This month’s theme is hibernation. As winter approaches and the weather gets colder, many animals begin to sleep for the winter. I decided to ask Tony Orozco for help. Tony Orozco is a sound editing director and mixer who has worked on: Steven Universe, Adventure Time, Batman, Robot Chicken, SpongeBob SquarePants, and Super luxury house. To date, Tony has won an Emmy Award and two MPSE Gold Reel Awards, as well as multiple other nominations.
DS: Hi Tony, thanks for joining us today. Can you tell us about your background in audio?
arrive: Hey Doug, thanks for having me. I started my career as an intern at the Hacienda Post in high school. I graduated at a time when the estate was very busy and the office needed some extra hands, and Tim Box must have seen my potential. At first, I ran errands, digitized videos, striped DA 88sorganize our coffers, tear apart data transmission technology A library of SFX, cleaned and sorted. In my free time, to further my education, I watch clips by Tom Syslo. After get off work, I would stay up late and cut out background music and learn shortcuts through experimentation. I then took on more responsibilities as an Assistant Sound Editor, often focusing on a single element of a Senior Editor project. Like the footsteps in SpongeBob SquarePants, or the servos in Bionic. Tom Syslo would add my voice, make changes as needed, and then let me watch a preview with the client to see what worked and get an idea of what the client wanted. i believe steven universe This is my first official show as sound director and I’m very happy with it. Eventually, I took over the role of sound mixer steven universe and many other shows.
DS: This month’s theme is “Hibernation”. Can you think of any relationship between hibernation and sound design?
arrive: In my experience, the only thoughts I have about hibernating is occasionally when I buy some new equipment: Field recorder, microphone, mixer, analog stompbox or plug-in; I would work on sound design for long periods of time without a specific project in mind. These files sometimes sit unused for months until I find the time or reason to clean them up, name them, and categorize them. Sometimes I’ll build a huge library of original sounds and then completely forget about them until the right project comes along that seems like a good fit. When I start designing a new series or pilot, I like Spend a month creating new sounds. Due to our busy workload and the typical weekly turnaround of TV animation, it’s rare that I actually get the chance to drop everything and create new sounds in a month. This is where backlog comes in handy. Some clients on some shows like to have a completely unique and original signature voice in the show, especially sci-fi; this is my personal favorite cut.
DS: Do you typically wait for a break in your schedule to work on sound design, or does it tend to fill your evenings and weekends when you’re already working on a show?
arrive: Almost always during free time at the office or during vacations. If I get some new gear or plug-in I was so excited about it that I would run home from get off work and record and experiment.
DS: Where do you look for inspiration when working on your sound design?
arrive: I’ll take it from anywhere I can find it. Whenever anything happens at home, I write it down. Sometimes, if I miss it, I might break it again just to document it. Sometimes it’s fun to document an undamaged object, but often it’s not. So, during the recording phase, I work with what I have. During the design phase I usually start with tone, then invert the sound, then reverb or delay. All of this usually depends on the project I have in mind at the time. If I didn’t have a project, I’d pretend I was making a David Lynch piece Star Wars – Avengers cross. When all else failed, I turned to sound toys.
DS: Can you give some specific examples of shows where you’ve revived some dormant voices? Can you talk about your techniques for creating sound design or talk about sound design in general for these shows?
arrive: when i start designing steven universe I’ve been listening to a lot of new sounds. I set myself the task of recording a bunch of synths reasonand then blindly superimposed them on a bunch of raw audio of me breaking and banging things around the house/yard. Most of it is garbage, but some of it is garbage. The sound design wheel is fun, but you have to stay objective. Sometimes I save sounds for no reason other than it took me hours to record, and I’m really stubborn about not letting things go to waste. I’ll think something sounds terrible, but a year later I’ll hear a really cool sound inserted by one of Hacienda’s editors in the mix stage and realize it’s one of the sounds I throw away.
DS: Can you talk about the process of cleaning up and labeling the sounds? What technology do you use? Did you add metadata?
arrive: I really should use metadata, but who has time for that. I usually name myself and only myself so their names go like this “Robot Started Synthetic Tremolo 1”. I am a poor influencer in this area, using meta for the greater good.
DS: Can you tell us about the sound design of Steven Universe and OK KO!? Let’s be heroes, shall we? What elements did you introduce to create the feel of these shows?
arrive: exist steven universe All of the character’s signature sounds are based on the idea that they are all based on gems. Each character will have a different gem, rock, or crystal element: Garnet’s fists have boulder slams mixed in, and her glove molds have rock scrapes mixed in. Garnet’s Gauntlet was created by an unexpected mic stand collision and feedback, tilted downward to produce a ringtone that was combined with cerebral synth blasts and a forgotten element. All of her sounds come from the same experimental recording I mentioned earlier. Pearls have a ring of affected crystals when they are formed. The amethyst whip was mixed with rocks, making a clicking sound.
Well, KO! let us be heroes The sound design is very much the vision of creators Ian Jones-Quartey and Toby Jones. They basically imagined the show to sound like a mix of kung fu and anime mixed with classic Hanna-Barbera. The result, I believe, is a great mix of action and comedy that perfectly reflects the style of the show.
DS: Is there anything else you would like to add? Any advice for someone just starting out?
arrive: Have fun: that’s what I do. Also, try not to layer too many sounds. People often get hung up on an idea of what sounds should be included in a build, but it’s easy to take it too far. When I’m layering sounds, I like to loop a set of sounds and then mute the tracks one by one to see what actually helps the build and what just adds noise. If you have the time and are passionate about a certain sound, you can try lowering the frequencies, but this rarely feels necessary. Kill your darlings.
Tony Orozco on IMDb
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