Sound design is one of the youngest fields in stagecraft, second only to the use of projection and other multimedia displays. The idea of sound design has been around since theatre started, however the first person to receive a credit as Sound Designer on the poster and in the programme alongside the lighting and scene designers was David Collison for the 59 Theatre Company Season at London's Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith in 1959. The first person to be titled the "sound designer" on Broadway was Jack Mann for his work on Show Girl in 1963 [3], and for regional theatre to Dan Dugan at the American Conservatory Theatre (ACT), San Francisco in 1968. Since then the field has been growing rapidly. The term "Sound Design" was introduced to the film world when Francis Ford Coppola directed (and his father, Carmine Coppola, arranged the music for) a production of Private Lives at ACT, while the final cut of the film The Godfather was being edited in 1972.
Currently it can be said that there are two variants of Theatrical Sound Design. Both are equally important, but very different, though their functions usually overlap. Often a single Sound Designer will fill both these roles, and although on a large budget production they may work together, for the most part there is only one Sound Designer for a given production. Where such distinctions are made, the first variant is "Technical Sound Design" (which has also been termed Theatre Sound System Design by the United States Institute for Theatre Technology's (USITT) Sound Design Commission), which is prevalent on Broadway, and the second "Conceptual Sound Design" (which has also been termed Theatre Sound Score Design by the USITT), which is prevalent at Regional Repertory Theatres. Both variants were created during the 1960s. These terms are really examples only, and not generally used in practice since most Sound Designers simply call themselves Sound Designers, no matter which role they are filling primarily.
Technical Sound Design requires the sound designer to design the sound system that will fulfill the needs of the production. If there is a sound system already installed in the venue, it is their job to tune the system for the best use for the given production using various methods including equalization, delay, volume, speaker and microphone placement, and this may include the addition of equipment not already provided. In conjunction with the director and musical director, if any, they also determine the use and placement of microphones for actors and musicians. A Technical Sound Designer makes sure that the performance can be heard and understood by everyone in the audience, no matter how large the room, and that the performers can hear everything they need to in order to do their job.
Conceptual Sound Design is very different from technical sound design, but equally important. The designer must first read the play and talk to the production's Director about what themes and messages they want to explore. It is here that, in conjunction with the director and possibly the composer, the designer decides what sounds he will use to create mood and setting of the play. He or she might also choose or compose specific music for the play, although the final choice typically lies with the director, who may want nothing but scene change music or, on the other extreme, will want ambient beds under every scene, such as Robert Woodruff of the American Repertory Theatre or Bill Ball, Ellis Rabb and Jack O'Brien who were active at ACT and the Old Globe Theatre, San Diego, in the mid 1960s where Dan Dugan initially began his art. Many sound designers are indeed accomplished composers, writing and producing music for productions as well as designing sound. With these designers, it is often difficult to discern the line between sound design and music.
Some noted Sound Designers and/or Composers include David Budries, Abe Jacob (considered by many to be the Godfather of modern Theatre Sound Design), Steve Canyon Kennedy, Otts Munderloh, Mark Bennet, Hans Peter Kuhn, Obadiah Eaves, John Gromada, Darron West, Michael Bodeen, Rob Milburn, Tom Mardikes, Jon Gottlieb, Dan Moses Schreier, Jim Van Bergen, Bruce Ellman, Richard B. Ingraham, David Van Tieghem, Joe Pino, Steven Brown, Richard Woodbury, David Collison, Jonathan Deans, Tony Meola, Paul Arditti and John Bracewell.
On occasion, the director may be very hands-on and will tell the sound designer what sounds to use and where to play them. In such cases, the sound designer becomes little more than an audio editor, but this depends to a large degree on the director and his relationship and level of trust with the sound designer. There are also collaborations such as exist between Ann Bogart and Darron West in the Siti Company, where he is in rehearsal from the day one and sound is really another character of the play. Also, the Conceptual Sound Designer must build the "prop sounds" (telephones rings, answering machines, announcements etc.) and figure out how to fit them into the established themes with regard to when and where the action is supposed to be taking place. For example, using a modern cellular phone ringtone would be out of place for a phone ringing in the 1940s. A Conceptual Sound Designer uses sound to enhance the audience's experience by conveying specific emotion or information without using words.
Above all, both the Technical Sound Designer and the Conceptual Sound Designer must call on experience and "uncommon" sense to ensure that the sound and music are contributing constructively to the production and are in harmony with the work of the actors and other designers.
The union that represents theatrical non-Broadway sound designers in the United States is United Scenic Artists (USA) Local USA829 which is now integrated within IATSE. Theatrical Sound Designers in Canada are represented by the Associated Designers of Canada (ADC). Sound Designers on Broadway working on productions falling under the League of American Theatre and Producers contracts (i.e. all Broadway theatrical productions) are represented by IATSE Local One[1], by virtue of Local One's merger with IATSE Local 922, the former Theatrical Sound Designers local union. Local One maintains a binding contract with Broadway producers for work performed on Broadway shows.
Charlie Richmond assembled a set [4] of Definitions, Communication Standards, Recommended Working Procedures, Information List, and suggested Contract Addenda to the ADC in 1990 in order to assist them in creating a Sound Design contract which finally occurred in 2004.
Other audio positions in a production that may or may not be filled by the designer include that of the production engineer.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
BLOG ASSIGNMENTS
are not optional
i am grading your responses to the materials assigned in class.
As it stands now only Shamar and Mario have done any blogging and the rest of you have zeroes on the first two. Meet with me Tuesdays and thursdays 9:30-12:30
pp
i am grading your responses to the materials assigned in class.
As it stands now only Shamar and Mario have done any blogging and the rest of you have zeroes on the first two. Meet with me Tuesdays and thursdays 9:30-12:30
pp
Monday, September 8, 2008
Ambience - Class Notes
La Monte Young
Is generally recognized as the first minimalist composer, and one of the four most celebrated leaders of the minimalist school.
Mela Foundation
The Theater of Eternal Music: Sometimes later known as The Dream Syndicate, [1] was a mid-sixties musical group formed by LaMonte Young [2] that focused on experimental drone music. It featured the performances of La Monte Young, John Cale, Angus MacLise, Terry Jennings, Marian Zazeela, Tony Conrad, Billy Name, Jon Hassell, Alex Dea and others. The group is stylistically tied to the Neo-Dada aesthetics of Fluxus and the post-John Cage noise music continuum.
Just Intonation
In music, just intonation is any musical tuning in which the frequencies of notes are related by ratios of whole numbers. Any interval tuned in this way is called a just interval; in other words, the two notes are members of the same harmonic series.
John Cale
Though most well-noted for his work in rock music, Cale has worked in a variety of styles and genres, including drone, noise andclassical.
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola (August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987), known as Andy Warhol, was an American artist and a central figure in the movement known as pop art. After a successful career as a commercial illustrator, Warhol became famous worldwide for his work as apainter, an avant-garde filmmaker, a record producer, an author, and a public figure known for his membership in wildly diverse social circles that included bohemian street people, distinguished intellectuals, Hollywood celebrities and wealthy aristocrats.
Songs:
Pan-Sonic
Oval
Matmos
Exploding Plastic Invitable
Velvet Underground
Venus in Furs
Heroes
Music for Airports
Fluxus
Is a name taken from a Latin word meaning "to flow"—is an international network of artists, composers and designers noted for blending different artistic media and disciplines in the 1960s. They have been active in Neo-Dada noise music and visual art as well asliterature, urban planning, architecture, and design. Fluxus is often described as intermedia, a term coined by Fluxus artist Dick Higginsin a famous 1966 essay.
Brian Eno
known popularly as Brian Eno (pronounced /ˈiːnoʊ/), is an English musician, producer, music theorist, and singer, who, as a solo artist, is best known as the "Father of Ambient Music". Art-school-educated, and inspired by minimalism, he became artistically prominent as the keyboards and synthesizer player of the 1970sGlam rock and Art rock band Roxy Music.
Robert Fripp (Frippertonics)
Frippertronics (a term coined by Joanna Walton, Fripp's poet girlfriend in the late 1970s) is an analog delay system consisting of two reel-to-reel tape recorders situated side-by-side. The two machines are configured so that the tape travels from the supply reel of the first machine to the take-up reel of the second, thereby allowing sound recorded by the first machine to be played back some time later on the second. The audio of the second machine is routed back to the first, causing the delayed signal to repeat while new audio is mixed in with it. The amount of delay (usually 3 to 5 seconds) is controlled by increasing or decreasing the distance between the machines.
My Life in the Bush Of Ghosts
Is a 1981 album by Brian Eno and David Byrne, titled after Amos Tutuola's 1954 novel of the same name. The album was re-released in expanded form in 2006.Receiving strong reviews upon its release, My Life is now regarded as a high point in the discographies of Eno and Byrne.[1] In a 1985 interview, Kate Bush[2] stated the album "left a very big mark on popular music," while critic John Bush describes it as "[a] pioneering work for countless styles connected to electronics, ambience, and Third World music."[3]
Found ARt
The term found art—more commonly found object (French: objet trouvé) or readymade—describes art created from the undisguised, but often modified, use of objects that are not normally considered art, often because they already have a mundane, utilitarian function. Marcel Duchamp was the originator of this in the early 20th-century.
Is generally recognized as the first minimalist composer, and one of the four most celebrated leaders of the minimalist school.
Mela Foundation
The Theater of Eternal Music: Sometimes later known as The Dream Syndicate, [1] was a mid-sixties musical group formed by LaMonte Young [2] that focused on experimental drone music. It featured the performances of La Monte Young, John Cale, Angus MacLise, Terry Jennings, Marian Zazeela, Tony Conrad, Billy Name, Jon Hassell, Alex Dea and others. The group is stylistically tied to the Neo-Dada aesthetics of Fluxus and the post-John Cage noise music continuum.
Just Intonation
In music, just intonation is any musical tuning in which the frequencies of notes are related by ratios of whole numbers. Any interval tuned in this way is called a just interval; in other words, the two notes are members of the same harmonic series.
John Cale
Though most well-noted for his work in rock music, Cale has worked in a variety of styles and genres, including drone, noise andclassical.
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola (August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987), known as Andy Warhol, was an American artist and a central figure in the movement known as pop art. After a successful career as a commercial illustrator, Warhol became famous worldwide for his work as apainter, an avant-garde filmmaker, a record producer, an author, and a public figure known for his membership in wildly diverse social circles that included bohemian street people, distinguished intellectuals, Hollywood celebrities and wealthy aristocrats.
Songs:
Pan-Sonic
Oval
Matmos
Exploding Plastic Invitable
Velvet Underground
Venus in Furs
Heroes
Music for Airports
Fluxus
Is a name taken from a Latin word meaning "to flow"—is an international network of artists, composers and designers noted for blending different artistic media and disciplines in the 1960s. They have been active in Neo-Dada noise music and visual art as well asliterature, urban planning, architecture, and design. Fluxus is often described as intermedia, a term coined by Fluxus artist Dick Higginsin a famous 1966 essay.
Brian Eno
known popularly as Brian Eno (pronounced /ˈiːnoʊ/), is an English musician, producer, music theorist, and singer, who, as a solo artist, is best known as the "Father of Ambient Music". Art-school-educated, and inspired by minimalism, he became artistically prominent as the keyboards and synthesizer player of the 1970sGlam rock and Art rock band Roxy Music.
Robert Fripp (Frippertonics)
Frippertronics (a term coined by Joanna Walton, Fripp's poet girlfriend in the late 1970s) is an analog delay system consisting of two reel-to-reel tape recorders situated side-by-side. The two machines are configured so that the tape travels from the supply reel of the first machine to the take-up reel of the second, thereby allowing sound recorded by the first machine to be played back some time later on the second. The audio of the second machine is routed back to the first, causing the delayed signal to repeat while new audio is mixed in with it. The amount of delay (usually 3 to 5 seconds) is controlled by increasing or decreasing the distance between the machines.
My Life in the Bush Of Ghosts
Is a 1981 album by Brian Eno and David Byrne, titled after Amos Tutuola's 1954 novel of the same name. The album was re-released in expanded form in 2006.Receiving strong reviews upon its release, My Life is now regarded as a high point in the discographies of Eno and Byrne.[1] In a 1985 interview, Kate Bush[2] stated the album "left a very big mark on popular music," while critic John Bush describes it as "[a] pioneering work for countless styles connected to electronics, ambience, and Third World music."[3]
Found ARt
The term found art—more commonly found object (French: objet trouvé) or readymade—describes art created from the undisguised, but often modified, use of objects that are not normally considered art, often because they already have a mundane, utilitarian function. Marcel Duchamp was the originator of this in the early 20th-century.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Sound Unbound (1st reading)
There is an Italian expression,"L'arte D'arringiarsi" which means "The Art of making something out of nothing." This what resonates in my mind as I read every word, phrase and sentence of "Sound Unbound"
The idea of "noise being another form of information" is both fascinating and liberating. It opens a whole different world in which sound, if taken to the right editing editing point, can create virtual realms in the minds of people.
As I read through first few chapters I hear the words of Maya Angelou, "Everything in the Universe has rhythm; everything dances." I hear ancient bits and pieces of the Vedic sound theory, where sound is intrinsically alive it just has to be channeled and sculpted right can create parallel worlds.
The Wire Tapper
Life Is a Beautiful Monster
The piece started out as a repetive sound, much like a skipping cd, and then suddenly leaped into an experimental jazz sort of chaos. It sounded like a party with all of the different noises representing people interacting and moving, moving, moving. Then the saxaphone mellowed out a bit as if a person were leaving the party or taking some time for reflection out in the streets. The music then seemed to get darker and spookier as if ghosts were entering the scene or as if a homeless person suprised someone in the dark shadows by appearing at an unexpected time. It ends with an owl like sound and barking noise.
Sweetest Charms
The song gave me the feeling that I was an observer watching a young woman walk through a forest filled with water drops and electronical bugs and birds and glitter dust. Then, because of a static sound that would sometimes appear, it made the entire picture that I was forming in my head seem less real and more like it was existing only on some sort of television screen or pixilated reality that had the ability to shift or fade in and out in sync with the static. I liked how the soft whisper of the girl and occasional child-like voices mixed with stringed instruments, nature noises and harsher static sounds all mixed together to take me on a journey in only about five minutes.
The piece started out as a repetive sound, much like a skipping cd, and then suddenly leaped into an experimental jazz sort of chaos. It sounded like a party with all of the different noises representing people interacting and moving, moving, moving. Then the saxaphone mellowed out a bit as if a person were leaving the party or taking some time for reflection out in the streets. The music then seemed to get darker and spookier as if ghosts were entering the scene or as if a homeless person suprised someone in the dark shadows by appearing at an unexpected time. It ends with an owl like sound and barking noise.
Sweetest Charms
The song gave me the feeling that I was an observer watching a young woman walk through a forest filled with water drops and electronical bugs and birds and glitter dust. Then, because of a static sound that would sometimes appear, it made the entire picture that I was forming in my head seem less real and more like it was existing only on some sort of television screen or pixilated reality that had the ability to shift or fade in and out in sync with the static. I liked how the soft whisper of the girl and occasional child-like voices mixed with stringed instruments, nature noises and harsher static sounds all mixed together to take me on a journey in only about five minutes.
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