Henri Rapp Recording is a world class Production Sound & Location Recording Company. Specializing in Audio Supervision for Film, Television, & Commercial Video Productions. I bring refined production sound through extensive experience & top tier sound recording equipment.
Recording Sound, it isn’t just a “Job” for me, it’s my passion. With every new client I aim to bring a new level of quality & professionalism. I’ve worked extensively in most areas of Audio Engineering, and bring this comprehensive knowledge to every production I work on. This has taken me everywhere from going on location as a sound recordist for television to producing music in the recording studio, and sound designing & mixing video projects. Over the years I have even been lucky enough to record a few Grammy winning musicians! Whether working on a Narrative Film, Commercial, or with a Musician, it’s ultimately about capturing a performance and transporting the listener to another time & place.
Having more than 12 years of sound engineering experience, I ensure the job gets done right the first time; When you hire me you can expect quality through expertise. Coupled with my extensive knowledge base, I have the equipment to handle projects of any scale.
When I’m not on set working, I love to cook delicious food, play with my two cats (Jones & Oliver), travel, sip some espresso, or learn something new!
As a Production Sound Mixer (Often called Location Sound, Sound Recordist, Production Sound, Location Sound Recording, or Sound Mixer) working in Film, Televisions & Commercials, I have a lot of responsibilities; From Recording Clean Dialog, Ambiences, & Action Sounds, to Wiring Talent, Ensuring Audio & Camera Sync, Creating a Mix, Logging MetaData, and much more. It takes a lot of experience & an extensive knowledge-base to draw on to provide exceptional location sound recording services for video productions.
Passionate about exceeding the expectations of my client’s, I love delivering exceptionally great sounding audio by employing creative solutions to elevate the level of sound recorded during production. Having more than a decade of experience to draw on, I know what it takes to deliver top tier sound quality. From Large Scale Multi Camera Productions to Fast Paced Run & Gun Crews, I have done it all. Having also worked extensively in Audio Post-Production & Audio Restoration, it better informs my job as a Sound Recordist, knowing not only what needs to be captured, but how to best accomplish it. All while keeping a keen ear out for things that could cause issues down the line in post.
Every video shoot has different sound requirements and challenges. Offering ‘a la carte’ field recording packages, anywhere from lightweight run and gun bag based production sound rental kit to a full scale cart based sound recording equipment package with a fully staffed sound department that includes a Sound Mixer, Boom Operator, & Utility. Each gear package is tailored to the needs of your specific shoot!
As a production sound recordist, I’m available to work any union motion pictures or commercial productions. I’m in good standing with IATSE (Motion Picture Studio Mechanics) Local 209 of Cleveland, Ohio. I can work as a local in Ohio, or as an out of town hire for productions in other jurisdictions, with permission from the local IATSE.
There is no substitute for experience, especially when working on location as a sound recordist. I’ve been working as a professional sound engineer for more than a decade now, and have experience in nearly every production style & workflow, as well as the recording studio, live sound & post-production. Having this strong knowledge base to draw on allows me to deliver no matter the video production style:
Most documentary shoots consist of sit down interviews, verite style shooting, and b-roll with accompanying natural sound. Since interviews are the backbone of the story in documentary style video content, capturing clean dialog is of the utmost importance. I love employing tricks to tackle the challenges of working in less than ideal shooting locations such as extreme background noise & reverb.
Commercial shoots vary a lot in content and scale, so it’s essential to be flexible enough meet the commercial’s sound requirements whether it’s lines to camera or complex one shots with a lot of moving parts. I’ve done many commercials with a wide range varying complexities in workflow; Often including high channel counts, timecode audio playback, timecode boxes & hops on cameras, IFBs (For Clients, Agency, Producers, & Directors), timecode slates, and much more. Let’s discuss your project’s specific needs today!
Doing Film Sound for narrative content is one of the most challenging types of productions to do sound for. Made possible by working with a full team of a Sound Mixer, Boom Operator, & Sound Utility, we capture the film’s sound on location during production with boom mics, wireless lavaliers on talent, & plant mics. In addition to recording discrete isolated tracks, the sound department is responsible for sync, providing a reference mix, IFBs, & coordinating with other departments to solve problems on set.
ENG & Live TV production requires the experience to make sure things go right the first time, because there are no redos. News gigs often consist of one or more correspondents in the field talking back to a television studio via an IFB (often over a phone line) & a mix fed through the camera back to the tv studio. Many locations like sports stadiums require RF coordination to operate within them.
Musical artist performance videos have become a popular way for brands to build awareness. I have the experience to capture each instrument cleanly while minimizing bleed for other sources goes a long way towards quality. Music has a lot of harmonic rich sources that can obfuscate each other in the mix; Based on the context of the source, style, instrumentation tonal & aesthetic choices in the way it’s captured need to get made. These choices will have one of the biggest effects on the end results.
Recording sound for comedy specials aren’t just about capturing the comedian, but the audience in the room as well. Having done a number of comedy specials, I’ve got the experience to deliver high quality production sound for this unique style of production. With comedy specials typically having high camera counts and long takes maintaining multi camera & audio sync is essential. There is a lot more that goes into it then simply recording the show; Here is my approach!
Reality shows are fast paced and all about capturing moments in real time. To make reality shooting style possible, the workflow typically involves high wireless count (such as talent mics, hops to cameras, & producer IFBs). With the long take “always filming’ approach of reality TV, timecode and genlock sync boxes are typically used to maintain long term sync.
Films, Music Videos, & Commercials often need audio playback to match performances to music. Scalable PA speaker systems and playback files striped with timecode fed wirelessly to a smart slate to flash camera as a sync marker. This makes sync in post incredibly simple even when shooting on cameras that reference mics can’t be used with (like the Arri Alexa Mini).
My work shows my passion for high quality sound, I love deploying creative solutions & overcoming challenges to deliver quality location sound despite each production’s unique challenges. Drawing on more than a decade of audio production experience, I bring a depth of knowledge more extensive than run of the mill sound mixer. While not my speciality, having had previous experience in recording studios, with post-production, classical music recording, live sound reproduction, & more informs every choice I make…. I love unique projects and the challenges that come with them, from complex shoots with high channel counts and a full sound team to fast paced shooting environments as a solo operator, to talk show style productions with complex routing, its all rewarding to tackle these challenges head on and conquer them!
Case Study: 144 Music Performance Videos In 4 Days 144 Music Performance Videos At A Nashville Museum In 4 Shooting Days & 1 Tech Prep Day Recording sound for the George Jones Sessions was a fun but fast paced & complex shoot. Fortunately I had an A2 and a tech prep day to get ready…
Case Study: Remote Round Table Sound For A Remote Round Table w/ 3 Talent On Site, 6 Cameras, 7 Independant Mixes, & Zoom Feed & Return of Remote Talent & Direction While round table discussions are a fairly common type of video production, doing a remote version during a pandemic with each talent in a…
Case Study: A Direct To Camera Commercial Sound For A One Talent & Single Camera Commercial for Ranpak As was the case on this production, it’s always nice when I get to work with my friends over at Black Valve, who produced, directed, and shot this video. From the perspective of the sound department, this…
Case Study: Sound For A Live Stream Concert Find Your Light Foundation Benefit Concert Hosted by J.R. Heckman & Presented by John Carroll University When I was initially contacted to do the sound for the Find Your Light Foundation’s Songs of Hope 2021 live stream concert hosted by J.R. Heckman and presented by John Carroll…
Case Study: Sound For A Netflix Comedy Special David A. Arnold’s ‘Fat Ballerina’ Overseeing the production sound & audio post for David A. Arnold’s Netflix Comedy Special, ‘Fat Ballerina’ posed a number of niche specific challenges that aren’t seen on most productions. If you haven’t seen ‘Fat Ballerina’, it was released on Netflix in spring…
Every video production has varied sound requirements, offering scalable field multitrack recording packages tailored to the needs of your production. Ranging from lightweight bag based sound equipment packages to a cart based sound recording system ready for complex workflows with a full team that includes a Sound Recordist, Boom Operator, & Sound Utility. Every equipment package is different based on the needs of each production.
From Large Multi-Camera Shoots to Small Lightweight Crews, I have done it all. Having worked with most cameras on available (Including Red Dragon, Red Gemini, Red Helium, Red Monstro, Arri Amira, Arri Alexa SXT, Arri Alexa Mini, Sony F55, Sony F5, Sony FS7, Sony Venice, Canon C300, Panasonic Varicam, & Panasonic EVA1, etc), and know how to set them up properly for any audio & timecode workflow requirements.
While based in Cleveland, I offer productions sound services throughout the United States. Available for travel into any location, I regularly work through the midwest and beyond.
As a seasoned Cleveland Recording Studio engineer, I have countless credits for recording, mixing, and mastering; ranging from Music Production to Audiobooks, Podcasts, & Commercial Voice Overs. Working out of Bad Racket Studios, I am proud to record call one of the Midwest’s best recording studios my home. The recording studio has an extensive collection of Microphones, Preamps, Compressors, & an Analog Recording Console, paired with acoustically accurate recording rooms & control room; there is nothing like the quality a pure recording chain offers.
Amazing audio is seamless, this is where Audio Post Production comes in!
Audio Post for Film requires a number of independent processes starting with the Production Dialog Edit, Voiceover, & ADR. From there the score, sound design, & foley brings the rest of the soundscape to life! With some final balancing & enhancements in the mix stage your Narrative Film, Commercial, or Documentary will leave polished ready to bring an emursive auditory experience to the audience. Armed with an acoustically accurate mixing stage, extensive sound library and audio software collection, your videos will come to life!
In every project I do, I bring a unique sonic aesthetic that is tailored specifically to your music. Every choice I make from how I mic instruments, to how hard the preamps get pushed, how I EQ & compress each source; it all comes together to bring a powerful representation of your performance in the recording studio. After Recording it gets mixed & mastered, and ready for your audience to enjoy!
