More Than a Soundscape: How ‘Families Like Ours’ Is Scored with the Human Voice

How do you score a world on the brink of collapse? For sound designer Peter Storm Wich, the answer wasn't found in traditional instruments, but in the unsettling symphony of the human voice.

He worked with acclaimed director Thomas Vinterberg to create the sonic world for the Netflix miniseries Families Like Ours.

Wich single-handedly crafted every auditory element—from foley and sound effects to atmospheres and source music.

We spoke with Wich about his radical approach, his collaboration with Vinterberg, and how he used sound to personify a nation's impending doom.

Let's dive in.

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NFS: Families Like Ours uses sound in place of a traditional score. How did that shape your overall approach to sound design?

Peter Storm Wich: Originally, Thomas wanted no score at all, only diegetic sounds from either radios or live music performed within the scene, much like his latest film “Another Round”. Later, it became clear that this project needed some kind of score to add another dimension of feelings to some scenes. The good thing about the ‘no-score’ idea was that the editorial department spent many months editing everything without it, so it was very clear what scenes really needed music in order to push the feelings of the story.

This gives me, as a sound designer, a lot of creative space.

I really wanted the sounds to have some of the same characteristics and values that a score can provide. A good example of this is one of the opening scenes, where the character Nikolaj (played by Esben Smed) gets the news about the country shutting down. He rushes into a toilet and starts texting a loved one about the situation. This is one of the places you would put music to emphasize the drama. What I did was I treated the sonic space around him as my instruments, the people walking past the toilet on the other side of the wall would be like percussion, appearing and disappearing, the vents in the toilet would be the strings or choir, playing a low, drone-like sound, making the scene eerie. If you listen very carefully, you can even hear an eerie voice coming from the HVAC in the toilet. This is actually a recording of my mother and her friend, where I had them make long, hoarse tones. I actually used these textures a lot to give atmospheres and effects another dimension of creepiness.

NFS: What were the first creative conversations like between you, Hans Møller, and director Thomas Vinterberg about the sonic tone of the series?

PSW: My partner in sound and co-sound designer, Hans Møller, has worked with Thomas Vinterberg for many years and was the one who introduced me. So when I got on board the show, the show had already been written and filmed. But even before the shooting draft was done and the filming started, all the departments got together with the network TV2 and did a presentation on how each department was going to approach the show. This meant that every creative department would know what creative tools each would use, the common denominator, of course, being Thomas' vision for the story.

After I boarded the project, the very first thing we did was to have a spotting session with Thomas, Anne Østerud (editor and right-hand of Thomas), Hans Møller, and myself.

We did not get far into the first episode, maybe like 20 seconds, then Thomas was already excitedly talking over the scene playing, saying things like “this needs to be an orchestra made from the sounds of the environment”. It was awesome to work with a director who is so enthusiastic about the soundscape.

'Families Like Ours'Credit: Zentropa Episode ApS

NFS: You were responsible for all atmospheres, foley, and source music. How do you balance realism with stylization in such a naturalistic setting?

PSW: It was very important to keep the series as naturalistic-sounding as possible. The events transpiring should not feel like sci-fi. These are real problems the Danish people will face and are facing as the sea levels rise.

Naturalistic sound is, of course, not always the real sound of an object or the geographically correct recordings. These things help to start with, but I often feel that adding more stylistic sounds and blending them together can work really well. In this case, as mentioned in the first question, I blended voices, making weird noises into the sound of, let’s say, a car or vent in a room, and so on. I always start with the naturalistic sounds and work my way into more subjective or stylized sound design.
How far you take it is a matter of taste, but I try to let the story and the film tell me how far I can push the sound.

NFS: Did the lack of a traditional score create more creative freedom or more pressure?

PSW: The lack of a traditional score definitely gives me, as a sound designer, a huge opportunity. Obviously, you can’t hide behind the music, but then you have more dynamic range and can fill out the frequency spectrum more because the music isn’t taking up that space. It also allows us as an audience to just be in the scenes with our characters without being told what to feel.

One thing music can do very well is to give a scene tempo and drive. This is something we knew would have to be addressed already in the creative meeting, way before shooting the series. In the picture department, it was all about when to go from dolly or more stationary shots to handheld and a more moving camera.

What we did in sound was to always use the cuts, making very hard sound edits in atmospheres or sound effects. A lot of times, it’s not completely rational as to what to suddenly cut off. It should just give the scene drive and keep you on the edge of your seat.

NFS: What’s your philosophy when it comes to sound as an emotional or psychological force in storytelling?

PSW: Sound has an amazing ability, if done right, to affect you as a viewer on a subconscious level. It’s a direct passageway to your emotions. I try not to have to sound stick out, and that is, of course, a taste thing or something you can test when screening. This does not mean that you can’t have a lot of sound or that the soundscape isn't allowed to be loud or whatever. But it needs to melt into the scene and feel like it couldn't be any other way. You will be surprised how much you can do without the average viewer noticing.

Peter Storm WichCredit: Peter Seeba

NFS: How do you know when a sound mix is “done,” especially when you're working with such subtle textures?

PSW: When the producer comes over and tells me to hand it over, haha! The mix was actually a very long and ongoing process, as we basically mixed all the time.

Hans and I split the sound up into the following parts. Hans would have dialogue and score, and I would do atmospheres, sound effects, and source music. So let's say I worked on episode 1 while Hans was working on episode 2. While we went through each pass, we would have a pre-dub of each other's groups, so when I heard something like an unintelligible line or had an idea as to how to mix the dialogue, I would make a note in a track. Hans would do the same if he had mix notes to my tracks. Whenever we would be done with a pass on an episode, we would export new predubs and export the notes track. Then I would go to episode 2, and Hans would go to episode 1. We would then have updated stems to keep mixing to, and have notes and ideas in the note tracks.

It gave us more time to keep working in our own sessions instead of importing everything into a large mix session.

This also meant that later in the process, when we had screenings for Thomas and the producers, and there would be a dialogue note, Hans would take care of it, and if there was an atmosphere note or a new sound design idea, I would do it.

NFS: Do you have a moment in the series you're especially proud of from a sound design perspective?

PSW: It’s hard to choose a single moment, but I think the opening scene is pretty cool.
Also, in episode 5, there’s a very subjective moment with our lead character, Laura. I like that because it is so silent and has very few elements, which I think just makes it even stronger.

NFS: Has working on this project changed the way you think about sound’s role in visual storytelling?

PSW: I have gained more tools in my arsenal of creative tools by working on this project, but I have always believed that sound has a primary function in film. Sound has the ability to get under your skin and affect you on a subconscious level. It can create worlds that you did not have the opportunity to film. Sound is truly, in my opinion, magic.

NFS: What kinds of stories or genres do you find most inspiring to design sound for?

PSW: I love all genres, but I’ve mostly done drama projects. I love it when the environment in a film or series plays a key part in the story and is not just a hum in the background. A big dream of mine is to do a sci-fi film, where you really have to invent the soundscapes of the story.

NFS: Are there any upcoming projects you're excited about, or sonic ideas you’re eager to explore next?

PSW: One upcoming project I finished this year (also with Hans Møller) is the film Eagles of the Republic, which just got selected as Sweden's Oscar entry this year. The film had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, where it was in the main competition. The film takes place in Cairo, but was not shot in Cairo because of political reasons. This meant that we had to go undercover to Cairo and record sounds for the film, because normally, you have to have permission from the state of Egypt to record, and we would not get that permission.