Sound Design Theory and Practice is a comprehensive and accessible guide to the concepts which underpin the creative decisions that inform the creation of sound design. A fundamental problem facing anyone wishing to practice, study, teach or research about sound is the lack of a theoretical language to describe the way sound is used and a comprehensive and rigorous overarching framework that describes all forms of sound. With the recent growth of interest in sound studies, there is an urgent need to provide scholarly resources that can be used to inform both the practice and analysis of sound. Using a range of examples from classic and contemporary cinema, television and games this book provides a thorough theoretical foundation for the artistic practice of sound design, which is too frequently seen as a ‘technical’ or secondary part of the production process. Engaging with practices in film, television and other digital media, Sound Design Theory and Practice provides a set of tools for systematic analysis of sound for both practitioners and scholars.
An introduction to the concepts and principles of sound design practice, with more than 175 exercises that teach readers to put theory into practice. This book offers an introduction to the principles and concepts of sound design practice, from technical aspects of sound effects to the creative use of sound in storytelling. Most books on sound design focus on sound for the moving image. Studying Sound is unique in its exploration of sound on its own as a medium and rhetorical device. It includes more than 175 exercises that enable readers to put theory into practice as they progress through the chapters. The book begins with an examination of the distinction between hearing and listening (with exercises to train the ears) and then offers an overview of sound as an acoustic phenomenon. It introduces recording sound, covering basic recording accessories as well as theories about recording and perception; explores such spatial effects as reverberation and echo; and surveys other common digital sound effects, including tremolo, vibrato, and distortion. It introduces the theory and practice of mixing; explains surround and spatial sound; and considers sound and meaning, discussing ideas from semiotics and psychology. Finally, drawing on material presented in the preceding chapters, the book explores in detail using sound to support story, with examples from radio plays, audio dramas, and podcasts. Studying Sound is suitable for classroom use or independent study.
Doing Research in Sound Design gathers chapters on the wide range of research methodologies used in sound design. Editor Michael Filimowicz and a diverse group of contributors provide an overview of cross-disciplinary inquiry into sound design that transcends discursive and practical divides. The book covers Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed Methods inquiry. For those new to sound design research, each chapter covers specific research methods that can be utilized directly in order to begin to integrate the methodology into their practice. More experienced researchers will find the scope of topics comprehensive and rich in ideas for new lines of inquiry. Students and teachers in sound design graduate programs, industry-based R&D experts and audio professionals will find the volume to be a useful guide in developing their skills of inquiry into sound design for any particular application area.
Sound Design Theory and Practiceis a comprehensive and accessible guide to the concepts which underpin the creative decisions that inform the creation of sound design. A fundamental problem facing anyone wishing to practice, study, teach or research about sound is the lack of a theoretical language to describe the way sound is used and a comprehensive and rigorous overarching framework that describes all forms of sound. With the recent growth of interest in sound studies, there is an urgent need to provide scholarly resources that can be used to inform both the practice and analysis of sound. Using a range of examples from classic and contemporary cinema, television and games this book provides a thorough theoretical foundation for the artistic practice of sound design, which is too frequently seen as a 'technical' or secondary part of the production process. Engaging with practices in film, television and other digital media, Sound Design Theory and Practiceprovides a set of tools for systematic analysis of sound for both practitioners and scholars. >Sound Design Theory and Practiceprovides a set of tools for systematic analysis of sound for both practitioners and scholars.
Sound design is a ubiquitous subject for electronic musicians working across a staggering array of contemporary musical styles and practices. There is an extensive literature covering the creation of Foley effects, and another body of literature addressing domain-specific applications of sound design technique, e.g., how to make bass sounds for Dubstep or how to produce drum sounds for Trap. There is also a computer music literature that focuses on the mathematics of digital signal processing as it pertains to implementing classic digital synthesis and processing techniques. Automated Sound Design addresses the topic from a different perspective, demonstrating the power of sound design when enhanced by automated structures implemented with computer programming. Through the techniques and projects developed in this book, the reader will learn how to create sound design scenarios that generate classes of sounds with controlled unpredictability and unlimited variety of output. This adventure will reveal new ways to work with additive synthesis, frequency modulation, analysis-transformation synthesis, drum machines, Black MIDI, and spatialization for binaural listening.
The field of Sound Studies has changed and developed dramatically over the last two decades involving a vast and dizzying array of work produced by those working in the arts, social sciences and sciences. The study of sound is inherently interdisciplinary and is undertaken both by those who specialize in sound and by others who wish to include sound as an intrinsic and indispensable element in their research. This is the first resource to provide a wide ranging, cross-cultural and interdisciplinary investigation and analysis of the ways in which researchers use a broad range of methodologies in order to pursue their sonic investigations. It brings together 49 specially commissioned chapters that ask a wide range of questions including; how can sound be used in current academic disciplines? Is sound as a methodological tool indispensable for Sound Studies and what can sound artists contribute to the discourse on methodology in Sound Studies? The editors also present 3 original chapters that work as provocative 'sonic methodological interventions' prefacing the 3 sections of the book.
This volume provides a comprehensive introduction to foundational topics in sound design for interactive media, such as gaming and virtual reality; compositional techniques; new interfaces; sound spatialization; sonic cues and semiotics; performance and installations; music on the web; augmented reality applications; and sound producing software design. The reader will gain a broad understanding of the key concepts and practices that define sound design for its use in computational media and design. The chapters are written by international authors from diverse backgrounds who provide multidisciplinary perspectives on sound in its interactive forms. The volume is designed as a textbook for students and teachers, as a handbook for researchers in sound, design and media, and as a survey of key trends and ideas for practitioners interested in exploring the boundaries of their profession.
The practice of blurring the line between score and sound design has transformed contemporary film soundscape by challenging not only the long-established hierarchical relationships between dialogue, music, and sound effects, but also the modes of perception shaped by classical soundtrack practices. The methods of this new trend rely on the language of contemporary popular and art music, producing soundtracks in which it is difficult to tell the difference between score and ambient sound, where pieces of electroacoustic music are merged with diegetic sound, sound effects are absorbed into the score or treated as music, and diegetic sound is treated as musique concrète. In Sound Design is the New Score, Kulezic-Wilson explores theoretical, aesthetic, and sensuous dimensions of this new trend, providing a multifaceted portrait of a practice which recognizes the interconnectedness of all soundtrack elements and emphasizes their inherent musicality. The aesthetic concerns of this practice are illuminated through the concept of the aesthetics of reticence which rejects classical narrative and scoring conventions and uses integrated soundtrack strategies to create the space for mystery in art and for individuality in the cinematic experience. The book's emphasis on sensuous and musical aspects of this practice, informed by the feminist discourse on the erotics of art, challenges popular notions about sensory cinema, demonstrating that the sensuousness of film form and its soundscapes is more sophisticated than simply being the result of excessive sensory stimulation facilitated by the use of digital technology or the "intensified" aesthetics it inspires. The discussion is supported by a wide range of case studies from American Independent, Asian, Australian, and European cinemas, including films by Shane Carruth, Claire Denis, Hou Hsiao-Hsien, Harmony Korine, David Michôd, Gus Van Sant, and Peter Strickland.
Sound is half the picture, and since the 1960s, film sound not only has rivaled the innovative imagery of contemporary Hollywood cinema, but in some ways has surpassed it in status and privilege because of the emergence of sound design. This in-depth study by William Whittington considers the evolution of sound design not only through cultural and technological developments during the last four decades, but also through the attitudes and expectations of filmgoers. Fans of recent blockbuster films, in particular science fiction films, have come to expect a more advanced and refined degree of film sound use, which has changed the way they experience and understand spectacle and storytelling in contemporary cinema. The book covers recent science fiction cinema in rich and compelling detail, providing a new sounding of familiar films, while offering insights into the constructed nature of cinematic sound design. This is accomplished by examining the formal elements and historical context of sound production in movies to better appreciate how a film sound track is conceived and presented.Whittington focuses on seminal science fiction films that have made specific advances in film sound, including 2001: A Space Odyssey, THX 1138, Star Wars, Alien, Blade Runner (original version and director's cut), Terminator 2: Judgment Day and The Matrix trilogy and games—milestones of the entertainment industry's technological and aesthetic advancements with sound. Setting itself apart from other works, the book illustrates through accessible detail and compelling examples how swiftly such advancements in film sound aesthetics and technology have influenced recent science fiction cinema, and examines how these changes correlate to the history, theory, and practice of contemporary Hollywood filmmaking.
This book bridges the existing gap between film sound and film music studies by bringing together scholars from both disciplines who challenge the constraints of their subject areas by thinking about integrated approaches to the soundtrack. As the boundaries between scoring and sound design in contemporary cinema have become increasingly blurred, both film music and film sound studies have responded by expanding their range of topics and the scope of their analysis beyond those traditionally addressed. The running theme of the book is the disintegration of boundaries, which permeates discussions about industry, labour, technology, aesthetics and audiovisual spectatorship. The collaborative nature of screen media is addressed not only in scholarly chapters but also through interviews with key practitioners that include sound recordists, sound designers, composers, orchestrators and music supervisors who honed their skills on films, TV programmes, video games, commercials and music videos.
As film students and younger fans experience "Big Hollywood Sound" in Imax presentations and digital theaters, many are also discovering action and adventure movies made well before they were born. There is a legacy to be enjoyed in the sound of these films: Blockbuster movies of the ‘80’s, and ‘90’s are notable for the extraordinarily dramatic impact of their sound mixing, and the way in which it could immerse audiences in a surrounding space. During this period, a small group of sound professionals in Hollywood wrote and published a critical journal about the craftsmanship, new technology, and changing aesthetics that excited conversation in their community. Their work has been edited and compiled here for the first time. David Stone is a sound editor, a veteran of roughly 100 Hollywood feature films, such as Gremlins, Top Gun, Die Hard, Speed, and Ocean’s 11. He was a Supervising Sound Editor for projects as varied as Predator, Edward Scissorhands, Beauty and the Beast, Batman Returns, City Slickers 2, and Dolores Claiborne. He has collected Golden Reel awards for Best Sound Editing five times, and won the 1992 Academy Award® for best Sound Effects Editing, for his supervising work on Bram Stoker’s Dracula. In 2015, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the San Luis Obispo Jewish Film Festival in California. Stone is now a Professor and former Chair of Sound Design at Savannah College of Art and Design. Between 1989 and 1994, he was the editor of Moviesound Newsletter, which was published by Vanessa Ament. Dr. Vanessa Theme Ament is the author of The Foley Grail, and a contributor to Sound: Dialogue, Music, and Effects (the Silver Screen Series). She is on the steering committee for Cinesonika, an international film festival and conference. A veteran Foley artist, sound editor, and voice actor from Los Angeles, she also writes and sings jazz, and is a member of the American Federation of Musicians, SAG-AFTRA, Actors Equity, and the Editors Guild. She worked on Die Hard, sex, lies, and videotape, Platoon, Predator, Edward Scissorhands, Beauty and the Beast, Noises Off, and A Goofy Movie, and many other films. Dr. Ament received her Ph.D. in Communication, in the area of Moving Image Studies, from Georgia State University in Atlanta, and is presently the Edmund F. and Virginia B. Ball Endowed Chair Professor of Telecommunications, at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. ?
