‘Batman Unburied’: Behind the Engrossing Sound of Spotify’s Chart-Topping Audio Series – with Dean Martin Hovey

Working on a Batman project is a career benchmark for any sound pro – getting to design the Batmobile’s sound, creating ambiences for the Bat Cave, designing signature sounds for Batman and his foes… what could be cooler? Well, how about having the freedom to create these sounds without being tied to picture?

That’s the opportunity that award-winning sound designer Dean Martin Hovey at Soundwell had on the Spotify audio series Batman Unburied, created by Wolf At The Door. Hovey not only got to create the sound of the Batmobile, the Bat Cave, Gotham Asylum, Gotham City, and all those fan-favorite Batman heroes and villains; he brought this world to life using only sound. The immersive backgrounds, panning, reverbs, and spatial placement of sounds help to create a vibrant mental picture that has depth and richness. You can close your eyes and feel immersed in the story.

Here, Hovey talks about world-building, finding the proper pacing, using sound to move the listener through a scene, and using it to define action-packed sequences. He talks about his approach to recording effects from a sound design perspective, how to create skin-crawling gore sounds, and how he created the satisfying sounds for signature characters like Poison Ivy, The Harvester, the Riddler, Batman, and so much more!

How did you get involved with Batman Unburied?

Sound Designer Dean Martin Hovey

Dean Martin Hovey (DMH): I got a call from Creative Director Alex Kemp at Wolf At The Door. They’re a music production company that also specializes in podcast production – voice recordings and things like that. They reached out and said they had a project that was right up my alley called Batman Unburied. It was going to be the widest released podcast ever, so I was really excited to be a part of it.

I’ve done a few podcasts in the past with Alex; Mordeo for iHeart, some of the DUST Podcast Season Three for CHRYSALIS, and the recent Blood Ties for Wondery.

Currently, Batman Unburied is trending number one on Spotify and Blood Ties is also number one on Apple Podcast, exciting stuff!

Wolf At The Door thought this podcast should sound cinematic and with my history in film, they thought I’d be a good choice as the sound designer. So, I was brought in to meet the good folks at Spotify and D.C. Thank goodness they liked me! I was brought on to the project straight away.

Batman Unburied was a lot of work, but also a lot of fun.

Dean Martin Hovey’s workspace

Who ended up being your point people for this podcast?

DMH: Producer Toby Lawless and also Alex Kemp at Wolf At The Door. Alex is the head creative over there.

There were three internal review and refinement passes to polish out the sound vision, then it was sent wider to the folks over at D.C., Warner Bros., and Spotify. Their Creatives would listen and send notes back. So I’d get these worksheets with notes and/or additional ideas they wanted to try on top of what I’d generated. The worksheet would tell me where the notes came from and many times there would be multiple creatives weighing in with a variety of ideas. I’d address the notes and new exploratory ideas, and deliver design elements for a mix to be sent back. When all parties were happy then it is considered a “lock.” The mix was refined and output into multiple formats and delivered for release.

It’s a multifaceted process, with three internal reviews and three to five passes externally.
Usually, by the second pass, we were pretty tight sonically, maybe just be a few things here and there to further explore.

…I revisited my design and created a hybrid car that was a muscle car Batmobile and the traditional Jetcar together.

Sometimes views will change. The Batmobile, for example, in the early days is a Jetcar, which I’ve always loved. It’s this big, rumbly jet with a powerful fluttery flame coming from the back of it, and inside the Batmobile you’d hear this soft hearty hum. So I designed it with those types of sounds in place.

But before delivering the final, I saw the poster for The Batman film and noticed the new Batmobile is more of a muscle car. So, I revisited my design and created a hybrid car that was a muscle car Batmobile and the traditional Jetcar together. We start with a massive muscle car sound and when Batman goes into hyperdrive, that’s when the jets engage to push the car into hyperspeed. So, it’s two Batmobiles wrapped in one.

That’s an example of a change that I pushed through. The new Batmobile looks like a souped-up Dodge Charger – so cool – but certainly not a Jetcar. Re-shaping your sound design work is essential to get the best results. Some things need to be unlocked on occasion.

Re-shaping your sound design work is essential to get the best results.

Also, since we’re working on this with a number of different companies, our first build is how we like it, but there are inevitable pacing and timing changes and the other creative companies voice new ideas and refinement suggestions. Occasionally, on first listen, they sometimes have differing opinions on how things need to be. One creative team might want Gotham to sound very dangerous with a lot of sirens and gunshots and people screaming – playing up the danger of it all. But someone on the other team may say, “Well, this is a new Gotham. We want it to be frightening in this one instance but not all the time. Let’s push all the danger into the distance and keep the story itself close to the ear.”

And so they have to work that out between them and agree on the overview. They’ll come back to me with the refined vision, otherwise, I’d be doing 10 different versions in an eternal loop. Hahahaha!

We learned to work with each other in a very efficient manner; we had a great creative flow happening and everyone was quite happy.

Did the showrunners have the sound scripted out? Or did they leave it up to you to fill in around the dialogue?

DMH: Some of the scripts needed to be modified a bit during the recording of the dialogue, the dialogue always comes first. But as they’re recording the dialogue (which can take about four or five weeks), timing and pace will change to whatever flows best.

I’m then given scene reports that outline the various locations in each episode. For instance, there is a haunted forest, the Bat Cave, Arkham Asylum, the police station, the Riddler’s cell, Gotham city (day and night), a sort of Bat Dream World, and so on. As I’m waiting for the dialogue recordings, I’m able to carve out the scene ambience and began creating a bed of elements that I could build on accordingly.

As I’m waiting for the dialogue recordings, I’m able to carve out the scene ambience…

When the dialogue comes in, the timing is only temp-locked. As we build the music and sound design, we sometimes need to add or subtract time to have it breathe more naturally so as to not feel rushed or have the pacing slow. It’s important not to lose the rhythm of the moment, like during the Batmobile exterior turning on and ramping up before we go inside the car. The timing was a moving target because they didn’t know how much time we’d actually need for the effects to play out and make sense. Working without picture, the traditional visual indicators aren’t there so you have to detail the sound in a way that is easily understood.

After I dial in the ambience in each scene using the scene reports, the script will outline basic effects identifiers, like “radio station sound” or “spooky Bat Cave,” things like “water drips” or “big cave” or “technology on platform” and so on. These would indicate the need for certain reverbs and additional layers to help put you in space, like the “Bat computer” is an old yet futuristic technology presence. I’d also create various-sized cave drips in the distance in multiple layers. These things really help outline the various locations and create interesting-sounding space.

This suggestion on what is needed guides my personal spin on designing the various locations.

This suggestion on what is needed guides my personal spin on designing the various locations. This design work is refined further as it sifts through the review processes internally and externally.

For instance, the original computer in the Bat Cave sounded really high-tech. But in came a note to make it feel more worn in and gritty, like a well-used computer system. So the beeps became a bit heavier, a bit more retro, and more forward in the mix. It sounds smooth, but with a bit of dirt as a flavor thing. So they’d come back with notes and suggestions like that and I’d refine accordingly.

Also, I like to outline the sounds of each character to help the story-telling along. For instance, the Batmobile sounds futuristic, refined, efficient, and powerful. The bad guy vehicles sound beefy but sort of dusty and gritty. So I tried to play the angle of each character type – good people sound clean, and gritty people sound more shuffley when they walk, and their coats sound a bit heavier than maybe they should, etc… I tried to honor the characters with a defined sound signature.

It’s important to point out that Bruce Wayne has a very different sound than Batman does.

There are some really cool characters in this, Hugo Strange, Poison Ivy, Alfred, the Riddler, Vicki Vale, and of course Batman.

It’s important to point out that Bruce Wayne has a very different sound than Batman does. In this series, the Bruce Wayne character is really struggling as a man in Gotham, especially in the first five episodes. So, I made him sound very human, very normal at the beginning.

Once he’s awakened as Batman, his boots become solid and weighty and I introduce leather in his movements; his cape sounds like he’s this giant man whooshing swiftly through space. Whereas in the first several episodes, he’s just a guy in a suit walking around. His clothes are very light and his feet are subtle. He sounds very basic because his character is super vulnerable in the first few episodes. I try to bring out the sound character in the moment, to help outline their personality.

For instance, when Ivy is herself as Dr. Pamela Lillian Isley (pre-Poison Ivy), she sounds very much like a young woman. She has only standard detail in her voice and movements. When she turns full Ivy, there are little hints of organic plant material in her clothing and she is constantly surrounded by bees. Her new presence becomes quite different.

Hovey’s sound gadgets

Ep.1 sets the tone for the show, not just because it’s dark and brooding (Batman joke!) but also in terms of the level of sonic detail the audience can expect moving forward. Since it’s a radio play, you need sounds to help paint a mental picture. What were your guidelines for how much to put in, like when to use footsteps, or clothing rustles, and how much is too much?

DMH: It can be a bit tricky because it’s not a film and there are no visual cues. As a podcast, things need to have just a little more exaggeration or detail to help push you into the space. Also, I’m designing against a moving target as far as the timing of dialogue and music that are constantly changing as we build until we get final locked timing, which happens near the end traditionally.

Dialogue re-timings come in each pass. In some instances, I had to use a bit of a Hollywood cheat. To make scenes feel like it is one continuous event, I sometimes truncate sound in a way to help make timing-sense even though it is sometimes a forced perspective. Perhaps Batman takes only three steps and now he’s in the living room. To keep the best dialogue timing, you sometimes have to cheat perception and push imagination a bit. Perhaps I put in a smooth light whoosh to suggest a time-lapse forward. This happens often once the locked dialogue track and music timings are official; they will dictate these needs.

To keep the best dialogue timing, you sometimes have to cheat perception and push imagination a bit.

Also, if it’s an exciting scene, things will happen very quickly. You don’t need too much detail, really just the meat of it. If it’s a fight, you want to hear a shuffle, a rustle, and a giant Batman punch. It’s much like a dance.

I feel that in busy scenes with a lot going on, good sound design will have those things that you traditionally find in music, like rhythm, frequency separation, motion, and texture – it’s can become harmonic in that one character may sound very light and shuffley and perhaps another character sounds big and wispy. And the timing will feel choreographed.

In ‘Batman Unburied,’ it came down to whichever felt the most exciting; that is what we went with.

The intensity of a scene can dictate realism or the need for a Hollywood angle where you can cheat a bit on reality. In Batman Unburied, it came down to whichever felt the most exciting; that is what we went with. There comes a point where something sounds cool, but it may feel like a character just flew into a room – oh wait, because it did; it’s Batman.

You need to go with what sounds most interesting and makes sense for the pulse of each scene, and as you design forward it becomes experimental really. Hopefully, you can discover what is most impactful. Sometimes it takes a lot of experimentation; sometimes it’s pretty instant. For me, I will generally start with realism unless it’s something that is scripted as a unique moment – something that has to be a moment in time as per the storyline. In that instance, I’ll go heavier with an abstract approach or design things with tighter detail, hinting that something has changed in vibe, and something exciting must be coming.

The Batman Unburied story is an intimate one, a personal look into the soul of Bruce Wayne.

So with sound design, I’m trying to create this pressure-and-release dynamic.

Traditionally, Bruce/Batman is this classic character, the CEO of Wayne Enterprises, and he’s the greatest detective in the world. He’s a big powerful guy with really cool technology and seems to have infinite resources. But in this story, we have a struggling Bruce Wayne. Bruce is seeing a therapist. He’s getting psychoanalyzed and he’s really in a bad way and he’s very vulnerable. So, to help with this storyline, I tried to create very sparse, quiet moments that hopefully pull you into a more intimate space.

Then as a counterpoint, there are surprise moments designed to shock – gory, violent instances that will make you uncomfortable. So with sound design, I’m trying to create this pressure-and-release dynamic. It’s a roller coaster, starting as a mild spark in the first couple of episodes and then in Ep. 7 through Ep. 10, this push and pull is in full bloom.

Just listening to that first episode, with the gore and blood during the autopsy, it was very visceral. Did you record any bespoke effects? What were some helpful effects libraries for these gory scenes?

DMH: A lot of cooked chicken in that, hahahaha! And there are a lot of yogurt and cottage cheese recordings. Most of the sounds I used are from my private library. I’ve recorded things over the years and I record new sounds as needed per project.

For the gore, I used cheeses and meats. I’ll buy a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store and set up a mic to record the sound of me pulling the legs out of joint, bone cracks, and pulling flesh. I’ll put my hand in the middle of the chicken and push my fingers through, to get as much of that gooey fleshy wetness as I can get.

I’ll put my hand in the middle of the chicken and push my fingers through, to get as much of that gooey fleshy wetness as I can get.

Yogurt is also really good for that and cottage cheese and such. When The Harvester is eating flesh, there is a lot of yogurt and chicken happening there. I also added some sloppy-sounding liquid because I wanted saliva to be involved, like he’s really enjoying it.

Those sounds were recorded here, but I also used library sounds – go-to sounds that I know are good source material like low-end thumpers I traditionally add to give a bit of weight to things. When a body is put onto a morgue table there’s a thump sweetener and a fleshy slap to give a bit of weight and fleshy ooze.

Hovey’s collection of synths

What does your recording setup look like? What are your mics and recorder?

DMH: I use Pro-Tools with dual HDX Cards, and my interfaces are Focusrite RedNets.

I have 10 in total: one RedNet 4, four Rednet 2s, one Rednet 1, and four RedNet 5s.
This gives me 80 discrete inputs for my synthesizers and custom generators. I use the Soundwell DEK to control all of my MIDI. This allows me to play my sound effects in a specific music key scale if I wish. The Soundwell DEK is a very powerful addition to any sound design or music studio because of this. There is really nothing else like it.

…I track all my synths at the same time, hitting the same notes using my Soundwell DEK MIDI controller…

My synthesizers, generators, and mics are all connected, patched in and online, so my workflow doesn’t need any new setups as I work. Every device has its own discreet input channel. So when I track drones, for instance, to help with my ambiences, I track all my synths at the same time, hitting the same notes using my Soundwell DEK MIDI controller; it locks everything into the particular key scale of my choice as I capture.

It’s a powerful way to capture tones because this way all the tracks speak the same key language. The notes being triggered – even while I’m 80 tracks wide – will be related in some way. Then I can go through the tracks and select the ones that work best together.
For speed and flexibility, this works really well.

It’s a powerful way to capture tones because this way all the tracks speak the same key language.

As for mics, it depends on what I’m recording, but I use Earthworks , Mojave, as well as Neumann mics. When I’m recording new elements, I’ve got a sectioned-off area of a studio here to record new design source, yogurt, leather, and whatever I need. I rarely use the traditional cardioid or hyper-cardioid foley mics because I’m usually not capturing feet and cloth. I’m recording more intimate things, like nut cracks and bone pulls or some weird one-off something or other. So I prefer my sound to be a bit wider because I’m using it more for a design source than as foley. I like my sounds to have a bit of width and air to them if I can. When I record source, I do think more like a sound designer than I do a foley artist. I’m usually looking for something specific. I do pull from my effects library for additional coloring, of course.

On this project, my hope is that you can put on a pair of good headphones and become immersed in the world of Gotham. Closing your eyes, I hope that you feel like you’re there in each scene – hopefully with a bit of warmth.

There are complicated scenes that unfold through sound. For instance, when Bruce is attacked and then rushed from the morgue to the hospital. You have the story unfolding in two different locations. What were some of your challenges sound-wise, to help the audience understand what’s happening to Bruce?

DMH: This is one of those instances of pressure-and-release. It starts with a very sparse sound when Bruce is doing his autopsy. You have this industrial room tone, Bruce’s basic body movements, and the sound of his tools as he’s slicing through flesh. It’s detailed but simple and quiet.

Then The Harvester rushes in, and this is the peak for sound. The Harvester tackles Bruce, furniture and trays are spilling over, and then The Harvester stabs Bruce in his side and he starts bleeding.

Then we introduce a quiet dreamy moment as Bruce passes out and we have the intimate whispering of The Harvester talking to the corpse, whispering why he’s taking the pieces of the body as he cuts and rips him apart softly.

The challenge was getting enough detail in so that you know what’s happening and hopefully you feel like you’re in there with them all.

Then, we flash forward with an explosion of activity and we hear the horrified discovery of the scene and, of course, Bruce as he is rushed into the emergency room to save his life.

The challenge was getting enough detail in so that you know what’s happening and hopefully you feel like you’re in there with them all. Making it feel like it’s one fluid, dynamic scene starting from Bruce’s autopsy to when he wakes up in the hospital bed is key.

Although they are two scenes happening in different locations, It feels like it’s the continuance of the same event. To achieve that, there are subtle tonal tie-ins that help with the flow and rhythm, so it feels glued together and not like one moment then another moment and then another.

…there are subtle tonal tie-ins that help with the flow and rhythm, so it feels glued together…

This storyline takes place over several minutes, and of course with no visuals, a challenge was to make it feel fluid. The timing and pace of that sequence also help make it work.

The voices of the emergency personnel attending to Bruce, discovering the piece of brain on his tongue, hearing the background people gathering at the scene, the explosion through the swinging door as he’s being rolled into the emergency room, the sounds of the machines beeping and the oxygen mask and the IV taking over the air space, it was fun to build.

What went into your bat-laced sound design for Bruce’s mental episode as he’s talking to the shrink Dr. Hunter?

DMH: I did several versions of it, but we went with the one that’s the most simple and clean. It’s pretty effective.

I start with a ringing in the ear type sound, a high-pitched feedback of sorts, and an inner ear feedback as a trigger point. It swings up and down in pitch, eventually matching the pitch screech of the bat sonar echolocations.

It swings up and down in pitch, eventually matching the pitch screech of the bat sonar echolocations.

I introduced wing flutters, made up of about 30 bats flapping and panning about in a chaotic manner as Bruce’s inner ear feedback blends fully into the bat screeches. Panning, reversing, and spatial reverbs dial in the chaos further

I liked what you did for the Vicki Vale news report on Bruce’s death. It felt very in situ, very real. What was your approach here?

DMH: I was really painting a picture with the ambience here. You have the sirens in the distance so that you feel the panic of the moment. The mixer did a great job of putting you in that space.

The vocal delivery on Vicki Vale really carries the energy. As it should be, all the actors involved did an amazing job. Her performance in this scene is incredible.

The vocal delivery on Vicki Vale really carries the energy.

That scene was reliant on ambience placement and having interesting tidbits here and there for the mixer to put in space.

The heavy sound design really comes when Ivy makes her appearance. Once Poison Ivy comes in there are some really interesting vine movements as part of her body motion as well as magical elements and acid fizz as she struts her powers over everyone. She’s a little bit of Heaven and Hell

Did you have a few favorite moments for sound design? What went into them?

DMH: The sound of the Bat Cave was interesting, with the secret entrance, the opening of it, and the ambience in cave. They’re quite interesting. It feels like you’re in a big mineral cave with a tech station at the center of it.

I also quite liked The Riddler’s cell. He’s not in a jail cell. He’s in an insane asylum. So you hear crazy voices down the hall, screaming, people tapping on bars, and people ranting and saying insane things. It’s a bit Silence of the Lambs. You can feel his insanity as he begins to speak when you’re in that space.

For the Batarang, I created a loopable multi-whoosh sound that pitches up after its thrown to give the illusion of accelerating speed.

Wolf At The Door had recorded some of the screaming voice source for the Asylum; some of the other voices were recordings that I had captured at an earlier date. Some of the voices are in traditional loop group fashion where there’s no distinct message in there, no complete sentences, just the attitude of an insane scream or random gibberish. The Wolf At The Door recordings are script-specific characters that come in later to make themselves known. The combination made the scene feel quite realistic and very interesting.

I quite liked the sound of the Batarang and the Batmobile muscle car/jet car. For the Batarang,
I created a loopable multi-whoosh sound that pitches up after its thrown to give the illusion of accelerating speed. It sort of chops through the air as it accelerates A ball-peen hammer to anvil serves as the metal pings as it bounces off walls and pipes.

The Poison Ivy kiss of death is a combination of magic and horror. There is a handbell ding traditionally used for meditation to clear your mental palette, an airy exhale simulating a wild lost spirit, a sort of untamed breath spirit, burning acid fizz using Alka Seltzer and bacon frying to emulate disintegrating flesh. This sequence usually starts off with a gentle and sweet kiss.

What are you most proud of in terms of your sound design on Batman Unburied?

DMH: Bringing in the sonic world of Gotham with a bit of a new angle I found satisfying, and creating an intimate view of Bruce Wayne’s psyche at his most vulnerable. Batman Unburied as an immersive audio podcast is a cool way to bring you into that world. Unburied has a pretty unique flavor I think, impactful and scary but also human and relatable.

A big thanks to Dean Martin Hovey for giving us a behind-the-scenes look at the sound of Batman Unburied and to Jennifer Walden for the interview!

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