HISTORY OF SOUNDCRAFTER
Soundcrafter got its start in 1993, thanks to a recommendation from Sandra Adair, who was cutting picture on director Kim Henkel's Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation. Kim was considering doing his post sound work in Los Angeles. Sandra knew Richard Linklater's sister Tricia from cutting Dazed and Confused, and since she knew Tricia was working in post-audio in Los Angeles at the time, she recommended Kim talk to her.
Tom Hammond had just moved to Austin after six years at Danetracks, the same post-house where Tricia worked. Pro Tools could only play four tracks at a time back then, and Tom was using it to cut foley remotely for Danetracks. When Tricia mentioned that Tom had recently settled in Austin, Kim reached out to him — and Tom, in turn, connected with musicians Stan Ginsel and Larry Seyer. They suggested the film could be mixed in Austin using the inexpensive 8-track ADAT system.
Tom ended up supervising the project from Austin, with sound editing handled at Danetracks and foley recording done at JDH Sound in Santa Monica. Stan and Larry installed the ADAT decks at Austin Recording Studio and Larry did the mix there. Editing work from Danetracks was sent overnight on DataDat backup tapes; Tom restored it and transferred four tracks at a time from Pro Tools to the ADAT tapes for the mix.
A similar setup followed for Richard Linklater's Before Sunrise, with Wayne Bell joining as effects editor in Austin. For Richard's 1996 film subUrbia, Stan — along with Austin filmmaker Christian Moore and Austin musician Eric Friend — joined Tom, Wayne, and Larry, so the entire project’s editing and mixing was completed in Austin.
Sandra Adair, Larry Seyer, Richard Linklater, Tom Hammond and Wayne Bell during the mix of Before Sunrise at Austin Recording Studio in 1994. A stack of seven ADAT decks, some behind Wayne, were linked together for the final mix.
Justin Hennard recording Mark Turner doing Hank’s “scramble voice” for A Scanner Darkly. This was at the W. 5th Street location in 2006.
Continued work with Richard Linklater, along with episodic television from Austin-based Megalomedia, helped fuel Soundcrafter's growth. As Pro Tools gained more mixing capability, Tom took on mixing work as well, though Dolby's requirement for a large printmastering room meant the final days of the mix moved around — first to Swelltone Labs in New Orleans, then Warner Bros. in Burbank, and, starting in 2012, Keyland Sound in Austin.
The number of crew members grew with Austin filmmaker Justin Hennard joining Tom and Wayne in 2003, Los Angeles foley artist Susan Fitz-Simon joined in 2008, and UT RTF graduate Glenn Eanes joined in 2010. A larger push to expand the crew came in 2013.
That same year, the W. 5th Street building was torn down to make way for a car dealership expansion. The difficulty of losing the facility turned into an opportunity to build a larger one. During the four years of design and construction, the temporary Soundcrafter record and mix room was the master bedroom of a house in Southwest Austin. By the end of November 2017, Soundcrafter had moved into its current location.
The mix for Bernie at the W. 5th Street location, April 2011. Left to right: Wayne Bell, Dialogue Editor; Chelsea Dinsdale, Post Production Assistant; Graham Reynolds, Composer; Kirsten McMurray, Co-Producer; Justin Hennard, Sound Designer; Richard Linklater, Director; Buzz Moran, Music Recordist & Music Editor; Sandra Adair, Picture Editor; Mike Saenz, First Assistant Picture Editor; Susan Fitz-Simon, Foley Artist & Foley Editor; Glenn Eanes, Dialogue Editor & Sound Effects Editor; Tom Hammond, Supervising Sound Editor & Re-recording Mixer.
Construction of the new facility began with the cutting of the foley pits, January 2015. Upstairs framing, October 2015. Charles Kohlmyer running speaker wire in Studio 1, October 2016. During construction of the entrance and awning, May 2017. Left to right: Bobby Layne, Lead Carpenter; John Reginald, Welder; Aaron Somers, Apprentice Carpenter; Matt Dunnam, Lead Carpenter.
BEFORE SOUNDCRAFTER
In this video, from 1992 when audio editing was done on magnetic striped 35mm film, Tom Hammond cuts foley on a moviola. The foley programming and editing was done at Danetracks in Santa Monica. The foley was recorded across the parking lot at JDH Sound. The working title of the film was Pay Dirt, but the film was released as There Goes the Neighborhood. The Foley artists are Ossama Khuluki and Catherine Harper. Tommy Goodwin is the foley mixer and Tammy Treadwell is the foley recordist.