Foley

Music Tech || MT CA4 - Sound Creation

What three categories can forms of media be categorized into?

What three categories can forms of media be categorized into?

visual, non-visual, & live

What is a jingle?

A short slogan or catchphrase that has an accompanying melody and music. Its purpose is to be easily recognized and remembered. This means that it should be short and catchy.

What is foley?

A way of creating and performing everyday sounds using physical props (with any object). It is performed and recorded live in a recording studio using microphones.

Give an example of foley.

Sounds used to match action in visual media.

What are some important things you want to include when recording Foley?

• You will want as quiet a space as possible. This will minimize the amount of background noise in the recording.

• You will also want to use a microphone with a directional polar pattern.

What are polar patterns?

The directions in which a microphone is more and less sensitive to sound.

What does it mean if a polar pattern is directional?

It is more sensitive to sound in at least one direction.

What directional polar patterns are most suitable for a foley recording?

A cardioid polar pattern or a lobar (shotgun) polar pattern.

What are the benefits of using a foley recording?

• Your sound effects will be synchronized with the actions on screen.

• However, sometimes it is still necessary to edit or process the audio within your DAW to suit the media.

What different ways could you edit or process foley audio within your DAW?

Methods could include:

• Cutting.

• Trimming.

• Looping.

• Time-stretching.

• Adding reverb to match the physical space.

• Using EQ to make something seem close or further away.

What are the default time-stretching settings?

• Speeding up the playback will also higher the pitch.

• Slowing down the playback will also lower the pitch.

• For example, playback at double speed would put an audio file up an octave.

What is truncating?

• Changing the length of an audio region; we can use the trimming tool.

• This is a non-destructive process. This means that you can undo this process at any point when editing.

How are effects libraries more accessible and easier to use than before?

• Effects libraries used to be stored on physical hardware (CDs/DVDs).

• Today, effects libraries are stored online.

  • You can filter the sound effects using various categories or by using a search function.

What are the three categories of effect libraries?

Effects libraries contain sound effects that have been created using various types and methods of sound creation. They are organized into three categories:

• Commercial libraries.

• Online resources.

• DAW loops.

What are commercial libraries?

• Professionally recorded sound effects that can be purchased for a fee.

• These can then be used royalty free in your sound creation projects.

What are online resources?

• Contain both professional and amateur recordings of

  sound effects.

• They can either be entirely free to use or include a one off or subscription fee to use royalty free.

Why do we switch from a musical grid to using a timeline ruler in our DAW when using it for sound creation?

• There will not always be a set tempo and time signature for a piece of media.

• It would be much more useful to have our timeline ruler in seconds and not beats and bars.

What are the advantages of effects libraries?

• Relatively low cost or free.

• Professionally recorded sound effects.

• Include a range of types and methods of sound creation.

• Easy to use.

• Fast to implement.

What are the disadvantages of effects libraries?

• Can be expensive (subscription services).

• Unlikely to be exactly synchronised to your project.

• Sound effect you are looking for may not exist.

• Depending on the quality of the library, it can take a while to find the correct sound.