Arguably the most important sense for true immersive experiences is sound. Ben Herrington and his team at Sound Sculpture Inc. (SSI), leading sound artists in themed entertainment are passionate about acoustic and sound design that can evoke emotions, story and gameplay across thematic environments around the world.
The company, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2021, is directed by brothers Ben Herrington, who founded the company in 1996, and Roy Herrington, who joined in 2003. The work that SSI does is a unique blend of classic sound effects artistry and techniques with state-of-the-art technologies. The result is bespoke sonic creations for immersive, location-based experiences.
From the SSI workshop in LA, the company creates the most weird and wonderful machines to make sounds for machines or characters that don’t exist yet as well as blend and compose soundtracks for all sorts of attractions. Herrington is a master in sound design, solving the difficult challenges of acoustic spaces. The firm works closely with the largest operator in the industry at their international parks around the world.
“We are sound artists, focusing on conceptual development and the creation of content for themed environments and extraordinary experiences,” said Herrington, speaking to blooloop in 2022. “A lot of our work involves applying classic sound effect techniques to modern technologies. This allows us to meet the unusual and specific challenges that this kind of industry presents.”
SSI works to create experiences that feel authentic. Audiences want to feel fully immersed in these worlds that they are visiting, explained Herrington:
“They want to feel like they’ve been transported somewhere else. But if the tools and methods that we’re using to transport them there are obvious, that could be distracting. So, in a lot of our projects, what that means is that we want the sounds that we’re building to be perceived by the guests as the authentic sounds of that space. If we can convince them that these fabricated sounds are real, there’s all kinds of fun potential for then shifting their reality and having these powerful moments.”