The Art & Craft Of Working In Sound - An AirCon Interview With Sound Supervisor/Re-Recording Mixer Craig Henighan:

Posted June 14, 2023 by Asbjoern Andersen in Film sound, Sound community highlights, Television sound

We've created a special series of A Sound Effect interviews for AirCon, and here, Jennifer Walden speaks with award-winning supervising sound editor/sound designer/re-recording mixer Craig Henighan (Stranger Things, Roma, Black Swan):

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The Art & Craft of Working in Sound – with Sound Supervisor/Re-Recording Mixer Craig Henighan:

In this asoundeffect.com AirCon Special, Oscar-nominated and Emmy and MPSE Award-winning supervising sound editor/sound designer/re-recording mixer Craig Henighan (‘Stranger Things’, ‘Roma’, ‘Black Swan’) talks about combating creative burnout, how he evolved the sound of ‘Stranger Things,’ offers advice on using plugins and how to keep sci-fi sounds fresh and interesting, and how remote collaboration is changing the sound community:

More sound stories featuring Craig Henighan:

Want to learn more about Craig Henighan’s audio work? Here are some more stories we’ve featured:

• The Powerful Sound of PREY – with Chris Terhune, Jessie Anne Spence, and Craig Henighan
• Creating the Thrilling Sound of Terminator: Dark Fate
• How the outstanding sound for Stranger Things Season 1 is made
• Behind the thrilling sound of Stranger Things – Season 2
• Behind the growing, evolving sound of Stranger Things Season 3 – with Craig Henighan, Will Files and Mark Paterson
• Behind the fun sound of ‘Free Guy’ – with Craig Henighan, Ryan Cole, & Paul Massey

View more exclusive A Sound Effect / AirCon interviews:

We have more A Sound Effect / AirCon interviews ready for you – with Becky Sullivan, Bonnie Wild, James Mather, Johnnie Burn, Karen Baker Landers, Mark Mangini, and Paula Fairfield:
View those AirCon interviews here

Check out the interview on Airwiggles below:

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THE WORLD’S EASIEST WAY TO GET INDEPENDENT SOUND EFFECTS:

A Sound Effect gives you easy access to an absolutely huge sound effects catalog from a myriad of independent sound creators, all covered by one license agreement - a few highlights:

Cinematic & Trailer Sound Effects Seismic Core – Sonic Enhancers Play Track 548 sounds included, 45 mins total $44
Seismic Core is a modern sound effects library crafted to give your sound design its defining foundation. Every element in this collection is built for layering. Designed not to dominate, but to enhance, shape, and energize your creations. Whether you’re working on cinematic hits, trailers, motion design, game audio, or abstract sonic branding, Seismic Core delivers the essential low-end weight, transient snap, and textured grit that bring your designs to life.

These sounds are meticulously processed and polished, yet intentionally left with enough space to sit perfectly under your own layers. They’re bold enough to add instant character, but subtle enough to leave room for further creativity. This makes Seismic Core not just a toolkit, but a true starting point for powerful, flexible, and unique sound design.

This collection of Building Blocks contains following categories:
- IMPACT *
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- TRANSIENT (high and low)
* Also including HEAVY & SUB variants

Build with it. Layer on top of it. Drop the anchor. Feel the quake. Design from the core.
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Cinematic & Trailer Sound Effects Spells Variations Vol 3 Play Track 247 sounds included, 16 mins total $9.35

Spell Variations Vol. 3 brings a fresh wave of magical creativity and sonic variety. This collection dives deep into the mystical realm, offering everything from shimmering chime spells and celestial choirs, to demonic voices that feel torn from the depths of hell, along with earth-based magic, electric spells, powerful invocations, and more.

Inside, you’ll find 247 sound effects across 27 distinct types of magic, each with multiple variations. As with our previous volumes, these variations ensure each spell feels unique, even when reused throughout different moments in your project.

Each spell type is neatly organized into individual folders, giving you total flexibility when designing magical scenes, gameplay effects, or transitions. Whether you need a subtle magical aura or a powerful blast, you’ll have the perfect sound at your fingertips.

All sounds were recorded, edited, and mastered at 192 kHz / 24-bit, delivering high-end quality and broad adaptability. This library is perfect for professional sound designers and creators looking for high-quality, drag-and-drop magical sounds for games, trailers, animations, or any audiovisual production.

More about the pack
. Intuitive file naming
. All you’ll ever need regarding magical sounds [Use them again & again
. Use the sound effects over and over, in any of your projects or productions, forever without any additional fees or royalties. Use the SFX in your game, in your trailer, in a Kickstarter
campaign, wherever you need to, as much as you want to.
. Totally mono compatibility
. All sounds have several variations.
. Use your imagination and feel free to use any sound for a creature other than the one described, remember that the world of sound is totally subjective.
. For any questions or problems: khronstudio@gmail.com

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Mechanical Sound Effects Jason Cushing’s TOYED Play Track 5000+ sounds included $49

100+ Toys, 1500+ Designed Sounds – From Childhood Playthings to Cinematic Gold. TOYED has it all.

Think You Don’t Need a Library of Toys? Think Again.

This release might just change your mind—and blow your mind at the same time! TOYED is an exclusive sound library from the Founder of SoundMorph, Jason Cushing. With a 25-year career spanning AAA games, anime, cartoons, and film, Jason has designed for Electronic Arts, BioWare, and Epic Games, contributing to titles like the Mass Effect Trilogy, Skate Trilogy, and Unreal Engine’s weapon sound design. His deep expertise in cinematic sound design, UI creation, ambient textures, and weapons makes TOYED a versatile, high-end collection of professionally crafted sounds.
Jason’s meticulous approach to field recording and sound selection ensures that this library isn’t just about capturing toy sounds—it’s about unlocking rich, unique sonic textures that are ideal for games, film, animation, and futuristic sound design. With contributions from longtime SoundMorph sound designers Andrew Pals, Tibo Csuko, and Vincent Fliniaux (GORE 2, WATER, Robotic Lifeforms 2), TOYED is built to deliver exceptional quality and usability across multiple production styles.

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Explore the full, unique collection here

Latest sound effects libraries:

City Life Sound Effects NSL – 60s TRAINS Play Track 51 sounds included, 100 mins total $15

This Sound-Pack features a diversity of 51 Punctual Sounds, including Train Pass by, Onboard High Speed Rolling, Raw Metal Railway Sounds, Train Doors, and a lot more !

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Human Sound Effects Heart Beat Play Track 41 sounds included $10

The Heart Beat library is a small collection of real heart beat recordings captured using stethoscope. Featuring BPMs from 50 to 120, this library covers a range of emotional states—from calm and resting to tense and elevated.

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Cinematic & Trailer Sound Effects Thunder Drums Play Track 512 sounds included $39

Thunder Drums is a sound effects library designed to deliver powerful low-frequency impacts, rumbles, and strikes for cinematic sound design. It features non-traditional percussion instruments, including a thunder tube (spring drum), loose drumheads, and large plexiglass sheets, struck with mallets and drumsticks to produce a wide range of impacts, thunder-like rumbles, deep strikes, and heavy drum hits.

In addition to raw recordings, the library includes designed elements enhanced with granular processing, distortion, and impulse response reverbs. Perfect for sound design in film, games, and trailers where powerful hits and low-end energy is needed.

All sounds were captured using a Sennheiser MKH 8050 microphone and Zoom F6 recorder at 32-bit / 192kHz, and are delivered as 24-bit / 192kHz WAV files. The library includes 185 files (512 sounds), is 3.7 GB in size, and is fully UCS-compliant with embedded metadata.

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Bundles Surround Sound LAB Complete Collection (perpetual subscription) Play Track 6000+ sounds included $699
Surround Sound LAB Complete Collection

Unlock the full potential of your audio projects with the Surround Sound LAB Complete Collection. This bundle offers our entire Surround Sound Lab catalog in one comprehensive, perpetual one-time subscription.

The Ultimate Audio Resource

Our Complete Collection is the ultimate audio resource, meticulously curated and updated with our newest releases. Deliver your best work with the most extensive collection of world-class sound effects we’ve ever offered. This flagship collection is perfect for creators, post-production professionals, video editors, game developers, and more.

Our equipment is proudly part of Blacktone Studio team in Madrid, a studio with over 10 years of experience in sound post-production for cinema and TV.

Exclusive Benefits
- 🚀 Future Releases Included: Purchase once and receive all future libraries for free, directly to your inbox.
- 🔊 Ambisonic and Surround Recordings: Experience the richness of third-order ambisonic and surround recordings, capturing the most immersive audio environments.
- 🎧 Pristine and Consistent Quality: Enjoy pristine, high-quality sounds with consistent audio fidelity across all files.
- 🎤 State-of-the-Art Recording and Mastering Equipment: We utilize the best recording gear available, including cutting-edge third-order microphones and the latest technologies. Your sound experiences are crafted with meticulous attention to detail, edited, and mastered in our 9.1.6 Dolby Atmos immersive mixing stage.
- 📦 Massive Library: Over 6000 files, totaling more than 600 GB of premium audio.
- 🏷️ UCS Compliant: Fully compliant with the Universal Category System.
- 📋 Detailed Metadata: Each file comes with descriptive, embedded UCS metadata. View the sound list in XLS format.
- 💻 Flexible Delivery: Choose between download and hard drive delivery options.
- 💰 Royalty-Free: Use all sounds without any additional fees.
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Foley Sound Effects Typewriters Memories Play Track 1008+ sounds included $20.35

We’ve launched a new recording series focused on typewriters, and for this first volume, we’ve included four distinct models:
– Olivetti ET Personal 55
– Olivetti Lettera 31
– Olivetti Pluma 22
– Olympia SM2

This library contains a total of 1008 high-quality audio files, and—as in all our sound libraries, each track includes multiple takes to give you flexibility and variety.
In the preview, what you’ll hear is a combination of all microphones used simultaneously to give a full, rich perspective of each sound.

🔊 What’s Included
This collection captures every mechanical nuance and interaction possible from the included machines, such as:
– Individual keystrokes for each letter, numbers, and special keys (both isolated and sequential)
– Mechanical movements, gear shifts, and levers
– Paper roller actions
– Powering on the electronic typewriter
– Carriage movements with detailed gear and rail recordings
– Sounds of the Olympia SM2 case being handled
– Side levers, paper insertion and release mechanisms

We also used a Geofon contact microphone to capture internal vibrations and mechanical resonances, offering a layer of realism rarely found in typewriter recordings.

🗂️ Well-Organized & Easy to Use
All files are uniformly named and sorted by machine and action type, making it easy to drag, drop, and find exactly what you need in your workflow.

🎧 Recording Approach & Equipment
All sounds were recorded at very close range to ensure exceptional detail and clarity. The recording setup included professional-grade equipment:
– Sound Devices MixPre-6 II
– Sennheiser MKH 8050
– Sanken CO-100K
– Tascam Portacapture X8
– Geofon

This high-fidelity setup allows you to alter pitch or stretch audio while preserving sonic integrity, making these sounds ideal for both hyper-realistic and creative sound design.

✅ Professional Quality Standards
– Recording resolution: Captured at 32-bit / 192 kHz, delivered at 24-bit / 192 kHz
– Editing: All files were meticulously cleaned to remove room reflections, background noise, and handling artifacts

🎯 Ideal Applications
– Video games: Add depth and realism to vintage or stylized interfaces and props
– Film & documentaries: Use authentic machine sounds for historical accuracy or background texture
– Multimedia projects: Perfect for immersive installations, art pieces, or stylized animations

📦 Technical Details
– Total Files: 1008
– Format: 192 kHz / 24-bit WAV
– Gear Used: Sound Devices MixPre-6 II, Sennheiser MKH 8050, Sanken CO-100K, Tascam Portacapture X8, Geofon

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