Better late than never. Last month’s theme at Designing Sound was Acoustics but one person we really wanted to include during July had to get moved slightly – so here is a belated feature on one of the world’s true pioneers when it comes to exploring acoustic phenomena and auditory perception: Alvin Lucier. The American avant-garde composer was born in 1931 and composed … [Read more...]
Film Music and Sound Design Brought Closer Together With New Sundance Partnership
Where does a film's score end and sound design begin? A new partnership between the Sundance Institute and Skywalker Sound will seek to bring these two components of the film soundtrack closer together, with the aim of fostering a more integrated dialogue between filmmakers, sound designers and score composers. Composers Lab, Sundance's annual mentoring scheme for aspiring … [Read more...]
Acoustic Dirt
Guest Contribution by Rob Bridgett who is (probably) the most Easterly Audio Director in North America. 47º 34' N, 52º 41' W. Since June, 2000 he has worked as a video game developer. DESIRABLE NOISE There are a lot of problems in the modern world with noise, and it is interesting the effect that the aesthetic of noise has had on media such as film, game, radio … [Read more...]
Nightmares and Soundscapes: Implementation of Acoustic Ecology Related Sound Design Techniques to Better Terrify your Players
Guest Contribution by Dr Tom Garner This article addresses contemporary concepts regarding how we attune to sound within a fear context and discusses the potential impact of these ideas upon sound design, specifically with regards to evoking disorientation in survival horror computer games. Relevant theory is distilled to consider an ecological perspective of sound experience … [Read more...]
Interview with Wayne Pashley – The Great Gatsby
Guest Contribution by Abigail Sie The Great Gatsby was an unusually long sound post-production process. How long did the sound mix take? Just under three months, it was quite a long haul. A lot of that really was logistics in the way of rethinking, re-conforming the pre-dubs and integrating new material with the edit as the picture changed and was updated throughout the … [Read more...]
From the SoundWorks Collection: Production Sound Mixer Nicholas Allen
An often over-looked part of the audio post process for sound designers can be the dialogue. This video from the SoundWorks Collection features production sound mixer Nicholas Allen explaining how he sets up his sound mix and his boom team. And in fact, more than just being concerned with dialogue, this clip is a useful reminder that sound design is about crafting and shaping … [Read more...]
How ‘The Last of Us’ Sound Design Outshines Gameplay
Forbes magazine isn't particularly known as a go-to resource for video game info, but their recent review of 'The Last of Us,' written by Andy Robertson, draws attention to the game's audio experience in a way many of the major gaming outlets neglected to explore. If you enjoyed the SoundWorks Collection profile of 'The Last of Us' audio team, you'll also enjoy this gameplay … [Read more...]