Edinburgh University
Sorry about the last post being a while ago, it has taken time to start writing again and keeping this blog up to date with moving to Scotland, settling in to my accommodation, getting to grips with the course and obviously the amount of course having to be done.
Having decided that I wanted to study for a masters degree I fortunately was accepted to the University of Edinburgh to do an MSc in Sound Design. So far the course has been everything I had wanted it to be.
Learning new techniques, new programs, new inspirations & most importantly new ways in which sound can be used not only in movies, films & games (visual media) but how it can be used to improve everyday life. Most of us do not give much attention to sound everyday unless something unexpected happens which we then take notice, crossing the road, using our phones etc. All of these things and many more have been designed in a certain way in order for us to take notice that slowly slips into our subconscious like looking both ways before crossing the road... it is an automatic thing that I do without even thinking about it. Speaking to friends in my class they have said that they have found it difficult to adjust to these situations because they are from countries where people drive on the opposite side of the road. Instead of looking right first they now have to look right unless they want to get run over.
Sorry to get of topic there, I thought it was just a little amusing story! Talking about how things have been designed in order to grab our attention, these things are known as Earcons. Earcons are a brief, yet distinctive sound used to portray an event or specific information. Most notably Earcons or Auditory Icons are used in computers such as on an Apple Mac dragging a file to dust bin we get a rubbish type sound. The most important aspects of these sounds are to signify that something has occurred.... an action has taken place. If we look in the outside world Earcons are there in order to instigate an action or to confirm it has taken place. For example beeping when it is safe to cross the road or when at the check out and scanning your food a beep signifies the product has successfully been scanned and added to your bill.
Sorry this has been a short post it has been difficult fitting this in to my new schedule, where work of various verities keeps piling up. I will try to post more often and keep the blog updated about new concepts, ideas, programs & work.
Having decided that I wanted to study for a masters degree I fortunately was accepted to the University of Edinburgh to do an MSc in Sound Design. So far the course has been everything I had wanted it to be.
Learning new techniques, new programs, new inspirations & most importantly new ways in which sound can be used not only in movies, films & games (visual media) but how it can be used to improve everyday life. Most of us do not give much attention to sound everyday unless something unexpected happens which we then take notice, crossing the road, using our phones etc. All of these things and many more have been designed in a certain way in order for us to take notice that slowly slips into our subconscious like looking both ways before crossing the road... it is an automatic thing that I do without even thinking about it. Speaking to friends in my class they have said that they have found it difficult to adjust to these situations because they are from countries where people drive on the opposite side of the road. Instead of looking right first they now have to look right unless they want to get run over.
Sorry to get of topic there, I thought it was just a little amusing story! Talking about how things have been designed in order to grab our attention, these things are known as Earcons. Earcons are a brief, yet distinctive sound used to portray an event or specific information. Most notably Earcons or Auditory Icons are used in computers such as on an Apple Mac dragging a file to dust bin we get a rubbish type sound. The most important aspects of these sounds are to signify that something has occurred.... an action has taken place. If we look in the outside world Earcons are there in order to instigate an action or to confirm it has taken place. For example beeping when it is safe to cross the road or when at the check out and scanning your food a beep signifies the product has successfully been scanned and added to your bill.
Sorry this has been a short post it has been difficult fitting this in to my new schedule, where work of various verities keeps piling up. I will try to post more often and keep the blog updated about new concepts, ideas, programs & work.
How to become a Sound Designer?
If you are visiting the blog and have read any of the previous posts then it can safely be said that you are interested in sound design and maybe have an interest in pursuing it as a career path. My experience of talking to different sound people in different industries ranging from film, television, radio or games the older generation have almost all fallen into this field by accident. However the newer generation including myself have studied sound design academically, but as in most professions there are multiple ways "in" and having a understanding of sound in whatever capacity is crucial. As some examples, some professionals I have met learnt an instrument when they were young, some learnt about sound equipment either by recording friends bands (how I started) or by learning the basics by acquiring sound recording devices such as portable recorders and teaching themselves.
First, in my opinion you should learn "acoustics", which is the science of sound. How it sound works, how it travels, how we as humans hear and recognise it as sound. Read books like Sound Design for Visual Media (link to come), the Sound Effects Bible by Ric Viers essential reading for recording sound effects or the Practical Art of Motion Picture Sound by David Lewis Yewdall, this book explains production sound recording all the way through to sound editing and is a great way to learn how sound emphasises productions. All in all read what you can about sound including synthesis, recording and manipulation as the more knowledge you have, the better your arsenal will be.
In this day and age it is important to know Digital Audio Workstations or DAW for short as the industry is technical and more often than not computer based. I do not mean learn every DAW on the market today but know the underlying principles that make up each, as each one operates in a very similar way although they may be named differently. I would suggest however you learn one of the major DAW's out there today which are Pro Tools, Logic Pro, Cubase or Ableton.
The most important aspect of working with sound is having good ears so with this in mind train your ears and brain. Most people cannot dissect a sound, ask questions like what are the frequencies it has, how it changes, how many layers it has and how you are hearing it? Most DAW's will have plugins like EQ, Spectrum Analysers and Level Meters that can help you do this but the one thing I cannot express how important it is, to trust your own ears!
First, in my opinion you should learn "acoustics", which is the science of sound. How it sound works, how it travels, how we as humans hear and recognise it as sound. Read books like Sound Design for Visual Media (link to come), the Sound Effects Bible by Ric Viers essential reading for recording sound effects or the Practical Art of Motion Picture Sound by David Lewis Yewdall, this book explains production sound recording all the way through to sound editing and is a great way to learn how sound emphasises productions. All in all read what you can about sound including synthesis, recording and manipulation as the more knowledge you have, the better your arsenal will be.
In this day and age it is important to know Digital Audio Workstations or DAW for short as the industry is technical and more often than not computer based. I do not mean learn every DAW on the market today but know the underlying principles that make up each, as each one operates in a very similar way although they may be named differently. I would suggest however you learn one of the major DAW's out there today which are Pro Tools, Logic Pro, Cubase or Ableton.
The most important aspect of working with sound is having good ears so with this in mind train your ears and brain. Most people cannot dissect a sound, ask questions like what are the frequencies it has, how it changes, how many layers it has and how you are hearing it? Most DAW's will have plugins like EQ, Spectrum Analysers and Level Meters that can help you do this but the one thing I cannot express how important it is, to trust your own ears!
So if it's not Sound Design what is it?
Ok so it is kind of a half truth, that
just making sound design is one part sound creation and one part
design, so in actual fact yes it is sound design in a way. However
simply attaching sounds to existing structures is in a way only sound
editing, yes there is some design in what is done as you are layering
multiple sounds in order to achieve the impact of the overall sound
you are trying to achieve. I see sound design as and I might be
wrong, but I see it in the way the man who coined the term “Sound
Designer” sees it.
Most people are able to add sound to a
moving image and think thats good, which be all means it is; its
bring life to what would be a dull lifeless image. The way in which
Ben Burtt is a true sound designer is because he is part of every
stage of a film, he helps shape the movies he has been involved with.
If you want an example of this look no further than Wall-e, and watch
any documentary’s or special addition bonuses that come with the
DVD or Blu-ray. It will show you just like Star Wars not only was it
the vision of the directors and artists, it was also the vision of
Ben Burtt who helped craft the story in pre-production. His influence
was there throughout the movie making experience. That is why he is a
complete “sound designer,” and not as many people call themselves
and yes I will include myself as I am guilty of this; who are “Sound
Editors.”
So What is Sound Design?
Sound Design what is it I hear you cry! Well what
most people think it is, is the creation of great sounds, in theory that is
only part of the story. Sound design is not simply about attaching
sound effects to existing structures, it is working with directors
throughout production and post-production to help tell the story in
the best way it can possibly be told, linking sound and the visuals
in ways that sound shapes the picture just as much as picture shapes
the sound.
So this raises a question, a friend asked me a while back, he said to me. "I do not want to sound stupid but what is the difference between production and post-production," I replied "thats not a stupid question its actually a very good one."
Until I went to study at the Vancouver Film School I will admit I did not know either so here is the answer:
Production - Is whatever happens during filming. So in sound design we have the production dialogue that is recorded by a boom operator (the person who holds the microphone capturing the dialogue spoken by the actors) and a production sound mixer who is the head os the sound team and mixes the dialogue being recorded.
Post-Production - is whatever happens after the programme or film has been recorded. The easiest way to describe post-production sound is think of your favourite film, as an example one of my favourites and probably the best example is Star Wars. Not many people know that nearly all of the sound apart from the dialogue and even that is edited and manipulated, is either recorded or created and added to the film after wards. Hence the name post-production, the name sound design or sound designer was coined by the legendary Ben
Burtt.
Ben Burtt is a true sound designer as he not only functions as a production recordist, sound editor or sound mixer. If we take the example of the film mentioned above Star Wars, he was
involved
from the very
start of the project in pre-production, through production and
finally post-production and
although a very rare opportunity it was him who co-ordinated all that
was heard in the soundtrack
for Star Wars.
A Little About Me and Developing Your Own Tastes
So
a little about me, I first became interested in sound way back around
the time I started to develop my own taste in music. After years of listening to either what was on the radio in the kitchen, what my father used too like or sadly what my sisters forced me to listen too via sometimes their excessive volumes of the music they liked (which to this day I still do not understand how anybody can like Genesis). I reached the age where my parents thought it was ok for me to have my own stereo. I think they will forever regret this decision, as I started
to develop a love for rock music in particular the bands Motley Crue
and a few months later Guns 'n' Roses an now it was my turn to play music at excessive decibels to which everyone in the house would constantly shout "will you turn that noise down." I did not care as I was born to Rock.
It was a little different for me, yes I liked the style and attitudes of these what were considered at the time Rock Gods, to me however it was all about the sound and how each of the instruments they played combined to produce this wall of sound that left me awestruck. I needed more and after years of consuming all of the music I could get my hands (most importantly ears) on, whether that was older music ranging from bands such as Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd or Jimi Hendrix newer music such as The Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana as my tastes were expanding to include Hip Hop and some R&B. I decided to enrol at the Confetti Institute of Recording Technologies to learn more about my all consuming passion sound, how I could make it and how I could improve ways of capturing it.
After four years of studying Music Technology and Sound Engineering and at the end coming to the realisation that I did not want a career in music I just loved to listen, however I loved to record. It left me wondering what direction to pursue and after one failed relationship and countless temporary jobs with no direction I stumbled upon the answer whilst searching the internet one day. The answer to my surprise was a simple one combine my love of recording sound with my other love of visual media, so I enrolled on the Sound Design for Visual Media course at the Vancouver Film School in Canada.
Developing ones own tastes in not only music but everything in life is essential, it is through development that we as humans grow and in our early life of developing it is a necessary part of growing and more importantly we think when we are young being different from your parents.
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