2018 IN REVIEW: 3 OF 3

The final installment: a look back on some of our 2018 projects. Happy holidays! Looking forward to 2019.

MLS ALL STAR GAME: SOUND EDIT + MIX FOR HYPE VIDEO

Junior Birdman Audio was pleased to provide sound edit and mix for this viral video, sponsored by AT&T and promoting the 2018 Major League Soccer All Star game in Atlanta. See and hear it on Facebook and Twitter.

More work by Junior Birdman Audio for promo/ branding

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ORIGINAL MUSIC FOR FILM: "AFTER THE GUNFLINT"

Below: One of the new pieces of original music I’ve been developing for After the Gunflint, a wilderness survival film directed by JD O'Brien. The creative brief: “deconstructed bluegrass”. It’ll probably be deconstructed a lot further from this point, but we like where it’s  going so far.

More music by Mike Hallenbeck for film

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GAME AUDIO: LUMINESCENE

More recent in-progress game audio for the Luminescence project, by Sailor Snouts out in Portland. The world we’re building is one where many things are made of light, so I cut together some cues for energy impacts. You know: energy impacts. Once again, these sounds are sourced entirely from a single analog synth, in keeping with the retro-futurist sensibility.

More work for games

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ORIGINAL MUSIC PLACEMENTS

Recent months have seen many broadcast placements for my musical compositions. My tracks with the production music library Primary appeared on channels like Major League Baseball Network and Switzerland’s RSI LA1, and also placed on shows like the UK’s “When TV Goes Horribly Wrong 2” and Spain’s TV show for children, “Lunnis de Leyenda“ (excerpt below, 20 seconds in):

More original music by Mike Hallenbeck

2018 IN REVIEW: 2 OF 3

Part 2 of a look back at 2018 projects. We’re lucky to work with so many great collaborators!

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DUAL: SOUND EDIT, FOLEY + MIX FOR SHORT HORROR FILM

“A child psychologist attempts a breakthrough with a troubled little boy, unleashing the demonic fury of his ‘imaginary friends’ in the process.” Justin Staggs’ unnerving short recalls 70s and 80s genre classics like “The Omen” and the work of John Carpenter. I provided sound edit and mix on the project, including a variety of subtle Foley to fill in the gaps.

Here’s the trailer for “Dual” (though to be clear, I didn’t work on the trailer):

More sound edit and mix for film

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SOUND EDIT + MIX FOR MEDICAL ANIMATION: iTRACK, ELLEX MEDICAL

Sound edit and mix on a promo featuring med tech by Ellex Medical for glaucoma surgery. The client wanted VO way out front, FX and music low-key and understated. Many sonic events hover on the horizon line at the verge of perception: an enjoyable challenge to balance all the elements.

More work by Junior Birdman Audio for medical animation

More work by Junior Birdman Audio for corporate video

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ASTRORITE: GAME AUDIO FOR METROIDVANIA PLATFORMER

Highlight reel of sound effects I created for Astrorite, a platformer by Giorgios Lagoudakis. The creative brief was to assemble a Metroidvania experience, eschewing contemporary aesthetics for a retro approach. In keeping with the throwback aesthetic, all sounds I contributed to the game were created using source audio from a single analog synth.

More sound design and music for games

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FORRESTER CONSULTING, CISCO STEALTHWATCH: VOICEOVER ENGINEERING + PERFORMANCE

As part of a long-term collaboration with TM Design, I’ve been providing voiceover performance and engineering for explainer videos by Forrester Consulting promoting assorted business services. Here’s a 2018 video featuring my voice, promoting Cisco Stealthwatch and ISE.

More work for branding/ coporate video

2018 IN REVIEW: PART 1 OF 3

A look back at noble deeds in music and sound design perpetrated in the past year. Thanks to all the collaborators we’ve had the good fortune to work with, and here’s to 2019!

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PAX EAST eMLS CUP 2018: SOUND EDIT + MIX FOR SHORT DOC

Above: Junior Birdman Audio provided audio post for this recent short doc of the first-ever eMLS Cup at PAX East 2018 in Boston, featuring MLS notable Jimmy Conrad and sponsored by AT&T. Editorial and mix had to be lightning quick, including polishing a lot of announcer and interview dialog captured in a difficult situation. I created a sound design replete with assorted accents and crowd audio from my personal field recording library, then whipped up a mix and delivered on a tight turnaround.

More work for corporate video

More sound edit + mix for documentary

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“BEEBOX”: SOUND EDIT, ORIGINAL MUSIC, + MIX FOR SHORT ANIMATION

“Beebox” is an experimental short animation by Cable Hardin. Screenings have included BEFF (The Barents Ecology Film Festival) in Petrozavodsk, capital of the Russian Republic of Karelia. The film also screened at the River Film Festival in Padua, Italy, where the audience sits on stone steps by the riverbank and the films screen on a raft in the middle of the river.

Since the film is still on the festival circuit, I’m not sharing it online yet. But here are a couple of BTS vids. First, a layer-by-layer playback of SFX and mix from a single shot:

For such a brief running time, the piece is dense and required a close working relationship to make sure the soundscape helped articulate the narrative. Here’s a brief excerpt of our process cutting FX for the film:

More music + sound design for animation

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I WET MY PLANTS: GAME AUDIO REEL

Above: Sound design work on the game “I Wet My Plants” by Sailor Snouts, a team out in Portland, OR. The player's mission is inspired by the kodama-- a spirit in Japanese folklore that inhabits trees, similar to the dryads of Greek mythology. Engaging in “Breakout”-style gameplay, the player paddles a ball that collects water and brings trees and flowers to life (and sustains the player’s own life as well). The ball needed to sound spongy enough to take on water, yet solid enough to sell as an object colliding with other bodies. When the trees transform, the little reward blips are cues from an analog synth, in tune with the music (music is not included here).

More work for games (sound design + music)