Sound Design Blog DFSA UCA

by

António Barros

For this project I have chosen to create a soundtrack to one of the images that we were shown in this unit's lectures. We were given briefs and workshops on how to record sound with a zoom recorder and also how to edit using Adobe Audition.



The following image, "A Sudden Gust of Wind " by Jeff Wall (1993) really captivated my interest due to the fact that we can almost 'hear the image'. The work of art contains in itself four men struggling with an unexpected gust of wind, not only that but the trees in the background are tilted which also alludes to the power of the winds blowing.

Research

Firstly, I kickstarted my research by listening to Alvin Lucier's " I am sitting in my room " on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAxHlLK3Oyk I believe he uses common effects such as reverb and echo to add more depth to regular everyday sounds almost creating ambience with how the sounds seem to 'drag' themselves along the course of the piece.

Having this idea in mind I decided to re-watch "10 Cloverfield Lane " by Dan Trachtenberg. Similar to Jeff Wall's image but not quite the same, the moving image feature doesn't grant us, the viewers, an intimate look at the creature(s) wreaking havoc but we see the effects and damages of its troubles.

Listening to the sound team behind Trachtenberg's film (Robert Stambler, Will Files and Lindsey Alvarez) discussing their workflow and the coming together of the soundtrack on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/soundworkscollection/the-sound-of-10-cloverfield-lane really gave me an insight as to what creative approach I wanted to take with this sound project.

Recording

Lucky for myself the University for the Creative Arts provides us with various options in terms of recording or dealing with sound. To record I used two different processes:

1. Outdoor recording of regular sounds with one of the Roland sound recording devices;
2. Foley studio.

When noting down the sounds I had recorded I encountered a slight issue with time management because I hadn't announced what I was doing or capturing beforehand. Learning from said mistake I went to the foley studio to record some extra sounds and announced all of what was being recorded especially considering the fact that I had to press record then walk into the studio and perform the sounds as I was doing the whole process myself.

The following images show how I organized my work before getting into editing



Editing

Adobe Audition Pro is a very useful tool for making and producing soundtracks.
I utilized various forms of sound editing to capture what I wanted the scenery to feel like without us viewers having to necessarily see the action as it unfolded.
The basic effects I mainly used were reverb, echo, delay and distortion. I believe it was how I layered the sounds that made them unique, however, I did encounter a few problems around the process due to the fact that I didn't record the exact sounds for what I truly needed or shall I say, wanted to capture.






I believe in terms of creative choices I made them correctly. Had the wind more intense from the right speaker to replicate the direction that it was traveling from (as we can see on the third adobe audition screenshot). In terms of effects I believe they add up to the scene even though they don't drag as much as Alvin Lucier's sound projects but that was also a creative decision from my part.
I wanted to tell a story that was happening outside of the image and also within the image so I came up with the idea of having a monster that we do not see but we hear. The Anchorage of the image I selected tells the story of how a sudden gust of wind could affect regular bystanders. I wanted to change that and make it so that the creature's footsteps were so strong that they were sort of acting how the wind did in the original picture. To create the monster's footsteps I stacked and layered 4 different sounds together (smacking, thumps, footsteps, punching surfaces) then I proceeded to add effects to the sounds to try and make them more intense but they weren't working. I tried changing pitches, they would come close but not exactly the cinematic thumping that I wanted. I thought maybe I needed to add sounds of stepping on rubble for example but it just sounded convoluted so I removed them. It was at that moment that I came to the realization that I needed either a bongo or a bass guitar to accompany the sounds to make the footsteps more impactful.
Also, another problem I encountered was that I recorded so many different sounds with paper but none of them were as intense as I would have liked them to be.

Self Evaluation

In my honest opinion, I believe I deserve a C on this project for the following reasons:

1. Transitional techniques applied made for a smooth listening experience;
2. Used the waveform to remove mic bumps and other unprecedented sounds;
3. My earphones broke so I couldn't hear the other unprecedented sounds that I should have removed as well for a more crisp final edit;
4. Was organized when working on the project but could have managed my time better and maybe have gotten the rest of the sounds for my vision;
5. I learned that more sound doesn't necessarily mean a better project. I recorded a total of 65 sounds when I could have recorded less and have reached better results.


Thank you for taking your time to read my first ever blog I hope it has given you an insight on the basics of Audition and what mistakes to avoid next time!