Forget guitars and drum kits, this week, the spotlight was on celery, cabbages, and a whole lot of creative noise.

Audio Engineering students at all three JMC Academy campuses were treated to a front-row seat (from thousands of kilometres away) to a live foley masterclass with Rick Allen, an award-winning sound designer whose work has featured in productions for the likes of Disney, HBO, Nike, Sony Pictures, Grand Theft Auto 5 and more.

Broadcasting directly from the Conservatory of Recording Arts & Sciences in Arizona, Rick demonstrated how sound effects for horror films are crafted from the ground up, crunch by crunch, squish by squish. Students tuned in through Audiomovers’ Listento software, which allowed them to hear every detail of the live session with studio-grade clarity, in real time. No lag, no compression tricks just raw, unfiltered sound design unfolding as if he were in the room.

This event was part of an international collaboration organised through the Audio Educators Advisory Group, and marked a technical milestone for JMC: the first time all campuses joined a real-time international audio session, using the same tools and workflows used by top-tier studios around the world.

The masterclass focused on how foley sound design, particularly for horror is about layering and manipulating organic recordings to create something new and visceral. Students heard about ricks process to shape sounds including pitch shifts, time-stretching, EQ, distortion, and careful spatial panning. He also highlighted the importance of cataloguing sounds as you go, taking notes on recordings and their potential uses, something students noted as a key professional takeaway.

JMC students got to experience the full behind-the-scenes process of a professional at work, gaining rare insights into how seemingly everyday objects can be transformed into the auditory language of suspense and fear.

For many, the session revealed just how transferable their music audio skills are to screen sound and post-production. Techniques like signal flow, mic awareness, critical listening, and mixing strategy were all in play—just in a totally different (and much messier) context.

A huge thanks to Rick Allen for generously sharing his process, and to Audiomovers for powering this immersive, real-time connection across borders. This session wouldn’t have been possible without John Krivit, the Audio Educators Advisory Group, and our very own Brisbane Head of Audio Engineering, Daniel Spirovski, for coordinating the opportunity for JMC Audio students nationally and Richie Poate and Glenn Ferguson for bringing this session to life in Sydney and Melbourne. 

Fun fact: Rick and Daniel recently connected in person at the Pan American Audio Educators Conference in Mexico, also led by John Krivit—making this masterclass a continuation of an exciting international exchange of ideas and industry expertise!