#tom syslo

[seeksstaronmewni]

The Horta Editorial sound credits for the pilot episode of Spongebob Squarepants, “Help Wanted”, is as follows:

Original 1997 credits:

SOUND SUPERVISOR and MIXER: Timothy J. Borquez**

Sound FX Designer (uncredited), SUPERVISING SOUND FX EDITOR: Thomas Syslo (as Tom Syslo)**

DIALOGUE EDITOR: Les Wolf**

MUSIC EDITOR: William B. Griggs, M.P.S.E.

RE-RECORDING MIXERS: Timothy J. Borquez, Timothy J. Garrity

FOLEY MIXER: Brad Brock

FOLEY ARTIST: Diane Greco

SOUND SERVICES PROVIDED BY Horta Editorial, inc.**

SPECIAL THANKS TO: Glacier Sound Design (Jeff Hutchins was one of the uncredited SOUND FX EDITORS)**

Revised 1999 credits:

POST PRODUCTION SOUND SUPERVISOR AND MIXER: Timothy J. Borquez*

SOUND FX EDITORS: Jeff Hutchins (as Jeffery Hutchins)*

DIALOGUE-ADR EDITOR: Jason Freedman (as Jason Freeman)*

RE-RECORDING MIXERS: Timothy J. Borquez, Timothy J. Garrity

FOLEY MIXER: Brad Brock

FOLEY ARTIST: Diane Greco

MUSIC EDITORS: Nick Carr (as Nicholas Carr)**, William Griggs (as William B. Griggs, M.P.S.E.)

*not credited (role and/or creative) on the original 1997 credits

**not credited (role and/or creative) on the revised 1999 credits

***refers probably to “Reef Blower” & “Tea at the Treedome” or music revisions

Tweet version here. Thanks to @rwinger24 who pointed this out.

[chgreenblatt]

How did sound design play a role in Chowder and Harvey Beaks? Do studios like Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon have dedicated archives to different stock sound effects?

We had a dedicated supervising sound editor, Tom Syslo. He cut most of the SFX from a giant library he has. Some sounds were foley, such as footsteps. When the show begins we talk about what kind of sounds we’ll use. Chowder was more cartoony and Harvey had less SFX and was generally more real.

[stevenuniversallyreviews]

Episode 60: Keeping It Together

“It’s not our fault!”

Does Steven Universe have a more ominous setting than the Prime Kindergarten? Rose’s Room comes close (and I maintain that Rose’s Room is the scariest episode of the series), but episodes featuring it always pay off the unsettling setting with an actual scare. Whereas the muted colors and cacophonous clangs of Kindergarten maintain a constant thrumming dread, promising something horrible and imminent, and lets that tone linger uninterrupted. Amethyst’s fight with Pearl in On the Run is intense, and the Crystal Gems confronting Peridot in Marble Madness ramps up the suspense, but we haven’t seen any true horror from Kindergarten until now. 

And yeah, holy shit.

As I mentioned in Reformed and Sworn to the Sword, Keeping It Together establishes Garnet’s next big arc. But hers is much different from her fellow Gems’, both in structure (it’s the shortest by far and resolves with its Peridot Episode instead of its Steven Episode) and in tone. Garnet is the emotionally healthiest Gem on the planet right now, so she needs a bigger push than Amethyst or Pearl if she’s going to lose her cool. This isn’t to belittle the other two Gems, but there’s a reason the prompts for their episodes are day-to-day issues (for them) like renewing their physical forms or training a student, while Garnet needs dramatic scenarios like the Cluster Gems or a friend’s betrayal to reach the same level of crisis.

In short, external motivation is everything to Garnet’s arc because she lacks the internal baggage of her peers. There’s nothing unhealthy about being queer a fusion, so her problems stem from societal oppression that targets her for being who she is. We’ve seen her face fusionphobia with grace against Jasper, and we’ll see that bookended with Peridot when the season ends, but an attack on her identity as abhorrent as the Cluster Gems is certainly grounds for an extreme reaction.

We’ll get there, but first I have to point out how well-structured this whole episode is. The opening revels in switcheroos, first with Garnet’s serious conversation turning out to be part of a chore session, then with two red herrings in quick succession: the hint that we might see Ruby and Sapphire, and an extended callback to On the Run suggesting a focus on Amethyst. 

From there, the episode looks like it’s going to be about Steven settling into his own new status quo as a more respected member of the Crystal Gems. And in a way, it is! We spend a lot of time with him, and he summons his shield without any fanfare when the going gets tough. But it makes sense to focus on him more here than in Reformed and Sworn to the Sword, because Garnet’s status as a fusion is still novel to him and has changed their relationship in a way that warrants examination. And in an episode about Garnet encountering forces that don’t understand fusion to a horrific degree, it’s a soothing contrast to see Steven’s own misunderstanding come in the form of genuine curiosity.

Steven is also where we get a lot the goofiness that often accompanies the show’s horror episodes, but don’t let the clip of his spectacular shrug fool you, the comedy crown here goes to Peridot. This is the episode that tips the scales on Peridot as a villain: she began as a coldhearted alien, and her bureaucratic fussiness emerged in Warp Tour and Jailbreak, but now she fully transitions from a menacing opponent to a panicky thorn in the Crystal Gems’ side. All it takes is one look at Steven to make her lose her worker bee cool, and the action scene that follows plays her increasingly absurd bag of tricks for laughs as she outmaneuvers our heroes.

Peridot’s newfound jitters make sense on a character level, as she lost her power and is stuck on a world she knows is doomed. But the silliness that ensues also works wonders for Keeping It Together’s structure: by making her such a loud source of comedy, her exit marks a concrete tonal shift from goofy to grave. And by making her someone to be pursued, we get rid of Amethyst and Pearl in the process. And by revving up to a breakneck pace to follow her zany action, we reach the third act around the episode’s halfway mark to let it sink in that much deeper. Thanks, Peridot!

After focusing on Garnet in the episode’s onset, we’re right back to hanging out with her again. She’s even more confident than usual here, accepting Steven’s effusive praise with a simple “thank you” and acknowledging out loud that she’s great, to show us how big of a deal her panic attack is. We’ve seen her handle monster after monster without breaking a sweat, and she even defeats Jasper with a smile hours after getting destabilized. But the Cluster Gems hit her where it hurts, and seeing Garnet get rattled like this is far scarier than the monsters themselves. 

Not to take away from Aivi and Surasshu’s awful Cluster Gem theme (great, but awful), but the true sound heroes of this scene are whoever designed the ungodly noises these things make. Considering nobody is credited as “Monster Scream Maker” I’ll go ahead and shout out the whole sound design team for this one: Timothy J. Borquez, Susy Campos, Tony Orozco, Daisuke Sawa, Robert Serda, and Tom Syslo. I have no idea how their jobs work, but I’m so glad they’re so great at what they do.

And then of course there the visuals, and dear lord are they upsetting. The drizzle of mismatched body parts starts small, with a hand and foot that happen to match Ruby and Sapphire’s colors taking the Gem Shard concept we’ve seen in Frybo and Secret Team to a whole new level of creepy. But the limbs get bigger and bigger until the excruciating reveal of five screaming Gem ghosts transforming into a monstrous “arm” reinforces Garnet’s pained explanation of what these Cluster Gems actually are: the remains of her long-dead friends forced together.

But even then, even as Garnet is literally falling apart, she manages to push through the horror and save the day with Steven’s help, leading to Estelle’s showstopping argument with herself. Where A.J. Michalka’s frequent use of separate voices for Steven and Connie shows Stevonnie’s youthful uncertainty, Estelle’s normally steady performance makes her frantic and distinct portrayals of Ruby and Sapphire a shocking swerve. It both subverts and fulfills our expectation of seeing Garnet’s two halves after Stephen brought them up during laundry, and brings home the idea that splitting up isn’t a fun party trick no matter how much Stephen (and fans) want to see more of them.

The little details here are amazing. I love that it’s Ruby’s eye that tears up during the fight, but by the aftermath she’s moved to rage while Sapphire is still reeling; one lives moment to moment, and the other thinks in the long term. I love that gaps in the conversation are filled by them clearly sharing the same thoughts, namely that Rose might have known about these experiments and kept them secret; the notion that this is even possible foreshadows how dark Rose’s secrecy is going to get in the coming episodes. And even though it’s tragic, I love that the header quote can first be read as Garnet’s guilt over being part of the rebellion that caused her friends to suffer, but can be reread after The Answer as guilt over prompting the Diamonds’ interest in fusion. It’s not her fault, but it certainly would feel like it was.

But therein lies the difference between Garnet and Amethyst/Pearl: guilt this intense would shut the latter two down, but by the end of the episode Garnet has kept it together. She’s still upset, and she should be, but she’s not letting herself drown in her sadness and anger. 

The Week of Sardonyx is about to test Garnet again, and Pearl’s betrayal can hit even harder now that we’ve explicitly been told about the importance of consent in fusion. And as I hinted at earlier, fusion’s multipurpose metaphor extends to a specifically queer reading that’s vital to Garnet’s arc. I honestly wouldn’t mind being hammered over the head with the message that homophobia is bad, because yeah, homophobia is bad and kids should know that and children’s media doesn’t bring it up very often. But like everything to do with fusion, the Steven Universe team handles the allegory factor with incredible finesse. There’s no one-to-one analogy between fusion and queerness beyond Ruby and Sapphire both presenting as female; indeed, the mistreatment of queer people in the real world rarely includes forcing them into long-term relationships with each other a la the Cluster Gems, and Homeworld society only finds fusion acceptable in same-Gem relationships, so it’s actually heterophobic if we want to get stupid and pedantic.

This show doesn’t need an episode about conversion therapy or corrective rape to display the horror of an outside force perverting what you are and oppressing who you are, and Garnet’s journey through Season 2 shows that Steven Universe isn’t content with presenting two women in a relationship and patting itself on the back for being progressive. The fact that the show addresses homophobia with sensitivity but without pulling punches is something entirely new, but the fact that it’s doing so while enhancing a character and advancing the main plot is even more outstanding.

Future Vision!

The headline here may be kicking off Garnet’s arc, but it also revs up the Cluster Arc: these shard fusions are bad, but who could’ve guessed they were apocalyptically bad?

Peridot’s surprising resilience to large objects and gravity is as true in the Beta Kindergarten as it is in the Prime, if Kindergarten Kid is anything to go by.

The question of whether Rose could’ve known details about Diamond tactics reframes Sapphire’s rage in Now We’re Only Falling Apart.

If every pork chop were perfect, we wouldn’t have inconsistencies…

As great as Steven is here, would he really be that surprised that he’s coming along? I get that they’re showing that the status quo of getting some respect is still new to him, but yeah, after saving everyone in Jailbreak I think he’s pretty official. Enh, just a gripe, it’s implemented well enough.

We’re the one, we’re the ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR!

I think just above On the Run sounds right for Keeping It Together. It’s a terrific Garnet episode with a welcome side of Peridot, and manages to set the stage for a new arc while culminating Kindergarten’s foreboding tone with a bang. 

Top Fifteen

Steven and the Stevens

Mirror Gem

Lion 3: Straight to Video

Alone Together

The Return

Jailbreak

Sworn to the Sword

Rose’s Scabbard

Coach Steven

Giant Woman

Winter Forecast

Keeping It Together

On the Run

Warp Tour

Maximum Capacity

Love ‘em

Laser Light Cannon

Bubble Buddies

Tiger Millionaire

Lion 2: The Movie

Rose’s Room

An Indirect Kiss

Ocean Gem

Space Race

Garnet’s Universe

The Test 

Future Vision

Marble Madness

Political Power

Full Disclosure

Joy Ride

Like ‘em

Gem Glow

Frybo

Arcade Mania

So Many Birthdays

Lars and the Cool Kids

Onion Trade

Steven the Sword Fighter

Beach Party

Monster Buddies

Keep Beach City Weird

Watermelon Steven

The Message

Open Book

Story for Steven

Shirt Club

Love Letters

Reformed

Rising Tides, Crashing Tides

Enh

Cheeseburger Backpack

Together Breakfast

Cat Fingers

Serious Steven

Steven’s Lion

Joking Victim

Secret Team

Say Uncle

No Thanks!

     4. Horror Club      3. Fusion Cuisine      2. House Guest      1. Island Adventure

(No official title card for this one, likely due to Keeping It Together being part of a Steven Bomb, but luckily this piece from Vondell Swain will do.)

[seeksstaronmewni]

It’s the little details that they really appreciate: An In-Depth Study of Spongebob’s Current Sound Design

"Sponge Bob is firing on all cylinders right now. Tony award nominations for the musical. Post sound has a great home with Atlas Oceanic Picture & Sound. The shows are exciting and are funny. SB continues to reach new heights.” - Jeffrey Hutchins

Spongebob Squarepants sound effects designer & editor Jeff Hutchins is exactly right. This guy is as important to Spongebob as Ben Burtt is to Star Wars, which’re some of Hollywood’s biggest franchises.

This is the team that makes up the sound of current Spongebob episodes. Just 4 creatives are listed: sound effects designer & editor Jeff Hutchins, foley artist Vincent Guisetti, foley mixer Aran Tanchum, and re-recording mixer D.J. Lynch. The sound service has been Atlas Oceanic, Inc. since 2012; originally it began at Horta Editorial & Sound, Inc., which folded into Hacienda Post.

All episodes of Spongebob since 2015 have been very rich in exaggerated, humorous, unpredictable character design, animation and, of course, respectively, sound design. Starting in the late Hacienda Post years, Jeff began to create a very predictable style of sound design for his work, among the many unique sounds he formerly created for Spongebob. The style was very predictable during the Oracle Post years, continuing through early Atlas Oceanic episodes, until 2015, when Jeff’s array of sounds would include sounds not often used (if at all) from later 2007-2015, plus a few new sounds. Additionally, Jeff was only the sound fx editor on the pilot, Help Wanted; according to Roy Braverman, Tom Syslo served as the sound fx designer. The sound design isn’t too different, though, from Jeff’s style--in point of fact, most cartoon sound design by Hacienda Post creatives share similar styles to Jeff’s; you could say the same for most creatives of Advantage Audio and Skywalker Sound--many of the creatives of each studio share similar styles.

A number of sound effects in Spongebob have been used to accent character footsteps. Some H-B squeaks accent Spongebob’s shoes, Squidward’s feet are accented by oil splurts (used in Rocky & Bullwinkle), and Mr. Krabs’ feet are accented by “Hollywoodedge, Wooden Blck Hits Raz CRT019402″. For the pilot, though, Tom Syslo approached their footsteps differently.

One of my favorite episode’s sound design in Spongebob includes Krusty Towers, a Hacienda Post episode. It was during Season 4, of course, that the sound design became far more cartoony, like the character design and animation. Another is the scene between Mr. Krabs, Squidward and the exchange chef in Le Big Switch, an Oracle Post episode, as is Walking the Plankton (with some very funny moments of sound design). Also, one of the funniest moments in pre-2015 episodes, Skill Crane, is appropriately accented with the right sound effects as Spongebob does a wild take with his eyes... and then RUNS on ‘em!

One of the most common and funniest parts of Jeff’s sound design is accenting not-so-wild takes with funny sounds, like one of Disney’s “CLANK!”, a Warner Bros. “EHH!” (horn squawk), or my personal favorite: “QUACK!” This quack, “Hollywoodedge, Bird Duck Quacks Clos PE020501″, can be used for many things like impacts or duck-related stuff, but the use of a duck quack for a take was first employed in Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy II as the episodic title characters react in shock to Spongebob attacking the Atomic Flounder.

I’ll describe of a few episodes: Bunny Hunt, Old Man Patrick, Grandmum’s the Word, Ink Lemonade, My Leg!, and Bottle Burglars. (listing in progress).

BUNNY HUNT

In the beginning, Squidward finds that a sea bunny is eating up his garden and attempts to stop him.

This scenario could remind one of Bugs Bunny, of course, and that Warner Bros. ricochet that sounds like “CHOW!” (called “Sound Ideas, CARTOON, WHIZZ - FAST WHIZZ BY”) is used often in the episode, like in the above as the sea bunny falls back into his hole...

and also in this shot, to accent Patrick streaking out of the shot. Not common in past episodes of Spongebob, but very typical for cartoon sound design.

Here, the sea bunny shoved a burnt roast into Squidward’s mouth, and proceeds to swallow it... until soon he has to puke it. Unlike many cartoon sound designers these days, Jeff Hutchins is one of the few to use Disney’s trademark gulps from The Hollywood Edge library’s Cartoon Trax Volume 1. The 4th gulp in “Hollywoodedge, Big Single Gulps For CRT026802″ is the most common, as is heard in the shot above. I wouldn’t object to working with the voice actor on gulps, but I’d like to not avoid the use of the goofy vocal sounds Disney created, too.

Knowing Jeff’s style, one would probably expect “FISHFACE” (created by Roy Braverman), but these more recent Spongebob episodes make good use of the infamous Warner Bros. sound called “TROMBONE GOBBLE”.

I don’t know what horn toot is used here (not “Hollywoodedge, Old Car Horns Single CRT021302″, which Jeff tends to use), but it sure stands out. I never heard this particular “ahooga” before, though it kind of sounds like the Hanna-Barbera one. Also, while Jeff tends not to use heartbeats to accent love like other cartoon sound designers (such as Glenn Oyabe, Robert Hargreaves, Michael Warner, Randy Thom), “Hollywoodedge, Sub Woofer Heartbea SDT021301″ (a synthiszed-sounding, heartbeat-like pulse thump), also common to Jeff’s style, is (I think) subtly audible.

The only use of “QUACK!” in Bunny Hunt seems to accent the oven mitt sock puppet opening its mouth. It’s a bit subtle, but perhaps the gag is that the mitt is making the quack. Regardless, not an episode of Spongebob goes by these days without at least one “QUACK!”

In this moment, I picked up on a subtle, funny sound of foley--some sort of stretch sound, admist the typical red-tailed hawk screech--as Spongebob ceases speaking and slumps to a different position. Foley is the art of performing specific sounds, like walking, touching, that help give life in the aural medium and make the scene sound believable. The mixer of Vincent Guisetti’s foley, Aran Tanchum, did the same with J. Lampinen’s on Star vs. the Forces of Evil, which’s probably driven more by foley (among dialogue and Brian H, Kim’s sound effects) than sound effects.

With crazy visuals such as this, the question often comes to mind: What choices might the sound designer make to accent such exaggerated animation? What’s the right sound--or, often, what are the right sounds to accent and/or help tell the story? Bird chirps and saw warbles are some that help accent the insane stage of Squidward at the end of the episode, whacking himself with a mallet, thus causing his brain to fly away.

Most recent Spongebob episodes tend to close out with the classic “iris out”, but Jeff finds different approaches to accenting the transistion without Robert Clampett’s classic guitar string sounds (like one would expect with Looney Tunes and the works of sound master Michael M. Geisler and Glen Oyabe). In Bunny Hunt, “Sound Ideas, RICOCHET - TUBE ARRIVE 01″ (”ShhhOWP!”) is the accent; in Old Man Patrick “Sound Ideas, ZIP, CARTOON - FAST ZIP IN 01″ helps accent.

OLD MAN PATRICK

The detail of sound design can include even the small pieces of animation by accenting the slightest touch, movement, etc. When Patrick tells Spongebob that he’s “all wrinkle-y now”, small raspberries/farts spice up the movements of his skin when he touches it, and his old organs are clearly at work as his stomach growls loudly, perfectly in sound timing as he says “old stuff”.

INK LEMONADE

Essentially the Ren & Stimpy of Spongebob episodes, including character design by Bob Camp; Ink Lemonade has Patrick scare the ink out of Squidward... literally, to sell it in place of lemonade.

Another use of “QUACK!” is used for comedic effect here in addition to a “BIG HEAVY FACE SLAP” to accent Squidward’s face snapping back into place after Patrick blows Squidward’s face out of place with a megaphone.

Patrick goes to extremes for scare tactics... like talking with his intestines. Along with a “gooey splat” for the intestines’ “tongue”, most of the sound here is Vincent Guisetti’s foley to convey the sound of his intestines talking.

As with most of the 2015- Spongebob episodes, the H-B “TEMPLE BLOCK GALLOP” is used for many run accents (in the pic above it accents Squidward rapidly swishing his arms and legs); Jeff also used this for shaking/trembling movements in The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack shorts. Also, in Ink Lemonade, Jeff played this sound twice in reverse.

Worthy of note is that accenting Squidward’s fall is a whistle of air that’s different from the usual “Sky Rocket Loud High”, that high-pitched whistle you’d in hear in Cartoon Network’s “Powerhouse” bumpers and most cartoons these days, except for most of Advantage Audio’s projects. Jeff uses “Sky Rocket Loud High” for most falls; in earlier episodes he’d play it in reverse if a character/prop ascends a great distance, and in some Hacienda Post episodes this whistle would accent flying objects (e.g. Squidward’s windows and other parts launched toward his house in Squidville). However, Jeff uses some other whistles on a few occasions too, including “SHELL SCREAMING WHINE DOWN” (the classic H-B/MGM whistle) in The Secret Box and The Good Krabby Name; Jeff also uses sounds of artillery “roaring”.

As I said before, one of the most common uses of “Hollywoodedge, Bird Duck Quacks Clos PE020501″ is for a simple “take” of a character. The pic above highlights the extremes of that take where Jeff tends to put a funny sound to help spice up this little jump of his emotion.

A more poignant take, here, is accented by the H-B “KAZOO PARTY HORN”. Advantage Audio tends to use that sound a lot, particularly Heather Olsen (she even used it in Star vs The Forces of Evil episode “Booth Buddies” for accent when confetti is thrown), but it seems to be an occasional accent in current Spongebob episodes.

Quickly following it, as Squidward streaks under a rug, is a very high-pitched version of the classic WB siren whistle, “FAST ZING WHISTLE, ZIP”, which is rarely heard in non-Hacienda Post episodes.

Like most cartoon sound designers these days, even a simple movement of a small body part can be accented with a funny sound. Squidward’s eye looking up here is accented by a Warner Bros. double violin string sloop, similar to Joel Valentine’s use of such sounds in The Powerpuff Girls and Samurai Jack.

Relative and notable is that many classic cartoon sound effects come from musical instruments, like violins, slide whistles, xylophones, and even harps [a Jew’s harp, in particular].

[more to be discussed; post in progress]

To solidify knowledge of sound design, I’ll introduce a little about myself in this area: I’ve always been very conscious of sound effects, and my realization of sound design in cartoons has always been a part of my life. In 2010, I began to become the huge fan of Skywalker Sound I am, and I’d read up online about their 500+ staff over the years. In 2013 I joined IMDb to update credits regarding knowledge of credits and articles about the roles of certain creatives involved; soon I looked up the credits of non-Skywalker projects, like Spongebob (Hacienda Post, Atlas Ocenaic/Oracle Post), The Fairly OddParents (Advantage Audio), Tom and Jerry: The Magic Ring (DigiPost.TV), etc.

Eventually, I began to know of an unsung sound designer, Joel Valentine, a mentor to Jeff Hutchins and “a pillar of sound design”, but often uncredited--except as the name of his “sound editing” company “Twenty First-Century Entertianment, Inc.” Though I knew not Joel’s name (or pretty much anyone in post-production sound), yet certainly I was conscious of Joel’s work from an early age, watching The Powerpuff Girls, Dexter’s Laboratory, and Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends. His sound design for Cartoon Network projects has always been familiar to me, namely that castanet sound he uses to accent trembling, shaking in anger, etc. Joel Valentine & Jeff Hutchins met in 1986 and were roommates at Saban Productions, where Jeff often worked for Saban sound designer Johnny Valentino. Jeff edited sound effects with Supervising Sound Editor Joel on Dead in the Water, and Jeff worked for Joel also on Pirates of Darkwater Season 3. After Sym-Bionic Titan, Joel didn’t work on anything until Season 2 of Wander Over Yonder at Craig McCracken’s request, eventually returning for Season 5 of Samurai Jack, with which Joel and his very small team opened up an amazingly realistic sonic world of sound, but not without some of his signature sounds and some really cool new sounds.

I’m always conscious of sound effects. On January 31st, 2010, I did this camcorder recording shaking and stuff in sync with SFX from “Sandy, Spongebob and the Worm” (tweet here).

Jeff Hutchins also did sound on Bill Kopp’s Tom and Jerry movies, The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack, and many Hacienda Post projects. Jeff works usually at Hacienda Post/Sabre Media Studios and Warner Bros. Sound (particularly division Audio Circus); he also worked at West Productions, Inc. and even his own place, Jeff Hutchins Sound Design in Oxford, California.

I feel that some of my favorite shows deserve contribution from certain sound services/creatives, like Disney’s franchise of Star vs. the Forces of Evil (at least for the future) due to its cartoony animation & design but imbalanced sound design.

@rwinger24 and I are people who appreciate the art of sound design and the work/style of Jeff Hutchins, who will always be one of my favorite influences in creative media. Thanks for all of the laughs your aural art creates for us!

[seeksstaronmewni]

Joel R. Valentine: An Under-Appreciated Sound Designer

Note before reading that, for the sake of privacy, NO PICTURES of Joel IN HIS STUDIO are allowed in this post. I respect him as a humble artist enough to obey this.

Joel Valentine is a sound designer who is usually credited for only sound editing, usually under the name of his company “Twenty-First Century Entertainment, Inc.” (AKA “21st Century Sound Design Corp.)--a private contractor who seems fairly under-appreciated. He created “The Producer’s Sound Effects Library” (according to Trademarkia), which is used by Hacienda Post, Jeff Hutchins, Atlas Oceanic, and maybe even Advantage Audio.

In more familiar context, Joel is the sound designer of mostly cartoons, namely Cartoon Network projects and the works of Craig McCracken and Genndy Tartakovsky, like The Powerpuff Girls and Samurai Jack, as well as Dexter’s Laboratory (Joel is credited for sound design on the package design/summary of Dexter’s Laboratory: Ego Trip, however, and as a sound editor on the special). Joel Valentine is responsible for the soundtrack to many of my favorite childhood cartoons... or cartoon cartoons, to be a bit more specific.

"Edits fast, sounds great, and doesn't break. The DM -80's multilayering capabilities and simultaneous recording on all tracks gives us the flexibility to do whatever we want."

This is a quote from Joel Valentine on the DM-80, from a supplement to a March 1994 issue of BROADCAST engineering / BE Radio.

Jeff Hutchins, the sound designer behind Spongebob Squarepants and a creative at Hacienda Post/Sabre Media/Flash Bomb Audio and Warner Bros. Sound/Audio Circus, was an assistant to Joel Valentine. They both edited sound on 2 Stupid Dogs and Dead in the Water. Jeff Hutchins made a number of tweets to me that compliment and reference Joel Valentine:

“Joel was a master of recording and funny sounds. He is still the a pillar of cartoon sound and I wish to recognize him. I believe he was working and had credits prior to 1985. Few people enter the business as a mixer. Look up Harmony Gold. Things should pop up”

“Joel is an incredible talent and I think the world of him. Rock on Joel!”

“Joel has a crisp & distict style. He had moved on to Samurai Jack and Hacienda started to do the FX for Dexter’s Lab. I did a few of them and really tried to retain Joel’s style. Not an easy task.”

“Joel gave me a copy of his “Producer’s SFX Library”. Joel also gave me his ADAP Library in exchange for transferring it to .wav files. I would give him any SFX he asked for.”

“In the “2 Stupid Dogs” days Joel was at the heart of everything. There wasn’t another like him. To this day, I thank him for being so out side the box as to redefine “out side the box”. Thx my brother in sound. Joel was creating the sound tract for a show called “Northern Exposure” at the same time. I am still in awe of his accomplishments. Joel rocks!”

“When I met Joel in 1986, my life changed. His over the top way of creating opportunity out of baking soda and “whatever you’ve got” is incredible. He is an innovator. Thanks for taking the time out of your life to be my teacher. Thanks Joel!”

“He [Joel] was working on those shows [Northern Exposure and Bakersfield P.D.] at the Lantana building in Santa Monica. I worked for Joel during that time period in a suite he had in the building. I worked on 2 Stupid Dogs. After 2 Stupid Dogs I went to work for other studios & Joel went his own ways. Those days were awesome, but all good things come to an end at some point. As one door closes, another opens... somewhere.”

Eric Freeman also shared some facts with me back in 2017:

“[Wander Over Yonder] Season 2 was all done by Joel Valentine. My schedule became way too busy to do the sound fx. Craig McCracken has long history with Joel and enjoys his work, so he wanted him to do the season 2 sfx... 21st century is/was Joel Valentine's personal company. He would do all the sound design and then send it to me at Hacienda for the final mix. He is not affiliated with Hacienda. Joel is a private contractor...   [Joel] worked out of his home... he was the sole sound designer and editor for [Wander Over Yonder] season 2. There were NO other uncredited post-sound folks on the show. The whole series was just Joel and Myself... Joel is working on S5 of Samurai Jack. He would be the sole editor on that. The mix will be done at Hacienda Post. Current PPG is being edited and mixed at Hacienda Post. Joel is not involved with the new PPG... I did some editorial on PPG movie and worked with the editors you listed (Tom Syslo, Roy Braverman & Daisuke Sawa). I can't remember what I edited on the movie, but it was sound fx. I worked on Dexter's Lab, PPG, Fosters, Symbionic Titan, and Samurai Jack. Any editorial I did would have happened during the mix. A lot of times, Genndy or Craig will want to try different SFX when they hear final music and final dialog play together with Joel's sfx. Sometimes the original SFX just don't work well... Joel definitely IS a master sound designer. I respect his work very much... I've worked with Jeff [Hutchins] since the 1990s. He's extremely talented. I believe Joel trained him... Joel only worked on the pilot of Chowder. He did NOT do the series. All the sound design came from Hacienda Post.”

Grant Meuers, “the sole sound editor” on Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal, replied to my emails of my questions on the show’s sound: “all sound design you hear is either me or Joel. I worked for Hacienda for 2-3 years as an assistant sound editor before venturing out into the freelance world. They are great people over there, and I'm still close with them, although neither Joel or I are very involved in the mixes. Joel is a really talented guy, and I'll be sure to pass your compliments along!” The latter referred to my desire for anyone with Joel to send compliments from me to Joel. Grant continued: “the line between "sound design" and "sound edit" is pretty fluid to me (and I think Joel feels the same way). Joel and I split up responsibilities of what we each cover each episode fairly evenly, but Joel definitely has final say and final cut over whatever we do together, and obviously Genndy has final say over everything. How we are ultimately credited isn't really up to us. (In fact, Joel initially wanted us to be both credited as sound editors, but Genndy and Adult Swim gave him his own title card, which I am happy about, because he definitely deserves it. Joel is a humble guy and often likes to fly under the radar.) We both work remotely on our own, and each have our own respective companies we use for billing purposes.” The credit of Joel for sound design on Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal is well-earned, but ultimately he remains private in his work, and that privacy must be respected.

Genndy Tartakovsky himself said meaningful words about Joel Valentine, who did sound design on all of his Cartoon Network shows: “I’ve worked with Joel since the days of ‘Dexter.’ He’s got an amazing library and he knows how to blend sounds together to make them something very unique. For the fourth episode he went outside the norm and he found these vocal monster libraries that were done in the ’60s or something in Germany... for the mastodon episode, he found this library where some guy started a Kickstarter and then went to India to record elephant sounds for a year... all the mastodon sounds are so much more than what’s out there that a lot of people are using. I think we’re taking the extra effort for everything to make it sound unique and specific.”

Shane Houghton, co-creator of Big City Greens, compliments sound editor/designer Joel Valentine as part of “a killer sound team! They don't get enough love! Eric and Joel are amazing!”

Someone on Twitter asked @crackmccraigen “how was the noise used when the powerpuff girls would suddenly fly off made? The fwOosh/pew!! noise, yanno?” Craig replied: “It was comprised of a few different sound fx that were put together by the PPG sound designer Joel Valentine.” When I noted that Joel was usually uncredited, Craig told me that “The name Twenty-First Century Entertainment, Inc. listed under Sound Editing is Joel. That’s his company, [and] he wanted to be credited that way.” Another person appreciated the sound design of Kid Cosmic, and Craig highlighted that he’s been working with him for 27 years.

As of May 30th, 2021, Owen Fishback’s Kippie short, “Guard Duty Doggy”, was released. I saw it the next day, and it acknowledges Joel Valentine for sound effects (some of his sound effects are used in it, probably sourced from the Sound Effects Wiki pages for his sound effects, to which I contributed info but not the audio samples used in the video).

The sound effects that Joel created are very meaningful to me as I grew up heavily on the works of Joel Valentine for Cartoon Network, namely Dexter’s Laboratory. When I heard his sound design on Samurai Jack Season 5 back in 2017 (namely EPISODE XCIV), I was so impressed with his array of realistic soundscapes of atmospheres and animals that I began to consider Joel the next best creative in sound post-production sound services, next to those of Skywalker Sound and Warner Bros. Post Production Creative Services.

I’m not sure what will become of The Producer’s Sound Effects Library, though I got a copy from ebay on 1/23/2020 A.D. as an upcoming birthday gift and immediately preserved it by ripping the files off ( the link for proof read Producers-Sound-Effects-Library-13-cds-Great-Value-Free-shipping/283736597492?hash=item421004e3f4:g:rLkAAOSwAGxeE8ql ). Thanks to @wiley207​ and SqueakyCartWheel for notifying me on the Sound Effects Wiki!

Here’s a close-up of the main CD’s cover, used for the 101 SOUND EFFECTS CD...

...and here’s the label of the CD. They all look like this due to distributor S.O.S.

I made a page for The Producers Sound Effects Library on the Sound Effects Wiki, of course, to celebrate this amazing, obscure library. I recognize a number of sound effects on that library, like “IN Cricket Single” (as often heard in Spongebob) and “ROBOT MOVES #1[-3]” One of my absolute favorite sound effects on that library is “SPACE BEAM DOWN.” It’s a deep drone with a mysterious, enticing musical tone; it’s on PSEL CD SY-01 - “Science Fiction”.

Regarding preservation of the PSEL: due to the copyright warning requiring “written legal documentation from the owner of the Producers Sound Effects Library” (that’s probably Joel)--though I think that the company of the same name as the SFX library, PSEL, is defunct--I believe that I can not upload the audio files online  “unauthorized” “by any information or sampler storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented”.

Aside from the PSEL, I hope and pray that Joel’s library will be in good hands when he retires. Sound Ideas or Pro Sound Effects deserve to preserve this amazing library of sound!