Behind the Scenes: Sound Designer Marty Mets

Marty Mets

Name: Marty Mets

Birthplace: Fort Lauderdale

City of Residence: Lighthouse Point

Occupation: Audio Engineer/Producer/Sound Design

List some of your credits and/or awards:
Music:
Remember The Ocean: Ruth "Best Production of 2001" by New Times Magazine.
Whirlaway: A Sound Stream Broadcast
Micky's Ickies: GirlfriendLand
Blowfly: Fahrenheit 69

How long have you been a sound designer?
I've been an audio engineer for 15 years now, but I've only done theatrical sound design for about four. I kind of fell into theatre through my studio contacts, and I found I really enjoyed it, especially musicals.

What got you interested in sound?
Music has always been my first love, and I've taught myself to play several different instruments. I never bothered to learn to read or write music though, because it's something I feel inside and writing it made it too cerebral for me. When I started to write songs as a teenager, I needed some way to preserve them so I wouldn't forget them, so I got a cassette four track and then there was no going back. By the end of high school I had figured out that I could make money by recording other bands besides mine and the rest is history.

What is involved in creating the sounds in a show?
Well, I usually start with a talk with the director to find out exactly where he wants the mood of a show to go. For a drama, there could be a lot of sound effects sprinkled throughout. Doorbells, clocks chiming, cars driving off, gun shots. I'm very much a perfectionist, and even though I have over 1,500 pre-recorded sound effects in my production library, I find I usually just record my own version of the sound because more often than not the library track is just not what I'm hearing in my head. Most sound effects just don't sound real to me, so I end up doing it myself and I always get a better result.

But if I'm doing a musical, there may not be too much for me to "design", other than making sure the music tracks are recorded and mixed properly. Of course, if there is a live band, then I have to make sure they are all happy and can hear what they need to, and that nothing sonically gets in the way of the actors or their dialogue/vocals. That's where my years in the studio come in real handy.

How much of your direction for sound is in the script and how much is of your own design?
About 50/50, I'd say. I'm very much a feeling person when it comes to sound, and I just keep working with something until it feels right to me. That may mean spending way too much time on something that will be over in a millisecond, but I really think that adds to the realism. Whether I'm given total artistic freedom in a show or I'm following the direction of the script or vision of the director, I make every sound cue mine in very subtle ways that I'm sure only I can hear.

What shows present the biggest challenges?
That depends on whether we are talking about designing a show or running a show. For example a musical like La Cage Aux Folles (at Broward Stage Door) is very challenging to run because of the shear number of actors, and thus microphones that would be onstage at any given time. Yet 4.48 Psychosis (at Naked Stage) was very difficult to design. It was so abstract, so dark and off the wall, just about everything had to be a custom sound because many things we needed just didn't exist in a library. On top of that I had to write and record a few pieces of music for it, and there's just never enough time to get everything exactly right.

What are the hallmarks of good sound?
You shouldn't notice it. You should forget that you are watching a play, or movie, or listening to a CD, and become totally immersed in the experience. If someone walks out onstage and they sound like they're in a tin can, that subtracts from the total production. If someone is speaking from behind a door you don't want his mic up as loud as the person on the other side. I always aim for realism. Good sound should not be noticed per se, but should subconsciously add to and heighten the total experience.

You’re nominated for a Carbonell Award for your sound design of 4.48 Psychosis at Naked Stage. How did you design the sound for that show?
Pretty much from scratch. Everything about 4.48 Psychosis was exaggerated and unusual, and so the sound had to be too. That show was very much the vision of Katie Amadeo and Paul Tei, and so I really just tried to realize their ideas aurally. I have suffered from depression before, as have others close to me, so I was not unfamiliar with the mood and tone of the play. I pretty much read the script, put myself into that headspace, and started working.

What do you consider your proudest professional moment?
Being nominated for the Carbonell! Seriously, I am completely flattered and humbled that people would think my work is worthy of such an honor.

What show or project have you most enjoyed working on and why?
I really enjoyed doing Beyond the Rainbow at Stage Door's 26th Street Theatre. It was a musical on the life of Judy Garland and we did it with a live band, not tracks, and the cast and band was absolutely the best. Every now and then you get a team like that together and it makes this line of work so worthwhile.

What is the best thing about working in South Florida theatre?
The weather!

Current and Upcoming projects:
I'm currently writing some theme music for Destined to Dance, a local not-for-profit performing arts program, and I'm perpetually working on my album of original music that should hopefully be finished by the end of 2009. I'm also running sound for Sugar at Broward Stage Door and I'd love to find a local band to produce over the summer, as I haven't been in the studio for awhile.

Sugar runs through March 29 at the Broward Stage Door, 8036 W. Sample Rd., Coral Springs. Call 954-344-7765 or visit www.stagedoortheatre.com.

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