A friend is making a film and wants to make it sound like a dance track is being played in a nightclub. Any tricks or tips on what techniques and effects could be useful and which frequencies to focus on with EQ? At one point, the scene switches to a bathroom in the club so it also needs to sound like it's pulsing behind a door.

Quote JimP:

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At one point, the scene switches to a bathroom in the club so it also needs to sound like it's pulsing behind a door.

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LPF and reverb with a bathroom preset

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I'm All Ears.

Speakerphone 2 software is brilliant at this kind of thing and there'll certainly be a preset for it. Might be a bit pricey if that's all you need it for though (£350 ish)...

Out of the price range for this really (lo budget short). I think the bathroom part should be more straightforward but the main 'club' sound could be more tricky to make sound convincing.

Any more ideas?

Mess around with EQ and reverbs. I find trial and error best.

You can download "club" sounds for free. http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=38938

Something like that. Background noise is key.

With regards to reverb, using something like "large hall" preset isn't probably the best idea. Very few people would hear a PA blasting out a song in an empty hall (unless thats whats going on in the film!). Lots of people = way less reverb. So i'd say a slightly smaller room sound than what you'd initially think. Or at least a smaller reverb time.

Maybe a really subtle delay.

EQ wise, I don't know cause i've never tried it, but i'd probably do what i wouldn't do if i was mixing it if that makes sense! Take out some of the clarity from upper mids/highs. Take out some of the tighter bass and boost in the lower bass. So it sounds a bit more boomy. Just trying to muddy it up a bit. Although after running it through a reverb I doubt it will need to much.

Doesn't take long to mess with a few EQ settings to see what you can come up with.

Quote christianmurphy:

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Doesn't take long to mess with a few EQ settings to see what you can come up with.

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And it's fun!!!

I'm not having a go.. I understand people looking for pointers but these things are all about having a fiddle around and experimenting. It's great fun and the best way to learn.

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http://www.loverslanestudios.co.uk

Thanks Christian, that's really helpful stuff - just mixing in a subtle crowd sound makes a huge difference. Will experiment some more with your suggestions.

Quote JimP:

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A friend is making a film and wants to make it sound like a dance track is being played in a nightclub. Any tricks or tips on what techniques and effects could be useful and which frequencies to focus on with EQ?

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Bass.

Quote BJG145:

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Quote JimP:

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A friend is making a film and wants to make it sound like a dance track is being played in a nightclub. Any tricks or tips on what techniques and effects could be useful and which frequencies to focus on with EQ?

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Bass.

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White lines!

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My head hurts!