Automobili Lamborghini’s new podcast pumps up the volume for episode three

Beyond: A #Lamborghini Podcast heads into the world of sound design with Lamborghini’s Chief Technical Officer #rouvenmohr and sound designer #charlesdeenen.

Having successfully established itself across two previous episodes, Beyond: A #Lamborghini Podcast is exploring a different kind of feedback for its next instalment. Hosted by #Lamborghini Director of Communications Tim Bravo and lifestyle and music broadcaster Giulia Salvi, the focus is on the way sound shapes our relationship with cars.

For this episode, #rouvenmohr, Chief Technical Officer at Automobili #Lamborghini, is joined by Charles Deneen, a composer, sound designer and audio director who has a worldwide reputation thanks to his work in video game design and for numerous Hollywood blockbusters. Amongst others, Deneen helped shape the #automotive soundtrack for The Fast and the Furious series, the seventh highest-grossing franchise in movie history.

Once again, Beyond: A #Lamborghini Podcast has united two individuals whose childhood passions have helped them forge highly successful careers. Mohr is presiding over Lamborghini’s technical destiny at a pivotal time both for the company and for the #automotive industry as a whole. Lamborghini’s new hybrid super sports car, the Revuelto[1], takes the Italian #automotive legend into new territory, not least in terms of the noise it generates as the iconic V12 engine revs to its thrilling 9,500rpm redline – but just as significantly when it’s in ‘silent’ electric mode. Rarely has the sound of a new #Lamborghini – or the absence of it – demanded so much attention, as Mohr explains.

“Sound design is a really specific discipline within the engineering job. Sometimes the intention is to make it perfect, but we don’t want to eliminate all the ‘side effects’. It has to be authentic [which means] it can have imperfections. The biggest thing is when you have a technology transformation, for instance going from a naturally aspirated to a turbocharged engine or now to the hybrid version – or in the future a fully electric car. Doing this technology jump without losing the #Lamborghini sound DNA is a big challenge. But if you try to do something artificial, the sound impression is decoupled from the real physical reaction of the car – the reactiveness of the car is not fitting to what your ears are ‘telling’ you.”

As ever at #Lamborghini, authenticity is key. For Deneen, the guiding principles are similar, as he seeks to ‘replicate’ the sonic signature of some of the world’s most resonant engines – whether for a film or in a video game. But he faces his own distinct challenges, as he explains.

“I have to figure out what’s in Rouven’s head! The [engine’s] reverberations, the distinct sound when it starts or shuts down… All of those things have to get captured, recreated and then made in a way that will never become too overwhelming in a game because a player has to play for 20 hours, right? So it’s really important to find that balance of getting all of these great parts together and yet not throwing it into someone’s face.”

Further information in the press release to download