7 new podcasts worth hearing: 40 years of Foley, automotive audio tuning, voice acting, blind-accessible games & more!

In this roundup: Laura Marling interviews Olga Fitzroy, engineer and mixer at AIR Studios; Sam Hughes talks to Sara Secora about her work as a voice over artist and her passion for video games; Teresa Morrow interviews re-recording mixer Tom Fleischman, who mixed some of the greatest American films ever made including Serpico, Silence of The Lambs, Goodfellas & more.

Also, Ken Gagne speaks with Joseph Bein about his newly-released blind-accessible RPG, A Hero’s Call; Nathan Lively speaks with Shelley Uprichard about about her experiences as a tuning expert for major car manufacturers; David Fein shares stories from his 40-year career in Foley with John and Sarah Roesch; and Matt and Gord talk about a range of topics, from where to focus one’s energy to avoiding those Cyber Monday temptations. Happy listening!

Episode outline: ‘In this episode of Sound Design Live, I speak with freelance recording engineer and a sound system tuning expert for automotive audio and electrical consumer products, Shelley Uprichard. She walks us through sound system tuning for some of the biggest car manufacturers in the world (using mostly free tools and listening!) and how she got started in the automotive industry.’

Episode outline: ‘Our fifth episode of Reversal of the Muse is Laura’s conversation with Olga FitzRoy, who was recently crowned Recording Engineer of the Year 2016 at the MPG awards. Following her Music and Sound Recording degree, Olga trained as an engineer and mixer in the renowned AIR Studios in London, where she’s worked on chart-topping records for Coldplay, The Foo Fighters and Muse. She also assisted Sir George Martin on the last ever Beatles recording for the 2006 album, Love, as well as working with top film composers such as Hans Zimmer.

Laura and Olga are both well accustomed to the long working hours of the studio. Together they discuss whether women are able to meet the demands of working in a studio and still have children, or if the two are mutually exclusive which has consequently lead to the male dominated environment. Laura also notes that women scientifically hear differently to men, which sparks the question: Have we been creating records for the male ear, as most of our studio mixers are male? Olga and Laura consider if we’re missing a feminine part to everything behind music and the way it’s created.’

Episode outline: ‘Sara Secora is a voice actress, born and raised in the Great Lake state of Michigan. She is an accomplished voice over artist with over three years of training and experience in the field. Sara is also the Casting Director for several video game studios.

Sara Secora’s novel, Throne of Lies, has debuted with an outpour of astounding reviews and ratings. You can find her now in Detroit where she is working as a full-time voice talent, all the while continuing to write the second novel within her much awaited trilogy series.

They discuss all things voice over, her career path, how to deal with the industry both mentally and physically, and more!’

Episode outline: ‘In this episode we sit down with legendary New York based re-recording mixer Tom Fleischman on his mixing stage at Soundtrack F/T in Manhattan. Teresa Morrow sits in as host and talks to Tom about his 40 year career mixing some of the greatest American films ever made including Serpico, Silence of The Lambs, Goodfellas, Hugo (for which he won an Oscar), Reds and any more. Tom is an engaging storyteller whose love for making movies inspires everyone he comes into contact with.’

Episode outline: ‘Joseph Bein is the president & creative lead of Out of Sight Games, developer of the audio game A Hero’s Call. The studio’s first game, A Hero’s Call was designed to be accessible by visually impaired gamers, including half of Out of Sight Games, who built their own game engine to ensure the game’s accessibility.

In this interview, Bein talks about what kinds of games tend to be more accessible to blind gamers; what developers can do to improve their games’ accessibility; whether or not the development tools themselves are accessible; talks he’s attended at the Game Accessibility Conference and GDC; why a future version of A Hero’s Call will have a visual component; and why he turned to Kickstarter for the game’s final push.’

Episode outline: ‘David thought he wanted to study Sociology, but then ended up switching to film. He has a wide variety of film knowledge and experience. He and John also swap fun foley stories! Take a listen to how David made his way in the film industry!’

Episode outline: ‘A day late but we’re still calling this the last of 2017 episodes. We talked about some random small topics this time and fielded some questions.’