Colin Hart over at Colin Hart’s Sound Kitchen has an excellent, in-depth interview up with Bruce Tanis, sound designer on Fringe.
CH: “Fringe” has a unique library of effects, often dealing with subjects that we would have no knowledge of how they sound, yet the show remains very organic sounding. What is your approach to designing sound for these things?
BT: I usually try to use ordinary sounds and work on them through plugins and other devices to make them sound interesting. I use a lot of animals and natural events like wind and water to build different effects. Dry ice is my friend! At least as a starting point anyway but they don’t stay there long! Some of the effects, like the weapons or devices usually start from various machines but however big or small they start out, I try to keep their final scale appropriate to what we see on the screen so hopefully that makes them sound a bit more organic as well.
Mix Online takes a look at how the sound for the Fox’s ‘Fringe’ series is created:
Parallel universes. Cryonics. Mind control. Clairvoyance. Mutations. Bald-headed Observers. What do these things sound like? Figuring that out and bringing them to life is the weekly challenge for the sound design team behind J.J. Abrams’ hit Fox series Fringe. The show focuses on a trio of FBI-led investigators who explore cases involving so-called “fringe science”—everything from the existence of a parallel universe (and the effects of getting from ours to theirs) to creepy, loathsome creatures (including humans) who attempt to wreak havoc on the unsuspecting.
For the show’s first season, the post-production sound was handled by a different team; for Season 2, Warner Bros. Television, seeking to use the convenience of a remote Pro Tools stage, set up a new team in a new office—upstairs from saucy Hustler Hollywood on the Sunset Strip—along with the writing and other post-production staff.
Going skiing or snowboarding this winter? Check out this Nickelodeon video game spoof we did the sound for, with visuals by Krogh Mortensen Animation. Remember to duck!
Posted by Asbjoern Andersen, Epic Sound 
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