In 2019, Syn was approached by Disney’s Imagineering team for a poignant project at Melbourne’s Monash Children’s Hospital. The project involved creating an immersive soundscape inspired by the sounds of the Savannah for an ‘Imagination Tree’, a permanent installation in the hospital’s lobby where children could engage with sound and light as they say farewell to their parents and carers at the end of the day. Syn quickly discovered that the sounds of wild animals roaming the Savannah are impressive, but frightening for the young audience, and this is where the talents of Rudi Rok come in. Syn’s CEO & Creative Director, Nick Wood, eagerly browsed online, looking for a voice artist who could replicate these sounds using the human voice, and reached out to Rudi Rok, whose expertise in this space made him the perfect collaborator. Complimented by original music composed by Nick Wood & Yuki Hagiwara, Rudi Rok’s animal sounds brought Disney’s ‘Imagination Tree’ to life through a captivating, charming and fun immersive experience.

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Invigorated by this initial collaboration, Syn had the opportunity in 2020 to continue this creative partnership with the sound of the Fiat 500E, Fiat’s first adaptation of the iconic cinquecento as a fully electric vehicle. Having participated in a pitch for this project, Syn was chosen alongside Milan-based music agency Red Rose Productions to create the AVAS sound of the Fiat 500E. This sound is a mandatory engine-like sound alerting pedestrians of a moving vehicle below 20kph, with a clear brief from Fiat to create something truly unique, quintessentially Italian and characterful. Once again, the imagination of Nick Wood thought of the human voice, inspired by the ‘vroom’ sounds of children pushing toy cars along the carpet. The challenge for Rudi Rok was to create something unique, organic, whilst also meeting the rigorous testing requirements of this technical safety sound. Collaborating closely with the Syn team in Tokyo, Rudi Rok explored many sounds, researching expressions of Italian culture and heritage. The final sound was a huge success, being accompanied by a classic melody from Nino Rota’s ‘Amarcord’ to complete the sound as it decays. From Savannah-like sounds to a functioning electric vehicle sound, the creative ingenuity and vocal flexibility of this partnership pushed the boundaries of brand expression through sound.

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The human voice carries enormous potential to be an evocative tool in sound; feeling personable, familiar and unique. For decades, this has perhaps been most felt through animation and cartoons, with character voices creating some of the world’s most loved characters from The Simpsons to Looney Tunes. Inspired by the cartoon soundtracks of the 20th century, Rudi Rok collaborated with Syn for Amazon Japan’s Holiday Campaign in 2022. This animated campaign featured cute, human-like characters in the shape of Amazon boxes. Produced by Syn Tokyo’s Kaz Haga, and featuring original music from Syn, Rudi Rok contributed cute, playful and quirky sounds to help humanise the characters and given them their own identities. These non-verbal sounds created a hugely successful campaign, bringing empathy to the characters and feeling approachable and fun.

Most recently, Syn and Rudi Rok have collaborated on a project in The Philippines for Mountain Dew. The drink has a successful audience among gamers, and the brand was looking to create game-related content to involve players. Collaborating with Manila Agency, BBDOGuerrero, Syn developed a concept of creating a video game soundscape using the human voice, based around the word ‘Dew’. Immediately, the voice talents of Rudi Rok came to mind. From racing car sounds to first person shooter games, with the occasional zombie character for good measure, Rudi Rok’s stunning performance re-created well-known soundscapes which sound resonate with gamers using only the word ‘Dew’. Rudi Rok collaborated with fellow voice artists, Tuukka Haapaniemi and Alina Tomnikov, to make these radio spots a great success for everyone involved. The work itself is always the reward, but in this case, recognition went further in the form of a Cannes Lions Bronze Award, an LIA Gold Award and AdFest Bronze Lotus, further celebrating this fun-filled collaboration.

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