IAT 340 notes 5

IAT 340: Sound Design

Overview

  • Course Title: IAT 340: Sound Design

  • Instructor: Philippe Pasquier

  • Contact: pasquier@sfu.ca

Digitalizing Sound

Audio Digital Recording and Playback Chain

  • Overview of the chain involved in audio digital recording and playback.

Non-linear Editing in Reaper

  • Process of editing audio tape involves several manual operations:

    • Rock 'n' Roll the Tape: Moving the tape backward and forward by hand.

    • Mark Tape: Marking the tape against the replay head.

    • Editing Block:

    • Side view of the editing block is essential in understanding the cut.

    • Chinagraph Edit Mark: Slits used for marking edits.

    • Splicing Tape:

    • Slide the cut ends together.

    • Press out any air bubbles with your fingertip.

Audio Editing

Various Operations on Sound Files

  • Volume/Gain/Amplitude Modulation

  • Cutting: Operations include fade in, fade out, and zero crossing.

  • Normalizing

  • Compression/Expander

  • Reversing

  • Effects:

    • Distortion

    • Time Domain Effects:

    • Phaser

    • Flanger

    • Chorus

    • Time Shifter

    • Delay

    • Reverberation

    • Frequency Domain Effects:

    • Filters

    • Equalization

    • Pitch Shifter

Editing and Mastering

Editing Processes

  • Editing Window:

    • Load sounds, cut, prepare.

    • Sequence sounds and adjust levels.

    • Introduce effects.

Mastering Processes

  • Mixing Window:

    • Apply noise reduction to eliminate hum/hiss.

    • Adjust stereo width.

    • Finalize track levels and equalize audio between tracks.

    • Add local or global ambience (e.g., reverberation).

    • Dynamic Expansion and Compression: Peak limit tracks.

  • Bouncing:

    • Choose export format.

    • Select portions of the timeline to export.

    • Export sound files.

The Sound Designer

  • Role:

    • Similar to cinematographer/director for visual completion, responsible for sonic completion.

  • Milestone:

    • First recognized with an Academy Award to Walter Murch for Apocalypse Now.

  • Sound design domains:

    • Speech

    • Sound effects

    • Music

Sound Design

Components of Sound Structure

Influence on Perception

  • Pitch:

    • High pitch suggests delicacy, brightness.

    • Low pitch signifies sinisterness or strength.

  • Loudness:

    • Loud sounds convey closeness, strength.

    • Soft sounds imply distance, weakness, tranquility.

  • Timbre:

    • Tonal qualities that identify sound sources:

    • Reedy: wistfulness (e.g., oboe, clarinet).

    • Brassy: harshness or martial qualities (e.g., trumpet, trombone).

    • Tympanic: power drama (e.g., percussion).

  • Sonic Qualities: Richness and other attributes (thin, edgy, metallic).

Effects of Sound Structure

Influence on Perception (Sound and Music)

Tempo

  • Fast Tempo: Agitated, exciting.

  • Medium Tempo: Steady and sustained.

  • Slow Tempo: Monotonous, dignified.

Rhythm

  • Sonic Time Patterns:

    • Simple: Regularity.

    • Constant: Dullness.

    • Complex: Elaborateness.

    • Changing: Uncertainty, vigor.

    • Culturally Marked Rhythms (South American, African, Asian).

Harmonic Structure

  • Cultural markers (Western, Indian, Asian).

Attack, Sustain, Decay

Influence on Perception (Associations)

  • Attack:

    • Hard/Crisp: Excitement or danger.

    • Soft/Gradual: Gentle or moving.

  • Sustain:

    • Duration impacts emotional responses.

  • Decay:

    • Quick: Confinement, certainty.

    • Slow: Distance or smoothness.

Speech

Impact on Meaning

Two Functions of Speech

  • Narration:

    • Observational descriptions (Direct vs Indirect).

    • Contrapuntal statements through interaction between sound and image.

  • Dialogue:

    • Expresses character information through accents, pace, and vocabulary.

Example of Dialogue Patterns

  • Accent: Indicates character origins, culture.

  • Pace: Communicates urgency or boredom.

Prosody Impact

  • Emphasis: Alters meaning (e.g., stressing words).

  • Inflection: Pitch alteration indicating different meanings.

  • Mood: Sound relation to words and meaning.

Diegetic vs Non-Diegetic Sounds

Definitions

  • Diegetic Sound: Sounds that occur within the film's fictional world.

  • Non-Diegetic Sound: Sounds that do not occur within the visual frame.

Speech Methods

Recording and Editing

  • Diegetic Speech: Recorded simultaneously with visuals but not always included in the final cut.

  • Additional Dialogue Recording (ADR):

    • Re-recording lines for clarity or changes in dialogue.

    • Important for audio quality and consistency across languages.

Sound Effects

Definition and Functions

  • Sound Effects: Includes anything sonic that is not music or speech.

Main Functions

  • Contextual Sound: Emanates from within the story, adds direct narration.

  • Narrative Sound: Provides additional context and meaning (descriptive and commentary).

Multiple Functions of Sound Effects

  • Focusing Attention on specific elements.

  • Defining Space using distance and direction.

  • Establishing Locale by using specific sounds for location setting.

  • Creating Environment: Crafting immersive worlds through sound.

  • Emphasizing and Intensifying Actions: Sounds that highlight and heighten drama (e.g., car crashes).

  • Providing Counterpoint: Using unexpected sounds for impact.

  • Creating Humor in cartoons.

  • Unifying Transitions between scenes via sound overlap (segue/crossfade).

Foley Sound Effects

Definition

  • Foley Sound Effects: Pre-recorded or live effects that enhance visual media.

  • Originated from radio dramas, named after Jack Foley, sound editor.

Examples of Foley Sound Effects

  • Crinkling cornstarch to simulate walking on snow.

  • Using a feather duster for bird wing sounds.

  • Twisting celery to mimic tendon sounds.

  • Various creative sound techniques used in modern film.

Emotion and Sound Effects

Emotional Models

  • Categorical vs Dimensional: Valence and arousal model framework.

    • Valence: Ranges from positive to negative feelings.

    • Arousal: Can measure activation levels, changing from relaxed to tense.

Music in Sound Design

Basic Elements

  • Music includes harmonic and rhythmic structures.

Three Types of Music in Film

  1. Production Source Music: Occurs during shooting or postproduction and is visible.

  2. Source Music: Present on-screen but not seen physically (e.g., jukebox).

  3. Underscore Music: Added in postproduction to enhance emotional content.

Functions of Music in Sound Design

  • Establishing locale, emphasizing action, depicting identities, setting pace, providing counterpoint, and enhancing transitions.

Final Thoughts on Sound Design

Procedures and Considerations

  • No set procedures exist for sound design—focus on script analysis and sound placement.

Spotting

  • Spotting involves determining sound placements for speech, effects, and music throughout the work.

  • Example: Use of music throughout to reflect character themes or emotional states.

Project and Practical Application

  • Sound design involves continuous interaction between sound and visual elements, considering various styles and approaches to effectively convey the intended message.

  • Importance of seamless integration, from sound effects to music, in creating immersive media experiences.

The Rule of Six

  • Murch's Rule of Six for sound/image editing involves emotional weight, story, rhythm, eye trace, 3D space, and 2D plane considerations, guiding sound editorial practices to ensure coherent storytelling.

Quote

  • “Music is the poetry of the air.” - Jean Paul Friedrich Richter

Additional References

  • Video resources on sound design and music impacts on emotional engagement.