Barton Fink Bell Editing and Mixing

The main feature of the bell was to make it seem as though it was ringing for an unnatural amount of time seamlessly. This was already clearly set up in the movie as Buscemi has to stop it ringing when he gets to it.
Following these guidelines the first part was to get a good loop. I didn't use a bell for this but instead a dense metal bracket to get a resonating tone. I edited the recorded clip until I found the desired loop. This gave it a slightly unnatural sound as it was too harsh at the start of the impact. I had to cut the initial hit out and then fade the sound in. I then blended it with the sound of an actual desk bell being pressed to give it a more natural attack. This worked really well and creates a real sound for the audience just like what Barton seems to experience and then as the sound rings on they get to feel the same confusion as the sound still continues, putting them a little closer to the characters position.

Through reverb and a little echo it sounds like the bell is darting around the hotel. I have reinforced this with a reverb that has a high feedback and makes the bell sound like it has no sign of ever dying away. This gives the hotel that weird and almost unfathomable size and uncertainty I was looking for.

The reverb and volume level of the bell are increased again when Buscemi looks at it for the first time coming out of the floor hatch. His gaze allows Barton and the perspective the viewer gets from the the mix to be focused back onto the bell and this unnaturally long time that it has been going on for. Especially since they followed it around the hotel foyer with Barton prior to the arrival of Buscemi.

Also reference to it down the hallway as the elevator ding. Blended the sound of a real elevator bell with the ring but with the reverb it rings out through the hallway longer than the real one giving that perspective of the bell still resonating through the corridors of the hotel. Again this adds to the mystery of the building.