Your show is done, the field footage works well and the message comes through... but there's something missing. One of the best ways to liven up any program or presentation is to spike up the audio track. It takes more than field audio and narration to make a program. Music and sound effects, even a very subtle application, can improve the experience of just about any program.

Music Libraries

To enhance your audio or video project, Henninger has access to multiple music libraries utilizing online search engines. Included are such well known collections as , Associated Production Music (APM), Extreme Music, and 5 Alarm Music. We can quickly find anything from classical to hip hop, adding life to your production. A wide variety of budgets can be accommodated. Music licensing fees vary greatly, depending on the type of production and your distribution model. Ask your Henninger account representative or sound designer for more information.

Sound Effects Libraries

There are a variety of sources for sound effects used in a production. At Henninger, we have access to an extensive library of over 42,000 individual sound effects available in a searchable database. We can add any effect to a program as a stand alone sound or, using a bit of imagination, combine multiple effects to create an almost infinite amount of intricate designs. With creative blending of these effects, we can build an audio texture well beyond that which individual sound effects can convey.

If our sound effects library is too limited, we can venture out into the field with a portable DAT recorder to capture literal ambiences such as birds, traffic, and crowds. Sometimes, a live sound is the perfect element in a more intricate custom sound effect.

Remember Jack Foley

The art of sound effects is named after a pioneer who never got screen credit for his work. Jack Foley worked on Stage 10 at Universal Studios for 33 years. From the early days of "talkies", he single handedly created the art of movie sound effects. By the time Warner Brothers' released "The Jazz Singer" in 1927, Universal was just putting the finishing shots together for the film version of "Showboat", an American Musical production about to be released as a silent film. Jack was already established as the guy who shot hand closeups and visual inserts for movies in a studio using his creative props and models. Jack's solution for adding a sound track to a silent film was to project the movie in a sound stage and record sounds in sync with the large array of props and surfaces used for his movie inserts. The process was not unlike live sound effects added to radio theater programming of the day, except this sound had to match a running motion picture in timing and temperament.

Using these techniques, the first "Foley" session brought a finished composite sound track to Showboat with a 40 piece orchestra, live voices and Jack adding sound effects all at once. Sound was added to picture after picture in this manner and Jack was the master, performing a carefully choreographed dance of noises. His innovation made all the difference.

Foley, the art that now bears his name, is a technical process by which sounds are created or altered for use in film, video, and other works. At Henninger, we have Foley rooms in which we use a variety of materials to record and customize a sound to add the perfect texture to your production. The gamut runs from recording someone walking on leaves for footsteps, to crinkling cellophane for the sound of a lion chewing.

Most of these elements are included within the major scope of sound design, and with a delicate EQ and leveling, these sounds will add a refined detail to the final mix.

Mary Casey and Lauren Dannelly are Sound Designers at Henninger Arlington