Introduction
I have been analyzed every Academy Best Sound Film since 2000.
It gives us a burst point of view how the sound works in a Film.
When I analyzed DUNE Part-01 2021, I would like to know the Original DUNE 1984 sound design.
I have a deep impressive to know the work of Alan Splet and Ann Kroeber on the FILM dune 1984 that directed by David Lynch.
It will introduce the sound design work of Alan Splet (1940-1994), who worked with David Lynch, has been incorporating unique sounds into his films since Eraser head or Elephant man and his wife Ann Kroeber, who recorded a variety of material for the film.
1 David Lynch and Alan's work
Alan worked with David Lynch on sound design for the following films.
1970 Grand Mother
1977 Eraser Head
1980 Elephant man
1984 Dune
1986 Blue Velvet
1990 Wild at Heart, etc.
In 1979, Alan met David Lynch while working at Philadelphia Industry Film, where he was recognized for his sense of sound that created a unique mood in what would later be called the industrial sound. He received the 1980 Academy Award for Special Achievement for his recording of horse racing material and sound effects for The Black Stallion In 1979, one of Carroll Ballard's animal-themed films that is a film about horses in which he and his wife Ann recorded a wide variety of dramatic representations of horses with custom recording attachments.
His wife Ann Kroeber, who has been a great partner, had a unique career start. She was originally working for the United Nations as a document organizer when her boss gave her a Nagra recorder and a microphone and asked her to record a festival in town N.Y. She recorded the parade and was so impressed with the sound coming out of her headphones that she made up mind to became a sound recordist. After moving to the West Coast, she purchased a contact microphone, FRAP, invented by San Francisco-based inventor Arnie Lazarus, and began recording various vibration sounds generated by industrial equipment, such as generators, motors, refrigerators, air ducts, power plant vibrations, and arcing.
A distinctive feature of her field recordings is the use of a contact microphone on one CH and a Schoeps CMC-4 on the other CH to record direct vibration + air sounds. These materials contribute greatly to the sound that Alan refers to as “industrial sound.
In addition to this, she has recorded a wide variety of field sounds, from animals to nature sounds, and is highly regarded in the industry as a pioneering female sound recordist. Her Library sound sources include
* The Lord of the Ring,
* Gladiator,
* Pirates of the Caribbean,
* Polar Express,
* Indiana Jones Kingdom of Crystal Skull,
* K-19.
2 From a 1984 Dec AMERICAN-CIMEATOGRAPHER by RIC GENTRY
The following is a seven-page detailed report on the sound design of Dune in 1984.The author MR. Ric Gentry deeply sympathizes with the passion and results of the DUNE, which made full use of cine tapes called “dubbers” and stand-alone effects equipment.
Here is an digest :
Splet's first task was to find, record, process, and combine sounds that he thought would work for each scene ambience in Dune. It might create something that would be perfect for the planet Arrakis, but he didn't know if it would work. Or it could be the sound of Halkonen's star Geidi Prime...
He then asked David, who was on filming in Mexico, to listen to the material, and he commented and we discussed ideas. While production was in progress at Chulabusco Studios in Mexico City, Splet began working on the sound design at Berkeley Fantasy studio, just a few miles from his home, playing back sounds he and his wife Ann Kroeber had recorded around the Bay Area.
Equipped with a Nagra IV stereo recorder and several microphones, including a Schoeps CMC 4 and a FRAP contact mic from Arnie Lazurus, Splet and Kroeber went in search of new sounds they thought would be appropriate for Dune.
One of their first recording locations was at the Chevron Oil Refinery in Richmond. Here they found a large amount of sound material that could be applied to Geidi Prime. The sounds of heavy steam and oil flowing through pipes were wonderful, but more than that, through what It call “luck of the sound people,” we had a vast array of sounds. For example, there was an empty 50-foot-diameter oil pipe. The Chevron people were working on installing it, and it was making a “beeping” sound, so Ann placed a FRAP contact mic on top of the tank, raised Schoeps' mic in the air, and hit this tank with all kinds of chains and metal rods, kicking and recording, which were used as material for many of the dune sound as material for many of the battle scenes.
Splet and Kroeber also visited Pacific Gas Sc Electric Company, a local utility company, to record various exhaust sounds from valves, power line resonance, and humming power lines.
A fellow sound engineer working at Fantasy told us of an even more amazing place. It's a place where they melt scrap iron by spitting 1 5,000 volts of electricity through carbon rods. It's basically an electric furnace,” he said. ” They put all this scrap iron in it and then melt the scrap iron with three giant electrodes underneath it, carbon rods about a meter in diameter. Then they fire a huge pressure gas from an overhead crane that looks like a cart. So not only is there electricity, but the inside of the furnace becomes incandescent as the gas is shot into the flames. The sound that is produced then becomes an incredible scream. The electric arc discharge sound is exactly the kind of world Lynch was looking for and used in various scenes in the film.
Most of the material for the heat, dry winds of the desert planet of Arrakis were used from the library. I used three, four, sometimes five of these winds at the same time,” he said.” I also used them from my previous films, Scotland and Never Cry Wolf, and processed them to get many sounds.”
More complex and more interesting were the shields of the fortress that surrounded and protected the palace of Arrakis.
The sound material protecting the palace perimeter was the creaking of the cables, which we slowed down by a factor of six or eight to create a roaring sound. Why did you decide on this? I would say, “It must have just had some inspiration for me.” “If you can understand things logically, then you have to leave the world of logic,” he said. I don't know where many of these things are, it's just a once-in-a-lifetime spark.”
One of the most memorable features of the original Herbert book, the sand worm, is the symbol of the oppressed Arrakis inhabitants, the Fremen, and the source of the perfumed melange that is the main product of Arrakis. The sound was created by slowing down the material from four different animals: horse, baboon, puma, and pig. In some places a vocoder was used. This is a Sennheiser device used to convert incoming audio into other sounds.
Alan's effects equipment included an
* Eventide harmonizer,
* instant flanger,
* delay unit,
* Urei G-EQ,
* Technics SH-901 EQ
* Lexicon-224 reverb,
* Sennheiser vocoder.
*These are produced on a TEAC 8-track open reel.
Final mixing for Dune began in May 1984 at Goldwyn Studios on Formosa Avenue West Hollywood and was completed in August. The chief mixer was Bill Varney, sound effects mixer was Kevin O'Connell, and Steve Maslow was the music mixer, creating six 70mm magnetic tracks with Dolby stereo optical and mono releases to accommodate all theaters.
3 Examples of Alan's sound design as seen in Dune 1984
3-1 Ambience Design
As Alan states in the article, there are three stars, each with diverse scenes, so he focuses on how to design the ambience.
The basic principle is ambience front L-R for scenes where C-CH lines are the main focus, and 4CH ambience for wide shots and the like. Characteristically, it is a low-frequency oriented ambience with a lot of 100-200 Hz bandwidth. In the case of 4CH, the front L-R are placed mainly in the mid-high range and the rear in the low range, and various industrial sounds are used as described in the article.
3-2 Design examples utilizing arc-flash materials
This is the scene at 13'32'' where Paul is training Shield with Ghani, the Heavy Minister. Various arc materials are layered. This also introduces the spectrum.
3-3 Examples of VOICE processing
Guild's voice at 9'34“, the teaching mother's voice at 25'45”, Paul and Jessica's voice from 1h10'40“, Jessica's daughter Aria's voice from 2h00'16”, etc. Basically, it is designed as a harmonizer, vocoder, and background sound to the original with delayed feedback and flanging echoes.
3-4 Arachis star protection shield sound
In the article he stated that it slowed the squeak of the cable by a factor of 6-8 times down. It is often said that in artistic creation, what is the difference between “an idea and an instantaneous art”? Alan's sound It is truly an art of the moment.
3-5 Warm stamper activation
From 1H22'22'', Paul activates the Warm stamper.
2021 Dune Part-01 went to the desert to record in the field, but in this work, I think he combined industrial sounds such as motors and vibrating materials.
3-6 Warm
In the article, it was produced from horse, baboon, puma, and pig material at slow down the speed. This was localized in the hard center and the sand material was processed in the 4CH.
Alan Splet passes away in 1996 while working on the Academy Award-winning English Patient, and Walter Murch hand over his work.
In 1980 era, there were no DAWs or useful plug-in tools available, Alan's energy and creative design skills that were created with limited hardware and effects equipment, were truly an achievement worthy of respect.
Sound designer Randy Thom lists Alan as one of his three most respected sound designers.
