Avid S6, core of Wounded Buffalo’s soundscape workflow

Productions such as ‘Planet Earth III’, ‘Earthsounds’ and ‘Our Great National Parks’ employ the carefully crafted soundscapes of Wounded Buffalo, a UK company that uses the Avid S6 desk in its daily workflow.

Located in the heart of Bristol, Wounded Buffalo Sound Studios have made a name for themselves in the industry for their work on nature documentaries. As Ben Peace, the studio’s mixer, explains, these formats pose big challenges when it comes to capturing sound: “Most things are filmed on very long lenses. So, you can film something from 400 yards away, but you can’t easily capture the sound from that distance.”

This means that when the team receives images, the accompanying sound is sometimes minimal or of poor quality: “In the field, audio is rarely a priority, or even available, with shoots often capturing “first-ever” seen footage in extreme environments. We do get some atmospheric sound if we’re lucky. Sometimes they’ll leave a remote camera with a built-in mic somewhere, and even though the sound can be pretty terrible, it’s really useful. It lets us know what we’re supposed to be aiming for,” adds the technician.

The turning point for Wounded Buffalo came with the integration of Avid’s S6 control surface: “When the S6 came along, we jumped ship and went to Avid.” Studio manager Jim Jacobs emphasises the efficiency of the desk, as well as its integration with Pro Tools: “Everything is in one place. The integration is seamless, and it brings forward everything we need for a session.”

Looking ahead, the studio will continue to take advantage of the Avid ecosystem to create soundscapes, but also to build immersive audio for theatres that benefit from Dolby Atmos technology. “We are constantly evolving,” concludes Jacobs.