Custom sound creation
Built, not bought. When nothing in a library is the thing, our designers record and construct it — the right weight, the right room, the right amount of wrong.
SOUND DESIGN · CHICAGO · SINCE 1999
SERIOUS SOUND DESIGN.
The right sound, built from scratch — or found in seconds. Custom creation, foley and sonic branding, designed and mixed in the same building.
27
Years of BAM in Chicago5
Mixing Suites39
Years Behind the Console TC 00:00:00:00What We Build
Sound is invisible. That is exactly why it has to be designed.
Foley
Footsteps on gravel, a jacket zipping, a door easing shut. Performed live, take after take, to the exact frame — the work that disappears into the picture instead of sitting on top of it.
Sonic branding & audio logos
A mnemonic is a short piece of sound that becomes as recognizable as a logo — think of the chime before an NBC show, or the five notes that close an Intel ad. We design them for brands, then build every other length they’ll need from it.
The library
Decades of BAM sessions, organized into one searchable effects library. When the sound already exists, we find it in minutes — which leaves the rest of the session for building what doesn’t.
TC 00:18:36:22Where It Ends Up
One design, every delivery
The same design has to hold up in a theatre, on a laptop, and through a phone held at arm's length on a train. We build it once, then mix it for each place it is going — broadcast, streaming, theatrical, digital, social, podcast, audiobook.
- Film
- Features, documentaries and short films — design, edit and final mix under one roof.
- Broadcast TV & radio
- Spots, promos, network packaging and episodic television.
- Web & social
- Cut-downs mixed to hold up on a laptop speaker and sound just as good through a phone’s AirPods.
- Podcasts & vodcasts
- Beds, stings, transitions and the sound of a show having an identity.
- Audiobooks
- Clean, consistent, and quiet enough to listen to for nine hours.
- Games & interactive
- Asset sets designed to loop, layer and trigger without fatigue.
TC 00:37:11:08The Rooms
Acoustically engineered rooms, premium monitoring, immersive and Dolby Atmos mixing. See every room →
TC 01:05:17:04Before You Book
What is sound design, exactly?
Everything an audience hears that was not spoken and was not scored. Effects, ambience, foley, whooshes, textures, the click of a prop — created or sourced, then edited to picture and mixed so it feels inevitable rather than added.
Do you design and mix, or just design?
Both. BAM has five mixing suites alongside the design rooms, including immersive and Dolby Atmos, so a project can be designed, mixed and delivered without leaving the building or changing hands.
Can you make a sound that does not exist yet?
That is most of the job. Custom creation and foley are how a spaceship, a monster, or a brand-new product ends up sounding like itself. We record and build the elements rather than pulling the nearest approximation off a shelf.
What is an audio logo or sonic brand?
A short, ownable piece of sound a brand uses the way it uses a wordmark. BAM designs audio logos, mnemonics and full sonic identity systems, and has cut them for national campaigns and network production companies.
Where are you?
Chicago — BAM HQ at 1 East Erie Street in River North, and CineBAM inside Cinespace Film Studios on the West Side. Clients join in person or remotely, in real time.
ROLL SOUND.
Tell us what it has to sound like. If it doesn't exist yet, that's the fun part.
Book a Session →