This is the final stage in the audio post process which involves not only blending all of the different sound elements together to create a coherent whole but also the individual placement and volume of the sounds in the stereo and surround fields. It’s vitally important that all of the sounds work together to create a whole and that no sound ‘sticks out’ as this usually means the mix is wrong.

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While we often speak with technical terms in regards to sound, towards the end of the mixing process the language changes from technical to emotional; how does the mix feel? How does each scene feel? Are you drawn into the narrative on an emotional level?

Which specific sounds are needed to complement the vision? Which specific sounds are needed to help drive the narrative and story? Which specific sounds are needed to complete the world that the viewer will be experiencing?  

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Sound design encompasses finding and using extra sounds other than the dialogue and foley recorded during production.

There is generally no more important sound element than dialogue. As it is the main form of communication between people it becomes the most important sound element to get right. Dialogue editing involves choosing between boom microphones and lapel microphones (often making the lapel microphone sound like a boom microphone by taking away the intimate sound of the lapel and adding room perspective to it), cleaning up the sound (removing background noise and microphone handling noise) and adding eq and changing volume levels to suite the narrative and pictures.

Music can be a double-edged sword. Used correctly it can truly emotionally enhance the narrative in wonderful ways. Used too much and it can force on the viewer specific emotional content that the viewer would prefer to arrive at themselves. Music editing is choosing the very best part of the musical piece to complement the narrative at specific points, also making sure any edits or cuts in the music exactly stay on the beat.

Also referred to as sound effects editing, this is either recording specific sounds (foley) or choosing and editing the sounds from a sound effects library - Sharpe Sound has over 6TB of professional sound effects from both professional libraries as well as sounds recorded in-house.

Sometimes the most subtle of sounds great atmos, or BG, can really place the viewer in the environment of your choosing. Whether it’s a busy street, isolated county land, a quiet room or even a hot and steamy jungle the correct atmos is very important. Also important is the placement of the atmos, if we are indoors with we need to hear the outside atmos sounding like it is coming from outside, or, if were in the middle of a busy city we need to hear the atmos coming from all around us. 

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Sharpe Sound not only has an extensive library of atmos tracks in every format from stereo to surround sound, we also use a Sennheiser Ambeo VR microphone to capture unique atmospheres which can be used to create everything from intimate small room room-tones through to full immersive surround sound atmospheres.