & Dan Kenyon tell us about the rules of what sounds can exist in Barbie Land, how that contrasts with the Real World and lots more.Show Notes: https://tonebenderspodcast.com/236---barbie/Podcast Homepage: https://tonebenderspodcast.comTonebenders Host This Episode: Timothy M…

We dig into the sound of the sonically amazing race scenes in the Neill Blomkamp film, Gran Turismo. Re-recording Mixer Beau Borders and co-supervising sound editors Erin Oakley & Kami Asgar talk us through how they wanted the sound of the cars to feel like they are always from the POV of the drivers, so they felt hyper real. They also discuss how …

Let's talk about the criminally under-discussed topic of cutting ambiences for film and series. This important craft, often feels like it has become an after thought in post audio workflows. Our guests are here to praise the role backgrounds play in making movies feel and sound real. Tim Nielsen, Kayla Stewart, Mitchell Lestner and Michael O'Connor…

In this episode we talk with the sound people behind some of our favorite scripted podcasts, to learn how they are put together. Guests Allison Grasso, Marcus Bagala, Jonathon Roberts, Jamie Coupar and Daniel Brunelle share their experiences working on great shows like Quiet Part Loud, Limetown, Case 63, Harley Quinn and Joker: Sound Mind, Shipworm…

Tonebenders host, Timothy Muirhead, tells tales of some of his favourite field recording (mis)adventures and invites all our listeners to send in their own stories of capturing interesting sounds in the wild. Tim shares stories of recording in unusual places, when strangers find microphones left to record on their own, his favourite sound he has ev…

In this episode we talk to members of the sound teams from some recent animated features, about the art of sound design for this tricky genre. Julian Slater (The Bad Guys/Puss in Boots: The Last Wish), Justin Davey (My Father's Dragon), Bill Dean & Jesse Pariseau (DC League of Super-Pets) and Jay Jennings (The Bad Guys/Puss in Boots: The Last Wish/…

In this episode we talk with the team behind the new amazing sound effects library Cataclysm. Mattia Cellotto, Kyle Fraser and Robbie Elias tell us about their adventures recording propane cannons in remote mountain locations as well as many other loud and explosive source sounds for the library.Show Notes: https://tonebenderspodcast.com/230---reco…

In this episode Doc Kane tells us about his illustrious career as the main voice and ADR recordist at Disney Studios in Burbank California. He also talks about how he runs a session, which microphones he likes and lots more.Show Notes: https://tonebenderspodcast.com/229---doc-kane/Podcast Homepage: https://tonebenderspodcast.comTonebenders Host Thi…

We are joined by re-recording mixers Lindsey Alvarez and Mathew Waters from the fictional rock and roll series Daisy Jones & The Six. They talk about how they worked to put the music in all the venues the band played in, from garages to stadiums. They also dig into how they created the sound of 20,000 fans singing along with the band, plus lots mor…

VR game Moss: Book II. Kristen Quinn (Audio Director), Stephen Hodde (Voice Director, Engineer) and Sun Kim (Senior Sound Designer) tell us about how the games soundscape came together. They discuss telling stories with sound in virtual reality, a clever approach to spatialization, and why one of their team members is a magical unicorn?!Show Notes:…

We are joined by Supervising Sound Editor Nicholas Renbeck, ADR Supervisor Angela Organ and Re-Recording Mixer Andy Kris from the HBO series Succession. They tell us about their work on the final season of the series, with a special focus on how the series handles dialog. We also dig deep into the game changing 3rd episode and how its incredible so…

James Mather joins in to talk about the amazing work he and his team did on Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Pt 1. He discusses, with depth, the sound design of the car chase scene in Rome, the sonic representation of "The Entity", the train sequence in the final act and lots more. Don't miss this one!Show Notes: https://tonebenderspodcast.com/225…

Co-Supervising Sound Editors John Marquis and Nancy Nugent Title, join us for a talk about their sound work on The Flash. We discuss the various ways they tackled electricity sounds in the film, dealing with dialog recorded on an LED volume stage, and lots more.Show Notes: https://tonebenderspodcast.com/224---the-flash/Podcast Homepage: https://ton…

In this episode Kate Finan & Jeff Shiffman, from Boom Box Post in Burbank California, tell us about their experience of transforming a former auto body shop into a brand new multi-room audio post facility. From finding a building, hiring acousticians and architects, overseeing the actual build, and deciding on the gear to outfit the studios with, t…

The Bourne Trilogy changed the way action films sound, and raised the bar for everything that came after them. Supervising Sound Editor Per Hallberg takes us back through his work on all three films (Identity, Supremacy & Ultimatum). We dig into the sound design for the mesmerizing fight scenes, the intense car chases and even the tension built int…

Co-Sound Supervisors Bobbi Banks and Greg Hedgepath join us to talk about their wonderfully detailed sound work on the new film - Chevalier. They tells us about designing the period accurate crowd reactions, sword fights, riots and a bunch more. Lots of big laughs in this one.Show Notes: https://tonebenderspodcast.com/221---chevalier/Podcast Homepa…

Michael Benavente (Supervising Sound Editor) and Chris Battaglia (Sound Designer) tell us about the amazing sound work they did on the HBO series The Last of Us. We talk about the pressure to stay true to the sound work done on the original games, designing decrepit and terrifying soundscapes and lots more.Show Notes: https://tonebenderspodcast.com…

We are joined by Steven Ticknor (Supervising Sound Editor) and Michael Babcock (Re-Recording Mixer) from the recent Sci-fi film “65”. The challenge of designing sound for dinosaurs and spaceships makes the soundscape especially unique. They tells us how to craft the sound of a jump scare, about the idea of “speaker real estate” and how to make he m…

We dig into the fantastic sound in Evil Dead Rise with the film's writer/director Lee Cronin as well as the Sound Designer and Supervising Sound Editor Peter Albrechtsen. We talk about their creative use of ATMOS, designing scenes where sound is doing the heavy lifting and lots more.Show Notes: https://tonebenderspodcast.com/218---evil-dead-rise-wi…

Dmitry and Mattia talk about their adventures recording many different animals, both big (like Lions and Wolves!) and small (Guinea pigs!). They talk about the gear they use, how to approach the creature's keepers to gain permission to record and how to best interact with animals to get the best vocalizations out of them. Plus some great stories on…

BAFTA Award winning director Mark Jenkin joins us to talk about his unique approach to sound for his films. He shoots his films on a bolex camera, entirely without sound and only adds ADR (which he records himself) after the film is edited. He also writes and records the score himself. All of this to make utterly unique films that have found both a…

In this episode we talk about the expressive sound world of The Rings of Power series on Prime. Supervising Sound Editors Robert Stambler and Damian Del Borrello as well as Sound Designer Paula Fairfield, tell us about living up to the legacy of the original trilogy, building ambiences for fantasy scenes, designing creature vocals and making magic …

In this episode we talk with the presidents of The Motion Picture Sound Editors (Mark Lanza) and The Cinema Audio Society (Karol Urban) about the various reasons for joining these organizations.Show Notes: https://tonebenderspodcast.com/214---should-you-join-mpse-and-cas/Podcast Homepage: https://tonebenderspodcast.comTonebenders Host This Episode:…

Andor, the latest Disney+ series from the Star Wars universe, is an exciting series for sound design. Supervising Sound Editors David Acord & Margit Pfeiffer tell us about building crowds with emotion, creating massive action sequences and the special moments when no sound at all is the scariest possible sound.Get tickets for the upcoming MPSE Gold…

For our 3rd and final episode in our series on Sound Design for Documentaries we talk with the director and sound team behind the magnificent David Bowie doc Moonage Daydream. They talk about rebuilding all the music from the original 24 track recordings, making the crowds feel realistic/immersive, merging extensive sound design into iconic songs a…

This talk with the sound team behind director Sarah Polly's new film, Women Talking, was recorded on location at Formosa Studios in Toronto. The film offered some surprisingly difficult sound issues, including an incredibly tricky dialog clean up and edit. Predominantly in a single location, sound was left to tell the story outside those walls. Sup…

In this episode we have two absolutely all-timers join us for a fun talk about their long standing working relationship and their earliest memories of going to the movies. After that we dig deep into the soundscape of The Fablemans, director Steven Spielberg's latest and most personal film to date.Show Notes: https://tonebenderspodcast.com/210---ga…

For the first time in a long time, all 4 Tonebenders hosts get together to hang out and play a game of audio post production based trivia. Tim, René and Mark go head to head in attempting to answer Teresa's oddball quiz. Feel free to play along at home!? Lots of laughs and general fun as we wrap up our most successful year yet.Thanks to everyone fo…

We are joined by 5 members of the audio team on the epic Playstation game: God Of War Ragnarok. We discuss the tricky things they did for the mix of the game, how the massive amount of work was distributed, the amazing foley and lots lots more. Michael Kent, Stephen Schappler, Bryan Higa, Beau Jimenez and Alex Previty tell us everything!Show Notes:…

Paul Hsu (Sound Designer) and Dave Flynch (Supervising Sound Editor) talk about their work on the new Film "Nanny". This Blumhouse production, by first time director Nikyatu Jusu, is full of moody and creepy sound design as the film teeters between reality and the supernatural.Show Notes: https://tonebenderspodcast.com/207---nanny-with-paul-hsu--da…