CORPORATE/ INDUSTRIAL/ PSA: ORIGINAL MUSIC, SOUND EDIT, MIX
Sound + music services for corporate communications.
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3M: PRO CONTRACTOR PRODUCT VIDEOS
Above: Sound design and music for a 3M branding campaign. A comprehensive series of product videos aimed at pro contractors, emphasizing durability in the face of demanding circumstances.
No audio was documented on the shoot, so the project required extensive Foley and FX edit to articulate the visceral, highly textured reality of the work depicted. I spent a lot of time creating delicate layers of sound by scraping wood and stone surfaces with various implements, notching equipment clasps, manipulating cloth and the plastic of protective suits to match movement, and performing breaths through the various respirator masks.
I composed the ambient swell of music toward the end of the video as well. The mixes required sensitivity to the specific acoustic properties of specific environments, as well as the decision of when to crossfade between narrative sound and the more presentational space of product depiction at the end of the spot.
The above video, of course, advertises the Pro Grade Precision Dust Channeling Sponge. If you’re so inclined, you can also peruse the Pro Grade Precision Sanding Sheets and the 7500 Series Respirator with Cool Flow Valve.
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SOUND EDIT + MIX FOR MEDICAL ANIMATION: GRITSTONE ONCOLOGY
Above: The Gritstone Oncology T cell project was created by animation and design house Gravitation, under creative director Matt Faye. I worked with executive producer Glenn Kesner of the digital agency Equisolve to craft sound FX edit and mix with the right amount of whimsy and vintage sci-fi cheekiness to keep it fresh without undermining the seriousness of the subject. Given that the anatomical goings-on are portrayed as flat, hand-rendered paper shapes in motion, I deployed a variety of subtle shuffles and swipes. The occasional retro sci-fi visuals summoned sonar pings, synthy ambience and classic Star Trek-esque chirps and warbles. I made sure to pitch correct many of the tonal library FX so they were in tune with the music. And this project also offered ample opportunity to harvest samples of the music itself as tonal SFX that blended with the musical score in a consonant, though barely noticeable way.
As it turned out, this project won big at 2020’s Fourteener Colorado Marketing Awards. The piece above won the Gold Award for Long-Form Video, and was nominated for Best in Show. Congrats everyone! More info
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BE THE MATCH
I was honored to edit music and VO, design sound and mix for the video component of The One Forum conference in 2019— hosted by Be The Match, a non-profit organization operated by the National Marrow Donor Program and dedicated to helping patients obtain life-saving transplants.
The video above, narrated by LeVar Burton, launched Day One of the conference. The organizers wanted lots of slam-bang sound design elements during the video, which was played back in a hotel ballroom through a system with lots of bass response. This video for Day Two was fun to work on too. And it’s been gratifying to see the overall video presentation nominated for a Best Filmmaking award from the International Live Events Association-MSP's MNStarAwards. Congrats to all involved!
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DIALOG EDIT + MIX: AUGSBURG COLLEGE SESQUICENTENNIAL
Above: Junior Birdman Audio was pleased to provide dialog edit and mix for a video celebrating Augsburg College’s Sesquicentennial (150 years!). Spoken word artist Donte Collins, a 2018 Augsburg graduate, performed multiple takes of the same poem in several different locations with varying acoustics, indoors and outdoors. The crucial question was whether all the dialog was usable, or if we’d need to ADR some of it. I managed to salvage all the audio takes to everyone’s satisfaction, and I even played around with location specificity a bit-- pushing the different acoustic properties of different spaces slightly, while maintaining a constant thread of verbiage that the audience could follow. A challenging but super fun project— and the finished product premiered to a standing ovation of Augsburg alumni during their 150th gala, I’m told.
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SOUND EDIT + MIX FOR BRANDING VIDEO: EXPERIENCE THE DC GROUP DIFFERENCE
Above: Promo video for DC Group, a company dedicated to delivering one-stop maintenance and emergency service solutions for every make and model of uninterruptible power supply (UPS) equipment built since the 1980s. Dialog scrubbed, audio edited, and final mix executed by Mike Hallenbeck at Junior Birdman Audio.
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ORIGINAL MUSIC, SOUND EDIT + MIX: CEPHEID, GXnext
Above: I composed music, created sound design elements and executed the final mix on this explainer for the medical technology firm Cepheid, promoting a data mangement system called GXnext. This is another project where I was able to extrapolate sound design elements from the music, creating a bespoke soundscape where all sonic elements were consonant with each other.
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ORIGINAL MUSIC + MIX FOR “GIVE IT A WHIRL”, ONLINE PROMO FOR SPARKHOUSE ANIMATED SERIES
Above: I composed this theme music and its variations heard throughout for “Whirl”, an animated liturgical education series produced by Sparkhouse in conjunction with print media materials for a young audience. I also mixed this video. Here’s a reel of more music I composed for the series, on which I also served as sound editor and mixer.
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