Categories
Film

Music and Dialogue Mix and Edit for a Trailer

Volume automation was applied to even out the dialogue dynamics, ensuring clarity and distinction. While not aiming for realism, this approach prioritizes a focused delivery of the message.

The music mix was tailored to support the dialogue, with the soundfield centered and reverbs intentionally darkened to avoid frequency masking.

I also served as recordist on several shoots and cleaned the recorded dialogue tracks, removing noise and disturbances from the raw footage.

Categories
Sound

Lightsaber Sound and SFX for Dance and Kung-Fu Performance

The show was produced by Blind Frame Productions and performed at the Solid Tricular LAN party. Inspired by sci-fi classics like Star Wars, Terminator, and Transformers, the second half featured a lightsaber battle.

I reviewed existing lightsaber sounds but found them insufficiently menacing and too rigid for the show’s needs, so I created my own.

Using Plogue Bidule, the core sound combines PWM sawtooth and synced sawtooth waves. Pulse-width modulation envelopes produce the ignition effect. This waveform passes through multiple filter banks adding subtle distortion, with the centerpiece being a custom monophonic formant filter. The final sound layers three distinct elements.

Movement sounds derive from processing the core signal through additional filters mixed with an amplitude-modulated copy. This creates an “energy field” effect, blended with the original via a crossfader. The crossfader and other parameters are controlled in real-time using a MIDI keyboard modulation wheel.

Though initially planned as a prerecorded track, I manipulated the sound live during the show for greater responsiveness. Contact sounds are variations of the core process, also triggered via keyboard. Beyond lightsabers, I designed many other sounds for the production.

This sound design wasn’t meant to imitate the originals but to create a unique, powerful sonic identity—and it sounded incredible through the party’s PA.

Categories
Music

Music Composition for an Acrobatic Fire Performance

Talvisoolo (Winter Solo) was composed for an acrobatic fire performer from Trio Taika, created in collaboration with Visa Oscar. The piece captures a dialogue between a fiery spirit and a world that freezes and thaws.

The track incorporates extensive icy textures – rhythms, ambiences, and melodies – some sourced directly from the Live Antarctic Stream of AWI.

It also features samples from the following Freesound contributors: Black_Boe, c97059890, Corsica_S, deer, Dynamicell, gelo_papas, laurent, scarbelly25, and soalicesays.

Categories
Art

Jungle of Sound: A Generative Sound Art Installation

Ääniviidakko (Jungle of Sound) is a generative, synthetic rainforest soundscape installation created for the chill-out area of the Manaus techno party in Helsinki. Due to the close proximity of the chill-out space to the main stage, sonic separation was limited, making a DJ setup impractical.

The installation consists of eight independent sound layers, each evolving continuously and rhythmically unrelated to the others. No natural recordings were used as source material. Instead, a few abstract rhythmic and melodic elements were processed through extensive effects chains to generate a dynamic, jungle-like soundscape that never repeats.

The composition features long cycles, shifting between impressions of day and night, relaxation and activity. Stochastic MIDI generators control software synthesizers that emulate wind and water sounds, adding organic movement.

To enhance the synthetic base, a subtle collage of real jungle and rainforest sounds – primarily bird calls – is layered intermittently, giving life and authenticity to the environment.

The installation was realized using Plogue Bidule.

Exhibitions:
2008 Manaus party chill out area, Helsinki

Categories
Sound

Signal Sound Design for a File-Sharing Application

This project involved creating a set of sounds tailored for integration into a file-sharing tool Yunako, with a specific request for textures that evoke water and a cool, refreshing atmosphere. The source material originated from an upright piano improvisation, from which individual notes were carefully extracted. These notes underwent extensive processing including effects and manipulation to transform the acoustic piano sounds into an ambient, fluid sonic palette.