Delvinder Singh is the Maverick, the Audio Engineer, and the designer of sounds. He is the AntiFool.
Let's talk about audio. Living through society, we can't help but listen to a wide variety of sounds from the subtle creaking of doors to explosions from film. There is a profession that focuses on creating a narrative using these very sounds: audio engineers. Who better to find out more about this field than Delvinder Singh!
Del is the resident audio engineer at Maveriq studios with a wide variety of experiences under his belt. He assisted in the recording of different projects and films from Transformers: The Last Knight, Folklore by HBO, to The Ghost Bride on Netflix.
Music-wise he's experienced as well, assisting in the recording of Ed Sheeran's No. 6 collaborations project during his tour in KL. I was interested in Del's story because I wanted to know more about the principles of audio engineering, especially as someone who is doing podcasts right now.
We talked about:
- How he got his start diving into audio engineering, by listening to local bands
- Using audio as a narrative, his favorite sounds, and the principles of audio engineering
- Differences between audio production for commercials, films, movies and more
- Sounds we take for granted, and training our ears to understand the environment around us
- Getting into a call with Michael Bay for Transformers The Last Knight
Enjoy!
Timestamps
- 04:06 How local bands encouraged him to dive into the audio world
- 05:46 A 20-page book compelled Delvinder to start learning audio engineering
- 08:04 Delvinder's favourite sounds, and why Sci-fi is the best sound to work with
- 09:14 Creating vehicle sounds for Prometheus
- 10:29 What does an audio engineer actually do? The 3 aspects
- 11:21 "I want to record an album. What's the process?"
- 12:56 "The less people you have the better it is" Delvinder on developing a relationship with the artist as a producer
- 14:32 How first-time artists can get overwhelmed by the production process
- 16:18 Making a Macho burger 'macho': Delvinder's process in producing audio for the new McDonald's Ad
- 17:49 The roars, screams and big impacts for making a burger manly
- 19:42 Sounds we take for granted: door creaking and more used in film
- 22:02 Transformers The Last Knight, and recording Gemma Chan of Crazy Rich Asians
- 24:21 Chatting with Michael Bay
- 26:31 Choosing the right takes for voiceover, and Kylo Ren
- 27:53 Anomaly, a horror game with sounds produced by Delvinder Singh
- 29:52 Delvinder deep dives into how he produces audio for the game
- 31:43 "The hardest sound to make was the one where I had to record my own reverb."
- 34:38 To work on games as a dream project, and Playstation in Malaysia
- 36:33 The advantages of audio engineering in podcasts
- 38:19 Improvement in technology leads to more appreciation for high quality sound design
- 40:53 How to train your ear to listen for professional sound design
- 43:14 Delvinder's Memento: The 10-Year Microphone
- 45:15 Walkaway Wisdom, mastery of the craft and to show up in person
- 48:15 Audio epitaph: The sound effect that represents Delvinder's life
Links