Sections:

Sound Design

Beans

A sound redesign of the short BEANS, by Cinesite and Alvise Avati.

My overall goal with this scene was to evoke a feeling of Outer Space as quiet, mysterious, and uncanny. I layered in backgrounds and cut the high end from the sound effects in the project with this goal in mind.

I put particular effort into the slams and movements coming from the creature. To enhance the impact of these elements of the design I incorporated reserve reverb, using an explosion as the sound source and heavily processing it. The reversed effect leads into every movement, and emphasizes the transients.

Wall-E

A sound redesign of a scene from the movie Wall-E, by Pixar.

This was a group project for the advanced sound studio class at San Francisco State. Our team traded off roles throughout the project, and I was able to contribute as a foley artist, a foley, sound, and dialogue editor, and as our re-recording mixer. We recorded the vast majority of FX ourselves as foley.

The aspect of this project I was most satisfied with was the vocal design on the two characters. It was very important to the project to make the two characters feel distinct, and the processing had to reflect this. I used a combination of pitch shifters, choruses, and even just EQ and compression to achieve the end product, and made sure to emphasize certain elements in one voice compared to the other.

Delicious in Dungeon

A sound redesign of a scene from Delicious in Dungeon, by Ryoko Kui and Studio Trigger.

I knew from the start that I wanted this scene to feel cozy and friendly, and I wanted to make the scene feel aesthetically consistent with some of the sound design conventions in anime. This meant experimenting with non-literal sound effects, while still aiming for a sense of groundedness.

My favorite aspect of this project is the blinking sound effect, as it is something that you consistently see in anime and cartoons. I made this sound myself through synthesis, and then did some major EQ and and pitch shifting in my DAW.

Broadcast Audio and Engineering

A livestream I provided technical audio assistance to.

The College Football 25 Gameday Showcase was a two day series highlighting the (then) upcoming release of EA’s College Football 25. I contributed to this show by providing general broadcast technical assistance and by mixing the show. I was responsible for miking talent, coordinating IFB submixes, handling music playback, and general audio and video assistance.

This was one of my first opportunities to mix a live show at this level, and I was very grateful for the support the senior engineers provided. This was a very valuable experience for me in terms of getting comfortable with the requirements of a professional production operation.

A student esports broadcast I mixed and engineered. This is a snippet from the full show.

For this project our class put together a single day Call of Duty tournament, featuring players from around the SF Bay Area and sponsorships from local businesses.

I was the lead audio on this production, and coordinated the drafting of an input list, the sourcing of equipment, the on set microphone placement, the routing through a Ross Ultrix and Dante Controller, and the live program mix as well as submixes for IFB’s and studio audience speakers. This was a fun show to experiment with crowd miking and music playback. I found that using the crowd ambience and music contributed to a greater sense of feeling live, making the show all the more immersive for viewers.

Music Production

A song that I mixed and assisted with the recording.

I was responsible for the drum miking on this song, alongside general studio utility assistance. The project was recorded through the API 2448 before being recorded in Nuendo.

For this mix I wanted to maintain the live and in-your-face energy the band brought to their live shows. I used a variety of different compressors to make space in the mix, most notably two Urei 1176’s on the vocals and the bass. The reverb in this mix is going through the TC Reverb 6000.

My own personal music production.

This song was recorded and performed entirely with the Arturia Microfreak (minus most of the drums). As I’ve explored music further, I’ve found that what speaks the most to me is the sound of a project. I don’t always remember chords and melodies, but an interesting synth patch or characterized reverb will stick with me.

I put special attention to the mix to make sure things pop right where I want them to. The dynamics in this track between different sections are very important, and I feel that my use of panning and compression really let things shine through.

A song that I mixed.

This song was recorded in San Francisco State’s recording studio, with everything being run through an API 2448 before being recorded in Nuendo.

I used the Neve Custom Series 75 for this mix, alongside Nuendo. The final print had effects come from DBX compressors, a vintage spring reverb, and most EQ coming from the Neve’s channel strips. This was a fun project to experiment with different outboard gear that I was unfamiliar with.