A Little Magic in the Studio

We were recently mixing a song recorded in our studio. The last verse talked about someone's feelings as they left a cemetery. The singer-songwriter who had written and performed the song asked if we could add the sound of a twenty-one-gun salute to that verse. I said it should be no problem.

The artist had brought his 12-gauge shot gun and wanted to record that. Since our studio is out in the country,  there was no problem firing off a few rounds. So we set up a microphone and outfitted the singer with headphones (so he could fire the gun at the appropriate spots).  As we played back the song, we recorded the shotgun being fired. When we finished, everyone rushed back into the control room to listen to the result. We were somewhat disappointed as the sound was very underwhelming. Someone said it sounded like popping corn.

That's when I recalled something that Hollywood had figured out a long time ago. A gunshot is so loud that when its level is reduced to the point where it can be used in a recording, it sounds like a small pop. That's why gunshots in a reality police show sound anemic—nothing like the sound of gun fire in your favorite cops and robbers or cowboys and Indians movies. Having done Having done sound effects much earlier in my career, I knew that many sound effects are created by using objects other than the actual object you are trying to make them sound like. That's what foley studios in Hollywood do—create and record sound effects.

So we went out and got two wooden boards and took them back into the studio. We then recorded the sound of the boards being slapped together. After adding some reverb and little delay, we had the sound of a 21-gun salute. To say the least, our client was happy. That's a bit of studio magic.