As the year continues, many of these posts will be philosophical in nature. Some will be in contradiction to previous postings. These are not intended as truths or assertions, they’re merely thoughts…ideas. Think of this as stream of consciousness over a wide span… Besides the obvious answer of, "DON'T!" This week's post was inspired by the use of the Wilhelm Scream in … [Read more...]
Sunday Sound Though 23 – Training the Audience?
As the year continues, many of these posts will be philosophical in nature. Some will be in contradiction to previous postings. These are not intended as truths or assertions, they’re merely thoughts…ideas. Think of this as stream of consciousness over a wide span… I was watching Indie Game: The Movie on Thursday for the first time (yeah, I'm a little late on seeing it), and … [Read more...]
The Details That Matter
Guest Contribution by Randy Thom When someone tells me that they admire the sound design work my team has done on a project they often go on to say that what they like most is the little sonic details we've covered in a given scene, like the sound of an object being picked up by a character in the background of a shot. I thank them for the compliment, but I'm usually left with … [Read more...]
Adding Your Voice to the Mix
Guest Contribution by Joel Raabe At night in the darkness, I often hear voices in my head. Though it’s strange to admit, as I drift off to sleep after a long day of cutting dialogue or mixing the latest program, indistinct voices emerge and converse in the surround field of my theta wave brain. The wash of leftover phonemes from the work day somehow eases me to sleep, a … [Read more...]
Sonic/Temporal Ambiguity as Evidence of Psychosis in Martha Marcy May Marlene
"Where are we?" "Connecticut." "No. How far are we?" "From what?" "Yesterday." Directed by Sean Durkin, Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011) centers around the damaged psyche of Martha, portrayed by Elizabeth Olsen. Martha is a young woman who, through the time spent living as part of a small farm commune, has lost nearly all sense of boundaries...from social through temporal. … [Read more...]
Design’s Future Potential Engaging Audio
Michael Theiler has posted a new article on Gamasutra in response to Rob Bridgett's "After Sound Design" I have been buoyed recently due to some excellent writings by Ariel Gross and Rob Bridgett talking about game development, and also by my own sense of belonging in the world of games. We are at such an exciting and interesting point in history as it relates to games, and … [Read more...]
Creative Uses of Reverb
Guest Contribution by Ian Palmer There are a lot of technical articles on Designing Sound so I thought I’d try to balance that with this month’s theme of Reverb. We all know that reverb is used to create realism. Adding the correct or appropriate reverb to ADR will instantly make the dialogue fit better into a scene and remove the artifice of the replacement. However, we can … [Read more...]