Making the Mighty Sound of ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ — with Damian Del Borrello

Few series are as epic as Amazon Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Set thousands of years before Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, it brings to life the legends of the Second Age of Middle-earth, including the eruption of Mount Doom. The show travels to the Dwarven homeplace of Khazad-dûm, the High Elves’ city of Lindon and the Elven city of Eregion, the mortal’s island kingdom of Númenor and also the Southlands, and introduces the nomadic Harfoot race.

Supervising Sound Editors Damian Del Borrello and Robert Stambler led the sound team in world-building each location and developing the sound for each race, calling on the Bespoke Post foley to help add layers of organic, naturalist sounds that ground the VFX in reality.

The Rings of Power sound team

Here, Del Borrello (who’s earned four Australian Screen Sound Guild Award nominations) discusses their approach to designing each location and race, working with the foley team to add details, and finaling with re-recording mixers Beau Borders and Lindsey Alvarez, who balanced the sound elements against the powerful music and compelling dialogue. Del Borrello also talks about the sound team’s challenges for specific sequences, like the Southlander’s fight against the Orcs, and the eruption of Mount Doom.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power – Official Trailer | Prime Video

How did you get involved with The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power?

Damian Del Borrello (DB): It goes back to 2019. The week before Christmas I got a call from a post supervisor friend of mine, asking me to come on board.

Sound supervisor Damian Del Borrello

Robert Stambler was my supervising partner on the show, and he had a relationship with one of the producers so he got the call first. Then, through my contacts over here in New Zealand, he called me and by January 2020, we were on the show. We actually started the first week of February 2020.

What were the showrunners’ goals for sound? There’s so much film history with The Lord of the Rings franchise. How did they want to honor that? How did they want to deviate from that and make their mark on TLotR?

DB: It’s a tricky thing, right? They were obviously trying to put their own stamp on it, but with such a loved and respected world that was created in those original films, it would be crazy not to pay homage to that in some way in order to build on that legacy.

Certainly in the early stages, just from a practical point of view, we were working with such small snippets of the show, so we were just predominantly collaborating with the editorial department. It wasn’t until much later that we had closer contact with the showrunners because they were just so busy shooting the show. It was such a massive amount of shooting with multiple units.

And then once COVID kicked in, it got exponentially more complicated. We didn’t have much contact with the showrunners until later in the process.

And during that Christmas holiday, were you binge-watching the films? Can you binge-watch 20 hours of TLotR films??

DB: I was actually quite busy in that period. I only had a few days off because I was on another show. But I did manage to squeeze in the first three films and it was a lot – like, wow, okay, so this is the starting point and we have to at least reach that and bring something new to the party. It was pretty daunting at the start looking up at this mountain of creation that had to be done.

There were lots of different elements to design, obviously, the world-building being the starting point. But then also all the creatures and the magic and all of those elements that had to be created. In a way, the workflow of working on sequences and scenes instead of reels or episodes probably worked in our favor because they were bite-size chunks.

…working on sequences and scenes instead of reels or episodes probably worked in our favor because they were bite-size chunks.

It was basically just Robbie [Stambler] and me for over a year – just the two of us working on building things and collaborating. We’d split things up and then come together and swap and add bits to each other’s work. At that stage, the pressure wasn’t huge because we were just slowly, brick by brick, building this thing.

It wasn’t until later – when reels and episodes were being put together – that we had the opportunity to sit back and go, “Oh, okay, so now we understand where everything fits, and now we actually have to make it work as a complete episode.”

I’m just imagining getting started on this show – with world-building and creature-building. It must have been daunting!

Let’s start by looking at the Orcs because they show up in the films and have an established sound. What went into your sounds for the Orcs? What were some of the key sounds that made them distinct for this series?

DB: The key thing is the vocal. One of the things that became clear after a little while was that we had to revoice all of them because there were so many prosthetics in the actors’ mouths. This process was managed by our fantastic dialogue supervisor, Stefanie Ng, and our ADR editor Ray Beentjes. They went about re-recording all of the dialogue, at 96kHz and we did quite a bit of subtle pitching on them, but not across the board. It was on an Orc-to-Orc basis, depending on their size and where they were perceived in the hierarchy of Orcs. Because obviously there are the Orcs that lead and the Orcs that follow and some that don’t even talk – they just grunt and make vocalizations.

…we did quite a bit of subtle pitching on them, but not across the board.

There was a bit of overlap with dialogue and sound effects on that side of things, using creature vocal designs to augment the performances.

Certainly, on the sound effects side, there was a bit of a motif that we tried to build in around the Orcs – it was the sound of buzzing flies – to create a sensation that the Orcs were suffering creatures. Their skin was scaly and rotting in parts. Whenever there was an opportunity, we’d introduce the sound of flies buzzing, even to suggest that an Orc was around even though we didn’t see one. That was a cool thing to play with.

We had a fantastic foley team over here in New Zealand. The people at Bespoke Post – Amy Barber and Jonathan Bruce – really brought their A-game. Going back to the aesthetic of the original films, one of the key things was the organic nature of the sound effects and that real, naturalistic tone. Sometimes people call it “documentary style” sound, but it’s essentially highly detailed but natural sounds. So that made up lots of the layers in this.
 

Behind the music of Rings of Power – with Bear McCreary:

 

Want to know more about the score for Rings of Power? Check out In Deep Geek’s great, hour-long interview with composer Bear McCreary below:

 

Listen to the Rings of Power score below:

Going back to the aesthetic of the original films, one of the key things was the organic nature of the sound effects and that real, naturalistic tone.

We set up a workflow with foley where we would send them exports of our sound effects (our hard effects) sessions as pre-dubs, and they would listen to them and figure out a way of complimenting the sounds that were in the track already.

Often, we would build in these low-frequency, heavier, weighty sounds, and they would add a layer of the higher mids and top end. They would edit them perfectly with our sound effects so that when they delivered their foley to us, we could integrate it and match our pans, reverbs, and all that sort of stuff before going to the stage.

When it hit the stage, it was a fully realized track before Beau Borders (our sound effects re-recording mixer) would even touch the faders.

The Orcs were a big part of our foley team’s work – the sound of their armor, the sound of their movements, and their footsteps. That was heavily tied in with the foley.

And then you get to the dub stage and you have all this beautiful, full-frequency sound design and foley but then they put the music in…

DB: I guess the good thing about the Foley coming in and being such a big part of the hard effects is that foley generally will have all of that high-frequency content. If we do need to turn down the sound effects, the foley still manages to cut through. And that was a big thing in the mix. Beau Borders and Lindsey Alvarez are fantastic mixers, making things work when there is so much music. And Bear McCreary’s music is incredible, but there was just a lot of it.

Opposite the Orcs, we have the Elves, which are everything the Orcs aren’t. They’re light; they’re ethereal. They’re very nimble and precise. They’re clean! What went into the sounds of the Elves and their community at Lindon? What are some key sounds that make them distinct?

DB: Lindon is the place of the High Elves and Eregion is the place of the craftspeople; those are two distinct areas for the Elves to live in. Robbie came up with a fantastic sound for Lindon, using this idea that birds in Lindon were magical and different – not the birds we would hear in a natural bush environment on Earth.

Robbie came up with a fantastic sound for Lindon, using this idea that birds in Lindon were magical and different…

He made this fantastic sound from a bat echolocation and used it more like a regular bird call. Because it existed in that same frequency range and because it was essentially a forest, he used an exterior delay/slap instead of reverbs to make it feel like an outdoor area. That gave it a more tonally mellow and rounded sound as opposed to when you’re in a forestscape and there’s wind and you hear more of the high-frequency “wind through trees” sound. Lindon felt more mellow, a bit more grounded than that.

Eregion on the other hand is where the workshop activity happens. That location develops later in the season.

On the foley side, a lot of the Elves have nice jewelry and so there are lots of those elements built into the movement track that – certainly with the Lindon Elves/High Elves – suggest a regal aspect. In Ep.5, when they have the dinner party, even all of the servants sound like they are royalty as well in the way that they move around. That was definitely a big decision to make that feel separate and different from Eregion for sure.

What went into the sounds of the dwarves and their community underground at Khazad-dûm? What are some key sounds that make them distinct?

DB: Khazad-dûm is my favorite location and the dwarves are my favorite race as well. They’re just straight shooters, straight down the line – no BS.

One of the very first things we did on that was the entrance with that giant gate and the comical guard telling Celebrimbor and Elrond that they can’t come in. One of the key sounds there was the unlocking and opening of that gate. We built all the metallic sounds and stone scrapes for that, and I remember doing some processing on that to make it sound like it was actually resonating through the whole mountain. That type of processing was also used further on when Disa resonates the rock after the collapse of the mine. That was made using a series of delays and Audio Ease Altiverb impulse responses to create that sense of scale – that it’s not just a room, it’s not just a door, it’s the mountain. Beau did some fantastic work with the mix on that just to take it to the next level in the mix room.

…it’s a heaviness, a weightiness that’s constantly present in the backgrounds of Khazad-dûm.

In terms of the backgrounds, because Khazad-dûm is all underground there needed to be a source of light and that’s always fire. One of the first things you see when you come into that main cavern is the giant waterfall. So here are these passionate dwarves, which are fire and water together. So wherever you are in Khazad-dûm, you’re always hearing elements of fire and elements of water. They’re two of the key signature sounds which have those cave-style reverbs, so when you close your eyes, you know exactly where you are.

There’s also a constant rumble. And I wouldn’t say it’s the movement of the mountain; it’s more to do with the water flowing through it. But it’s a heaviness, a weightiness that’s constantly present in the backgrounds of Khazad-dûm.

What went into the sounds of the Harfoot and their community? What are some key sounds that make them distinct?

DB: One thing to note about the Harfoots is that they’re always dirty. They’re always sweaty and dirty, but they’re more human than human. They’re at one with nature and their nomadic lifestyle forces them to use nature and to use the natural landscape to survive. So, their sound is very naturalistic. Full and lush ambiences were the key to that.

…they all had to have an element of being unpolished; there’s nothing really slick.

All of their carts and the things they use in their daily life are made from things that come from nature. So they all had to have an element of being unpolished; there’s nothing really slick. It’s just really natural and sounds almost on the verge of needing repair. Their carts all have a rickety-ness to them but also a solid sound. The Harfoots have been living this way for generations, so they know how to survive using what they have at hand in nature. All of their tents and carts are built with a skill that means they’re not going to break, but they’re made from imperfect materials that they can just find and forage in their natural environment.

Foley, once again, was a big part of this. On the sound effects side, we built up rhythms and things to do with the wheels and the major movements of the carts, the tents, their cooking stations, and all that sort of stuff. But then, foley was able to take that and add more detail to make it feel a little rougher, a little looser. So once again, that marriage between the hard effects and the foley created that.

What went into the sounds of the mortals (humans) and their island kingdom of Númenor? What are some key sounds for this location?

DB: Númenor, being an island, is mainly a port city. The main part of Númenor, where the King’s Tower is and where all the action takes place with the ships, is essentially a port. We’re getting back to something that is a bit more familiar, something that is perhaps more akin to a medieval port. Loop group was a pretty big part of it. We travel through the markets, and into the square where people come and discuss the business of the day. And then we have the actual jetties down by the water. Each of those had to have some pretty specific loop group callouts and tones. From a race perspective, they’re probably the simpler ones in terms of creating a sense of tone in those spaces.

We’re getting back to something that is a bit more familiar, something that is perhaps more akin to a medieval port.

Two of the key things to talk about are the King’s bedroom up in the tower, and the Queen Regent’s chamber where she meets with her council. Because it wasn’t clear exactly where those rooms are in the tower, one key thing that was requested of us was to try and make that clear using the backgrounds. There are also the dungeons down in the bottom of that tower, where Galadriel and Halbrand get locked up. They’re all in the same tower, but they’re at different heights so we had to try and differentiate between the three. As well as that, some of the key things we used were the proximity to the water and whether there were birds or not. There was a fantastic production design element in the Queen Regent’s chamber, which was these giant curtains that were always flapping. That was an opportunity to create that really lovely calming sound, which is that gentle, soft flapping of curtains, to be a signature sound in that room.

There’s so much VFX in this show! According to a story in Variety, “Over 20 visual effects studios and 1,500 visual effects artists across the globe came together to deliver” this series. How does sound help to ground these visual effects in reality?

DB: One thing we would always say is that every shot is a VFX shot. And practically, whether it’s something getting painted out or it’s a background extension (even just a bit of beauty work on an actor’s face for simple close-ups, or talking mid-shots), they’re all VFX shots. Every shot had something in it. We were very cognizant of that, making sure that we were getting the correct versions as we were hitting the mix and getting the turnovers to work up for when we had to get our effects ready for the stage.

…they’re all VFX shots. Every shot had something in it.

It was quite a bit to manage, and we would put episodes on the shelf until the VFX were ready. There was quite a bit of juggling on the mix side of things to make sure that we were always working towards finishing something, but also knowing that VFX were coming in at all different times and we would have to probably revisit things as they got updated. It was very complicated.

Looking at the first six episodes, can you share some examples of specific VFX-heavy scenes where after you put the sound in, it was just like, “Oh yeah, now it feels real…”

DB: Actually one funny anecdote was around the battle sequences in Ep. 6, where every single sword stab or dagger slash had an element of going into a body and coming out of a body. The sound effects for that were a bit of a late-stage thing because we were just waiting for a lot of the VFX to be put in. That was a bit of a fight that Robbie had to fight to get a turnover of that battle so that we had time to actually build the detail in. You think about what a sword stab involves with sound effects – swishes, thuds, often armor, and sometimes gore depending on what it’s meant to look like – and Ep. 6 had a hell of a lot of stabbing and slashing.

…every single sword stab or dagger slash had an element of going into a body and coming out of a body.

That’s probably one of the biggest examples of that struggle. It wasn’t really a political battle in any way; it was just a practical one. We had to make sure that we could get the bits that we needed to finish the sequence that we were working on.

Those original films had that aesthetic of realism; it comes from organic sounds and layers of detail. And so without having the time to spend on every single one of those hits and slashes then that tone, that style is lost.

In Episode 6, Waldreg uses the Sauron’s sword hilt to unlock a shrine that unleashes a rush of water that essentially activates Mount Doom. What a fantastic sequence for sound! Can you talk about your challenges or opportunities to use sound in this sequence?

DB: We loved that sequence. And gosh, we could probably talk for an hour just about that! But I guess I’d say that there’s an element of the magic in here. It’s a motif that we tried to build for all moments where magic is happening. It’s this concept of Eru Ilúvatar’s thoughts being the source of all magic in Middle Earth. And so there’s definitely an element of whisper to do with the hilt but it’s a more sinister version.

We had created a giant palette of whispers that started with slow, long, and gentle ones and went all the way out to almost screaming, dangerous, and distorted ones. Specifically, in that part of the hilt’s journey, we used more aggressive and evil-sounding whispers.

We had created a giant palette of whispers that started with slow, long, and gentle ones and went all the way out to almost screaming, dangerous, and distorted ones.

The actual VFX of that hilt came in quite late as well, so we built a version of that but then swapped it out later. There are lots of metallic-y scrapes and sizzling fire elements in there

One of my favorite sounds in the Mount Doom eruption was the lava bombs landing. That was a Robbie Stambler special. He did a fantastic job on those. They’re almost like bullets in terms of the way that they almost ricochet in, but then as they land, there’s a liquid element to it, like a molten heaviness to it.

Beau and Lindsey did a fantastic job of mixing that sequence because the music is just so big as well. We had giant sound effects, giant music, and we had giant dialogue.

There was a lot of loop group; Stefanie [Ng] and Gareth Van Niekerk (sound editor who edited the loop group) did a fantastic job of building out all of the panic, the fear, and the chaos just in the loop group. If you were to mute the music and the sound effects and just listen to the loop group, it’s disturbing.

So all three of those things just really carried that. That’s one of the most cinematic moments in the whole series and that’s something that we worked on a lot and we’re super proud of. I’m so glad that you like it as well.

Great job all around. Congrats to the sound editorial and mix teams. There were definitely a lot of elements to wrangle in this series, and the sound teams really knocked it out of the park…

DB: Thank you! It was such a fun show to work on – really like a dream show. I talked a little bit about the fact that we were able to spend the time to put in all of that detail and workshop and come up with ideas – and to maybe throw ideas out and rebuild it. That type of thing is really the essence of the art of what we do. And I feel so privileged and fortunate to have been on this show and to be able to do this work. I just feel so, so grateful.

A big thanks to Damian Del Borrello for giving us a behind-the-scenes look at the sound of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power and to Jennifer Walden for the interview!

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