Daniel Pemberton previously told Rolling Stone that the world of Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) in “Across the Spider-Verse” was “very influenced by hip-hop culture” and had a “record scratching” element. But you might have missed how integral those recording scratches were to Miles’ sound design.
Fortunately, Pemberton has everything planned for us. In an interview with the Motion Picture Association, he talked about how far he went with scratching this time around, building on the approach he took for “Into the Spider-Verse.” On the 2018 film, he used a technique where he would “record stuff, kind of put it on vinyl, so to speak, and then we scratch it to make it less conventional and more integrated into Miles’ world.” For the sequel, Pemberton repeated this technique but took it to another “incredibly time-consuming and exhausting” level, using the scratching talents of DJ Blakey. This involved scraping every possible sound effect during Miles’ reintroduction sequence from the film, including “car crash sounds, punches, pens, spray cans, and orchestral claps”.
When Miles first encounters The Spot (Jason Schwartzman) in “Across the Spider-Verse,” they make their way through Brooklyn, ending up in a car wash alongside a goose that unwittingly flies through the street. one of The Spot’s portals. Of course, Pemberton didn’t miss the opportunity for a few claws:
“Remember a goose in the car wash? We heard the sound of a goose, then we scraped the sound of a goose, and the sound is really awesome. You can hear it in the movie , but not as clearly as I’d like because there’s a million other things going on. On the track “My Name is Miles Morales” the last third is pretty much beats and solos to scratch.”