Sound design is fun, and sometimes...on the good days...it can get messy. Really messy. There aren't a lot of jobs where you get the opportunity to engage in acts of constructive destruction (can we even really say that's a thing?), but sound design is one of those where, occasionally, the practitioner gets to loosen the leash on the reptilian side of the brain a little and … [Read more...]
Two Cents…Following Up on Last Month’s Theme
March is over, and you may have noticed that we're returning to our usual mode of: "Here's a theme. Here are a few articles on this theme. Do you want to contribute to the theme?" I think it's important that we take a moment to talk about the community we have here. … [Read more...]
April Fools!
While we remain firmly committed to our stance of not playing any pranks on this most hallowed of comedic days, that doesn't mean we can't honor the spirit behind it. Sound for comedy is a fickle thing. It's completely predicated on the context and timing of a scene, and there are a million ways to support a gag. From going completely overt and over the top, to ignoring it … [Read more...]
Equality is a Necessity
This month on Designing Sound we are celebrating the Women's History Month with only posting contributions from female members of the community. There is so much to say about living in the year 2015 and still needing a special "month" to create awareness about the success, the stories and basically the existence of a whole gender. But as it is evident from the amount of … [Read more...]
Forget the 1s and 0s…
We may be firmly in the digital age, but analog signals are always going to be a major part of our work. After all, unless you're using a digital microphone using the AES42 spec, we're at least going to be dealing with the signal path from the mic to preamp to AD...not to mention the reproduction path of DA to power amp to speaker. Analog will never truly go away, nor do people … [Read more...]
It Never Ends…
First off, happy new year to all of our readers! We're going to kick this year off with a slightly different topic. We're going to take a look at education. There will be some discussion of academic programs certainly, but that's not necessarily the sum total of this topic. I know that personally, I've learned far more since finishing my "formal training" than I did during it. … [Read more...]
It’s All in Your Head…
Have you ever stopped to consider the fact that all of the sounds we hear in our life are actually the result of post-processing in our brains? That what you hear might not actually be what the person next to you hears? The combination and coordination of organs that goes into the interpretation of fluctuations in atmospheric pressure is truly a marvel. We've given ourselves a … [Read more...]