Thinking in Sound: Why Audio Is Never Boring with Nick Smith

Sheffield born Nick Smith started his career in sound more than thirty years ago when he relocated from England to Holland. His entrance into the industry came about slightly unexpectedly after submitting a trip-hop CD to Vonk Sound, aka FC Walvisch, which scored him a composer position there. From there, his love for sound design began which led him through a couple of reputable studios in Amsterdam before establishing ‘Stainless Sound and Music’ in 2014.

His love for music is as strong as ever, pairing perfectly with the studio environment where his musical background and his passion for sound design come together.

LBB> When you’re working on a new brief or project, what’s your typical starting point? How do you break it down and how do you like to generate your ideas or response? 

Nick> During the briefing process, I enjoy bouncing ideas around with the creatives to see what direction they’ve got in mind and how I can support them/the product and bring their ideas to life. If it’s 'real' sounds I tend to get stuck right into rough tracklay and usually get an Atmos track down first so I have a nice bed to work the rest of the sounds on. If it’s heavy on the sound design I’ll straighten any sync sounds out first and then get some ideas going for the more creative parts. I’ll probably have a good idea of where I want to go after talking to the creatives so I’ll try and get a couple of directions down if time permits so we can discuss further with the team.

LBB> Music and sound are in some ways the most collaborative and interactive forms of creativity - what are your thoughts on this? Do you prefer to work solo or with a gang - and what are some of your most memorable professional collaborations?

Nick> Absolutely! Getting discussions on sound as early as possible can really help shape the approach to the rest of the production. Chatting early on will allow for any pre production ideas to be shared and discussed. Once the picture edit is finished or shaping up it’s great to have a kick off meeting at the studio with the producer, creatives and director if possible. After that it’s nice to spend some time alone trying out different things. Then it’s great to have everyone back in to listen, discuss and craft the rest together or leave me to it again…

I think one of my most memorable and enjoyable collaborations was with 72andSunny for Google France called 'Les Heures Magiques'. We were asked to compose the music and create sound design for five films. It was a great example of creative collaboration and the end result was really well received. 

LBB> What’s the most satisfying part of your job and why?

Nick> When you finish a project with a bunch of people who have most likely had to compromise their ideas on what the final product should be, but to still arrive at the finish line with a 'product' that everyone is happy with. It’s a very satisfying feeling. 

LBB> Who are your musical or audio heroes and why?

Nick> I’d say the Beatles and their engineers / producer, and Kraftwerk. Aside from having made so many amazing tracks that I can always return to, they are both still evolving sonically with new mixes coming from their back catalogue that sound better and better.

LBB> When you’re working on something that isn’t directly sound design or music (lets say going through client briefs or answering emails) - are you the sort of person who needs music and noise in the background or is that completely distracting to you? What are your thoughts on ‘background’ sound and music as you work?

Nick> I don’t get the chance to listen to my favourite podcasts or music while I’m actually working as I need to focus and listen to the work itself. but when I’m not tinkering with sound design or composing I’ll definitely have some tunes playing in the background or nice and loud in the foreground! One of the perks of having a studio is that you can listen to your favourite tunes quite loud through nice speakers without bothering anyone else. It’s a great place to be alone and collect your thoughts.

LBB> I guess the quality of the listening experience and the context that audiences listen to music/sound in has changed over the years. There’s the switch from analogue to digital and now we seem to be divided between bad-ass surround-sound immersive experiences and on-the-go, low quality sound (often the audio is competing with a million other distractions) - how does that factor into how you approach your work?

Nick> The quality of people's listening experiences has increased immensely. Most people have great headphones, a TV with great sound, a soundbar that does Dolby Atmos or a wireless speaker system that just sounds amazing so a good mix tends to sound pretty consistent across multiple systems and add the fact that most media platforms have incorporated some kind of loudness norms you can focus more on a well balanced, nice sounding mix rather than trying to trying to grab attention by being the loudest.

LBB> Do you have a collection of music/sounds and what shape does it take (are you a vinyl nerd, do you have hard drives full of random bird sounds, are you a hyper-organised Spotify-er…)? 

Nick> I have quite a big vinyl collection which I’ve been collecting since I was a teenager but I’m not a vinyl snob. Good vinyl on a good system can sound exceptional but it can quite easily sound awful so I love CD’s and streaming just as much. I mean I used to listen to music on cassette tape.. It was never about the audio quality but more the fact you could listen to stuff! I always carry a handheld recorder with me so I can capture any atmos or interesting sounds I might chance upon. If I’m on holiday I’ll make a bit of effort to capture some of the local sounds at hand. I’m not so sure my family is as keen as I am, especially when they all have to be quiet while I’m recording something. 

LBB> Outside of the music and sound world, what sort of art or topics really excite you and do you ever relate that back to music (e.g. history buffs who love music that can help you travel through time, gamers who love interactive sound design… I mean it really could be anything!!)

Nick> I like cooking which is usually accompanied by music. It’s a great combo and can be very relaxing … If all goes well with the meal of course!

LBB> As we age, our ears change physically and our tastes evolve too, and life changes mean we don’t get to engage in our passions in the same intensity as in our youth - how has your relationship with sound and music changed over the years?

Nick> I think the intensity has only grown. I’m lucky enough to work in sound which was always my passion and it gives me the chance to listen and indulge in audio on a daily basis and because the world of audio is constantly evolving then so is my relationship with it. Basically it’s never boring.