Deconstructing Club Music Sound Design In The Social Network

In this video from Indepth Sound Design, we take a closer look into the sound design of club music in the film The Social Network.

Video Index

• 00:00 Sound FX & Dialog Only
• 00:31 Untreated MP3
• 00:39 Low Pass Filter
• 00:47 TL Space Staircase Futz
• 00:54 Altiverb Club Reverb
• 01:03 2K Notch Filter
• 01:14 4K Notch Filter
• 01:21 Distorted Filter Low
• 01:34 Distorted Filter Mid
• 01:43 Distorted Filter High
• 01:49 Distorted Filter Higher
• 01:53 Mackie Mixer Distortion (Mid Frequencies)
• 02:03 Mackie Mixer Distortion (Low Frequencies)
• 02:12 Handheld Concert Recording 1
• 02:23 Handheld Concert Recording 2
• 02:30 Final Mix
• 03:04 Michael Semanick Commentary

After watching the video, it’s clear that there’s much more than meets the eye (or ear, we suppose) when it comes to the music we hear in a movie – especially all of the filtering! With low pass filters, that does make sense, as the sound will sound worlds different inside vs outside of a club due to the heightened length at which low frequencies travel.

Next: Dissecting The Sound Design Of Breaking Bad