What Does a Miracle Sound Like? She Knows

Ornamental Cherry Tree In Full Bloom, Washingt...
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When Toronto sound designer Jane Tattersall, considered Canada’s best, needed to illustrate a scene of a tree in bloom, considered a magical event in one film, she had to think of a way to make the sound of a miracle.

“I used a beautiful ring-off of a bell, not the strike but the end of it, and a gentle whoosh of air. It was both natural and unnatural. That is, not synthetic, but still not realistic. An organic miracle.”

Jane works on a wide range of films and television projects. If you’ve watched the popular series “The Tudors”, you’ve heard the many different sound of horses’ hooves she recorded herself north of Toronto. A quiet, calm, thoughtful woman, she travels the world with her microphone, capturing everything from the sound of nightingales to the noise of a car’s handbrake. She’s a gentle obsessive — with an entire wall and case of trophies and awards for her and her company’s work.

Please check out my story about her in the Leisure & Arts page of today’s Wall Street Journal.