know your Surroundings

If you’re producing dramatic, trailer-style music, it’s tempting to focus on the big hits and sub drops which are common to a particular type of action movie. But frequently, cinematic sound design is even more heavily reliant on the background textures explored here, with the increased benefit (for those writing for the big screen) of having surround sound speaker setups to work with. If you’re working in 5.1 or 7.1, think incredibly carefully about your choices of reverb and revel in having the option of little textural, detailed sounds spin around the auditorium. Even if you’re working in stereo, keep a cache of glitches, drones, noises and effects ready.