Sound Rebels, a leading Los Angeles audio post-production company known for such blockbuster animation shows as SpongeBob SquarePants and Teen Titans Go!, had spent years working out of a number of local facilities, but recently decided it was time for a home base, one built with their primary work in mind. They called on Audio Intervisual Design.
“Our acoustic designer and contractor suggested we speak with Jim Pace at Audio Intervisual Design,” explains Sound Rebels co-founder and chief re-recording mixer D.J. Lynch. “AID pinpointed what we needed and recommend the right mixing console, the right speakers, and all the ancillary gear. We specified Dolby ATMOS-certified studios because Netflix and many other major studios have made that a delivery requirement.
“Jim came up with some really surprising ideas,” Lynch continues. “He suggested we take the mid- and the high-range drivers from one JBL speaker model and pair it with the low-frequency woofer of another. He explained that this configuration for Atmos was the right spec for our room size and the amount of sound pressure level that we needed. We have 14 speakers installed for the surround and overhead speakers—and they do sound great.”
The two new Sound Rebels stages, dubbed Victory and Triumph, are technically identical, networked for easy interchange between the two, depending on the demands of projects in-house at any one time.
“The moment we plugged everything in and turned it on, it was flawless,” Lynch says. “We played back some material that we had mixed at other studios, and the translation was perfect.”
Lynch, who grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and moved to Los Angeles to attend USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, got his breakthrough in post audio when he landed a job as sound editor and mixer on the television show Cops (1989) for Fox.
In addition to many other television and film credits, Lynch has carved out a niche in animation, mixing several of Nickelodeon’s flagship shows, including SpongeBob SquarePants (1999), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012), Sanjay and Craig (2013) and The Penguins of Madagascar (2008). He is a nine-time Emmy and six-time MPSE Golden Reel Award winner.
“I’ve been working on SpongeBob since 2006 and they have been gracious enough to follow us from other studios to our current position here,” he says.
Lynch’s partner, supervising sound editor Rob McIntyre (ten-time Emmy and three-time Golden Reel Award winner), commented, “Lately, I’ve been mixing Teen Titans Go! for Warner Bros., as well as managing our other projects like Camp Cretaceous and Fast & Furious Spy Racers for DreamWorks. Warner and DreamWorks were also gracious enough to follow us here. SpongeBob and Teen Titans Go! are two of the biggest animated shows on television. So when we opened our new facility, we really hit the ground running.”
