How Producer Kool Kojak Used Iris 2 on Spider-Man: Enter the Spider-Verse
Learn how producer Kool Kojak created the sounds of 'Spider-Man: Enter the Spider-Verse' with Iris 2 and Ozone 8.
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Read how producer Kool Kojak used iZotope tools Iris 2 and Ozone 8 to help create the sound for the Oscar-nominated animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
"YoOoOoo it’s KoOoLkOjAk live from the Spidey Verse. Listen up—I’m going to tell you how I used iZotope plug-ins on several musical pieces I produced for the Oscar-nominated, Golden Globe winning Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
"One scene which was super dope for me to get the chance to work on was (spoiler alert) the graffiti bombing scene, where Miles and his uncle, Aaron, bust into an abandoned subway station to bomb graffiti. As a former NYC subway station graffiti bomber myself, this serendipitous opportunity was mad inspiring."
Reimagine the boombox with Iris 2
"After Kier Lehmen, our music supervisor, got me the footage, we started postulating what type of music Uncle Aaron would be blasting out his boom box. The concept was a megamix cassette—word up, my Spidey DNA was tingling. I fired up some pieces of classic hip-hop music I thought would work, and dumped them into my iZotope Iris 2.
"The simplicity and functionality of Iris let me play the samples over various moments of the scene, to see how the music would work against the action and blend together. Also, Iris is so quick to use—it’s the only drag and drop sampler I use in Pro Tools—which I use when we are working with picture.
"I also used Iris on the spidey holiday songs, like “Spidey Bells,” which features twice in the film. Once I got into Iris as a tool, it became a go-to in my arsenal. It's like having a secret web-slinger weapon up your sleeve. Wham!
"We made mad decisions on the fly with Iris. Flyris."
Important notice: Iris 2 is no longer available for purchase from iZotope. We are continually developing new products, services, and solutions to enable and innovate on journeys in audio production. We occasionally need to retire older products in order to focus our resources and development efforts on building new, innovative products and features. Support for this product will remain in effect for 12 months from your date of purchase up through October 27, 2023.
Using Ozone 8 to modernize classic hip-hop bass
"Once we had the layout of the megamix, I put it together like buttcheeks and got a rough cut happening for the boiz to jam with. Uncle Aaron, like me, hails from the golden age of rap music, so the megamix was 1980s and early 1990s hip hop (Run DMC, Black Sheep, Jungle Brothers, Incredible Bongo Band) was dooope but sounding kinda thin in comparison to today’s bass-heavy texture. Since we were mixing the movie in Dolby Atmos—we had to bring tha boomin boom bap.
"So I threw Ozone 8 on the master bus, and dialed in some low-end touch—around 80 dB boost, and some mid-low boost, too. And of course, loaded up the Ozone with all the vintage processors, especially Vintage Tape because THIS IS UNCLE AARON’s MIX TAPE! OFF CASSETTE! He has been rockin to this cassette for decades, getting gassed up to go bomb graffiti, fresh to def.
"By the way, you gotta see the movie to see what else Uncle Aaron has been up to. Wild Style to say the least."
