ADR & Foley: the goal is seamless sound

Post, June, 2005 by David John Farinella

The material came from the Foley stage as well as some tracks that were recorded directly at Los Angeles-based Danetracks. "We recorded every kind of sound we could think of that wax could make and used it for everything from the sizzling and boiling sounds to the scrapes and creaks of waxed doors to waxed limbs falling and wax plates crashing," he says.

"A lot of that was done using [Sennheiser] MKH 800s, a [Neumann] U87 and Schoeps XT, and a True Precision 8 preamp onto Pro Tools|HD."

On the Foley stage, he explains, the tracks were recorded by John Roesch with a Neumann KMR 81 and a U67 into a 24-channel Pro Tools|HD system. "One of the things we've been doing a lot of lately is 192k recording, which allows me to have a lot more resolution in the sample rates so when I pitch it down it still sounds clean. It also gives me a couple extra octaves of ability to pitch it down without aliasing and it still keeps a lot of the good high frequencies. We're on a Pro Tools|HD system that can record at 192k, and if you play that back at 48k you don't even have to convert it, you can just play it back," he says. "It plays at two octaves down if you play it at a 48k session, so you get a lot of good clean detail and that allowed us to do a lot of different things with the wax itself."

RELATED ARTICLE: And in this corner ... Foley

STAMFORD, CT -- In the smash-mouth world of professional wrestling, what goes on outside the ring is just as important as what takes place between the ropes. WWE, the popular wrestling franchise, has built its reputation with extensive productions in the ring, backstage and through a number of promotional vehicles, all of which require Foley work from time to time.

"Our Foley work comes primarily on the promotional spots we produce," says Chris Argento, director of audio post production for WWE (www.wwe.com). "The challenge for us is the speed of workflow. We produce about 10 promos a week, so we don't have the luxury of capturing all necessary audio on set. We need audio and we need it fast, so we use our in-house studio room and record directly to a Fairlight QDC machine. This lets us begin working with audio with zero transfer downtime and the most efficient editing tools."

One recent Foley project for a WWE videogame required Argento to recreate nearly every audio track. WWE divas Stacy Keibler and Torrie Wilson mocked a confrontation outside a restaurant where only the dialogue was maintained. All the surrounding audio, from standers-by to overturned tables, required Foley.

"With so many sounds happening in the frame and a limited time to produce the audio, we chose to build a composite of certain Foley sounds. With the Fairlight, we were able to make a single track of glasses breaking, layer it over and over, then built the composite in nothing flat. Only the Fairlight's interface would have let us build the audio so quickly."

For Foley recording, Argento uses a Sennheiser 416 shotgun mic and keeps it as close as possible. He will also use a TC Electronic TC 6000 for ambiance, if needed, to completely control the feel of the space. "Working in our environment also gives us the opportunity to have fun with our Foley work," notes Argento. "We're not just Foleying footsteps or cars driving away. We get to throw around chairs and break things! It's a constant source of entertainment for our interns."