Hey all I’m Mitch, a sound editor here at Transported Audio. Much of my past work experience was on narrative projects before I joined this team. Working at Transported Audio has given me the opportunity to learn a lot about how to approach sound design for trailers.

Coming from the world of working in television and film, I have come to learn that sound effects editing for trailers has a slightly different approach. Trailers focus much more heavily on music as the driving factor – our sound work takes on a unique role in supporting that.

The most important thing is rhythm. 99% of the time sync takes first priority in film and television where as trailers focus on the music as the driving element. You will take notice if a rhythm doesn’t feel right more so then the sync of picture and sound. It’s in our blood.

For example; If you have a moment in a clip where a character is shooting off a multitude of bullets you must make sure that the rhythm of those gunshots compliment the tempo and rhythm of the music. If not, the music and your sound effects will clash.

Another thing to keep in mind is when including tonal sound effects that they be in the same key as the music or else you’ll end up with dissonance. That is, unless you want to create tension or clashing between the music and SFX, which can be helpful sometimes if you’re working on a horror trailer.

Crafting the sound for trailers has given me the chance to experiment and go out of the box a bit more than I usually would be able to. It’s an interesting medium, and I can’t wait for the next project!

– Mitch Lestner