Sound Ideas Blog
This is the perfect space for sound ideas.
We are delighted to introduce Randy Thom, a prolific and well-respected Director of Sound Design, Supervising Sound Designer and Re-Recording Mixer as the guest blogger for Sound Ideas. Randy is one of the best in the field with Oscar, Emmy and Grammy nominations to his credit; as well as receiving C.A.S. Career Achievement and MPSE Career Achievement awards.
You can learn more about Randy here.
Balancing Music and Sound Design
February 27, 2026
It is important to control the fact that music and sound design are not adversaries. They are complementary narrative instruments. But they require choreography, humility, and leadership.
BROWSE THROUGH OUR POSTS
Giving Characters Personalities Via Sound Design Vol 2
November 28, 2024 - Randy Thom
Giving Characters Personalities that Evolve Via Sound Design Installment Number TwoIn last month’s blog I included a little over twenty examples of films that use a character’s changin...
Read moreGiving Characters Personalities Via Sound Design
October 31, 2024 - Randy Thom
Giving Characters Personalities That Evolve, Via Sound Design Film characters become more relatable when audiences are invited to not just see their world but to hear it as they do, esp...
Read moreUsing A Thesaurus For Sound Effects Searches
September 30, 2024 - Randy Thom
Using A Thesaurus For Sound Effects Searches When diving into a sound effects library looking for tornado-related sounds, a couple of search terms quickly come to mind: tornado and wind...
Read moreUsing Layers to Make One Sound
August 30, 2024 - Randy Thom
Using Layers to Make One Sound I’m working on a project now that needs a certain kind of creature voice. It’s an animated film, and this particular creature character should sound var...
Read moreHow To Continue To Beat Your A.I. Competitor
July 31, 2024 - Randy Thom
Continue to Beat Your A.I. Competitor A.I. is not going away, and it will improve at doing sound. I think eventually it will be better at it than any human. That’s the bad news for all...
Read moreCurating Accidents and Mistakes
June 28, 2025 - Randy Thom
Curating Accidents and Mistakes As sound designers and mixers we struggle to get some level of control; control of our working situations and our tools. The funny thing is, sometimes no...
Read moreMarch 31, 2024 - Randy Thom
Avoiding Spectral Logjams Having designed, edited, and mixed the sound for hundreds of action sequences, I can testify that the biggest problem to overcome is usually having too much so...
Read moreApril 30, 2024 - Randy Thom
Sound Design and Artificial Intelligence As I write this in late April of 2024, artificial intelligence has not had a significant impact on sound effects design for film, video, or game...
Read moreMarch 28, 2024 - Randy Thom
Making It Real and Making It Feel When I was working on the Bob Zemeckis film Cast Away it was very difficult coming up with sounds for the waves on the beach when the Tom Hanks charact...
Read moreStorytelling Functions of Sound
February 29, 2024 - Randy Thom
When someone asks “What does sound do in a movie” most of us are at least a little confused about how to answer that question. Obviously both music and sound effects can make you feel a c...
Read moreExploding Bridges and Bowling Pins
January 31, 2024 - Randy Thom
In Sam Wasson’s fantastic new book about Francis Coppola and American Zoetrope, he quotes Walter Murch ruminating on the sound of colliding bowling pins. I remember those pins well. When ...
Read moreJanuary 03, 2024 - Randy Thom
Great art depends on accidents and mistakes.Most non artists think that a work of art begins with an imaginary, grand design, which is then made real by using the techniques the artist ha...
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