The Best of Mix Sound For Film: Conclave

Los Angeles, CA (January 14, 2025)—Our recent Mix Presents Sound For Film: Awards Season all-day virtual event highlighted some of the most amazing work happening in motion picture sound right now. We spoke with 13 sound teams from some of the top films released in 2024; here’s one of the most notable moments and insights from the day:

Volker Bertelmann, Composer

“I mostly try to throw things in the score that are unexpected…I always like the moment of surprise in the beginning, so I was trying to find something that was ethereal-sounding, like organ or choir. One was the glass harp, which has glass bowls that are turning around with water always on the rim, and you touch them—the same principle as the wine glass. The other instrument was the Cristal Baschet, which is an instrument that consists of glass rods. You have four octaves that are tuned and your fingers are wet and then you rub those glass rods, and because you have ten fingers, you can play ten notes at the same time, like a piano. It’s all analog, and it has this kind of otherworldliness where you are standing in front of it and you can’t understand why that is happening. I found someone in Paris, Marc Chouarin, who came to my studio with the instrument. I composed pieces for this instrument, and I used samples of it as a sketch for me so I could imagine how it would sound as score.”