Sound Story Network

SAROS: Behind the Dark, Brutal Sound – huge game audio interview

Asbjoern Andersen — Tue, 11 Aug 2026 12:49:51 +0200

Get the complete game audio story behind SAROS, Housemarque's fantastic sci-fi game:

The post SAROS: Behind the Dark, Brutal Sound – huge game audio interview appeared first on A Sound Effect.

Beyond chimes and whooshes: Extending the sound of magic

Asbjoern Andersen — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 13:25:22 +0200

Here are 8 new ways to do to magic sounds:

The post Beyond chimes and whooshes: Extending the sound of magic appeared first on A Sound Effect.

Grow your audio career with a mentor – here’s how:

Asbjoern Andersen — Wed, 05 Aug 2026 12:25:27 +0200

Here's how to find an audio mentor:

The post Grow your audio career with a mentor – here’s how: appeared first on A Sound Effect.

What Game Audio Employers Are Looking For In 2026 – by Brian Schmidt:

Asbjoern Andersen — Wed, 05 Aug 2026 10:26:00 +0200

Check out Brian Schmidt's great annual analysis on game audio hiring trends, skills and roles:

The post What Game Audio Employers Are Looking For In 2026 – by Brian Schmidt: appeared first on A Sound Effect.

5 great new sound effects libraries: Adriatic storm winds, first-person scuba, car destruction, exhibition halls & more

Asbjoern Andersen — Tue, 04 Aug 2026 17:20:11 +0200

Get sounds of car destruction, first-person scuba recordings, Adriatic storm winds, and more.

The post 5 great new sound effects libraries: Adriatic storm winds, first-person scuba, car destruction, exhibition halls & more appeared first on A Sound Effect.

Unlock the power of REAPER with this brilliant rapid-fire guide by Chris Bolte

Asbjoern Andersen — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 14:04:42 +0200

Chris Bolte (BØLT) presents a ton of features, extensions, workflows and clever ways you can make the most of REAPER:

The post Unlock the power of REAPER with this brilliant rapid-fire guide by Chris Bolte appeared first on A Sound Effect.

17 great new sound effects libraries: Superb rain recordings, South Africa ambiences, creature design & more

Asbjoern Andersen — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 13:47:09 +0200

Hear the very latest in sound effects - recorded and designed by the independent sound community:

The post 17 great new sound effects libraries: Superb rain recordings, South Africa ambiences, creature design & more appeared first on A Sound Effect.

Get great deals on excellent sound effects libraries, plugins & instruments – and free sounds with ANY order!

Asbjoern Andersen — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 17:53:52 +0200

Land excellent deals on sound libraries, plugins and instruments here - while you have the chance!

The post Get great deals on excellent sound effects libraries, plugins & instruments – and free sounds with ANY order! appeared first on A Sound Effect.

Behind the quirky sound of Widow’s Bay:

Asbjoern Andersen — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 12:54:55 +0200

Widow’s Bay is a brilliant new Apple TV series that blends comedy and horror as a mayor tries to turn his cursed New England island town into a tourist hotspot – and in this new interview by the AMPS Podcast (member of the Audio Podcast Alliance) you get the story behind its excellent sound: AMPS […]

The post Behind the quirky sound of Widow’s Bay: appeared first on A Sound Effect.

Watch ‘Sound of Dreamers’ – a glorious tribute to game audio, and the people who create it

Asbjoern Andersen — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 12:33:16 +0200

Audiokinetic – the creators of Wwise – has released a fantastic tribute to game audio, the audio community – and the art of creating sound for games. Be sure to check it their in-depth documentary: Watch the full film below: Read the official description ▾ In the realm of human imagination, where creativity and dreams […]

The post Watch ‘Sound of Dreamers’ – a glorious tribute to game audio, and the people who create it appeared first on A Sound Effect.

ICON may have one last trick: Trade-In Value

info@resurface.audio — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 17:52:24 +0200

From ICON Cliff Edge to Avid Trade-In Shortcut

In our recent article, “ICON and the Cliff Edge,” we looked at the difficult position many Avid ICON owners now face.

D-Control and D-Command remain hugely respected surfaces. For many Pro Tools users, they still represent one of the most direct, productive and ergonomic ways to mix. But with Apple’s Rosetta support now on a visible timeline, ICON rooms need to start making decisions: preserve, upgrade, or transition.

Avid’s new S6/S4 trade-in promotion – Announced this week – adds an unexpected twist to that story.

For a limited time, a qualifying console or control surface may be traded in against a brand-new Avid S6 or S4 system, unlocking savings of up to €35,000. The promotion runs from 15 July to 18 September 2026 and applies to eligible Avid, Digidesign, or third-party consoles/control surfaces with an original purchase price of $10,000 USD or greater.

That means ICON may not just be legacy infrastructure.

It may also be trade-in leverage.

Two €3,500 ICON systems. Up to €35,000 trade-in potential each!

Resurface currently has two Avid ICON D-Control ES systems with panners available at £2,995 each — approximately €3,500.

For buyers planning a new Avid S6 or S4 purchase, either one could potentially become a qualifying trade-in under Avid’s promotion.

Available now:

Used ICON D-Control ES 16 Fader with Panner
https://resurface.audio/directory/used-icon-d-control-es-16-fader-with-panner-2/

ICON D-Control ES with Panner
https://resurface.audio/directory/icon-d-control-es-with-panner/

The maths is hard to ignore: €3,500 cost. Potential promotional value: up to €35,000.

For the right buyer, this could be a very cost-effective way to unlock Avid’s trade-in saving and move into a new S6 or S4 system.

What savings are available?

Avid’s promotional trade-in values are:

New Avid system	Promotional saving
S6, 32 fader, 5 knob	€35,000 off
S6, 24 fader, 5 knob	€30,000 off
S6, 16 fader, 5 knob	€20,000 off
S4, 24 fader 5 System	€18,000 off
S4, 16 fader 4 System	€10,000 off

The offer applies to new orders only and is subject to Avid approval, availability and promotional terms.

The ICON cliff edge may also be an exit route

For existing ICON owners, the conversation is no longer only about how long the surface can be kept working. It is also about whether the system has more value as part of a transition plan.

Some facilities will choose to preserve their ICON rooms with stable software, spare parts and careful maintenance.

Others will use this moment to move into the Avid S-series ecosystem.

And for buyers who do not already have a qualifying trade-in, Resurface can supply one.

Avid’s promotion requires evidence of destruction, charitable donation, or recycling of the eligible trade-in after delivery of the new S6/S4 system, including serial number documentation within 14 days. Resurface can take care of this also.

So this is not a loophole. It is a structured trade-in opportunity — and potentially a smart one.

Need a qualifying trade-in?

If you are planning a new Avid S6 or S4 purchase, talk to Resurface before placing your order.

We currently have at least two £2,995 ICON D-Control ES systems that may qualify as trade-in candidates.

We also have access to multiple S6 systems, both pre-owned and new and unused, at significantly reduced prices.

Browse available stock at www.resurface.audio/buy or email us at info@resurface.audio and let us know your desired configuration.

ICON started with a Cliff. Could it now end with a trade-in shortcut?

Trade offer subject to Avid approval, eligibility, availability, exchange rate fluctuation and promotional terms. Eligibility should be confirmed before purchase.

The post ICON may have one last trick: Trade-In Value appeared first on Resurface.

Field recording tools of the trade

George Vlad — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 10:26:13 +0200

Article originally written for Earth FM.

What comes to mind when you read the title of this article? Microphones, recorders, wind protection, maybe cables and SD cards. Endless articles promise detailed lists of the best equipment you can get. Images of field recording equipment attract lots of reactions and get massive reach. Equipment reviews are a sure way to get clicks and engagement. I’ve been guilty of some of these strategies too, but it’s becoming very passé.

Regardless where you stand, equipment discussion is a black hole that no other topic survives. That is somewhat understandable. As a beginner, buying more and better equipment is a good way to improve your field recording practice. That quickly takes you into the territory of diminishing returns though. There is a hard ceiling to how much you can spend on microphones and recorders, dictated by either your wallet or the existing kit on the market. This impulse to talk kit goes at the detriment of more important topics though.

Here’s my hot take on this: at the lower end of the price spectrum, field recording equipment will yield relatively similar results. A few dB of self noise won’t make a huge difference if the recordist hasn’t mastered the other tools of the trade, the ones that can’t be bought.

This obsession with equipment is sometimes encouraged by manufacturers who have sensed that the community is very responsive to novelty and hype. My suggestion is to take a step back and approach this from a different angle, before throwing money at the problem.

I have made decent recordings with equipment that was worth a few hundred dollars. Conversely, I’ve captured mediocre audio or downright failed at it using equipment that cost many thousands. The return on investment mindset is shoddy at best, and can be an expensive crutch at worst. Let’s examine some lesser known but rather more important tools that are sure to improve your field recording practice.

Listening skills

This goes without saying but you need to listen before you can record. Sadly I see lots of people who overlook this critical step in their practice. The reasons for that might be too much excitement, tunnel vision on the end product, not enough experience in the field, overconfidence or trusting the kit to do their work for them.

Whatever the reason, this one is easily fixed. The focus needs to shift from the end result to the experience and the process. Being out in the field is not merely an inconvenience. If you don’t enjoy this part, you might as well find something else to do. Being present fully takes quite a bit of effort. Listening intently for a long time can be exhausting, especially when one is used to endless flows of information and stimuli. Proper immersion into the land- and soundscape seems like a lost art.

When I went to South Africa in 2016 to join Francisco Lopez and a handful of sound artists, one of the things we did was a very nice deep listening exercise. We went out into the bush at sunrise or sunset, brought a bunch of camping chairs and sat down without talking for at least an hour at a time. The first few minutes of that experience were a bit difficult, but the more we did it the easier it got. Slowing down and synchronising with the rhythms of the savannah sounded a bit new agey at first. However, it gave us a whole new perspective into the landscape we were there to understand and document.

You don’t need to go to South Africa or to join others on a field recording expedition to do this. It can be done very easily even in an urban garden or park. The important thing is to treat it as a sort of meditation. Let the sounds flow through you, and try to ignore other thoughts or stimuli.

Fieldcraft/experience

This is a big one. Once you’ve improved your listening skills, it’s time to get out into the field. There is no substitute for doing the thing, which in our case is going out and recording. Completing the cycle of research, plan, go out, record, come back, copy, listen, and learn is essential to your practice as a field recordist. Reading and talking about it can only take you so far. Getting good at field recording requires you to put in the field work for hours, days, weeks, years.

The Japanese concept of Shu Ha Ri applies here perfectly. In short, the three stages of mastery are “follow the rules, break the rules, transcend the rules”. My journey in field recording started by getting familiar with the rules as best as I could. There weren’t that many, fortunately, so I went out into the field and started applying what I had learned. When there were no rules to follow, I tried to make them up as best I could.

It took me many years of repeating the cycle I mentioned above before I realised that the rules can be broken. Fortunately field recording is a relatively new practice and there is still a lot to standardise. While too much freedom and too many options can be a problem, in my case this encouraged me to find my own way of doing things. Some of the rules that people like to stick to seemed irrelevant or worth breaking for me.

By going out into the field a lot, I developed a sense for how to do things without necessarily thinking about rules. I am playing it by ear, if you will. This is the third stage in the metaphor above, although I feel like I am just at the beginning of it.

Access

Certainly less profound than Shu Ha Ri, access is quite important nevertheless. These days it’s fairly easy to get a decent recording rig and to point a mic at something interesting. There are lots of folks sharing field recordings of varying levels of quality everywhere. This creates a sea of noise in which a lot of good material can get lost.

One way to set oneself apart is to get access to interesting sounds that have not been recorded properly (or at all). Rare wildlife, remote environments, new ways of capturing sound have lots of potential. But to capture these you need access.

I’ve had to spend lots of time, energy and money on recording expeditions in my career. In some cases, it was the only way to reach places like Langoue Bai in Gabon, or to find species like the white rhinoceros. But paying to be somewhere or to track a certain species has its limits. Some of the truly remote places or rare species require a different approach.

Having a solid portfolio can be of great help when approaching organisations. Working with scientists and researchers can open doors to places where simple tourists are not allowed, no matter how much they will spend. Offering to train rangers to do sound recording sometimes helps as well. Offering to be an advocate for nature and wildlife can also achieve that. Sometimes just asking nicely and being a great human that people like to hang out with can do more than everything else I mentioned. I’ve done all of the above and more in my quest for access, and it has helped immensely in my practice.

Post production abilities - digital audio

Once you’ve got the listening skills, obtained access, been out in the field and returned with good sounds, it can be a bit of a deflating moment when you need to sit down and figure out how to approach the data. This is where some knowledge of digital audio and post production will come in very handy.

I was messing around with digital audio workstations for more than a decade before I picked up a microphone. Teaching myself to make music and to do sound design in the box offered me an invaluable glimpse into working with sound. I know and understand what other professionals require when they use my field recordings. More importantly, I understand what all the numbers mean and do.

Questions about software, sample rate, bit depth, data management, editing and mastering, fx, signal chain etc. pop up very often on social media and in my inbox. I can sometimes offer a simple answer, but that doesn’t help much. A field recordist needs to understand and master the studio part of their workflow, even if they will pass the material to someone else once they’re done recording.

Curiosity

Icon D Command: Feeding The GOAT, we looked at why D-Command continues to have such a devoted following. In earlier Resurface articles around ICON final sale and end of support, we also covered what Avid’s support milestones meant in practice: not instant obsolescence, but a gradual shift from manufacturer support to specialist maintenance, careful system planning and access to the right spare parts.

Now, however, ICON owners face a different kind of cliff.

The immediate issue is not the hardware. It is macOS.

Sunset and MacOS28

Avid has already made clear that ICON will not run directly with Pro Tools in native Apple silicon mode. On Apple silicon Macs, ICON can continue to work only when Pro Tools is launched under Rosetta. For D-Command users specifically, there is a third-party software ‘bridge’ to Apple silicon in the form of Neyrinck’s V-Control Pro.

Apple has now put a visible horizon on Rosetta support: available through macOS 27, but from macOS 28 expected to be restricted to certain legacy games rather than general professional software.
That makes next year an important planning window for ICON rooms.

This does not mean your D-Control or D-Command suddenly stops being useful. Far from it. A well-maintained ICON on a stable Mac, macOS and Pro Tools configuration can remain a superb working system. For some studios, the best decision may be to freeze a known-good setup, keep it away from unnecessary updates, and maintain a sensible stock of critical spares.

But it does mean ICON should now be treated as legacy infrastructure with a finite software future.

Planning Ahead

For professional facilities, the question is no longer simply “does it still work?” It is “how long can we responsibly build our room revenue and workflow around it?” A private writing or mix room may be happy to hold a stable system for years. A busy post facility with multiple rooms, client interchange, Dolby Atmos requirements, IT policy and support expectations may need a clearer migration plan sooner.

That plan does not have to be one-size-fits-all.

Some ICON owners will want to extend the life of their existing desks with replacement faders, power supplies, blanking panels, monitor-section parts and other critical spares. Resurface continues to support that route wherever possible.

Others will see the Rosetta deadline as the right moment to move into the Avid S-series ecosystem, particularly used and ex-demo S6 and S4 systems, where the economics can be far more attractive than buying new.

The important thing is not to wait until you are standing on the cliff edge.

ICON has had a remarkable life. For many users, it remains emotionally and practically tied to the way Pro Tools became a professional mixing platform. The sun has not fully set on D-Control or D-Command, but the light is changing.

If your studio still depends on ICON, 2027 is the year to decide whether you are preserving, upgrading or transitioning.

Resurface can help with all three: sourcing critical ICON spares, advising on realistic life-extension options, and brokering used or ex-demo Avid S-series consoles for facilities ready to move forward in the most cost-effective way.

The post Icon and the Cliff Edge appeared first on Resurface.

What’s New in REAPER 7.75 – Mixer slots and sample edit spectral repair

Admin — Thu, 25 Jun 2026 15:58:00 +0200

Learn the latest features and changes in REAPER version 7.75

The post What’s New in REAPER 7.75 – Mixer slots and sample edit spectral repair first appeared on The REAPER BLOG.

What’s New in REAPER 7.74 – Multi-Mono/Stereo FX Containers, sample edit improvements and more!

Admin — Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:30:33 +0200

Let’s catch you up on the latest features and changes to REAPER in the 7.74 update including the new multi-mono/multi-stereo FX containers, changes to grouping, sample edits and more. 00:20 - Render03:30 - Projects: Open read only04:21 - Track panels submenu additions05:30 - Grouping - folder child track automatic grouping for media/razor edit11:26 - MIDI […]

The post What’s New in REAPER 7.74 – Multi-Mono/Stereo FX Containers, sample edit improvements and more! first appeared on The REAPER BLOG.

Ray Gillon on AI Voices and the future of Foreign Reversioning

info@resurface.audio — Wed, 03 Jun 2026 14:13:49 +0200

Before a packed room of audio professionals, Resurface co-founder Ben Nemes sat down with renowned dubbing director Ray Gillon to discuss one of the fastest-moving, most fascinating and occasionally alarming developments in post-production: AI in foreign language reversioning.

Hear the full conversation here:

Resurface · Ray Gillon on AI Voices and the future of Foreign Reversioning

It is a subject that sits precisely at the collision point of technology, performance, authorship, law and craft. AI dubbing is no longer a speculative future technology. It is already here, already impressive, already useful, and already causing complications that the industry is still learning how to describe, let alone solve.

Gillon is well placed to talk about it. With decades in dubbing and foreign language versioning, including many years at Warner Bros., he has spent much of his career dealing with the fine detail of how performances travel across languages. Not simply how words are translated, but how character, class, intention, accent, timing and tone are rebuilt so that an audience in another territory can experience something emotionally equivalent to the original.

That distinction — between translation and re-performance — sat at the heart of the conversation.

Dubbing is not just translation

Nemes began with the now familiar story of ElevenLabs, whose origins are often linked to dissatisfaction with the experience of watching foreign-language versions of films. Gillon drew a useful distinction between full dubbing and the “lektor” tradition familiar in some territories, where a single narrator-style voice runs over the original soundtrack. In that model, music and effects are dipped under a spoken translation, rather than the drama being fully re-created with distinct performances. For audiences, it can be functional. For filmmakers, actors and sound teams, it is a very long way from the original intention.

That is one reason AI dubbing has become such a compelling idea. If technology can preserve, reproduce or convincingly re-version an actor’s voice, perhaps foreign audiences can receive something closer to the original performance than ever before. In theory, the same actor’s vocal character could travel into French, German, Spanish, Polish or Japanese. In practice, as Gillon made clear, there is a lot more to it.

Where AI already works

Gillon described a useful pyramid of suitability. At the bottom are cases where AI can already dominate: instructional, informational, process-led material. Think furniture assembly guides, corporate explainers or functional training content. The performance burden is minimal, the language is literal, and success is measured by clarity. In that space, AI is not only viable; it is arguably ideal.

The middle of the pyramid is more complicated. Lower-budget serial drama, telenovela-style content and other high-volume material may be an obvious target for automation, particularly where schedules and economics have always put pressure on craft. In some cases, Gillon suggested, foreign versions may even improve on uneven original performances.

Then there is the top of the pyramid: premium drama, feature films and performance-led work. This is the area that interests him most, and the area where AI still has the most to prove.

One of Gillon’s key points was that a voice is not a fixed object. His English voice, he demonstrated, is not exactly the same as his German voice. When humans speak different languages, the colour, posture, mouth shape, rhythm and musicality of the voice shift. Many AI systems, by contrast, attempt to map the characteristics of the source-language voice directly onto the target language. That can produce something technically impressive but culturally or physically wrong.

The problem becomes especially acute with iconic voices. John Wayne in German cannot simply be John Wayne’s English vocal print poured into German words. Jimmy Stewart, Sylvester Stallone, Sean Connery or Laurence Olivier are not just timbres. They are performance histories, cultural memories and territory-specific relationships with audiences.

The human detail AI still struggles to catch

Gillon illustrated the point through vocabulary. In English, a horse might be a “nag”, a “horse” or a “noble steed”, depending on class, context and character. Other languages may not offer three equivalent rungs on the same social ladder. AI cannot invent a cultural equivalent that does not exist. Nor can it always understand that a Cockney register, a patrician register and a theatrical register are not interchangeable decorations, but fundamental parts of character.

That is where dubbing remains a human craft. The best practitioners are not merely matching lips or replacing words. They are deciding what the scene is doing and how another language can do it too.

The legal questions are no less complex. Gillon discussed the French Stallone case, in which the long-standing French voice actor associated with Sylvester Stallone had died. A production explored whether that performer’s voice could be recreated, with the family reportedly agreeing to a test. But when the work moved towards release, legal permission had not been properly secured in a way that satisfied the estate. The result was a late scramble to recast and re-record.

The lesson was simple: get the legal framework in order before the technology makes the creative option irresistible.

Permission, provenance and the future of voice

That question becomes more pressing as estates and rights holders begin licensing the voices of major performers. Gillon noted that ElevenLabs has licensed voices including Laurence Olivier’s. Such arrangements point towards a more legitimate commercial model, but they also highlight the unresolved problem of derivation. If a synthetic voice is generated from many influences, who owns it? If it evokes a region, a class, a celebrity or a performance style without directly copying any one source, what has been used? And how would anyone prove it?

Nemes and Gillon also touched on the broader visual AI world, including recent advertising work involving digitally recreated sporting and cultural figures. Their shared view was pragmatic rather than alarmist. Used with permission, proper payment and clear creative intent, AI becomes another production tool. The problem is not the tool. The problem is bad faith, weak contracts and murky provenance.

There was also discussion of AI-assisted language performance, including cases where an actor’s original voice can be combined with corrected pronunciation to create a more convincing foreign-language delivery. That is a particularly interesting middle ground. It does not replace the actor; it extends the performance into linguistic territory the actor could not quite reach unaided. For filmmakers, that may prove one of the most creatively useful applications of the technology.

The audience questions turned to disclosure. Should viewers be told when a voice is AI generated? Gillon was cautious. Cinema, he argued, is a dream state. Audiences do not necessarily want to be reminded at the door that the dinosaur, the street, the voice or the face has been manufactured. Nemes made the parallel with visual effects: we do not usually require a warning that a 1920s street is not real. Increasingly, audiences assume some element of digital construction anyway.

For sound professionals, perhaps the more urgent question is not whether AI dubbing will arrive. It already has. The question is where it belongs, who controls it, what it is allowed to replace, and what still needs a director, a performer, a translator, a writer and a human ear.

The answer, at least for now, is not a clean victory for either side. AI can accelerate workflows, reduce release delays, support day-and-date distribution and potentially limit the piracy window that opens when local versions lag behind original releases. It can generate useful background voices, handle functional content and perform certain forms of vocal transformation with startling speed.

But at the top end, the work is still about judgement. It is about knowing why “nag” is not “steed”, why a German version of an American star may need to be German before it is American, and why a performance is more than a waveform.

As Gillon repeatedly reminded the room, the technology is moving so quickly that any statement about its limits may already be out of date by the time the conversation ends. But some principles look more durable. Permission matters. Provenance matters. Performance matters. And in foreign language reversioning, the difference between making something intelligible and making it live is still where the craft resides.

With thanks to Ray Gillon and the Media Production & Technology Show

Picture courtesy of Callum Stott

MPTS Returns 12-13 May 2027
Register Free Here

The post Ray Gillon on AI Voices and the future of Foreign Reversioning appeared first on Resurface.

Nina Hartstone on Dialogue, ADR and the Sound of Performance

info@resurface.audio — Thu, 28 May 2026 13:41:28 +0200

Before a packed MPTS 2026 Audio Theatre, Resurface co-founder Ben Nemes sat down with Academy Award-winning Supervising Sound Editor Nina Hartstone for a conversation that ranged from film sprockets and early digital workstations to Live Aid, Emerald Fennell, two-person ADR and the enduring importance of performance.

Listen to the full conversation here:

Resurface · Nina Hartstone on Dialogue, ADR and the Sound of Performance

An Accidental Path Into Sound

Hartstone’s route into sound was both inherited and accidental. Her father, Graham Hartstone, is a renowned re-recording mixer whose credits include Blade Runner and Aliens, so the world of film sound was never entirely hidden from her. But her first instincts were visual. She studied visual and performing arts, with a strong interest in art history and film theory, and imagined herself moving towards art department work rather than sound editorial.

As she put it, the degree was wonderful, but not exactly vocational. After university she found herself looking for a way into the industry, gaining experience around sets, VFX and post-production, including time with Image Animation and even work experience in the art department on Tim Burton’s Batman. What gradually caught her imagination was not simply that films were constructed in post, but the sheer amount of storytelling work that happened there.

Her first serious steps into sound came at a moment of technological change. Film-based sound editorial was still slow, physical and procedural, which gave her time to understand the craft. Then digital audio workstations began arriving at Pinewood. Hartstone found herself, as she described it, the young person willing to sit with the manual, page by page, button by button, learning the new systems in lunch breaks and evenings.

That willingness to learn made her valuable quickly. She worked across DAR Soundstation, AudioVision, AudioFile, Akai and film, becoming a useful bridge between old and new workflows. It also gave her a place inside larger editorial teams, where she began to understand how sound departments collaborate creatively with directors, picture editorial, ADR, Foley, music and mix.

Dialogue as Storytelling

Although Hartstone is now known as a Supervising Sound Editor, dialogue and ADR remain central to how she thinks. Her move into dialogue came partly through the structure of large teams, where assistant roles often clustered around the dialogue department: conforming production audio, preparing ADR sheets, checking paperwork and supporting sessions. She acknowledged the uncomfortable reality that this kind of organisational work has historically funnelled many women into dialogue departments. But for Hartstone, the work itself became fascinating.

Dialogue editing, she noted, is hard to explain from the outside. It is not simply cleaning up words. It is extending syllables, shaping fades, building smoothness, making production recordings feel continuous and real, and supplementing them with ADR only when needed. The craft sits unusually close to performance. ADR, in particular, puts the post-production sound team back in the room with actors and directors, long after most other departments have moved away from direct contact with cast.

That proximity to performance lit a fire. Hartstone described ADR as almost like directing: helping actors find their way back into a moment, supporting the director’s intention, and understanding the psychology of a session. For someone drawn to storytelling, dialogue became not the technical corner of sound, but one of its most dramatic and creative disciplines.

Rebuilding Live Aid for Bohemian Rhapsody

That perspective proved crucial on Bohemian Rhapsody. Hartstone’s credit on the film was Supervising Dialogue and ADR Editor, working closely with Supervising Sound and Music Editor John Warhurst. The challenge was formidable: three vocal sources had to feel like one believable Freddie Mercury performance. Hartstone approached the vocals as “sung dialogue”, which opened the door to thinking about music, performance and editorial continuity as one interconnected problem.

The Live Aid sequence remains one of the defining achievements of that work. Rather than accept the limits of available crowd libraries, the team built its own palette. Fox’s “Put Me in Bohemian” marketing app provided recordings of fans singing into their phones.

Queen and Adam Lambert’s O2 show gave the team access to a fully mic’d arena and, with Brian May’s help, a crowd performing single handclaps. On set at Bovington Airfield, around 500 extras in full ’80s costume were recorded singing and responding, creating material that could be layered into the final Wembley experience.

The ambition, Hartstone explained, was to offer something beyond what an audience could already watch online. The sound had to move with the camera, from the instruments to the crowd and back again, placing the cinema audience inside the event rather than in front of an archive. That became part of a broader evolution in musical biopics. On later projects including Moonage Daydream, the Whitney Houston biopic and work on Michael, Hartstone and her collaborators continued to chase a more visceral, live-feeling concert experience: less “drama, then music video”, more drama about musical people.

Collaboration, Trust and Getting In Early

After Bohemian Rhapsody, Hartstone’s career moved further into supervision, though always through collaboration. She spoke warmly about working with John Warhurst on musical films and with Eilam Hoffman and Cinphonic on more drama and effects-led projects. A chance meeting with a post-production supervisor led to Saltburn, and then to a creative relationship with Emerald Fennell that continued into Wuthering Heights.

For Hartstone, Wuthering Heights was a chance to apply one of sound’s most repeated lessons: get involved early. Working again with Fennell meant there was already trust. Hartstone attended the read-through, visited the sets, joined production conversations and collaborated closely with production sound mixer Nina Rice. The film’s weather was not just atmosphere but character: rain machines, wind machines, costumes, intimacy and whispered dialogue all competing inside a heightened aesthetic.

The answer was not simply to “fix it in post”. It was to plan for sound from the beginning, understand where ADR would be needed, and make sure that ADR preserved the emotional truth of the set. Because Wuthering Heights depends on yearning, physical connection and chemistry between Cathy and Heathcliff, Hartstone wanted Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi together for ADR. Two-person ADR remains rare, but for her the priority was obvious: not a perfectly clean performance, but a usable performance that feels alive.

Her advice for ADR followed directly from that philosophy: movement, movement, movement. If the actor was lying down in the scene, let them lie down. If they stood up halfway through a line, let them stand up. If they need to move through the room, boom them. Sync is important, but without breath, movement and performance, ADR will not convince.

The conversation ended with a question about AI in dialogue editing and crowd recording. Hartstone was clear: she does not use generative AI in her role. Machine-learning-based restoration and processing tools are now part of the modern workflow, and software such as iZotope, Dialogue Isolate-style tools and Sound Particles can be invaluable. But for Hartstone, the goal remains unchanged from the film days through the digital revolution to now: make it feel real, protect the performance, and serve the story.

With thanks to Nina Hartstone and the Media Production & Technology Show

MPTS Returns 12-13 May 2027
Register free here

The post Nina Hartstone on Dialogue, ADR and the Sound of Performance appeared first on Resurface.

He automated all the boring parts of being a composer

Admin — Mon, 11 May 2026 17:32:18 +0200

Joel shares examples of the major workflow improvements he achieved vibe coded scripts and utilities.

The post He automated all the boring parts of being a composer first appeared on The REAPER BLOG.

What’s New in REAPER 7.71 – Non-destructive sample editing and more

Admin — Sun, 03 May 2026 15:41:41 +0200

Learn the latest features and changes in REAPER

The post What’s New in REAPER 7.71 – Non-destructive sample editing and more first appeared on The REAPER BLOG.

Funniest Sound Design winner: Nikola Ilić - Mattia Cellotto Sound Design Contest 2026

A Sound Effect — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 16:09:42 +0200

Best BTS winner - Junki Kim - Mattia Cellotto sound design contest 2026

A Sound Effect — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 16:09:33 +0200

Best Sound Design winner: Oliver Stutz - Mattia Cellotto Sound Design Contest 2026

A Sound Effect — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 16:07:02 +0200

Video Tools Course updated

Admin — Sun, 19 Apr 2026 20:24:05 +0200

I have just added another hour of content to the REAPERBLOG Video Tools Course in two tutorials. The first new video is covering everything in REAPER related to video editing that was added with v7 (so far). The second video goes through my typical editing workflow for a reaper.blog video tutorial, and includes a download […]

The post Video Tools Course updated first appeared on The REAPER BLOG.

Getting Started Media Composing in REAPER with Joel Schwartz

Admin — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 18:21:48 +0200

How to get started with professional media composing using REAPER

The post Getting Started Media Composing in REAPER with Joel Schwartz first appeared on The REAPER BLOG.

ON Recording Insects

Angel Perez Grandi — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 11:21:22 +0200

On a rainy British summer morning, myself, Phil and Michael met early at the Zoo’s gate, hoping to record bugs for The Sound Collectors Club. I had never met Michael or Phil in person, so having time to link up in real life was nice after all these years.

For such a metropolitan location finding a café to wait out the rain until opening time was a challenge. Luckily the security guards took pity on us and let us in their cabin, where we had a moment to catch up.

We were inside the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), aka the London Zoo. We’d arrived here via an internet rabbit hole, searching for a suitable environment to record insects. We didn’t know what to expect but the Media liaison person soon welcomed us. In a question of minutes we were standing in a high-ceilinged warehouse room.

It turns out the ZSL have a live food department where they breed exotic bugs to feed some of the animals they keep. What’s even better, they were more than happy to show us around and have a go at recording these bugs.

Despite its central location within the Zoo and the less-than-ideal acoustics of the room itself, we were lucky on three counts:

there were no fans because the bugs require warmth;
no heaters either as it was summer, and more importantly,
the main bug species was loud.

On top of this, the breeding expert was really accommodating. He gave us a thorough tour of the various species, answered our barrage of questions and even helped us isolate some individuals for recording.

It felt tropical in there and we were sweating before we even started. The three of us were delighted by the trove though. We exchanged quick glances and got to work without hesitation.

The main species of insect we recorded was the Black field cricket (Gryllus bimaculatis), a common live food for reptiles and pets. This is what they sound like:

Other species included cockroaches and beetles, as well as invertebrates such as woodlice, snails and earthworms.

Michael used his trusty Sennheiser MKH40 (cardioid condenser) for mono insect goodness, Phil brought with him a Neumann RSM191 (Mid-Side stereo shotgun) and a Sanken CUX 100K, renowned for it’s ultrasonic prowess and particularly useful for insects (more on this below). I had packed a pair of DPA 4060s (omnidirectional) mics, because of for their form factor - thinking of getting extreme close ups in small spaces - and because I had an interview recording job in the afternoon.

I’d also packed a pair of Aquarian Audio H2A hydrophones, and glad I did!

Insects produce all sorts of interesting sounds, from a sound design perspective: buzzing, chirping, tapping, munching, stridulating, thrumming, to name a few rhythmic ones; but there’s plenty of droning, humming or hissing to be had too. They are also useful for suggestive associations when used in backgrounds or ambience tracks.

Courtship is one of the main reasons that insects produce sound, so a little research into their mating habits goes a long way. Other reasons include territorial behaviour, as warning signals and alarm calls, for navigation and even as a defence mechanism through disguise by mimicking. Such is the case of the Ten-lined June beetle (Polyphylla decemlineata) or hissing beetle, which produces a sound similar to a bat vocalisation and was present at the London Zoo. But we failed to record it.

What we did not know and where about to uncover - quite literally - were the sounds produced by beetle larvae, inside decaying soil matter. We buried the hydrophones in one of the breeding boxes that was full with soil and rotting wood, essentially converting them into contact mics. This is what we got:

Why they produce these sounds is still to be fully understood, but biotremology and soil ecoacoustics are growing fields of study. The former is primarily about biological communication via vibrations, while the latter focuses on the study of acoustic and vibrational properties within soil ecosystems.

In this case the ground was soft but out in the field you can get some really experimental sounds by attaching a metal probe to a contact microphone and sticking the probe into the ground. Apparently, this practice dates back to the 70’s when a female member of the Gutai group in Japan began placing microphones underground. In the last couple of decades, UK based sound artist Jez Riley French has been developing these techniques - as well as making contact microphones - for his field recording and creative listening practices.

A great insect to try and record in the summer months are grasshoppers, both individually and as a soundscape. There is something relaxing about the subtle sound of crickets in a meadow. It’s a little more intense in the jungle, but nonetheless useful for our purposes as sound editors and designers.

Another interesting group are aquatic bugs, such as these water boatmen:

With relatively affordable hydrophones (Jez Riley French models, for example) you can record aquatic insects and a whole plethora of other sounds you never thought even existed.

To sum up here are some learnings and tips for recording insects:

Think inside the box: contact local live food breeders or per stores in your area, which will usually keep insects in boxes. And use boxes to isolate individuals. This applies in the field as well.
Go ultrasonic: many species of insects emit sounds at ultrasonic frequencies. Record at high sampling rates - 96 kHz or ideally above. Additionally, use microphones which capture sound the human hearing range (20 kHz) - but don’t be fooled if the microphone specs only cover up to 20 kHz, most microphones will record sound beyond that.
Go underground.
Go underwater.
Try and get an ID as much as possible.

I included this last point because as we have explored there is still much to uncover when it comes to insect sounds and communication. Who knows? You could end up recording a behavioural sound that has not been captured before. You can use apps such as iRecord Grasshoppers which covers all species of grasshoppers and connected species in the UK. For German speakers Orthoptera covers many species in Europe. I’m not aware of what is available for the rest of the world but there are reference websites out there such as https://songsofinsects.com/ for North America, where you can investigate.

Happy recording!

Ángel

Think inside the box: contact local live food breeders or per stores in your area, which will usually keep insects in boxes. And use boxes to isolate individuals. This applies in the field as well.
Go ultrasonic: many species of insects emit sounds at ultrasonic frequencies. Record at high sampling rates - 96 kHz or ideally above. Additionally, use microphones which capture sound the human hearing range (20 kHz) - but don’t be fooled if the microphone specs only cover up to 20 kHz, most microphones will record sound beyond that.
Go underground.
Go underwater.
Try and get an ID as much as possible.

Ángel

Introduction to Freestyle field recording

George Vlad — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 18:28:44 +0200

Definition

Freestyle field recording is a flexible approach to recording nature and wildlife sounds outside of the studio (or any controlled environment). While traditional methods are prescriptive and rigid, Freestyle field recording encourages deliberate experimentation and a very organic workflow.

Key principles

Adaptable
Flexible
Innovative
Experiential
Immersive
Sustainable
Organic

Main concepts

History

Miroslovesti - the idyllic village I grew up in

I firmly believe that limitations can unlock creativity and help solve problems, with the right attitude. This mindset extends to most things I do in life, including field recording, and its roots go back all the way to my childhood. I grew up with my grandparents on a subsistence farm in North-Eastern Romania, in a time of scarcity and self-sufficiency. (This latter one was not because people chose it, but rather because there was zero support from the government or the state. Romania was highly underdeveloped in the 80s and 90s as a result of many decades of soviet influence.)

Growing up in that time and place meant closeness to nature, weather and the landscape. People in the countryside worked the land in a relatively wholesome way. Most homesteads kept livestock, poultry, pigs, maybe a horse or two for doing jobs around the farm. Everything was reused and the economy was surprisingly circular. People made their own clothes from cotton, sheepskins and wool. Almost all food was grown on the land, and scraps were fed to farm animals rather than discarded. Animal dung was used as organic fertiliser. Clothes were mended and repaired when they broke, rather than being thrown away. Single use plastic was a fairly new concept and not very widespread. It sounds pretty idyllic, were it not for the extremely hard work that people had no choice but to perform.

At any rate, that lifestyle left a big impression on me as a child. I never questioned the need to fix things or to use them beyond their intended purpose. As an example, I made fences using all kinds of random materials with my grandfather, from mud bricks that we made ourselves to discarded concrete blocks, wooden pallets etc. My grandma used to mend our socks and patch our clothes many times until they stopped resembling the original thing completely.

Freestyle field recording

Setting up a drop rig out of hyena reach

You might see where I’m heading with this. Freestyle field recording is all about using and reusing materials from the environment, and coming up with new and innovative ways of doing the job when constrained by the environment or a lack of tools. Don’t have a tripod? Put the mics on a tree branch. Want to avoid getting your mics wet? Make a little canopy out of twigs and vegetation. Is your blimp broken? Try to fix it rather than throwing it away. Can’t spend many hours in the field because of weather, hunger, high risk etc? Set up a drop rig and go back to your tent to have a nice cup of tea. How do you even record a volcano, or a glacier? Freestyle field recording has the answers.

It is also about leaving as little of a footprint as possible. Sustainability is thrown around so much these days that it has lost its meaning. In my practice I think about it at every step of my work. I leave only footprints when I go out into nature, and I always try to minimise my impact. I don’t practice playback to grab the attention of wildlife, and I refuse to use drones in places where they could stress wildlife. My kit is fairly sturdy and deals well with extreme circumstances. I rarely need to replace my equipment, and when I do, I make sure I buy things that will last. The one exception I haven’t been able to figure out yet is plastic tape. Sadly this is still the best solution for putting mics up on trees, even though I hate the fact that it’s plastic, somewhat harmful and not reusable.

Another aspect stemming from my childhood is the flexibility of my mindset. Much like when I’m cooking, I never measure quantities, distances, angles, self noise etc. Everything is done by taste, or by ear in the case of field recording. When planning an expedition, I keep an open mind and I don’t discount certain equipment just because it’s not my main focus. As an example, this is how I decided to bring hydrophones to the desert, which allowed me to capture some haunting ambiences under the surface of the sand dunes.

While I prefer to develop my own field recording methods, some things are still worth learning by following established paths. I spend considerable time improving adjacent skills such as first aid, 4x4 and overland driving, tree climbing, photo and videography, expedition leadership, public speaking, storytelling, general design, ornithology, ecology, conservation and many others.

I’ve seen people lose the passion for field recording because they couldn’t break free from constraints and rules. They almost feel paralysed when having to make tough choices because they’d learned and internalised very stiff ways of doing things. I’m lucky that I’m mostly self taught, and everything I do has gone through lots of repeated cycles of experimentation and optimisation. Not in a corporate way, but rather an organic, flexible and deliberate process of slowly getting better.

This brings me to the human and organic aspect of Freestyle field recording. Many disciplines require careful and exact measurements, but that is not the case with creative/technical hybrids like field recording. In field recording, moving a microphone left by a few degrees or centimetres will likely not impact the final result very much. Correct microphone techniques are useful as guidelines, but they should not become traps.

I don’t dispute that people should learn concepts and terminology. This is actually very useful at the beginning of one’s career. A good sound recordist should know they can’t record in ORTF with omnidirectional microphones, because ORTF is by definition achieved with cardioid mics. The problem is when theoretical knowledge gets in the way of practical fieldcraft. Things are fairly easy to control and organise in the studio, but as soon as you step out into the field, the number of unknown factors grows exponentially. We can only expect to be in control of a handful of them, if at all.

Unlearning the rigid constraints of microphone techniques, self noise obsessions and other taught approaches is a necessary step towards becoming more comfortable and flexible in the field. If a certain method is not established or goes in the way of traditional thinking, that means nothing in the field. Empirical knowledge that can be proven, even by just one person, should not be discounted. To give you an example, recording with drop rigs is frowned upon by certain field recordists for a variety of silly reasons. I think it’s a valid way to get the job done, and I’ve proven it time and time again on critical jobs.

Having said all that, a flexible and organic approach does not mean the results will be random or out of our control. Yes, nature and wildlife are fickle recording subjects. A good field recordist will know what they can achieve and will be able to get the job done, however. This is where flexibility can be even more important. If tried and tested methods don’t yield the desired results, maybe it’s time to experiment? Of course, one should do that on their own time and not when the results are critical. This is where learning from one’s own experience becomes very important.

And how do you get to have that personal experience? Not by staying home and reading about others’ experiences. You have to go out into the field as much as possible, to get the work done and to bring recordings back into the studio where you need to listen to them thoroughly. Repeat the full cycle as many times as possible until the results start feeling right.

There’s a key word there - feel. There are some aspects of field recording that can be measured, but they don’t paint the whole picture. Signal to noise ratio, microphone sensitivity, distance to your subject, pickup pattern are all valid parameters. Making a “correct” recording is not the same as making a good recording that people will resonate with. A technically correct recording is a good base to build on, but the important question to ask is what does it make the listener feel?

Recording the sounds of the African bush

Lastly, I want to touch on listening and immersion. Notice I didn’t say anything about equipment. I feel like too often beginners (and even some more experienced recordists) get stuck in the loop of buying equipment and trying to improve their recordings only by throwing money at the problem. That comes at the detriment of listening, which is probably the most important aspect to field recording.

Whenever I find myself in a new environment, I like to spend at least a day or two listening and immersing myself in the landscape. That isn’t always feasible, but if possible it gives me an excellent opportunity to understand the place I am in. I also like to talk to people who have lived and experienced the landscapes I work in. As a freestyle field recordist, I aim to understand what I am recording so I can tell a better story. This is not limited to species names or historic aspects. I want to understand the human and wild elements, and their subtle (or not so much) interplay.

Once I’m back in the studio with terabytes of data, the stories that I’ve learned on the trip will help me share this material with others. I think of them as the glue that holds disparate information together, and adds an extra dimension to a collection of sounds that is already, hopefully, very interesting.

It has taken me more than a decade to fine tune my approach to field recording, and I’ve spent many months just trying to find good names for these concepts. I hope this makes as much sense to you as it does to me, but feel free to comment or get in touch with me if you still have questions. I love hearing from people who are passionate about the art and craft of field recording. Lastly, please consider buying me a coffee if you’ve found any of this information useful. Namaste!

Listening session at the House of Lords in Westminster

George Vlad — Sun, 22 Mar 2026 13:21:50 +0100

Presenting at the House of Lords - Cholmondeley Room

I recently received an invitation to play some of my soundscapes and to tell stories about conservation. While there’s nothing unusual about that, the setting was definitely novel for me. The invitation was from Lord Zac Goldsmith and Jack Chellman of the Global Returns Project, and the event took place at the House of Lords at Westminster Palace in London - the meeting place of Parliament.

I only had a 30 minute slot for my keynote presentation so I decided to introduce myself and my work for 5 minutes and then play 5 soundscapes of around 5 minutes each. I wanted them to be relevant to the conservation topic, memorable and poignant. I also wanted there to be a bit of story arc, with a slightly depressing beginning, a bit of tension throughout, and a nice and positive ending. I played each sound for a minute on its own, then I spoke about it for 4 minutes, and then on to the next sound. Rinse and repeat. Listen to the final selection in the video below.

We begin with a pretty alarming one - the sounds of glaciers cracking, groaning and bubbling at Flaajokull in Iceland. I was ther a couple of years ago and this soundscape touched me deeply. With the help of Dr Thorvardur Arnason I explored the landscapes there in relative safety, and I managed to get very close to the huge wall of ice. Unfortunately what is a very interesting sound to my ears is also a reflection of the accelerated pace at which glaciers are melting and collapsing.

Me and my wife with Westminster Palace in the background

The second sound recording is a bush fire in Senegal. Bush fires are generally damaging and destructive, but small, controlled ones have been used as tools for landscape management since time immemorial. It’s the context of climate change and chaotic seasons that can derail this age-old practice, even when it’s done right.

Part three is the sound of rain in the desert, captured in the Namib with a pair of mikroUsis on a dead tree. The rain only lasted for about 5 minutes, but the tense dead wood resonated like a marimba when raindrops hit it. I call this Chromatic rain and it’s one of my all-time favourite recordings. The climate change aspect here is that some rain in the desert is very welcome, but the change in seasons and climate patterns is bringing huge and destructive storms to these dry landscapes.

At this stage we’ve heard enough recordings that induce anxiety, so I wanted to steer the audience towards purely positive feelings. The fourth recording is the haunting sound of humpback whales singing off the coast of Madagascar in a little bay. Whale song recorded by Roger Payne was instrumental in the movement that achieved the end of whale hunting in the 70s and 80s. The audience really enjoyed and resonated with this.

Depressing the audience with my recordings

I chose to end on a high note, with a beautiful dawn chorus recorded in Papua New Guinea. When I went on location in PNG I was told that people in many villages hunt and eat any living animal, which creates a de facto dead zone of a few km around every village. This is depressing to think about, but of course I cannot blame people for choosing to feed their family over conserving birds of paradise or other rare fauna. Luckily there are parts of this landscape where the influx of tourists interested in seeing the birds of paradise has created a grassroots conservation movement. People identify bird nests and leks on their property and safeguard them so they can receive a bit of money every time a photographer or birdwatcher comes to see these fascinating creatures.

We had some technical issues which meant that my wife had to do the impromptu job of live sound engineer, but otherwise everything went very well. The attendees were immersed in and enraptured throughout my presentation. We did not have a screen so the video was not visible for anyone, but that did not matter (or maybe it made everything more intriguing).

At the end I had multiple people thank me and congratulate me on my work. The sounds and stories clearly resonated with the audience and left a lasting impression. I was very happy with how it went and the organisers managed to raise a hefty sum for conservation NGOs. Win win!

What’s New in REAPER 7.66 – the FFMPEG Update and more

Admin — Fri, 20 Mar 2026 03:24:03 +0100

learn

The post What’s New in REAPER 7.66 – the FFMPEG Update and more first appeared on The REAPER BLOG.

New Sound Design Contest: Create the sound effects for this video (and you could win legendary SFX!)

A Sound Effect — Mon, 16 Mar 2026 17:46:57 +0100

How to use REAPER Theme Replacer

Admin — Sat, 14 Mar 2026 17:09:45 +0100

Learn to use the new REAPER Theme making tool by Digitt

The post How to use REAPER Theme Replacer first appeared on The REAPER BLOG.

20 great new audio jobs at Google, Infinity Ward, Tesla, The Anime Effect, PlayStation, Sony Music, Motion Picture Solutions, Royal Caribbean Group, Royal College of Music, Chronograph Games, Kabam, Infold Games, Sound Parti Studios, Tencent, Affiliated E

Adriane Kuzminski — Thu, 05 Mar 2026 14:59:43 +0100

This week, our featured jobs focus on games and media, with projects by Chronograph Games, Kabam, and Motion Picture Solutions. They are looking for Sound Designers who can wear multiple hats, i.e. middleware and Unity implementation, as well as Audio Describers for accessible film and streaming experiences:

Chronograph Games is hiring a Senior Sound Designer (Unity & Wwise) to help them ship a prototype of our CMF-funded Project Hourglass, a hand-drawn 2D fantasy soulslike metroidvania (Remote)
Kabam is looking for a Senior Technical Audio Designer (Unity) to create, implement, and optimize all in-game audio to deliver an immersive player experience (BC, Canada)
Motion Picture Solutions is recruiting Audio Describers with their own professional recording set-up who are experienced in recorded AD for cinema and streaming (Remote)

To learn more about these featured jobs, scroll down to see their full descriptions

What’s New in REAPER v7.62 – HUGE Ruler, Regions, and Markers overhaul!

Admin — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 03:22:57 +0100

Learn the latest features and changes to REAPER

The post What’s New in REAPER v7.62 – HUGE Ruler, Regions, and Markers overhaul! first appeared on The REAPER BLOG.

20 great new audio jobs at A24, Sphere, Amazon, SUPRAPHON, Freakanomics, ADAM Audio, L-Acoustics, Mancala Gaming, Marella Cruises, NBCUniversal, Platinum Games, Pray Media, Side, Black Isle Recording, Biamp, Blizzard, Cloud Imperium, Demant, and Deluxe

Adriane Kuzminski — Fri, 27 Feb 2026 14:57:49 +0100

This week, we’ve found inspiring roles that span groundbreaking storytelling at A24, cutting-edge audio technology at ADAM Audio, the spectacle of the Sphere in Las Vegas, and preserving the legacy of classical music in Prague at Sony Music’s SUPRAPHON:

A24 is hiring a Music Intern for a well-rounded, immersive experience across the organization, receiving cross-functional exposure and professional development (NY, US)
ADAM Audio is looking for an Electronics Engineer with a strong background in mixed-signal electronics design who enjoys making new product ideas come to life (Germany)
Sphere Entertainment is seeking a Director Audio Systems to oversee in-house mixing, recording, system programming, and collaboration for new shows (NV, US)
SUPRAPHON is recruiting a Head of Classical Music to work closely with artists and guide projects from concept to release, ensuring their legacy inspires worldwide (Czech Republic)

Bonus: The Audio Jobs Facebook and LinkedIn groups also have opportunities around unannounced game projects, vehicle noise reduction, and both audio and electrical engineering below.

❗Important: Having trouble viewing the jobs on LinkedIn? Be sure to join the LinkedIn Audio Jobs group

20 great new audio jobs at Hasbro, Muse Group, Frag Games, Skywalker Sound, Full Sail, Housemarque, LEGO DESiGN, OHO Radio, Sentric, SMP Amsterdam, videoreality, Apple, AV Corder, Bulkhead, Delhom Acoustics, Dow Jones, EA Create, Ford, and Forte Audio

Adriane Kuzminski — Thu, 19 Feb 2026 09:52:15 +0100

Job Subscription

Get exciting new audio job opportunities delivered straight to your inbox

Email Address

This week, our featured jobs include careers in brand audio, music business, game audio, and audio intelligence at Hasbro, Muse Group, Frag Games, and Skywalker Sound:

Hasbro is hiring a Music Intern to play a hands-on role in supporting the creative music engine behind some of the world’s most iconic brands (England)

Muse Group is looking for a Head of Strategic Partnerships to evolve the organization from a traditional distributor model into a modern, integrated aggregator ecosystem to drive scalable growth (Remote)

Frag Games is seeking a Game Audio Sound Designer who is passionate about crafting immersive game audio experiences to bring their worlds to life through sound (Pakistan)

Skywalker Sound is recruiting a Senior Staff R&D Engineer to lead the development of transformative audio intelligence technologies for global media production (CA, US)

To learn more about these featured jobs, scroll down to see their full descriptions

ReaWhoosh Generator REAPER Script

Admin — Wed, 18 Feb 2026 18:30:23 +0100

Make awesome whoosh effects with this easy to use free script for REAPER.
The post ReaWhoosh Generator REAPER Script first appeared on The REAPER BLOG.

Why Some Sounds Feel Unbearable

april — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 18:46:00 +0100

There’s a specific combinations of sounds that drive me crazy. It’s two mobile devices loudly playing different content with different music – especially when I’m tired and trying to focus on something else. The response is immediate and visceral, and I have to make one sound stop or move away.

What’s interesting is that other people in the same room can be completely unbothered. Same space. Same sound field. Completely different experience. In fact, some people need that level of input to concentrate. Research has shown that for some people with ADHD a certain level of background noise can actually improve focus.

We tend to assume that if a sound isn’t uncomfortably loud to us, it won’t be uncomfortable for others nearby. But sound does not move through every nervous system the same way. You might see this watching a show or movie with other people. One person needs it louder to understand but someone else needs the volume lowered for their comfort. Some people love being around a loud concert and crowds and others find that overloading.

When Sound Triggers the Nervous System

A sound can trigger an immediate surge of irritation or panic. It’s not intentionally being dramatic – it means the nervous system is responding quickly and involuntarily.

Misophonia is a condition in which specific sounds trigger a strong, involuntary emotional and physiological reaction. The word literally means “hatred of sound,” but that’s misleading. It isn’t about sound level, and it isn’t about disliking noise in general. The reaction is usually tied to particular trigger sounds, such as chewing and mouth noises, breathing, tapping, or some speech patterns.

Layered audio can do something similar. Competing sources, overlapping frequencies, unpredictable shifts in dynamics — for some people, that creates strain. The auditory system is tightly connected to stress and threat circuits in the brain. When those circuits activate, muscle tension increases, heart rate shifts, and the urge to escape shows up before logic has time to explain anything.

When someone (especially a child) says a sound is uncomfortable or even painful, it may not be metaphorical. Pain can mean overload.

Sound is physical energy, but perception is biological. Two people can share the same environment and have entirely different internal responses. When someone says “this is too much,” it’s a request for relief, not an exaggeration.

Fetal Heartbeat Apps Don’t Work — And Here’s Why

april — Mon, 16 Feb 2026 11:11:31 +0100

When I was pregnant, I was surprised to encounter apps claiming they could detect a baby’s heartbeat using only a phone microphone. They were popular. They were marketed with confidence.

As a professional audio engineer, I knew immediately it wasn’t possible. A microphone measures changes in air pressure. A fetal heartbeat is not an airborne signal.

Still, I was 17 weeks pregnant, and in a mom group where everyone was recommending whatever had calmed their anxiety that week. I felt terrible (but wanted tacos), and had access to a professional studio.

So I did what any mildly sleep-deprived audio engineer would do. Not because I expected it to work, but because once you’ve pictured a U87 pointed at your stomach in the name of science, you can’t not follow through.

The Studio Test

The studio had an acoustically treated control room, a professional audio signal chain, and a mic collection that cost as much as a car. If there were an airborne signal to capture, this setup would have found it.

It didn’t.

What it captured clearly were stomach noises, fabric movement, HVAC, and the faint life of nearby production stages. When I tried recording my own adult heartbeat directly against my chest, I could eventually hear it – faintly – but buried beneath the rustle of an impromptu Foley session.

If a U87 through a GML into an SSL can’t isolate an adult heartbeat in a controlled studio, a mobile phone microphone pressed against a pregnant belly cannot detect a fetal one.

The issue isn’t quality. It’s physics.

Why a Microphone Can’t Do This

A microphone responds to changes in air pressure. When something creates sound in open air – a voice, an instrument, a footstep – it has caused pressure variations in the air. Those tiny fluctuations move a microphone’s diaphragm, which converts them into an electrical signal.

A fetal heartbeat generates mechanical motion inside the body. But that motion is occurring behind layers of tissue, fluid, muscle, and another body entirely. By the time any of that motion (vibration) reaches the surface, it is extremely weak in comparison to stronger surface and contact noises such as breathing, clothing movement, and simple body motion. Those sounds radiate into the air far more easily than the subtle internal movement of a fetal heart.

A Doppler monitor – the device doctors use to detect a fetal heartbeat – works on a completely different principle. It sends high-frequency ultrasonic waves into the body. Those waves reflect off moving structures like the heart, bouncing back to the montor. The device compares the outgoing ultrasonic wave to the returning one and converts the tiny motion-induced differences into an audible signal.

That’s why a phone microphone and a fetal Doppler aren’t different versions of the same tool. They’re built to detect entirely different things.

The Illusion of Detection

A baby’s heart rate in early pregnancy can be twice as fast as an adult’s. A baby is often in the 140–170 beats-per-minute range. And importantly, you cannot simply hold your ear to your own body parts and hear your heartbeat.

With that in mind, I downloaded and tested several of the heartbeat detection apps available at the time.

Some produced no reading at all – which, given the physics, is what should happen.

Other apps generated numbers at times.

In one case, the app played back a steady heartbeat as the phone was placed at my abdomen and my chest.

That wasn’t detection – it was a simulated heart beat.

That’s scary when an app is presenting itself as a medical tool and not a game. If someone believes they are hearing a real fetal heartbeat, they may delay seeking medical care when something feels wrong. That’s dangerous.

What Actually Works

If someone wants to hear a baby’s heartbeat outside of a clinical setting, the technology required is different from a microphone.

A Doppler fetal monitor uses ultrasound and is typically able to detect a heartbeat around 10–12 weeks, depending on conditions. These are medical devices and are designed to be used by trained professionals. Some are available for home use, but it is important to speak with a healthcare provider before purchasing or relying on one.

Later in pregnancy – usually from 18–20 weeks onward – it may be possible to hear a fetal heartbeat with a stethoscope or a traditional Pinard horn, though this depends on positioning and experience.

If you are considering equipment, make sure it is an actual medical Doppler device that uses ultrasound and not a phone app that relies on a microphone. I’ve included examples of the devices I’m referring to below (for education purposes – not as a recommendation). Always consult your provider before using medical equipment at home.

Stethoscope for Doctors/Nurses/Nursing School Students, Medical and Home Use

Wooden Pinard Stethoscope For Midwives

MINI-Doppler ES-100, Detect and Display Fetal Heart Rate

What This Experiment Actually Showed

We live in a time when software feels capable of almost anything. Phones and wearables can track heart rate, oxygen levels, sleep cycles, and movement. It’s easy to assume that if an app or device exists, the detection behind it must be real.

A microphone cannot become a Doppler monitor just because an app says it can.

When a product claims to monitor a pregnancy, that’s not a tech feature. It’s a medical claim. And medical claims deserve scrutiny.

When A Baby’s Cry Becomes A Hearing Question

april — Sat, 14 Feb 2026 06:03:12 +0100

When my son was little, I found myself in a conundrum: how do you comfort a child who is crying or screaming inches from your ears? My watch was sending high-noise alerts, so I knew I needed to learn more. Do caregivers need to think about ear protection?

Why A Cry Cuts Through

The human ear is most sensitive between roughly 2–5 kHz. That’s where our auditory system prioritizes speech and distress signals. The average adult ear canal also resonates around 3 kHz, subtly amplifying around that frequency band. Human screams concentrate energy there. Babies cry in that same range. Many alarms are tuned there as well. It’s also the region most vulnerable to noise-induced hearing loss.

There’s a neurological layer too. Research shows caregivers – especially mothers – demonstrate heightened brain activation in response to infant cries. Attention shifts almost instantly. For mothers with young children, every cry is an emergency, even when the child isn’t yours.

Is There Real Risk?

A baby’s cry can reach 100–110 dB at close range. Prolonged exposure matters, but context is important: most episodes are short, and hearing damage is about accumulated exposure over time, not one event.

Still, when that peak happens repeatedly, inches from the same ear, it becomes part of your daily dose.

Managing Exposure

There are simple ways to protect your ears, including alternating arms and using filtered earplugs during longer soothing sessions. And if the baby is safe — in a crib, bassinet, or with another caregiver — even stepping into another room for 30–60 seconds can significantly reduce peak exposure. Distance alone drops the level quickly, and a wall or closed door further attenuates the higher frequencies where infant cries concentrate energy.

Of course, stepping away isn’t always easy. The wiring that makes a cry hard to ignore is the same wiring that makes it difficult to leave the room. But even small adjustments — holding the baby slightly farther from your ear or switching sides — can reduce load.

Understanding the physiology doesn’t change the experience of parenting. It just explains why the reaction is so immediate — and gives you practical options for protecting your hearing while you’re in it.

20 great new audio jobs at WWE, Apple, Respawn, Riot Games, Spotify, Musiversal, Oticon, Respawn, Smart Dubbing, The Audio Programmer, Vertigo Games, The New York Racing Association, Crater Studios, Deluxe, iRacing, Leeds Playhouse, Meta, and Moon Media

Adriane Kuzminski — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 14:55:34 +0100

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This week, our featured roles highlight a range of music-related careers – from composition to artist engagement – at Respawn, Riot Games, and Spotify:

Respawn is looking for a Music Designer to join their Star Wars team and cover music implementation (not composition), editorial, and mastering (CA, US / BC, Canada)

Riot Games is seeking a Music Project Coordinator to support day-to-day music production activities by assisting with vendor coordination, production logistics, and delivery tracking across products (Singapore)

Spotify is recruiting a Content Designer, Music Mission to be at the intersection of language, systems, and creativity, defining how artists understand what’s working and engage their audience (NY, US)

To learn more about these featured jobs, scroll down to see their full descriptions

How Loud is Too Loud for Kids?

april — Wed, 11 Feb 2026 12:02:55 +0100

Hearing damage from loud sounds is permanent, but it’s also preventable. Many parents and caregivers don’t realize just how often kids are exposed to dangerous noise levels in everyday life—at home, school, events, and even from toys.

By understanding what’s too loud and taking simple steps to reduce exposure, you can protect childrens’ ears (and your own).

The Three-Step Guide to Protecting Your Child’s Hearing

Use earmuffs or earplugs when exposure to loud sounds is unavoidable.

Check the Volume. Use a decibel meter app or try the 3-feet test (explained below).

Cut Back if It’s Too Loud. Lower the volume, move away from the noise, or limit exposure time.

Cover Your Ears if You Can’t Avoid the Noise. Use earmuffs or earplugs when exposure to loud sounds is unavoidable.

How Loud Is Too Loud?

Think of sound levels like a fever. Sometimes you notice something concerning and just need to keep an eye on it. Other times, immediate action is needed.

Image from dangerousdecibels.org

85 dB (decibels) is the safety threshold. Sounds below this level won’t cause damage.

Above 85 dB is like running a fever—the higher the number, the shorter the safe exposure time.

85 dB (busy traffic) – Safe for 8 hours

100 dB (concerts, sporting events) – Safe for 15 minutes

115 dB (arcades, playgrounds) – Safe for under a minute

Children’s ears are more sensitive than adults’, making it even more important to limit exposure.

How to Measure Sound Levels

For most accurate readings, a standalone SPL meter is a good option.

A mobile app (often called an SPL meter or loudness meter) is an easy and convenient way to check sound levels. Place your device:

By your ear

By your child’s ear

Near the source of the sound

The 3-Feet Test: A Quick Way to Gauge Sound Danger

A simple rule of thumb:

If you’re standing three feet away from someone and need to raise your voice for them to hear you, the noise level is probably around 85 dB.

If you have to yell, the sound is at dangerous levels.

Common Noisy Environments for Kids

Everyday Sounds That Can Cause Hearing Damage

According to the Better Hearing Institute, common sources of unsafe noise for children include:

Transportation: Subways, trains, airplanes, snowmobiles

Home Appliances: Stereo speakers, power tools, hair dryers, lawnmowers

Loud Toys

Music Concerts & Live Events

The Center for Hearing and Communication adds that some everyday play areas can be dangerously loud:

Playgrounds & Arcades – Up to 115 dB (as loud as a rock concert!)

School Environments – Cafeterias, hallways, and school bells can exceed safe levels.

Loudest Offenders: Toys & Everyday Sounds

The Sight & Hearing Association releases an annual list of toys louder than 85 dB.

Other surprisingly loud sounds:

Balloons popping (when overinflated) – As loud as a gunshot, with risk of instant damage.

Earbuds & Headphones – A major cause of hearing loss in teens.

What Hearing Protection Should You Use?

For adults & older kids – Use earplugs or earmuffs at loud events.

For infants & young children – Use earmuffs (earplugs can be a choking hazard).

Why Hearing Protection Matters

There are no “live sound police” at concerts, sporting events, or amusement parks. Sound levels can creep up gradually, and you may not realize it’s too loud until damage has already started.

If it’s too loud for kids, it’s too loud for you, too. Protect your ears—you only get one set!

Current Used Avid S6 Listings

info@resurface.audio — Tue, 10 Feb 2026 15:47:42 +0100

Here’s an at-a-glance rundown of the used Avid S6 consoles we have currently available worldwide.

Each is available immediately. All are significantly lower in cost than the new equivalent of the same spec.

Click on the link to see the full listing detail and console photos. From the listing, you can send an enquiry with any questions for the seller.

You can also see all of the currently available S6 consoles in our search page

Can’t see what you’re looking for? Listings change all the time, check back soon or drop us an email – maybe we can find it for you?

FIND ME A CONSOLE!

Make Model Type Faders Frame Currency Price Link
Avid S6 M40 16 5 ft GBP 49950 See Listing
Avid S6 M10 16 3 ft GBP 14950 See Listing
Avid S6 M40 40 8 ft EUR 99500 See Listing
Avid S6 M40 32 7 ft CAD POA See Listing
Avid S6 M10 16 5 ft USD 18500 See Listing
Avid S6 M40 24 5 ft EUR 50000 See Listing
Avid S6 M40 24 5 ft GBP 74950 See Listing
Avid S6 M40 16 5 ft GBP 30000 See Listing
Avid S6 M40 16 5 ft GBP 35000 See Listing
Avid S6 M10 16 4 ft GBP 19950 See Listing
Avid S6 M40 8 6 ft USD 27000 See Listing

The post Current Used Avid S6 Listings appeared first on Resurface.

20 great new audio jobs at Deluxe, PlayStation, Kinetic Games, Freqport, Grip Studios, Garena, Hraymo, Mad Head Games, Nova Sky Stories, Respawn, Sennheiser, Spinnin’ Records, The Audio Programmer, University of Surrey, UserWise Services, Apex Acoustics,

Adriane Kuzminski — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 11:05:54 +0100

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We came across interesting new jobs at Kinetic Games, Freqport, Grip Studios, and Mad Head Games:

Kinetic Games is hiring a Sound Designer with a keen ear for realism and strong creative ability to help build the audio experience of Phasmophobia (England / Hybrid)

Freqport is looking for an Audio Software Developer to work across most of the software sides of their products, from core DSP implementation to cross-platform GUI and plugin integration (Denmark)

Grip Studios is seeking an Audio Director to take ownership of audio and sound design on a newly acquired AAA project (Czech Republic)

Mad Head Games is recruiting a Sound Designer to create original audio content to support the game’s vision within the technical constraints (Serbia)

To learn more about these featured jobs, scroll down to see their full descriptions

Current Used Avid S4 Listings

info@resurface.audio — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 10:15:06 +0100

Here’s an at-a-glance rundown of the used Avid S4 consoles we have currently available worldwide.

Each is available immediately. All are significantly lower in cost than the new equivalent of the same spec.

Click on the link to see the full listing detail and console photos. From the listing, you can send an enquiry with any questions for the seller.

To browse all currently available S4 consoles in our search page instead, click here

Can’t see what you’re looking for? Listings change all the time, check back soon or drop us an email – maybe we can find it for you?

FIND ME A CONSOLE!

Faders Width Currency Price Link
Avid S4 – 24 5 ft USD 32995 See Listing
Avid S4 – 8 3 ft GBP 15000 See Listing
Avid S4 – 16 4 ft GBP 24995 See Listing

The post Current Used Avid S4 Listings appeared first on Resurface.

Video Cut Detection Editor Script for REAPER

Admin — Sun, 08 Feb 2026 18:35:54 +0100

Spot a video faster and easier with automatic cut detection, thumbnail generation and more.
The post Video Cut Detection Editor Script for REAPER first appeared on The REAPER BLOG.

Teaching Loud and Quiet to Toddlers

april — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 23:13:00 +0100

This is a reposted blog from Sound Is Fun! written in 2018.

Loud and quiet are basic sound concepts that can be taught to toddlers. Even though we tend to teach these concepts through games, as a parent, I’ve found it to be a functional tool – especially trying to get a toddler to speak quietly when they’re being too loud in public. Here’s the approach I used to teach loud and quiet to my son (who was 23-months old at the time).

Teach Whispering (or Quiet Voice)

Not all toddlers can whisper yet, so this activity can be done with “quiet” voices, too. I find the changing table a good place to do this since it also holds their attention.

Ask questions in a regular voice then ask another question in a whisper (or low voice). Before my son knew how to whisper, he’d answer my whisper in a regular voice. Once he could whisper, he’d repeat back in the same voice I used.

Repeating words is good start for this activity. Say in a normal voice, “Can you say ‘cat’?” and let them respond in a normal voice. If you ask in a whisper, “what sound does a dog make?” have them respond in a whispered voice.

Reinforce what you are doing by saying, “We’re whispering!“, or “We’re talking quietly!”

Some words are hard to say whispered so you may not always get an answer.

Teaching Loud Voices

Loud is fairly easy to teach since it’s a matter of imitation (which toddlers love to do). You could ask in a whisper, “Can you whisper?” and keep talking in a whisper until they whisper back. Then, ask loudly, “Can you be loud?” and they’ll probably respond loudly. My son is usually the one switching our conversation between loud and quiet now.

Using Dynamics (Loud and Quiet) With Music

Any repetitive song would work well for this. We sing “The Ants Go Marching” a lot which is perfect for practicing loud and quiet (not to mention it keeps it interesting after singing hundreds of times). After the ants go marching a couple times, we switch to a whisper. He’ll whisper along (like “Hoorah” or “one, two”), but eventually he will switch to being loud. For example, if he says “Hoorah” in full voice, I switch back to singing instead of whispering.

We also use Remo Lollipop Drums and match what our voices are doing. If we are singing or talking loud, we hit the drums loud. If we’re whispering, we hit the drums lightly. Sometimes I also narrate what we’re doing, like “We’re being loud!” or, “We’re being quiet now.”

Using “Shh” For Quiet

I taught the words “whisper” and “quiet” before using “shh”. I did this because “Shh” isn’t a word we use to describe something while it’s happening. It’s more like a command, like saying “stop” or “go”. But, “shh” could be easily added to these activities by saying, “Shh! We’re being quiet”. The hand motion that goes along with “shh” can also be fun for toddlers, too.

Pink Noise Cymbal Smoother

Admin — Thu, 05 Feb 2026 22:01:25 +0100

Pink noise in the sidechain of a dynamic eq to make cymbals smoother. Who knew?
The post Pink Noise Cymbal Smoother first appeared on The REAPER BLOG.

WT Graphical Sends Script for REAPER 7

Admin — Wed, 04 Feb 2026 20:57:52 +0100

This new script allows you to see and interact with the wiring of track sends and receives in REAPER.
The post WT Graphical Sends Script for REAPER 7 first appeared on The REAPER BLOG.

Make	Model	Type	Faders	Frame	Currency	Price	Link
Avid	S6	M40	16	5 ft	GBP	49950	See Listing
Avid	S6	M10	16	3 ft	GBP	14950	See Listing
Avid	S6	M40	40	8 ft	EUR	99500	See Listing
Avid	S6	M40	32	7 ft	CAD	POA	See Listing
Avid	S6	M10	16	5 ft	USD	18500	See Listing
Avid	S6	M40	24	5 ft	EUR	50000	See Listing
Avid	S6	M40	24	5 ft	GBP	74950	See Listing
Avid	S6	M40	16	5 ft	GBP	30000	See Listing
Avid	S6	M40	16	5 ft	GBP	35000	See Listing
Avid	S6	M10	16	4 ft	GBP	19950	See Listing
Avid	S6	M40	8	6 ft	USD	27000	See Listing

			Faders	Width	Currency	Price	Link
Avid	S4	–	24	5 ft	USD	32995	See Listing
Avid	S4	–	8	3 ft	GBP	15000	See Listing
Avid	S4	–	16	4 ft	GBP	24995	See Listing