By Kim Hilsenbeck.
In a converted garage in a suburban Buda home, Lauren Morris does something not very many women do. She records music – her own and other people’s. She also scores the music and sound effects for films.
She is a film composer, sound designer and engineer. And in a traditionally male-dominated industry, Morris appears to be not just breaking through but making strides.
From the outside, the home looks like any other in her neighborhood. She’s even got a mini-barnyard in the back, complete with a goat, some chickens and her pet pig, Agnes.
Inside the renovated room decorated in rich, deep colors, the setup and equipment looks as if it belongs in a Hollywood recording studio. The corners of the walls have bass traps – essentially foam cones that help create the right sound.
Lauren Morris, owner of Scorpion Sound in Buda, has many talents. She is an accomplished musician who toured with her band, Celticana, for five years. She ditched much of her band equipment for sound design production equipment. Morris now spends a good deal of time scoring soundtracks for movies – historically a male-dominated industry. But this fiery lady is making a name for herself. She is shown here with Ernie Durawa, left, and her business partner, Robert Mitchell. (Photos by Kim Hilsenbeck) |
“You put these [up] to keep the sound forward,” Morris said.
Morris, a native of Bakersfield, Calif., is the owner of Scorpion Sound. She invited All Around Hays for a visit; we met with her on a late April morning. The window in the converted room drew in the sounds of the area – birds, a garbage truck, a motorcycle. Morris said the window has to be closed when she is recording. Even the whir of the ceiling fan has to be silenced.
But on this day, the cool spring air seeped in as Morris demonstrated her obvious skill.
In addition to her technical sound design skills, this multi-talented woman plays piano, guitar and sings. She started her musical career at age 12, singing and playing contemporary American tunes. But as she got older, Morris said she was looking for her voice. She found it in Celtic music.
“I rediscovered my Irish heritage and just fell in love with Celtic music; it was reminiscent of things when I was a child,” she said.
From 2000-2005, Morris was part of the group Celticana. They toured, made a few records. And no, they never played in Ireland.
It’s a dream of hers to visit one day, but she thinks Scotland will be her first stop.
What does Morris like about Celtic music?
She said she loves the stories, the fiddle tunes, the instrumentals, the legacy and history of how the music fit into the culture.
“It just really struck a cord in me on a deep emotional level – I never felt quite that strongly about music before. I just couldn’t get enough of it,” Morris said.
She sat at the massive keyboard in her studio and played one of her original Celtic tunes. Her passion for music oozed out of her fingertips, culminating in a tune with an eerie, captivating quality that swelled inside the studio.
Morris also allows musicians of all stripes to record in her studio.
“I’ve had all kinds of people in here,” she said.
Local musician Ernie Durawa of the Texas Tornadoes was also in Morris’ studio, consulting on some drum sounds. Durawa is a fellow musician (drummer) and pig lover. He showed pictures of Pig Floyd, his miniature pig, in a hat and sunglasses.
Yet these days, Morris, who looks years younger than the age 51 on her license, spends a good deal of her time sitting in front of a set of computers, monitors and synthesizers, designing the right sound effects for films.
She hasn’t given up on making her own music but film scoring is her new passion. Morris handed over a promotional brochure for a film called “Doll Boy.” It’s a short film by a filmmaker who goes by the name Bloody Bill Pon.
The photo shows a heavyset man with a baby mask on, sitting crosslegged on the floor, his shirt blood splattered, holding a sledgehammer in his gloved hands. The visual evokes fear and would send chills up the spine of most anyone who saw it because everyone knows what he’s doing with that sledgehammer.
From the studio couch, Morris’ business partner Robert Mitchell chimes in, “It’s not for the faint of heart.”
“I’m going to be scoring the sequel to that,” Morris said. “It’s called ‘Circus of the Dead.’ I’m set to score that in November. And that’s going to be a huge challenge. I’m going to try to make it as big and frightening as I can make it and as much impact as possible.”
When scoring a film, Morris said she has to design all of the sounds, not just music. Thunder, screen doors flapping, footsteps and doorbells are all part of the package.
She first watches the entire film, looking for clues and ideas for the score. Then she sets her sights on designing the sound effects scene-by-scene, adding to and building on what she’s already done.
Occasionally, she and a director have creative differences. She remembered one film where she used thunder for a scene because she felt it enhanced the on-screen action and helped build a little tension.
“He hated it,” Morris said with a laugh.
She went back and redid that scene, but still feels her original approach was better.
Morris walked through some of her technical production work on double computer screens the size of a TV set, pointing as she explained the series of colors and lines and buttons.
“This is called a plug-in, right here,” she said. “This is an instrument plugin. This is a sound design plugin. This is another combination sound design and instrument plugin.”
There were more than two dozen tracks on the screens.
“Basically I have a hammer dulcimer, an orchestral big kettle drum, this is a synth pad right here,” Morris said.
She played a few of them on the computer, at first each as a solo, then slowly one on top of the other in layers. The synthesized music pulsed on screen as it filled the room with sound.
“This is another virtual instrument right here. Strings. Here are the drums,” she said. “Here’s the vocals.”
Her voice rang through the speakers clear and strong from one of the tracks, “The chain that we bring, so deep.”
Morris turned off the sounds.
“These are all my tracks. There are 24 instrument tracks – vocals here, drums, piano and strings here. So each track for the mixing process,” she said, pointing to the squiggly colored lines on screen, “all these little blue guys right here, are effects processors.”
Morris explained how each piece of separately corded track can be combined and blended to create the final song.
“This is part of the mixing, mastering process,” she said. “For instance, these yellow lines right here are called automation and that’s where I bring audio levels up.”
She used terms like convolution reverb, EQ, multi-presser, automation and MIDI notes.
Morris’ grasp of the technology was evident. How did she learn all of it?
She went to school for it, earning a degree in sound design and engineering. Yet it’s her work and experience since then that allow her to maneuver around the keyboard system, expertly mixing tunes and sounds to create a finished piece.
And it’s also her experience and work that opened the doors to the industry – along with meeting some of the right people along the way.
Morris said her connections to people in the “biz” have led to some very interesting projects, in addition to more work.
She hasn’t given up on producing and recording her own music – it’s just been on the back burner while she explores the realm of sound design.
But if you want to catch Morris in action, she’ll be sitting in with Durawa at Strange Brew on Manchaca Road in Austin in June. Sorry, no pigs allowed.
