Today we’d like to introduce you to Bo Li.
Bo, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I am a Los Angeles-based International sound designer, musician, and educator. My passion for sound and music dated back to my childhood and evolved through 12 years of studying the Chinese violin Erhu to my past and present study and employment composing music and sound design for a variety of mediums.
From animation to live-action films to theater sound design, games, and AR/VR experiences, I have used all of the tools available to me in collaborating with and working for a variety of artists, bringing a distinctive sonic dimension to their work.
For over a decade, I have developed fluency on several platforms, including Logic, Pro Tools, FMOD, Qlab, and Unity, this emerging as part of my ongoing work with bolisound. At bolisound, my focus has been an approach to sound design and composition for film and video that showcases my rigorous but well-rounded study of music theory, ear training, and acoustics, along with music arrangement, form, and harmony. My work caught the interest of the world-renowned California Institute of the Arts, and I enrolled at CalArts with a three-year full scholarship.
My passion for sound and music and perfectionism as an artist has garnered global attention. Most recently, I won one silver and two bronze from the Sound Academy Awards in China. Also, I got the Third Price of Berlin International Sound Design Competition and Second Price for 21th Beijing International Electronic Music Festival (musicacoustica), Nomination for best sound editing and mixing from the International Sound & Film Music Festival (ISFMF), along with the best sound design award from Los Angeles Film Award (LAFA) and independent Shorts Award, among others. My music and sound design is a fundamental ingredient of films that have been selected by the Festival International du Film d’Animation d’Annecy, the Berlin International Short Film Festival, and the Denver Film Festival.
I am enthusiastic about constantly expanding my knowledge as an artist, moreover, continuing to learn from and grow with the artists I have had the good fortune of collaborating with.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Nothing in my life comes easy.
Originally, I was a musical performer. I still remember that I had to practice the musical instrument – erhu for 10 hours every day to be a professional performer when I was a kid. My ultimate goal at that time was to have muscle memory by practicing day and night. I always woke up at 7 AM and played the musical instrument for the whole day.
If someone asks if it was a painful experience for me, I will say yes. Meanwhile, I will say no. That period brought me regular muscle pain and taught me how to be patient. However, I got skills and knowledge that have been a great artistic basement for my creation so far. Going through the painful training path, I obtained the ability to understand and communicate with the music when I was playing it as a performer.
My musical inspiration reached to the climax when I was playing on stage. When strong applause filled the space, I deeply felt that the painful times that I got through for training were worthy. This experience has been one of the most powerful motivations for me to push my boundaries and limits in my music and sound design career.
Now, my main task is to make the possible contribution to the world and art by using my musical and sound talents. I have volunteered on several projects which were devoted to the cultural heritage restoration established by the Central Academy of Fine Arts in China. I also worked as a tutor for the sound class in New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc. I shared my experience and skills with children who were interested in sound and music. This teaching experience is very meaningful in my life. My students were very energetic and creative. They inspired me all the time.
Can you give our readers some background on your music?
Originally, I was a musical instrument performer and composer. Mostly I do sound design and music for film, theater, and games.
Additionally, I have some experience with international marketing.
I love to work with sound people. I always can feel their sincere passion and energy towards their works.
I’m glad that my sound and music works are earning recognition in many film festivals around the world.
Silver Award – Sound Academy Award – Music – 2019 – China Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, China
Bronze Award – Sound Academy Award – Music – 2019 – China Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, China
Bronze Award – Sound Academy Award – Sound – 2019 – China Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, China
Third Prize – Berlin International Sound Design Competition – 2019 – BIFSC, Berlin, German
Second Prize – Beijing International Electronic Music Festival (Musicacoustica) – Nov/2019 – Central Conservatory of Music, China
Nomination – Best Sound Editing/ Mixing – International Sound & Film Music Festival (ISFMF) -Sep/2019 – International Sound & Film Music Festival
More info: https://www.bolisound.com/bolisound/awards
I believe everyone has their own path. For me, I never stop exploring the possibility of sound and music. Currently, I am making my very first VR audio visualizer – audior, it is an application based on VR, in this application you can use your voice to create objects or change lights.
Video link: https://vimeo.com/365693170
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
For now, I did not have a “big plan” for the next stop. But I do have a clear direction to run.
For the film sound design and music, I hope my work could get more recognization from all around the world and different organizations. I hope to work with more talented people in this industry and learn from them.
For my own interest, I will try to complete the VR audio visualizer – Audior and public it as an official soundware. I also applied for many meaningful programs to use my skills to make a contribution to our world, help as many people as I can.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.bolisound.com
- Email: [email protected]
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