For two weeks this summer, the cast HBO’s The Sopranos recorded dialog for the new videogame The Sopranos—Road to Respect at The Audio Department in New York City. Participating cast members included James Gandolfini, Michael Imperioli, Tony Sirico, Steven Van Zandt, Joseph Gannascoli, Vincent Pastore and Robert Iler. The recording for the entire game was a joint effort by The Audio Department and Atlantis Group Recording in Santa Monica, Calif.
The recording was overseen by Los Angeles–based VoiceWorks Productions. VoiceWorks CEO Douglas Carrigan directed the talent and worked with the series’ licensor HBO, as well as the game’s publisher, THQ, and developer Seven Studios.
Audio Department engineer Don Hoffman followed the specs of the game’s audio lead, Dan Lehrich of Seven Studios. John Chominsky of Atlantis Group recorded the game’s playable character, Joey, along with more than 450 secondary characters.
This bicoastal effort was a challenge because it required a specific setup with two microphones that had to remain consistent throughout. Several characters were recorded in both New York and Santa Monica. The setup comprised a vintage Neumann U87 as the main mic and a Sennheiser MKH 416 for picking up room ambience. Both mics were recorded on a stereo track into Pro Tools. In post-production, mixing engineers could use either track or both tracks.
For more information, visit www.theaudiodepartment.com, www.voiceworksproductions.com, www.atlantisgrouprecording.com, www.thq.com and www.sevenstudios.com.
