Fresh off the amplified chaos of Spinal Tap 2, the sound team behind
Sinners entered an entirely new sonic landscape. Set in the Jim Crow–era Mississippi Delta, the 1930s blues drama demanded pure acoustic authenticity — no amplifiers, no modern tricks, just the raw resonance of real instruments and real spaces. Recording under the weight of noisy IMAX cameras, blistering Southern heat and technically ambitious twin-character scenes, the team collaborated closely with director Ryan Coogler, cinematographer Autumn Arkapaw and composer Ludwig Göransson to build a soundscape rooted in truth. Every detail — from hidden microphones sewn into sleeves to ambisonic recordings of cicadas, church choirs and juke joint revelry — was meticulously captured to transport audiences into the texture and rhythm of the Delta. The result is a film where sound doesn’t just accompany the story — it tells it.
Here, production sound mixer Chris Welcker shares details on the film’s soundtrack.
How early in the production did you begin planning your approach for the sound recording, particularly given the musical/live performance elements in the film?
“We had two weeks of prep before we began shooting on Sinners. Coming right off of Spinal Tap 2, which was a massive music-based project, really helped to prime us for what would be expected of us on Sinners. We were very warmed up for music recording in studio settings and concert venues with on-camera microphones, amplifiers and stage monitors. But, this new project, Sinners, had a completely new set of challenges. We now had to shift gears to recording musical performances that were 100 percent acoustic. There was no amplification, as this was a 1930s period piece about blues music set to the backdrop of the Jim Crow-era South in the Mississippi Delta region. The locations were very raw and would each present their own challenges to the recording of the sound for this film. Additionally, we had the challenges of recording many scenes with the noisy IMAX film cameras, as well as the technical challenges of the complex and groundbreaking twin work that we were planning throughout this shoot. There were extensive meetings where we went over all of the musical scenes and the twin work to strategize. We did dry run rehearsals of car driving scenes and problem solved the technical challenges of creating the illusion that Michael B. Jordan was in fact the Smoke Stack Twins.”
The film was shot partly in large‑format‑film 70mm/IMAX and features immersive mixes (e.g., Dolby Atmos). How did your on‑set sound capture strategy differ compared to a more standard production?
“Initially, Ryan and our cinematographer Autumn Arkapaw and I discussed the use of this camera and came up with a game plan that was borrowed from Christopher Nolan. Ryan had discussed this camera and its effect on sound capture with Nolan, and they talked about an approach where you use the noisy camera for wide shots. Then, when you are happy with the performances, you record a ‘sound-only pass’ where you get the actors to perform the scene one more time with the exact same emotional performance and all of the actions. But, this time you would not turn the camera on. This would give the post team a pristine recording that could be manipulated. And, using scalpel-like precision, they could slice and shift each syllable to align with the performance from the noisy camera take. Then, when you would move into close-up shots, you would shoot these with the Panavision System 65 camera body which, although still a noisy film camera, it was much quieter.
“We had the benefit of using the same post team from some of Nolan’s recent projects, so they were very familiar with this approach and fully supported it. But, as you may imagine, the allure of this larger format image was too great. Ryan and Autumn began coming up with ideas for how to use this shifting aspect ratio in creative ways that presented us with the challenge of now recording several dialogue-heavy scenes while contending with the sound of this camera. We still followed the Nolan approach. And, in fact, we actually began doing sound-only passes for just about every camera angle, regardless of the camera body. This would only increase the likelihood that the post team had additional line reads that could be used that were recorded in these real spaces with the actual acoustics and all of these environmental factors might help the actor’s performances feel more authentic in a way that ADR done months later in a vocal booth could never provide.
“Additionally, I began using some of the tools on-set that our post team, like our dialogue editor David Butler, would use. Tools like Izotope RX and Hush Pro allowed me to just hear what was possible under these extreme sound conditions. This would help to inform me as to what type of microphone adjustments to fight for on-set that could provide post with the raw, unaffected dialogue tracks that could best survive the post processing and hopefully make their way into the soundtrack. After talking with David Butler about how successful he was with his part of the process, he told me that about 95 percent of the dialogue recordings in the film were from production sound!”
With so many live musical performances, what were the biggest technical or logistical challenges you faced in capturing usable production sound for those pieces?
“The biggest challenges with regard to recording the musical performances on this film were due to the fact that we weren’t able to use period-appropriate mics amps or props that the actors/musicians could sing or perform into. These were acoustic performances. On top of this, most of the instruments featured throughout the film were relics and personal instruments of the musicians and cast. So, modifying the instruments was not a viable option. When shooting a wide shot of a performance and then going into close-ups, we wanted to make sure that the sound performance stayed consistent. There were times where Sammy, who was played by musician/actor Miles Caton, would grab his guitar and go right into a performance. Because we would see all sides of the guitar, we would have to come up with creative microphone placements to capture close-up guitar tracks, even on wide shots.
“We worked with our costume department to sew a mic into Sammy’s shirt sleeve and place it near his wrist at the cuff. This worked out extremely well during the intro to the scene known as the ‘Surreal Montage’ and the performance at the train station with Delta Slim because of his finger-style playing and minimal movement of his right hand near the tone hole of his guitar.
“The extreme temperatures of the summer heat was also a huge challenge. We had Noah Gorelick on-set with us any time there were stringed instruments being recorded to assure they were always in tune. Even when playing guitar in the extreme summer heat of the south in an open-top car, Noah would always hop out of the follow van and make any necessary tuning adjustments. This was imperative to making these instrumental performances work for the film.
“There was also the incredibly daunting challenge of the Model-T that was riding on a gravel road with the top down while Sammy shows off his skills as a budding blues musician to his uncle Stack, who is driving. This took an entire day of test driving this car rig and testing various approaches until we felt confident that we could overcome all of the challenges. We placed mics in various positions both above and below the frame line, as well as hiding mics on the actors to capture that performance. I know that the challenge of the engine noise driving at inconsistent RPMs presented our music editor Felipe Pacheco with the solution of incorporating the engine noise into the soundtrack rather than fully removing it from the mix and going with something more sterile.”
What role did you play in capturing crowd and location ambiences - especially in the juke‑joint or outdoor scenes - and how did you work with the post‑sound team to ensure those tracks integrated effectively?
“I incorporated an ambisonics mic for the purposes of capturing more immersive environmental recordings at all of our various locations. There were several different changes in the sonic ambience as day would become night and night would become day. In the early morning, you would hear several hours of birds followed by flys and various insects. By the late afternoon, the cacophony of cicadas would begin until the crickets and frogs took their night shift. I wanted to provide our SFX editor, Benny Burtt Jr., with as many of these elements to embellish upon. And to tell the story of these locations.
“We also had many period vehicles including the two that Smoke and Stack drive. My team helped me capture these engine sounds at differing speeds, car door sounds, car drive-bys, etc. The train station and the town were unique instances where we captured our background actors speaking in authentic period fashion. Our dialect coach Beth McGuire would step in to help guide them to speak with an authentic Mississippi accent based on their character’s race and socioeconomic appearance. This allowed us to capture immersive elements of walla that could provide a bed that is rooted in the authenticity of the environment that is seen on camera.
“We similarly used these immersive sound formats to capture crowds in Club Juke. We did a great deal to minimize the sounds of the background actors’ shoes on the loose floor boards while they walked and danced throughout these scenes. We would have them take off their shoes when not seen by the camera, as well as utilized carpets and foot foam. But, then we spent a good deal of time recording the sounds of the patrons with shoes on as they danced, stomped and partied so that these elements could be laid back in by our post team.
“Near the end of the film, there is a prayer and song that were both performed by the actors that we captured with our ambisonics and spot mics to provide more immersive elements that could be incorporated into the Dolby Atmos mix for this film.”
Were there any other locations that presented particularly difficult sound conditions?
“The church location where Sammy’s father is the preacher was one of the most challenging sound locations due to the cicadas. There is an ebb and flow to the collective sound that they make. And, then there are crickets that take the next shift as evening goes to night. We would record these changing ambiences as elements to hand to post and then try to combat these effects by leaning into closer mics on the talent. There was one location where there was a chain gang doing a field chant while digging a ditch. On this particular day, we were able to capture a few performances of the men working their field tools in time to their chant before a massive storm came almost out of nowhere and shut production down. We quickly grabbed all of the equipment that was out and took refuge in a shuttle van while the storm blew past us. It was extremely intense for the good part of a day! This is a great example of how committing to tell stories that are rooted in truth and filmed on location takes real blood, sweat and tears. There is something that is tangible about this, especially when watching this film that was captured by large format IMAX cameras and projected in the 70mm film format with an enveloping Dolby Atmos mix. It really transports the audience in time and space.”
Was the music department present on-set during recording of musical scenes? How did that collaboration influence your workflow?
“Having the music team on-set was a unique experience for me. It is unprecedented to have a composer, such as Ludwig Goransson, on-set, actively working with us to create the soundtrack for a film. He and his partner Serena Goransson, who served as executive music producer, strategized and worked with us from the beginning of prep throughout the entirety of production to make sure that the music in this film was exactly to Ryan’s vision.
“Ryan wanted to have Delta Blues music featured in a way that would utilize modern recording and mixing techniques to create a spectacular theatrical experience for his audience. I was in discussions with Ludwig and his team before they began to record and compose the music for this film. The goal was always to record and use the on-set performances for the film. But, Ludwig was going to also be recording studio versions of these songs. So, in an attempt to make these recordings also potentially useful in the event that it became necessary, I suggested that they additionally track all vocal and instrument performances in the studio with the same DPA lavalier and shotgun mics that I would be using on set.
“We talked about mic techniques that I would likely be using so that they could closely match the sonic character of my on-set recordings, should they ever need to utilize them. When strategizing with music editor Felipe Pachecco, we thought it would be a good idea to capture impulse responses of Club Juke’s interior from various places throughout the venue. Felipe went one step further and set up his computer one night in the Juke with an eight-hour playlist of each of the studio recorded stem tracks lined up one after another and worldized them all in the actual location using our microphones. This gave them the ability to use any pre-recorded material or even any post-recorded tracks and have them all sound sonically true to the same location.”
Looking back on the production, is there a scene or moment that you see as a highlight from a sound perspective?
“There are two things that stand out as really proud moments for me. The first was when I saw the ‘Surreal Montage’ sequence in the theater for the first time. The mix of live recording and playback, the coordination between every department - including our actors, music team, choreographer, dancers, camera department, props costumes, VFX and AD team - all came together in such a magnificent way that continues to give me chills when I see it. I love the use of spatial sound elements and sound effects combined with the Dolby Atmos panning that happens in that moment. It is my favorite moment in Sinners.
“The other moment that I am very proud of is the second post-credit scene. In this scene, we see Sammy for one last time before the end of the film where he sings and plays a blues version of ‘This Little Light of Mine’ on his guitar in front of his father. Serena Goransson told me to pay special attention to this one in the theater because it received no real post treatment. It was literally a mix of the raw recordings my team did on-set. I especially love getting to see this in a theater because it showcases the talent that is Miles Caton. He actually played and sang these songs in the film, and this lifts the veil to show what we were able to do on-set.”