Thread by @DirkMaggs

I asked the team sound designing The Sandman Act II to talk about how they brought the words of @neilhimself to life for @audible_com @DCComics.
Questions:
1) Toughest sound/scene to create?
2) Your most useful sound tools?
3) Favourite Sound effect or Scene?
Here's the result:

#WilfredoAcosta designed Eps 2-4, 6-8; i.e. the main Season Of Mists episodes. Wilf and I have made noises together since the BBC Radio Superman adventures with @DCComics in the early 90s.

Hardest Sound/Scene to create:
Chapter 7 Scene 9 especially memorable. A lot of work went into getting Azazel’s voice to sound all encompassing (using Brauer Motion, Doppler, Morphoder + Sub harmonics). The swirling ambiences were then manipulated to interact with the characters.

Also Chapter 4 scene 4 - Loki, snake venom, Odin. A scene of sustained pain which had to be reflected in the sound design with the timing of the change in the sound of the drips as well as the low rumbles/earthquake effects. A fantasy scene that had to sound real….

Most useful sound tools
My sound effects library, built up over many years.
Soundminer's pitch shift, allowing effects to be slowed down or sped up. Krotos Reformer and Dehumaniser - amazing tools for manipulating sound. Devious Machines' Pitchmonster - awesome pitch tool.

Favourite sound effect/scene
Chapter 6 Scene 4 - Cain Abel and Gregory's magic act at Dream's Banquet. So many perspective changes in this huge scene. It had to sound as real as possible, but with dark humour. Michael Roberts' performance of course guides this excellently!

Kirsty Gillmore @soundswilde designed Ep11 "Three Septembers" and Ep 18 "The Hunt". Kirsty is a sound designer, voice director, casting director, lecturer and multi-award-winning producer working in all aspects of audio drama and games. She's also a professional voice actor.

Hardest Sound/Scene to create:
The wolf/stag chases in The Hunt, getting the right amount of energy and excitement while making sure a listener could follow events. Action sequences are always challenging - they must be dynamic and captivating without muddying the story thread.

Most useful sound tools:
My ears! It can be really easy to over-produce an effect or a mix - not everything needs six layers through a plugin stack. If I feel I've lost my way with a sound or mix, I'll often turn off my screen and use my ears to tell me what works & doesn't work.

Favourite effect/scene?
The tiny delicate winged frog sound I created for Delirium in Three Septembers. It had to sound both completely imaginary and perfectly real. Also the disappearing shimmer/pop I created for Lucien in The Hunt, quirky & playful sound to fit his character.

@TomAlexVoice Tom Maggs (yes! related) is both a sound designer and voice actor on Big Finish and Games Workshop titles as well as The Sandman, for which he plays ensemble parts and is the announcer for the credits.
Tom designed Thermidor, August, Soft Places & P'ment of Rooks.

Hardest Sound/Scene to create:
Gilbert folding up a campfire and putting it in his bag! There are plenty of fire effects around; but trying to make it sound convincing!
Also Eve telling her life story in Parliament of Rooks; balancing the sound of creation with the description.

Most useful sound tool:
Ears! But if we’re talking plugins I think it’s got to be Audio Ease's Altiverb. Being able to add a genuinely sourced reverb of choice with a click Suddenly Neil's world comes vividly to life and all the characters exist in a living acoustic.

Favourite sound effect/scene:
Sound - I’ve got to go with Gregory the gargoyle eating a teacup.
Scene - Cain telling the Parliament of Rooks Story is wonderfully dark. The Vincent Price delivery by Michael Roberts helped me 'sell' the effects, a wonderful harmony of the macabre.

#JohnScott is a sound designer, sound recordist and dubbing mixer, working across Radio, Games, Moving Image, TV and Feature Films - including station imaging, sound design, location recording and live sound. John designed all episodes of A Game Of You.

Hardest sound/scene:
Game Of You 1 - Martin Tenbones (a gigantic dog like creature) heads down 5th Avenue in New York City, unintentionally scaring passers-by and provoking the NYPD. So many layers of sound went into bringing these manic few scenes to life.

Most useful sound tool:
1) My Microphone for recording a big chunk of the bespoke foley
2) The 'Reverse' plugin on reverb and impacts to create creepy speech effects.

Favourite sound effect /scene?
So many! There's a brilliant nightmare sequence in Game Of You 2 that's well worth a listen.
No spoilers!

( / end thread)