A Place In Hell SFX

2014 is winding down and the past few months I've had the pleasure of working on the post sound for the independent feature A Place In Hell. Written and directed by David Boorboor, the film was shot in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, with the post sound completed in Oregon.

This was my second project working with supervising sound editor/sound designer Michael Gandsey. Films with horror elements are a bit of a playground for the effects editor! Both David and Michael gave me a lot of creative opportunities to add elements of tension and foreboding with sound effects and foley.

It was a great experience to collaborate with the entire post production team on this project! Check out the trailer below:

Recording Bridges

Portland, Oregon is a city filled with bridges. This summer I've been taking the opportunity when it presents itself to record the sounds of the many bridges within the city. Why? Who knows... Maybe an all-bridge recordings sound effects library is just what everyone needs? (If anyone would actually be interested in such a thing, let me know!)

Mostly though I've been doing it because I find it fun. Lots of neat recordings have come from it! Cars going across the steel grating of the Hawthorne bridge, the sound of the Max (public transit) rail car going by on the Steel bridge and shaking everything... It's surprising just how close up you can get to a bridge when it's being raised/lowered, and from lots of angles too!

I recently got away from the many bridges over the Willamette River and ventured across the Interstate (I-5) bridge over the Columbia River that separates Oregon and Washington.

On the Washington side I was able to get up close directly underneath the bridge. The rush of many cars going overhead makes for some unique sounds. Give it a listen:

Labor of Love Mockumentary

I found this to be ridiculously hilarious!

Labor of Love is a fictional portrait of an adult film foley artist. The acting here is top notch, and for anyone who has worked with sound this hits home while remaining funny.

Check it out:

Interview with BOOM Library

Soundworks Collection has been doing excellent film sound profiles for several years, but more recently the've started doing audio-only interviews which I find to be a great listen.

The interview series provides an opportunity to go a bit more in-depth, and in particular I want to highlight the episode with the guys from BOOM Library.




As a fan of BOOM's work, not only is it neat to find out the company's origins, but the interview touches upon things I'm always curious about like microphone selection and metadata management.

BOOM Library records/designs some outstanding sound effects, but don't just take my word for it. Here are a couple great reviews of some of BOOM's collections: Creatures and Cinematic Metal

One last thing... If you've yet to see the video below, it's one of the best tutorials around courtesy of BOOM's YouTube page. It breaks down in detail how they designed one of their whoosh-hits and is packed with useful workflow techniques.

Pro Audio Books

There's nothing quite like summertime reading! The most recent Tonebenders podcast touched upon various audio books on the market. The podcast also features an interview with Ric Viers (skip ahead to the 12-minute mark), author of The Sound Effects Bible, an awesome book that I still have on my bookshelf. Give it a listen:



I know I'm always looking to learn new stuff: tips, tricks and techniques. So having resources to draw from such as these is great.

If you still want something interesting to read, but don't plan to go out and pick up one of the books recommend in the podcast, check out this essay from Benjamin Wright - Footsteps with character: the art and craft of Foley.

Shout-out to the great team at Dony & Pony

Want to take a moment to congratulate John, Dave and everyone and Dog & Pony for their profile in Mix magazine.

John took a chance on hiring me when I was fresh out of school and it's great to see that the studio he built up is getting some well-deserved national press.

While I don't long for the desert heat of Vegas, I miss the crew there and all the sounds coming out of the studio on a daily basis.

Randy Thom on the sound design of How to Train Your Dragon 2

Like many people in post sound, I greatly admire the work of sound designer Randy Thom. He's one of the best in my opinion about sharing his knowledge with the world, which is sometimes rare for someone as talented as he is.

For the release of How to Train Your Dragon 2, Randy gave an excellent interview with NPR. If you have the time to visit my little blog, then it's definitely worth your time to give it a listen!




For anybody else who's fascinated by what Randy has to say, I highly recommend this Soundworks Collection video profile of Flight. It's one of the best Soundworks has done because Randy really takes the time to breakdown the sound design and the thought process behind it.

Common Grounds SFX

I recently wrapped up work on Common Grounds. Written and directed by Kris Roselli, this 35 minute short film focuses on two friends that come into contact with each other for the first time since a tragic childhood accident that defined both of their lives.

I was the sound effects editor on the film and I'd like to thank producer Tierney Boorboor for getting me involved on this project.

In addition to cutting a Russian roulette scene, one thing that stood out for me was getting to record/edit some Foley for the main character's notebook that is an important part of the story.

Re-recording mixer Michael 'Gonzo" Gandsey did an amazing job with the final mix and I'm hopeful that the film will be screened in Portland sometime this year.

For the time being, I'm stoked that the film will be premiering at the Philadelphia Independent Film Festival this June.

Timbers Crowd Field Recordings

Since I started working for Comcast SportsNet, I've realized that I've been neglecting my blog! However, I recently had a fun field recording experience I wanted to share.

Some of the very first recordings I ever captured were from the hoop and key mics I'd set up at McArthur Court during Ducks basketball games. I've recently been covering Portland Timbers home games for CSNNW, and I wanted to capture some of the great crowds at Providence Park.

I left my Zoom H1 set up in the in the press box, positioned out of an open window and aimed across the field at the Timbers Army.
I did have some issues with other media people talking in the background during some of the better recordings, which is to be expected since I had the mic in a public place. What I'd like to attempt next is to position a shotgun mic at the Timbers army section from the press box, perhaps hanging out of the box.

Anyway, for not having a bunch of gear with me to position around the field, there were some nice surprises that came from the recordings. Although because of the almost constant drumming, even the good distant perspective cheering/booing reactions aren't practical to use on a project.

Here are a few of the recordings to check out: