| Sound Design for the Theatre Interpretation, Research, Composition, and Execution by Michael Rasbury, Assistant Professor of Sound Design Department of Drama, University of Virginia |
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| Composition Sound designers create sonic compositions by commanding the qualities of sound- time, timbre, intensity, and direction. In composition, time refers to both the length of a composition and single elements within compositions. Time also refers the start of an event within the fluid timeline of the greater production. Timbre describes the subjective tone, “color,” and feeling evoked by the quality of a sound and is manipulated by filtering certain frequencies that comprise a sound. Intensity (loudness) is directly affected by frequency because our ears are more sensitive to particular pitches. Sound designers control the intensity of a single sound or composition by shaping the volume curve (envelope) over a given amount of time. Directionality allows the to designer to direct the audience’s attention to specific points on the stage with localized sounds. By controlling these qualities, sound designers have the ability to construct what is practically a three-dimensional, living work of art. Composition for sound design occurs simultaneously on at least three levels: the creation of the sound score’s environmental soundscape and effects, editing and creation of music (for non-musicals,) and the design of a sound system and all of its individual parts. It is useful for the sound designer to attend key rehearsals to ensure compositions remain fluid with the development of new ideas. Composition of certain design elements begins during the interpretation process. Sound designers often present recorded mockups of particular moments for music and sound to the director and other designers. These recordings are more effective than simple descriptive (and subjective) language because the other artists can listen to them and provide immediate comments about the feeling, quality, and impact in relation to the developing production. Reactions to example recordings allow the designer to fine-tune ideas and provide concise building blocks as the design is constructed. Sound designers employ a variety of technologies to compose and edit source material. Source materials are the building blocks for larger sound compositions and include original recordings of sounds and music, prerecorded sounds and music, and new noises created with software instruments and synthesizers. Pro Tools, Digital Performer, and Logic are digital audio workstations (DAW) and Musical Digital Instrument Interface (MIDI) sequencers. Using these workstations, sounds are layered on multiple tracks and real-time signal processing is applied to alter timbre characteristics of each component (Example 3.) The DAW is also used to edit pre-recorded music. The sound designer is able to remove sections from music and rearrange musical sections to create new interpretations of the music. Several compositions of related music are sometimes layered to create a musical cacophony.
Reason and Logic (also a MIDI sequencer) are MIDI music software programs and each includes a strong suite of software based music instruments and sample players. MIDI is a protocol used to capture data describing a musical performance, rather than the audio of the performance. This data is easily tailored to a live theatrical performance. MIDI data is useful once captured in the computer, because the sound designer can change the instrument sound, music tempo, dynamics, notes, durations of notes, and other descriptors representing the original performance. Some MIDI sequencers even allow conducting a composition by tapping the computer keyboard. Composing with sound and composing with music are very similar processes. The major difference is that with music, the sound designer must have a firm understanding of the harmonic series of music; the math behind music defined by the physics of sound. For some productions, designers compose entirely with sound, others with music, and many with both. (Click here to see a brief video comparison.) By this time in the sound design process, a sound system has been imagined, planned, and illustrated in the form of a signal flow diagram (Example 4) and in relation to the performance space’s architectural drawings (Example 5.) This sound system is designed to coexist with the other visual design elements created for the production while supporting the sound designer’s concept for sound.
All of the components of sound design impact each other. It is known that a sound system is as strong as its weakest electronic component. This metaphor may be applied to the entire design process, as an inferior sound system diminishes quality composition of soundscapes and music. Inferior compositions are not enhanced by a superior sound system. An understanding of the sound system’s potential is important since it influences the quality of recorded sounds, music, and sound reinforcement. Most sound designers incorporate multiple speakers and audio channels including several special speakers for onstage-localized sounds, main speakers for projection of sound to the audience, monitor speakers for actors on stage, multiple speakers surrounding the audience, and subwoofers for low sounds. Sound designers matrix sounds into these multiple speakers on cue using “show control” software and computer (Example 6) audio output interfaces. Sounds and music can be sent to one, several, or all of the speakers.
Multi-channel sound systems allow designers to better command the principles of design such as, balance, harmony, contrast, variety, emphasis, and proportion in real-time. When replications of realistic environments are required by a production, recordings of sounds that naturally occur above the listener have the potential for playback through speakers hung above the audience. Recordings of ground-related sounds are sent through speakers at floor level. Some natural sounds move through space and engineering movement of sounds between two or more speakers emulates this. Anti-realistic sound design delivers an equal impact when multiple channels of sound are used. A rich expansion of dramatic mood is possible when an unrecognizable sound or set of sounds is sent to each speaker. Production music can be separated into individual recordings of its respective musical instruments, allowing each instrument to be sent to a particular speaker. Speakers placed in zones around the seating area allow the designer to immerse the audience members in the sonic composition. When creating the sound and music components of a sound design for broadcast through a complex sound system, sound designers compose with the complexity of the sound system in mind. Although examples of potential soundscapes and production music are reduced to stereo (two-channels, left ear and right ear) for presentation to the director and other designers in design meetings, the designer has a plan for deconstructing the examples into components for multi-channel delivery. In other words, while composing with sound and music, the designer may work in two dimensions (stereo, left ear and right ear) while imagining how the final product will sound in three dimensions. Of course, the full possible range of the sound system should only be employed if it is in harmony with the work of the other designers, actors, and director. On rare occasions, sound designers are invited to provide a sound design devoid of technology. This design work is particularly joyful because the instruments of composition shift to the actors and other “found” objects in the performance space. The final work is designed by the sound designer for delivery by actors, and they learn their cues from provided musical and sound notation, cue lists, and direction. When working in this mode, the designer serves a similar function as a conductor for a musical performance. Like technology based sound design, script interpretation and research, planning and composition, and a detailed plan for executing the work is necessary to succeed.
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