Invincible series sound design Asbjoern Andersen


Amazon Prime Video's Invincible is an animated superhero series from creators Robert Kirkman, Ryan Ottley, and Cory Walker. Here, Boom Box Post sound team members Brad Meyer, Jeff Shiffman, and Jacob Cook talk about building powerful fight scenes and crafting emotional scenes, and they give insights on using sound to connect the audience to larger-than-life heroes and villains. With the S2 finale 'I Thought You Were Stronger' currently competing for 2024 Emmy nominations for sound editing and sound mixing, the sound team focuses on what went into the sound of this episode's action sequences – like a brutal fight between hero Invincible and villain Angstrom, creating sounds for multiverses (including a Spider-Man-esque reality, a talking-dino-verse, zombie world, and more), designing intelligible vocal treatments, and much more!
Interview by Jennifer Walden, photos courtesy of Amazon Prime Video
Please share:

The S2 finale of Invincible – Amazon Prime Video’s animated superhero series from creators Robert Kirkman (co-creator of comics The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead), Ryan Ottley (comic book artist and writer who’s worked on Marvel Comics’ Amazing Spider-Man) and Cory Walker (the Invincible series’s lead designer) – is an action-packed and emotional ride that offered enormous opportunities for the sound team at Boom Box Post.

Season 2 Ep. 8 “I Thought You Were Stronger” (competing for 2024 Emmy nominations for sound editing and sound mixing) takes the audience on a journey through the multiverse. There’s a version of Spider-Man known as Agent Spider who takes on nemesis Prof. Ock (a version of Marvel Comics character Doctor Octopus), a zombie world that pays homage to Kirkman’s The Walking Dead comic, a world with talking dinosaurs, and more. There are battles with organic-based robots, and a devastating fistfight between Invincible and his nemesis Angstrom, which creates an emotional dilemma for Mark Grayson (i.e., Invincible).

Invincible_sound-13

L to R: Katie Jackson, MPSE (Sound Effects Editor), Noah Kowalski (Sound Effects Editor), Carol Ma, MPSE (Foley Editor), Jeff Shiffman, MPSE, CAS (Re-recording Mixer), Mia Perfetti (Sound Effects Editor), Brad Meyer, MPSE (Supervising Sound Editor), Natalia Saavedra Brychcy, MPSE (Sound Effects Editor), Jacob Cook, MPSE (Re-recording Mixer), and Logan Romjue, MPSE (Dialogue Editor)

Here, Supervising Sound Editor Brad Meyer, MPSE, Re-recording Mixer Jeff Shiffman, MPSE, CAS, and Re-recording Mixer/sound effects editor Jacob Cook, MPSE, talk about creating powerful fight scenes by augmenting impacts with cannon blasts and 808 kick drums and accentuating fight choreography using signature character sounds like Omni-Man’s cape, designing sounds for different worlds in the multiverse, creating vocal processing for a telepathic exchange between Omni-Man and Allen the Alien, building the sound of techno-organic robots, and so much more! Plus, they talk about their approach to mixing the visually intense show to guide the audience’s focus.



Invincible Season 2 Part 2 - Official Trailer | Prime Video


Invincible Season 2 Part 2 – Official Trailer | Prime Video

What were the showrunner’s goals for sound on Invincible? How did they want this show to sound? And what did the sound team want to bring to this show creatively?

Sound Team: The showrunners of Invincible emphasized believability and storytelling. The overall goal is to get the audience to invest in the characters, their relationships with each other, and the drama they face. We want to draw people in.

The show strikes a stunning balance between over-the-top action scenes and emotionally intimate moments…

With a lot of superhero or comic-inspired content, especially in animation, it’s easy to go a little too cliche with the soundtrack. Invincible has a self-awareness – a certain sense of humor. It’s almost a commentary on the superhero media we consume today, and the approach from both the showrunners and our sound team reflects that. We go big when needed, yet don’t hesitate to relish the smaller, quieter moments. The show strikes a stunning balance between over-the-top action scenes and emotionally intimate moments, allowing us to highlight both our sound design chops and hyper-focus on some of the more subtle sound details. From the sounds of Mark drenched in Angstrom’s blood to Debbie Grayson slamming cabinet doors out of anger toward her murderous husband, some of Invincible’s most impactful moments are also some of the most intimate and visceral. In contrast, we’re not afraid to go big when the story warrants it – like buildings getting destroyed, planetary wars, or a horde of evil Martian squids. You name it.

I appreciate the relationship we’ve built with the showrunners and creators of this series. A huge part of what makes this show hit as hard as it does is the creative freedom we are given. There’s trust there, which is key to playing into the story’s narrative and creating something that audiences will respond to.

 

Invincible_sound-02

What went into the sounds for the opening scene, in which Omni-Man goes through a training simulation with drones and soldiers?

Sound Team: This scene was the first time we saw the Viltrumite prison guards, so it was important to establish them strong off the bat. However, they are no match for Omni-Man. So we knew we wanted them to feel cool and imposing, but to easily crumble when they go toe-to-toe with a Viltrumite of his strength.

Wronking metal, nuts and bolts, and shards of glass paired with the sounds of bursting internal organs, oozing guts, and dripping blood make for a great mass-death scene.

The guards are technically techno-organic beings, with a robotic exterior and an organic, almost human-like interior. Because of this, we didn’t go with overly cheesy robotic leg servos or anything like that. We played them almost like humans wearing metal armor, which allowed us to downplay them in the mix when needed, but lean into both the sounds of their metal exterior and organic interior when Omni-Man destroys them.

6 sound facts about Invincible:

 

Q: Who did the sound design and mix for Invincible?
A: The sound team on Invincible – at Boom Box Post – were Brad Meyer, MPSE — Supervising Sound Editor, Katie Jackson, MPSE — Sound Effects Editor, Noah Kowalski — Sound Effects Editor, Mia Perfetti — Sound Effects Editor, Natalia Saavedra Brychcy, MPSE — Sound Effects Editor, Carol Ma, MPSE — Foley Editor, Logan Romjue, MPSE — Dialogue Editor, Jeff Shiffman, MPSE, CAS — Re-recording Mixer, and Jacob Cook, MPSE — Re-recording Mixer.

Q: Who composed the music for Invincible?
A: The music for Invincible was composed by John Paesano, known for his scores on Marvel’s The Defenders series, Sony’s Spider-Man 2 video game, and DreamWorks Dragons: Riders of Berk series.

Q: What makes the superhero fight sounds so impactful in Invincible ?
A: To make the fight sounds for the superheroes in Invincible stand out from ordinary punches, the sound team added cannon blasts and 808 kick drum hits to the impacts.

Q: Who handled the foley on Invincible?
A: The foley on Invincible is recorded as needed for the show by the sound team at Boom Box Post. They record everything from wet food and human spit for gore and guts, to custom vocal recordings of crowds panicking, footsteps on appropriate surfaces, and even cloth – like Omni-Man’s cape which has tons of movement and is used to accentuate his fight choreography and flying.

Q: What’s the most surprising story behind the sound of Invincible?
A: Invincible is as emotional as it is action-packed. The sound team spends just as much time crafting quiet, hyper-focused details for the emotional scenes as they do for scenes of destruction and conflict. Some of Invincible’s most impactful moments are also some of the most intimate and visceral.

Q: What was the most challenging aspect of the sound on Invincible?
A: Invincible often has big, climactic moments, and the show’s re-recording mixers are always looking for ways to focus on the narrative. For instance, the “Atom Eve” special has so much happening visually and sonically, so the mixers had to carefully pick and choose what sounds to feature while still keeping the focus on dialogue. Their primary goal is to ensure that the viewer follows the story by directing their attention using sound since sound has a huge sway in what the viewer looks at on screen.

Wronking metal, nuts and bolts, and shards of glass paired with the sounds of bursting internal organs, oozing guts, and dripping blood make for a great mass-death scene. Omni-Man kills so many of them so fast that it’s a great opportunity to highlight some of these sounds in quick succession to get the point across.

 

Invincible_sound-04

Angstrom sends Invincible through portals to different times/places in the multiverse: talking dinosaurs world, zombie world, Agent Spider world, desert/wasteland world, etc. Can you talk about some of the unique sounds you created for these different places?

Sound Team: During the Season Two finale episode, the idea is that Angstrom is trying to strand Invincible in a dimension he would likely not survive in. So most of the portals take us to desolate, dead places. In these instances, it was important to hear no signs of life – no birds, no insects, and certainly no other humans. This allowed us to focus on some of the more intimate details we could hear in these locations. Granules of sand blowing in the wind, a light breeze blowing through abandoned structures, and so on. Even in a more intense scene, like when Mark is beating Angstrom, we play off of our surroundings. When Mark (Invincible) lands a particularly hard punch, you’ll hear the sounds of the metal beams from the rubble of destroyed buildings reverberating through the desert.

Invincible_sound-05

For more active locations like the dinosaur or zombie worlds, we had to get the point across quickly, since we weren’t in these locations for that long. I wanted to place a handful of sounds that were obvious ear grabbers in these scenes to set the tone early and give a clear sense of place in each location – a few distant dinosaur roars, a volcanic eruption, and specific tropical bird callouts in the dinosaur world, for example.


Popular on A Sound Effect right now - article continues below:


Trending right now:

  • The Zombie Apocalypse has arrived, and the virus is spreading fast. This comprehensive sound library features 20,000 high quality zombie sounds, making it the most complete zombie sound collection ever released.

    Expert Vocalizations
    In today’s films and video games, zombies have four distinct vocal archetypes. The renowned creature voice talents from The Monster Factory have expertly performed all these vocalizations, covering every genre of zombie imaginable—from the fast-paced, ultra-rabid freshly infected to the slow, hauntingly wailing undead. Our team has been trusted by AAA video game companies for over 15 years, contributing creature vocalizations to games like Star Wars Outlaws, Dead by Daylight, Until Dawn, Hellblade 2, Baldur’s Gate 3, and many more. Their expertise in creating immersive audio nightmares is highly sought-after in the industry.

    More Actions and Variations
    Unlike typical sound libraries that limit diversity by offering only a few choices, Zombie Apocalypse delivers a wider range of actions and variations. With more options for nuanced performances, you can ensure that the sounds match every movement and action of your characters. The Zombie Apocalypse library covers a wide range of actions and intensity level, including:

    • Breathing, Walking, Running
    • Idle, Detection, Attacks
    • Pain & Death sequences
    • Biting, Chewing, Choking, and much more!

    For the full list of actions, click here.

    Voice Layering Options
    For greater customization, we recorded each action with a consistent phonetic script, ensuring that different voice techniques can be perfectly layered together. You can mix 2, 3, or even 4 different voice techniques, giving you endless possibilities to create unique zombie sounds or even non-zombie creatures. Though designed primarily for zombies, this library’s layering capabilities make it versatile enough to design an array of creatures and monsters. It’s the most flexible collection of creature vocalizations available.

    Distant Microphone Recording
    While recording, we used a second Sanken CO-100K microphone positioned 3 meters away from the first, adding depth and nuance to the recordings. These distant microphone audio files will help you create richer ambiances, ensuring that not all zombies sound the same or come from the same distance.

    Unparalleled Level of Audio Quality for Unparalleled Level of Terror
    Recorded at Tone Studio in Montreal by James Duhamel, the Zombie Apocalypse library offers pristine audio fidelity with a 192 kHz/24-bit sample rate. This, combined with the talents of trusted voice actors and the increased variety of actions and variations, the layering option to keep your listeners immersed and on edge, makes Zombie Apocalypse the most complete and unique sound library on the market. If it is not the first zombie sound library you have bought, this one will definitely be your last.

    Rich Metadata Embedded
    Every file comes with UCS naming and detailed metadata, including file descriptions and keywords, ensuring that you can quickly find the right sounds for your project.

  • The ROCKS Library is a collection of more than 700 designed rock and stone sound effects, ready to use.
    From single stone impacts to large heavy collapsing rocks, avalanches, rockslides sounds, rolling and falling stones, debris sounds….

    Originally recorded at 192 kHz with two Sennheiser MKH8040, a Sanken CO-100K and a Sound devices Mixpre 6. Delivered at 96Khz.

    Each sound file has been carefully named and tagged for easy search in Soundminer and is Universal Category System (UCS) compliant.

    (see the full track list below).

  • This sound library was carefully recorded, processed and crafted to offer a unique toolset for your ice-cold freezing design needs.

    Great for fantasy genre with ice based magic, enchantment and supernatural elements, shining motion graphics, time lapse and flow motion freeze sequences.

    Bonus Aztec death whistle recordings processed by glass and icy textures.

    This Sound Library is a part of the Slava Pogorelsky – Complete Bundle.

    WHAT SOUND PROFESSIONALS SAY:

    Victor Mercader – AAA Sound Designer (Apex Legends)
    “I find myself continuously using Slava’s SFX libraries to blend it’s pristine and detailed sound designs into my own sounds. They always add that cutting edge I am missing and make my sound designs more unique and pristine.”

    Enos Desjardins – Sound Designer/Sound Effects Editor (Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, Black Mirror)
    “Slava has been creating some really cool libraries which I find myself using time and again. Really high quality recordings to start with but then the cool processing he has used for example in his cinematic whoosh libraries really stand out. They are not just your standard generic whoosh sounds but are loaded with character and have a unique feel to them that is really fresh and cuts through in the nicest of ways.”

    Bjørn Jacobsen – AAA Sound Designer (CyberPunk 2077, HITMAN, DARQ)
    “Slava has for several years made high quality sound effects for me to play with. I use his sound libraries across multiple projects as lego blocks of my creations.”

    Ginno Legaspi – SoundBytes Music Magazine‎
    “As far as the sound goes ‘Cinematic Magical Ice’ is both beautiful and mystical. I happen to like the icy textures that are oozing with coldness. Overall, this sound library boasts a good variety of effect samples ready to drop in various cinematic projects.”

    Yarron Katz – AAA Composer and Sound Designer
    “Slava makes some wonderful libraries. He’s relatively new on the scene and his libraries have come to critical acclaim. He takes some general ideas, like whooshes and he injects some extremely revolutionary and innovative ideas to them, so you’re not getting another whoosh library – you’re getting something very unique, very fresh. He brings some wonderful ideas to the table.”

  • Rock / Stone Sound Effects Rocks Momentum Play Track 1100+ sounds included $37

    The Rocks Momentum sound effects library gets you more than 1100 sounds of rocks, bricks, wood logs, stones, impacting on different surfaces, rolling, being scraped one against the other and so on. The library was recorded in the Italian alps, and in Inverness, Scotland. Defective construction materials were used for the recording of bricks, roofing tiles, cement blocks etc.

    Bonus: Two extra libraries included for free:
    This library also includes two additional releases from Mattia Cellotto - for free: Crunch Mode delivers 230 crunchy sounds made with a variety of vegetables, fresh bread, pizza crust and a selection of frozen goods. The Borax Experiment gets you 158 squishy, gory, slimy and gooey sounds.

Latest releases:

  • Motorcycle Sound Effects Scooters Play Track 197+ sounds included, 164 mins total $99

    SCOOTERS features various sound effects recorded from 7 different scooters, ranging from general scooters to a scooter with a modified exhaust. An old two-stroke scooter with high-pitched brake squealing sounds is also included, along with on-board riding sounds (including revving and speeding), pass-bys, idling, approaching, pull-away, engine cranking, and varied mechanism sounds. SCOOTERS sound library helps you create different types of scenes with scooter riding.

    The recorded scooters include:

    ・KYMCO VJR 110
    ・YAMAHA BW’S 125
    ・YAMAHA BW’S R 125
    ・YAMAHA FORCE 155
    ・YAMAHA Super Four (with a modified exhaust)
    ・YAMAHA VINO 50 (Two-stroke scooter)
    ・YAMAHA VINO 50 FI

    This library includes total 197 files, consisting of 170 mono files and 27 stereo files recorded in ORTF at 96 kHz. Approx. 2 hour and 44 minutes total.

    Certainly, this library was carefully tagged with rich Soundminer metadata, including marks in the recordings highlighting interesting sounds.

    All the recordings were recorded, edited and mastered with love and care.

  • City Life Sound Effects Quiet Streets 3d Play Track 100 sounds included, 580 mins total From: $135 From: $78

    Quiet Streets 3D is the latest chapter in Articulated’s Quiet Streets series, offering a meticulously crafted collection of quiet urban ambiences. Designed with both creativity and precision in mind, this library captures the essence of urban stillness through the advanced Schoeps 3D ORTF recording technique, resulting in multi-dimensional soundscapes that reveal both horizontal and vertical spatial details.

    This library features 100 files delivered at 96kHz/24-bit. With a total size of 74.8 GB and over 9 hours and 40 minutes of carefully curated ambiences, Quiet Streets 3D is a comprehensive resource for creating immersive urban soundscapes.

    A Global Journey Through Quietude

     

    The recordings span cities across three continents, capturing the unique characteristics of urban environments in Paris, London, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Bangkok, Naples, Kuala Lumpur, Montreal, Regensburg, Hong Kong, New Delhi, Strasbourg, Singapore, and more. Each location offers its own subtle yet distinct textures, from the hushed buzz of a late-night street in Bangkok to the subdued murmurs of a Parisian alley at dawn.

    A Commitment to Quality

     
    Over two years, our team travelled to these cities to document quiet moments in urban life. Recordings were made at various times of day and across seasons, capturing the interplay of natural and environmental sounds. The ambiences feature layers of biophony (birdsong, rustling leaves), geophony (wind, distant rain), and faint traces of anthropophony (passing footsteps, distant traffic). Care was taken to minimize intrusive noises, ensuring that these recordings integrate seamlessly into projects that require clarity for dialogue or sound effects. Note: at times some distinctive authentic events were kept in order to give the choice for the editor to use them in their projects. These are tagged as marker on the spectrogram.

    A Versatile Tool for Storytelling

     
    The library’s 8-channel 3D ORTF format provides an intricate sense of space, making it ideal for surround sound configurations in film, video games, and immersive media. For those working in stereo, we’ve included a high-quality downmixed version of every file, offering flexibility without compromising quality.

    Recorded with the acclaimed Schoeps 3d ORTF system, it has a total of 8 discreet channels, 4 on the lower plane arranged in 2 pair of ORTF similar to a IRT-Cross, and doubled with a higher plane of 4 more microphones. The channel layout of the sound recorded and delivered is as this: L R Ls Rs hL hR hLs hRs (whereas h stand for high). Learn more about this configuration here: https://schoeps.de/en/products/surround-3d/ortf-3d/ortf-3d-outdoor-set.html

    Every file is embedded with UCS-compliant metadata, allowing for intuitive searching and streamlined integration into your workflow. The metadata includes detailed descriptors, location names, and environmental characteristics, making it easy to find the perfect ambience for any scene.

    A Timeless Collection for Any Project

     
    Whether you need the intimate quiet of a European alley or the expansive stillness of an Asian metropolis, Quiet Streets 3D provides a rich palette of urban soundscapes. This library is not just a collection of audio files—it’s a carefully curated journey through the subtleties of urban life, designed to enhance the emotional depth and spatial realism of your projects.

    With Quiet Streets 3D, you’re investing in a resource that will remain relevant across countless future projects.

    42 %
    OFF
    28 %
    OFF
    28 %
    OFF
  • All files are recorded 32bit, 192 kHz, with RØDE NTG1, Line Audio Omni1 and FEL Clippy XLR EM272 microphones, Sound Devices MixPre-6 II recorder. Library contains wav files of driving, interior and exterior foley, mechanical and electrical sounds. It is also available in UCS.

  • Electricity Sound Effects Massive Thunder Play Track 616 sounds included, 217 mins total $29.99

    MASSIVE THUNDER – 616 files of Thunder sound effects, at varying distances and intensities. From low and slow rolling distant rumbles to violently fast and bombastic direct cracking impacts. Massive Thunder comes in at over 3 hours and 37 minutes of short and long scenes of thunder and lightning for every occasion. Recorded during several storm seasons and dozens of independent thunderstorms, with indoors and outdoors perspectives. Massive Thunder’s filenames are in the Universal Category System format with additional Metadata baked-in.

    Don’t need a Massive amount of Thunder and Lightning sound effects? We offer ‘Mini’ sound effect libraries as companions for all of our ‘Massive’ sound effect libraries. All recordings are unique to each library with no overlap. Go Mini today, and upgrade to the corresponding Massive library later, when you need more of that particular sound effect.

    40 %
    OFF
  • Car Sound Effects Jaguar XJ 2010 full size car Play Track 46 sounds included, 60 mins total $65

    All files are recorded 32bit, 192 kHz, with RØDE NTG1, Line Audio Omni1, FEL Clippy XLR EM272 and JrF C-Series Pro+ microphones, Sound Devices MixPre-6 II recorder. The library contains wav files of driving, interior and exterior foley, mechanical and electrical sounds. It is also available in UCS.

Need specific sound effects? Try a search below:


The zombie world was a fun nod to Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead. We leaned into the horror aspect of this world with designed accents, stabs, and stings. You’ll hear tons of broken glass and signs of struggle, as well as some distant chaos like police sirens and helicopters.
R

The Agent Spider world was particularly fun to cut sound for. If you know you can’t get your hands on Spider-Man, why not play off of the idea that we’re in the multiverse anyway and riff on it? It’s another great example of Invincible‘s self-awareness and sense of humor. Audibly, we took much of our inspiration from Ultimate Spider-Man, storyboarded by our very own Dan Duncan. I even read on one of the forums that we fooled people into thinking we used the Sam Raimi Spider-Man sounds! I got a kick out of that one.

 

Invincible_sound-06

What went into the sound of Angstrom’s portals?

Sound Team: After discussions with the creative team, we knew we didn’t want to lean very magical with the sound of Angstrom’s portals. It’s easy to go in a chimey, Harry Potter-esque direction for things like that.

Instead, we wanted to go more sci-fi with it, using sounds like bowed cymbals and metals, and vibrating crystal glass, as well as tonal synth elements.

In the mix, we tried to play the portals subtly, as if to imply characters in the world wouldn’t hear a portal close by. Since Angstrom is sneakily using his portals as a weapon against Invincible, we wanted it to feel like he might not notice if a portal opened 5 feet away from him, and could accidentally slip in.

 

Invincible_sound-07

How did you create the sound of Angstrom’s mind glitches (when he’s watching Invincible in the alternate universes?)

Sound Team: For Angstrom’s mind glitches, we incorporated a good amount of his own portal sounds, since they are both visually similar and the idea is that he can’t keep straight what is reality and what is a different dimension.

In addition to some of his signature portal SFX, we used glitching tech and scratching vinyls, as well as some tinnitus-style ringing SFX. The goal with his mind glitches was to show that he’s going mad with the thoughts and feelings of hundreds of alternate versions of himself.

 

Invincible_sound-08

What went into Cecil’s ‘materialize’ sound?

Sound Team: Cecil’s teleportation sound was established by a different sound crew on Season One, so it was more detective work on our part than anything. In terms of coming up with a soundalike, we used mostly digital glitches and designed electricity sounds. There’s also a slight tonal element that rings out when he teleports, which allows us to effectively pitch the sound around as needed to get different reads depending on the situation and how his portals are being used. Luckily, we had some pretty great references from Season One.

 

Invincible_sound-09

What was your approach to the sound of the fights? Were there any helpful indie sound libraries you sourced for sound elements? What about foley or custom recordings?

Sound Team: Invincible has some incredible fight choreography that lends itself to dynamic sound opportunities. Even something as simple as a punch can create a fun opportunity to infuse some personality into a sound. When some of the most powerful beings in the universe are fighting each other, a simple punch won’t do, so we have to get creative and think outside of the box like layering in cannon fire or an 808 kick drum sample.

…we have to get creative and think outside of the box like layering in cannon fire or an 808 kick drum sample.

I particularly appreciate the show’s ability to relish in the subtle moments, sometimes in the context of a larger fight sequence – for example, the moment when Invincible beats Angstrom in the Season Two finale episode. Once he pins Angstrom to the ground, you’ll notice that the music cuts out, almost reminiscent of the post-credits scene in Episode One of the series, perhaps to imply Invincible is more like his father than he’d like to admit. This is a moment where we cut out all the fluff and hyper-focus on the impacts, blood dripping, writhing on the ground, and vocal performances. The small details in this scene make it feel so jarring.

Blood drips were made from water, Jell-O, and pasta. Impacts were sweetened with bass hits and the sound of large stadium lights turning on. There are sudden cloth movements for Angstrom flailing around. The cherry on top is Sterling K. Brown’s vocal work. He makes you believe he’s actually getting his face beaten in and that just puts the scene over the top.

Omni-Man’s cape has so much movement and personality…and we often use his cape to accentuate fight choreography or flying.

In addition to bespoke sound design tailored to the specific sound palette of the show, we are big fans of the Boom Library here at Boom Box Post. They have so many wonderful building blocks and pieces available in their libraries that we can use to piece together larger builds when needed. I’m particularly fond of the construction materials and Debris the Boom Library has. Those sounds can come in handy for scenes where buildings are getting destroyed or a highway overpass is crumbling.

Hear about the sound of Invincible:

 
Want to learn more about the sound of Invincible? Hear Audio Podcast Alliance member The Tonebenders’ excellent interview below:

This show hits hard! Invincible may be an animated series, but it is definitely not for young kids. There are real consequences here, characters die, battles leave marks. The sound design has to be big and impactful to match the powers of the super heroes going toe to toe on screen. Punches are huge, explosions really go BOOM. Blood rains down. Supervising Sound Editor Brad Meyer, Re-Recording Mixer Jeff Shiffman and Sound Effects Editor Katie Jackson tell us the secrets behind the sound design of the punches, the endless blood, inter-dimensional portals and lots more:

Hear the interview here:


For Foley, we custom record on an as-needed basis. Everything from wet food and human spit for gore and guts, to custom vocal recordings of crowds panicking. Footsteps in particular are designed depending on the weight of the character, their footwear, and the surface they are on. A rule we’ve established in the universe of the show is that superheroes tend to have weightier footfalls than a typical human, regardless of size. We also like to have fun with some of the cloth in the show. For example, Omni-Man’s cape has so much movement and personality to it that it’s almost an extension of the character, and we often use his cape to accentuate fight choreography or flying.

 

Invincible_sound-10

What went into the voice processing on Allen the Alien’s (and Omni-Man’s) telepathic chat on the Viltrumite prison ship? How about the mummy-spirit-creature’s vocal processing?

Sound Team: Allen The Alien’s telepathic vocal processing comes down to a simple phase technique, as well as a reverb that gives mostly an echo-delay. This helps to make it feel a little bit alien, without losing dialogue intelligibility.

The tricky part is that, during these telepathy scenes, there is no lip flap or mouth animation, which can be confusing upon first viewing. Any dialogue or sound editor knows that lip sync is a top priority in any sound edit, so the concept of speech without mouth movement can be quite jarring if done incorrectly.

Allen The Alien’s telepathic vocal processing comes down to a simple phase technique, as well as a reverb that gives mostly an echo-delay.

The wet/dry signal is our best friend in the mix for these telepathy scenes. With reverbs, the louder your signal gets the harder you hit the processing, so if you get two characters screaming at each other running through that effect, sometimes we have to pull it way back. In scenes with a lot of action and score, you have to really push the effect to get it to even come through. In general, we find a nice mid-level; clients will either have us dial it up or back depending on the scene.

This telepathic approach is actually broadly applied to any scene that takes place in open space, which helped to inform our overall sound approach for scenes set in space, and helped establish the physics and rules of the universe the characters live in. We tailor our sound design in a space scene a bit differently than a scene on Earth, for example, since we know all sound will get filtered through the space processing chain.

 

Invincible_sound-11

What was the most challenging scene for sound design?

Sound Team: In the season as a whole, a few come to mind. First, I think I’d have to choose the scene where Shrinking Rae gets crushed inside of Komodo Dragon’s body, and then crawls out of his neck cavity after he gets his head blown off. It’s such an absurd situation, and it’s fun to imagine what we would hear in a moment like this. Is it mostly flesh and blood? Any bones crunching? Would we hear Rae’s screams through Komodo Dragon’s chest?

When working on a scene that wild, you can get your creative juices flowing and imagine what something like that would sound like – what something like that could sound like. We went through several iterations of this scene to make sure we got it right. Finding the balance between Komodo Dragon reacting and Rae inside of his torso struggling to get out was the big challenge here. How much should we hear of what’s going on inside of his body, and how much should we hear the characters reacting to what’s going on?

I can’t even begin to describe the sheer amount of baby babbling, cries, and screams we had to cut together to make the scene work.

I also want to highlight baby Oliver’s crying when Angstrom is holding him and Debbie hostage. We often cut vocal sounds, like a baby crying, as part of editorial, and it was important for us to use Oliver’s crying as a storytelling and tension-building tool. We made a point of having Oliver react to things happening in the room, and intensified his cries over the course of the hostage scenes in the Grayson house. Like fire alarms and nails on a chalkboard, baby cries hit our ears right in the sweet spot to trigger an uneasy feeling, contributing to the tension of the scene. The tricky part is getting the performance you want out of baby vocals. Unlike adult actors who can perform a scene as directed, we often have to Frankenstein together unrelated baby vocals to create a faux “performance.” I can’t even begin to describe the sheer amount of baby babbling, cries, and screams we had to cut together to make the scene work.

 

Invincible_sound-12

What was the most challenging scene to mix? (There’s a lot of music in this show! Composer John Paesano does a great job of scoring the action and emotion. Was it challenging to make that work with all the effects in the fight scenes?)

Sound Team: I have to call out the freeway fight scene in the “Atom Eve” special as a particularly difficult scene to mix. On the editorial side, the editors made sure to cover as much detail as possible, giving the mix team plenty of options for how to focus the sounds, especially against John Paesano’s driving, cinematic score. We covered it all: traffic whizzing by, highway overpasses crumbling, and semi-trucks exploding, all playing against an emotional conversation between Atom Eve and her siblings.

As with any mix, our primary goal is to ensure we are guiding the viewer through the story by directing their attention using sound.

As with any mix, our primary goal is to ensure we are guiding the viewer through the story by directing their attention using sound. Believe it or not, the sound team has huge sway in what the viewer looks at on screen. In the “Atom Eve” special, there is so much to take in visually and sonically, so we have to pick and choose what sounds to feature while still keeping the focus on dialogue. Invincible often has big, climactic moments, so we are always looking at how we can enhance that idea in a way that supports the narrative.

 

What are you most proud of in terms of your sound edit and mix on Invincible? What do you feel makes the sound of this show unique?

Sound Team: Invincible has proven to be such an exciting, behemoth undertaking, and I have to say I am truly proud of how much we have all learned throughout the process of making the show. I’m the first to admit that Invincible has taught me a lot about supervising a show of this caliber. I have also always appreciated art that doesn’t take itself too seriously, and believe that we can create something great while still having fun with it. I think that shines through in our work, and lends itself to the playfulness of the show.

The edit and mix are nothing without the team that makes the magic happen.

I also have to give a shout out to our incredible sound crew on this series. The edit and mix are nothing without the team that makes the magic happen. We have an eclectic mix of industry veterans and editors on the rise, and we pride ourselves on hiring diverse crews with a multitude of lived experiences and worldviews. Nothing is more valuable to the sound of any show than the crew that brings it to life. We have found time and time again that there is no replacement for representation and inclusion.

 

A big thanks to Brad Meyer, Jeff Shiffman, and Jacob Cook for giving us a behind-the-scenes look at the sound of Invincible and to Jennifer Walden for the interview!

 

Please share this:


 



 
 
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:

  • The ROCKS Library is a collection of more than 700 designed rock and stone sound effects, ready to use.
    From single stone impacts to large heavy collapsing rocks, avalanches, rockslides sounds, rolling and falling stones, debris sounds….

    Originally recorded at 192 kHz with two Sennheiser MKH8040, a Sanken CO-100K and a Sound devices Mixpre 6. Delivered at 96Khz.

    Each sound file has been carefully named and tagged for easy search in Soundminer and is Universal Category System (UCS) compliant.

    (see the full track list below).

  • This sound library was carefully recorded, processed and crafted to offer a unique toolset for your ice-cold freezing design needs.

    Great for fantasy genre with ice based magic, enchantment and supernatural elements, shining motion graphics, time lapse and flow motion freeze sequences.

    Bonus Aztec death whistle recordings processed by glass and icy textures.

    This Sound Library is a part of the Slava Pogorelsky – Complete Bundle.

    WHAT SOUND PROFESSIONALS SAY:

    Victor Mercader – AAA Sound Designer (Apex Legends)
    “I find myself continuously using Slava’s SFX libraries to blend it’s pristine and detailed sound designs into my own sounds. They always add that cutting edge I am missing and make my sound designs more unique and pristine.”

    Enos Desjardins – Sound Designer/Sound Effects Editor (Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, Black Mirror)
    “Slava has been creating some really cool libraries which I find myself using time and again. Really high quality recordings to start with but then the cool processing he has used for example in his cinematic whoosh libraries really stand out. They are not just your standard generic whoosh sounds but are loaded with character and have a unique feel to them that is really fresh and cuts through in the nicest of ways.”

    Bjørn Jacobsen – AAA Sound Designer (CyberPunk 2077, HITMAN, DARQ)
    “Slava has for several years made high quality sound effects for me to play with. I use his sound libraries across multiple projects as lego blocks of my creations.”

    Ginno Legaspi – SoundBytes Music Magazine‎
    “As far as the sound goes ‘Cinematic Magical Ice’ is both beautiful and mystical. I happen to like the icy textures that are oozing with coldness. Overall, this sound library boasts a good variety of effect samples ready to drop in various cinematic projects.”

    Yarron Katz – AAA Composer and Sound Designer
    “Slava makes some wonderful libraries. He’s relatively new on the scene and his libraries have come to critical acclaim. He takes some general ideas, like whooshes and he injects some extremely revolutionary and innovative ideas to them, so you’re not getting another whoosh library – you’re getting something very unique, very fresh. He brings some wonderful ideas to the table.”

  • Rock / Stone Sound Effects Rocks Momentum Play Track 1100+ sounds included $37

    The Rocks Momentum sound effects library gets you more than 1100 sounds of rocks, bricks, wood logs, stones, impacting on different surfaces, rolling, being scraped one against the other and so on. The library was recorded in the Italian alps, and in Inverness, Scotland. Defective construction materials were used for the recording of bricks, roofing tiles, cement blocks etc.

    Bonus: Two extra libraries included for free:
    This library also includes two additional releases from Mattia Cellotto - for free: Crunch Mode delivers 230 crunchy sounds made with a variety of vegetables, fresh bread, pizza crust and a selection of frozen goods. The Borax Experiment gets you 158 squishy, gory, slimy and gooey sounds.
Explore the full, unique collection here

Latest sound effects libraries:
 
  • Motorcycle Sound Effects Scooters Play Track 197+ sounds included, 164 mins total $99

    SCOOTERS features various sound effects recorded from 7 different scooters, ranging from general scooters to a scooter with a modified exhaust. An old two-stroke scooter with high-pitched brake squealing sounds is also included, along with on-board riding sounds (including revving and speeding), pass-bys, idling, approaching, pull-away, engine cranking, and varied mechanism sounds. SCOOTERS sound library helps you create different types of scenes with scooter riding.

    The recorded scooters include:

    ・KYMCO VJR 110
    ・YAMAHA BW’S 125
    ・YAMAHA BW’S R 125
    ・YAMAHA FORCE 155
    ・YAMAHA Super Four (with a modified exhaust)
    ・YAMAHA VINO 50 (Two-stroke scooter)
    ・YAMAHA VINO 50 FI

    This library includes total 197 files, consisting of 170 mono files and 27 stereo files recorded in ORTF at 96 kHz. Approx. 2 hour and 44 minutes total.

    Certainly, this library was carefully tagged with rich Soundminer metadata, including marks in the recordings highlighting interesting sounds.

    All the recordings were recorded, edited and mastered with love and care.

  • City Life Sound Effects Quiet Streets 3d Play Track 100 sounds included, 580 mins total From: $135 From: $78

    Quiet Streets 3D is the latest chapter in Articulated’s Quiet Streets series, offering a meticulously crafted collection of quiet urban ambiences. Designed with both creativity and precision in mind, this library captures the essence of urban stillness through the advanced Schoeps 3D ORTF recording technique, resulting in multi-dimensional soundscapes that reveal both horizontal and vertical spatial details.

    This library features 100 files delivered at 96kHz/24-bit. With a total size of 74.8 GB and over 9 hours and 40 minutes of carefully curated ambiences, Quiet Streets 3D is a comprehensive resource for creating immersive urban soundscapes.

    A Global Journey Through Quietude

     

    The recordings span cities across three continents, capturing the unique characteristics of urban environments in Paris, London, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Bangkok, Naples, Kuala Lumpur, Montreal, Regensburg, Hong Kong, New Delhi, Strasbourg, Singapore, and more. Each location offers its own subtle yet distinct textures, from the hushed buzz of a late-night street in Bangkok to the subdued murmurs of a Parisian alley at dawn.

    A Commitment to Quality

     
    Over two years, our team travelled to these cities to document quiet moments in urban life. Recordings were made at various times of day and across seasons, capturing the interplay of natural and environmental sounds. The ambiences feature layers of biophony (birdsong, rustling leaves), geophony (wind, distant rain), and faint traces of anthropophony (passing footsteps, distant traffic). Care was taken to minimize intrusive noises, ensuring that these recordings integrate seamlessly into projects that require clarity for dialogue or sound effects. Note: at times some distinctive authentic events were kept in order to give the choice for the editor to use them in their projects. These are tagged as marker on the spectrogram.

    A Versatile Tool for Storytelling

     
    The library’s 8-channel 3D ORTF format provides an intricate sense of space, making it ideal for surround sound configurations in film, video games, and immersive media. For those working in stereo, we’ve included a high-quality downmixed version of every file, offering flexibility without compromising quality.

    Recorded with the acclaimed Schoeps 3d ORTF system, it has a total of 8 discreet channels, 4 on the lower plane arranged in 2 pair of ORTF similar to a IRT-Cross, and doubled with a higher plane of 4 more microphones. The channel layout of the sound recorded and delivered is as this: L R Ls Rs hL hR hLs hRs (whereas h stand for high). Learn more about this configuration here: https://schoeps.de/en/products/surround-3d/ortf-3d/ortf-3d-outdoor-set.html

    Every file is embedded with UCS-compliant metadata, allowing for intuitive searching and streamlined integration into your workflow. The metadata includes detailed descriptors, location names, and environmental characteristics, making it easy to find the perfect ambience for any scene.

    A Timeless Collection for Any Project

     
    Whether you need the intimate quiet of a European alley or the expansive stillness of an Asian metropolis, Quiet Streets 3D provides a rich palette of urban soundscapes. This library is not just a collection of audio files—it’s a carefully curated journey through the subtleties of urban life, designed to enhance the emotional depth and spatial realism of your projects.

    With Quiet Streets 3D, you’re investing in a resource that will remain relevant across countless future projects.

    42 %
    OFF
    28 %
    OFF
    28 %
    OFF
  • All files are recorded 32bit, 192 kHz, with RØDE NTG1, Line Audio Omni1 and FEL Clippy XLR EM272 microphones, Sound Devices MixPre-6 II recorder. Library contains wav files of driving, interior and exterior foley, mechanical and electrical sounds. It is also available in UCS.

  • Electricity Sound Effects Massive Thunder Play Track 616 sounds included, 217 mins total $29.99

    MASSIVE THUNDER – 616 files of Thunder sound effects, at varying distances and intensities. From low and slow rolling distant rumbles to violently fast and bombastic direct cracking impacts. Massive Thunder comes in at over 3 hours and 37 minutes of short and long scenes of thunder and lightning for every occasion. Recorded during several storm seasons and dozens of independent thunderstorms, with indoors and outdoors perspectives. Massive Thunder’s filenames are in the Universal Category System format with additional Metadata baked-in.

    Don’t need a Massive amount of Thunder and Lightning sound effects? We offer ‘Mini’ sound effect libraries as companions for all of our ‘Massive’ sound effect libraries. All recordings are unique to each library with no overlap. Go Mini today, and upgrade to the corresponding Massive library later, when you need more of that particular sound effect.

    40 %
    OFF
  • Car Sound Effects Jaguar XJ 2010 full size car Play Track 46 sounds included, 60 mins total $65

    All files are recorded 32bit, 192 kHz, with RØDE NTG1, Line Audio Omni1, FEL Clippy XLR EM272 and JrF C-Series Pro+ microphones, Sound Devices MixPre-6 II recorder. The library contains wav files of driving, interior and exterior foley, mechanical and electrical sounds. It is also available in UCS.


   

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

HTML tags are not allowed.