Sound design

March 3rd, 2010

Sound design

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Sound design is the art and process of manipulating audio elements to achieve a desired effect. It is employed in a variety of disciplines including film, theatre, music recording, live music performance, and computer game software development. Sound design usually involves the manipulation of previously composed audio, and in some cases it may also involve the creative composition of new audio as well. A Sound Designer is one who practices the art of sound design.

1 History
- 1.1 Recorded sound
- 1.2 Digital technology
2 Film
3 Theatre
- 3.1 Technical vs. conceptual design
- 3.2 Notable sound designers
- 3.3 Professional organizations
4 Music
5 Awards
6 See also
7 External links
8 References

History

Karel Dujardins, commedia dell’arte show, dated 1657

The use of sound to evoke emotion, reflect mood and underscore actions in plays and dances began in prehistoric times. At its earliest, it was used in religious practices for healing or just for fun. In ancient Japan, theatrical events called kagura were performed in Shinto shrines with music and dance.

Plays were performed in medieval times in a form of theatre called Commedia dell’arte, which used music and sound effects to enhance performances. The use of music and sound in the Elizabethan Theatre followed, in which music and sound effects were produced off stage using devices such as bells, whistles, and horns. Cues would be written in the script for music and sound effects to be played at the appropriate time.

Italian Futurist composer Luigi Russolo built mechanical sound-making devices, called intonarumori, for Futurist theatrical and music performances starting around 1913. These devices were meant to simulate natural and manmade sounds, such as trains and bombs. Russolo’s treatise, The Art of Noises, is arguably the first written document on the use of abstract noise in the theatre; he might be called the grandfather of conceptual sound designers. After his death, his intonarumori were used in more conventional theatre performances to create realistic sound effects.

Recorded sound

Possibly the first use of recorded sound in the theatre was a phonograph playing a baby’s cry in a London theatre in 1890. Sixteen years later, Herbert Beerbohm Tree used recordings in his London production of Stephen Phillips’ tragedy NERO. The event is marked in the Theatre Magazine (1906) with two photographs; one showing a musician blowing a bugle into a large horn attached to a disc recorder, the other with an actor recording the agonizing shrieks and groans of the tortured martyrs. The article states: “these sounds are all realistically reproduced by the gramophone”. As cited by Bertolt Brecht, there was a play about Rasputin written in (1927) by Alexej Tolstoi and directed by Erwin Piscator that included a recording of Lenin’s voice. It would not be however until the 1950s, when Hollywood directors started directing Broadway productions, that sound design would start growing. Still, there was no sound designer in those plays; it was the stage manager’s duty to find the sound effects and an electrician played the recordings during performances. But even though the sound designer has basically assumed these roles, time and technology have not ruled out non-sound designers having a hand in sound production. For instance, since today’s audiences are savvier and can readily distinguish between live and recorded sounds, live backstage sound effects are still used (e.g. gun shots) by the stage manager (or assistant stage manager) for premium “aural illusion.”

Between 1980 and 1988, USITT’s first Sound Design Commissioner oversaw efforts of their Sound Design Commission to define the duties, responsibilities, standards and procedures which might normally be expected of a theatre sound designer in North America. This subject is still regularly discussed by that group, but during that time, substantial conclusions were drawn and he wrote a document which, although now somewhat dated, provides a succinct record of what was expected at that time. It was subsequently provided to both the ADC and David Goodman at the Florida USA local when they were both planning to represent sound designers in the 1990s.

Digital technology

MIDI and digital technology helped the field to evolve exponentially during the 1980s and 1990s. Features of computerized theatre sound design systems were recognized as being essential for live show control systems by Walt Disney World when they utilized systems of that type to control many facilities at their Disney-MGM Studios theme park, which opened in 1989. These features were incorporated into the MIDI Show Control (MSC) specification, ratified by the MIDI Manufacturers Association in 1991. The MIDI Show Control standard is an open, industry wide communications protocol through which all types of show devices may easily interact.

To create the MSC spec, Charlie Richmond headed the USITT MIDI Forum on their Callboard Network in 1990, which included developers and designers from the theatre sound and lighting industry from around the world. This Forum created the MIDI Show Control standard between January and September, 1990. This was ratified by the MIDI Manufacturers Association (MMA) in January 1991, and the Japan MIDI Standards Committee (JMSC) later that year, becoming a part of the standard MIDI specification in August, 1991. The first show to fully utilize the MSC specification was the Magic Kingdom Parade at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom in September, 1991.

Also, the World Wide Web has greatly enhanced the ability of sound designers to acquire source material quickly, easily and cheaply. Nowadays, a designer can preview and download crisper, more “believable” sounds as opposed to toiling through time- and budget-draining “shot-in-the-dark” searches through record stores, libraries and “the grapevine” for (often) inferior recordings. In addition, software innovation has enabled sound designers to take more of a DIY (or “do-it-yourself”) approach. From the comfort of their home and at any hour, they can simply use a computer, speakers and headphones rather than renting (or buying) costly equipment or studio space and time for editing and mixing. This provides for faster creation and negotiation with the director.

Film

See also: Director of audiography, Sound effect, Sound editor, and Foley artist

In motion picture production, a Sound Designer is a member of a film crew responsible for some original aspect of the film’s audio track. In the American film industry, the title of Sound Designer is not controlled by any industry organization, unlike titles such Director or Screenwriter.

The terms sound design and Sound Designer were already in use in theatre and were introduced to the film world when Francis Ford Coppola directed Noel Coward’s Private Lives at the American Conservatory Theatre, where sound designer Charlie Richmond was resident, while the final cut of the The Godfather was being edited in 1972. In the original meaning of the title, as established in the 1970s by Coppola and Walter Murch, a sound designer is an individual ultimately responsible for all aspects of a film’s audio track, from the dialogue and sound effects recording to the re-recording (mix) of the final track. The title was first granted by Coppola to Murch for his work on the film Apocalypse Now, in recognition for his extraordinary contribution to that film. The position emerged in the same manner that Production Designer came in to being in the 1930s, when William Cameron Menzies made revolutionary contributions to the craft of art direction in the making of Gone with the Wind.

The person holding the position of sound designer is a principal member of the production staff, with creative authority equal to that of the film editor and director of photography. Several factors led to the promotion of sound design to this level:

Cinema sound systems became capable of high-fidelity reproduction, particularly after the adoption of Dolby Stereo. These systems were originally devised as gimmicks to increase theater attendance, but their widespread implementation created a content vacuum that had to be filled by competent professionals. Before stereo soundtracks, film sound was of such low fidelity that only the dialogue and occasional sound effects were practical. The greater dynamic range of the new systems, coupled with the ability to produce sounds at the sides or behind the audience, required more creativity.

Directors wanted to realize the new potentials of the medium. A new generation of filmmakers, the so-called “Easy Riders and Raging Bulls”—Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, and others—were aware of the creative potential of sound and wanted to use it.

Filmmakers were inspired by the popular music of the era. Concept albums of groups such as Pink Floyd and The Beatles suggested new modes of storytelling and creative techniques that could be adapted to motion pictures.

New filmmakers made their early films outside the Hollywood establishment, away from the influence of film labor unions and the then rapidly-dissipating studio system.

As many new filmmakers worked in the San Francisco Bay Area, the strong meaning of film sound designer has become associated with films made there, and the production companies situated there, such as American Zoetrope, Lucasfilm Limited (and its subsidiary Skywalker Sound), and The Saul Zaentz Film Center.

The role of sound designer can be compared with the role of supervising sound editor; many sound designers use both titles interchangeably. The role of supervising sound editor, or sound supervisor, developed in parallel with the role of sound designer. The demand for more sophisticated soundtracks was felt both inside and outside Hollywood, and the supervising sound editor became the head of the large sound department, with a staff of dozens of sound editors, that was required to realize a complete sound job with a fast turnaround. It is far from universal, but the role of sound supervisor descends from the original role of the sound editor, that of a technician required to complete a film, but having little creative authority. Sound designers, on the other hand, are expected to be creative, and their role is a generalization of the other creative department heads.

Theatre

See also: Sound reinforcement system and Architectural acoustics

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, although 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 Sound Designer in Broadway theatre was Jack Mann for his work on Show Girl in 1963 , 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 in film 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.

Technical vs. conceptual design

There are two variants of theatrical sound design, technical and conceptual, which have overlapping functions. Often a single sound designer will perform both of these functions. Both variants were created during the 1960s. In practice, these terms are not used in job titles; most sound designers are titled Sound Designer regardless of the type of design practiced. Both the Technical Sound Designer and the Conceptual Sound Designer are tasked with ensuring that the sound and music are contributing constructively to the production and are in harmony with the work of the actors and other designers.

Technical sound design requires the sound designer to devise and implement a sound system that will fulfill the needs of the production. If a sound system is already installed in the performance venue, it is the sound designer’s 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 ensures that the performance can be heard and understood by everyone in the audience, no matter how large the room, and that performers can hear everything they need to in order to do their job. Technical sound design is also called theatre sound system design by the United States Institute for Theatre Technology’s (USITT) Sound Design Commission.

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 or she 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 Theater 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 accomplished composers, writing and producing music for productions as well as designing sound. Conceptual sound design is also called theatre sound score design by the USITT.

The development of audio technology, particularly over the last 20 years, has enabled Sound Designers to achieve more flexible, more complex, and less expensive designs that can be more easily integrated into the constantly changing nature of live performance. The influence of film and television on playwriting is seeing plays being written increasingly with shorter scenes in multiple locations, which is difficult to achieve using traditional scenic solutions but can be conveyed using sound. The development of film sound design is giving writers and directors a higher expectation and knowledge of sound design. Consequently Conceptual Sound Design is becoming the norm, and there are a number of prominent practitioners involved in long-term collaborations with directors, such as 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. 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 is increasingly rare. A Conceptual Sound Designer uses sound to enhance the audience’s experience by conveying specific emotion or information without using words.

Other audio positions in a production that may or may not be filled by the designer include that of the production engineer.

Notable sound designers

Some noted Sound Designers and/or Composers include Bobby Aitken, Paul Arditti, Mark Bennet, Jim Van Bergen, Michael Bodeen, John Bracewell, Andrew Bruce, Ross Brown, Steven Brown, David Budries, David Collison, Adam Cork, Jonathan Deans, Carolyn Downing, Obadiah Eaves, Bruce Ellman, Gregg Fisher, Gareth Fry, Jon Gottlieb, John Gromada, Paul Groothius, Peter Hylenski, Richard B. Ingraham, Abe Jacob (considered by many to be the father of modern Theatre Sound Design), Steve Canyon Kennedy, Norman Kern (known for five productions of The Woman in Black), Hans Peter Kuhn, John Leonard, Tom Mardikes, Tony Meola, Rob Milburn, Otts Munderloh, Joe Pino, Adrienne Quartly, Chris Shutt, Dan Moses Schreier, David Van Tieghem, Richard Thomas, Nancy Tobin, Darron West and Richard Woodbury.

Professional organizations

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 English Canada are represented by the Associated Designers of Canada (ADC) and in Québec by l’Association des professionnels des arts du Québec (APASQ). 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, 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.

Music

In contemporary music, especially rock music, ambient music, progressive rock, and similar genres, the record producer and recording engineer play important roles in the creation of the overall sound (or soundscape) of a recording, and less often, of a live performance. The record producer is chiefly responsible for extracting the best performance possible from the musicians and for making both musical and technical decisions about the instrumental timbres, arrangements, etc. On certain ambitious and complex recording projects, artists and producers have relied on sonic consultants, often credited as “sound designer”, to help them to create specific auditory effects, landscapes, or to ensure an overall consistency and quality of some of the (usually unconventional) sonic elements. In such arrangements, the producer may put almost all of his or her attention on managing the recording session and working closely with the musicians on their performances and interpretations of the material; the recording engineer may dedicate all of his or her time to capturing these performances on tape (or hard disk); the sound designer may then help to create the overall sound, the integration of recording technology with musical instrument technology, the presentation that is the phonographic equivalent of decisions in movie-making about what type of lens to use on the camera, whether or not to use soft focus, and what kind of lighting to use on a scene.

In applied research in electroacoustic and computer programming for contemporary music or electronic music, the Sound Designer is a specialist who is usually there to help the composer to do the electroacoustic portion of the composition. Often, the composer comes with an idea (concept + score) and the Sound Designer assists the composer with new technology and unique equipment. Examples include sound synthesis, interaction between acoustic instruments and computers, realization of a computer program in many different languages (often Max-MSP/Jitter), gesture capture with sensors or cameras, video treatment and interaction between video and sound. Historically, the Sound Designer was often called the “Musical Assistant”. Some of the many examples of research centers working with Sound Designers include Forum Neues Musiktheater of Stuttgart, IRCAM in Paris or synArt in Antibes.

Notable examples of sound design are the contributions of Michael Brook to the U2 album The Joshua Tree, George Massenburg to the Jennifer Warnes album Famous Blue Raincoat, Chris Thomas to the Pink Floyd album The Dark Side of the Moon, and Brian Eno to the Paul Simon album Surprise.

Awards

Sound designers have been recognized by awards organizations for some time, and new awards have emerged more recently in response to advances in sound design technology and quality. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognizes the finest or most aesthetic sound design for a film with the Academy Award for Best Sound Editing. In 2007, the Tony Award for Best Sound Design was created to honor the best sound design in American theatre.

North American theatrical award organizations that recognize sound designers include these:

Dora Mavor Moore Awards
Drama Desk Awards
Helen Hayes Awards
Obie Awards
Tony Awards

Major British award organizations include the Olivier Awards.

External links

Articles, videos, how-to’s, and interviews about video game sound design
Learning Space dedicated to the Art of Sound Design
Kai’s Theater Sound Hand Book
Practical 10 Step Guide for young sound designers

References

^ Wiki link Prehistoric Music
^ Brazell, Karen (1999) Traditional Japanese Theater. Columbia University Press ISBN 0-231-10873-7
^ Kaye, Deena and Lebrecht, James (1992) Sound and Music For The Theatre. Back Stage Books, an imprint of Watson-Guptill Publications ISBN 0823076644
^ Booth, Michael R. (1991) Theatre In The Victorian. Cambridge University Press ISBN 0521348374
^ IBDB: The official source for Broadway Information
^ “Starting in 2007-08, Sound Designers Will Be Recognized by Tony Awards” http://www.playbill.com/news/article/108956.html

v • d • e

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Theatrical scenery
(Scene shop)

Fields	Set construction · Scenic painting · Scenic design · Technical direction

Hardware	Flats? · Platforms · Curtains · Fly system

Stage lighting

Fields	Lighting design · Lighting technician · Master electrician

Hardware	Gobo · Color gel · Batten · Barn doors · Color scroller · Cyclorama · Stage pin connector · Top hat · Theatrical fog

Instruments	Ellipsoidal reflector spotlight · Intelligent lighting? · Fresnel lantern · Beam projector · Scoop · Striplight? · Parabolic aluminized reflector light

Other Fields

Sound design · Theatrical property · Costume design · Video design

v • d • e

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and filmmaking

Film producer · Unit production manager · Production coordinator · Line producer · Film director · Assistant director · Casting director · Screenwriter · Production assistant · Script supervisor · Script coordinator · Location manager

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design

Production designer

Art	Art director · Scenic design · Illustrator

Sets	Set decorator

Hair and make-up	Make-up artist · Barber

Wardrobe	Costume designer

Props	Props master

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Camera	Camera operator · Focus puller · Clapper loader · Steadicam

Lighting	Gaffer · Best boy (electrical) · Lighting technician

Grip	Key grip · Best boy (grip) · Dolly grip · Grip

Sound

Director of audiography/Sound designer/Supervising Sound Editor

Production sound	Production sound mixer · Boom operator · Utility sound technician

Sound editing	Dialogue editor · Sound editor · Foley artist

Music	Sound editor · Re-recording mixer · Music supervisor · Composer

Post-production

Editorial	Film editor

Laboratory	Colorist

Visual effects	Visual effects editor · Compositor · Animator

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Richard Herd

March 3rd, 2010

Richard Herd

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Richard Herd
Richard Herd, 2005
Born	September 26, 1932 (1932-09-26) (age 77) Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Richard Herd, Jr. (born September 26, 1932) is an American actor in television and film. He is well known in the science fiction community for his role in the 1983 NBC miniseries V and the 1984 sequel V: The Final Battle, as John, the Visitors’ Supreme Commander. Other major genre roles include recurring parts on the NBC series seaQuest DSV as Admiral William Noyce, and on Star Trek: Voyager as Admiral Owen Paris, the father of Tom Paris. In two guest appearances on Quantum Leap, he played children’s show host “Captain Galaxy” (Moe Stein), a would-be time traveler, and a miner named Ziggy Ziganovich. Herd has appeared at a number of fan conventions on the basis of his science fiction roles.

Herd was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Katherine and Richard Herd Sr., who was a train engineer. He made his film debut in Hercules in New York (1970), and at one point served as 3rd National Vice President of the Screen Actors Guild. Herd’s first major film role was in the thriller The China Syndrome alongside Jane Fonda, Jack Lemmon and Michael Douglas, where he played the character Evan McCormack, the corrupt Chairman of the California Gas & Electric Board. This role helped make him well-known outside the United States.

In addition to science fiction, he was a regular as Captain Dennis Sheridan on T. J. Hooker from 1982 to 1985, and appeared on Seinfeld as Mr. Wilhelm, George Costanza’s boss at the Yankees. Guest appearances included The Rockford Files, Starsky and Hutch, Quantum Leap, The A-Team, NYPD Blue, and JAG.

1 Filmography
2 Voice Roles
3 References
4 External links

Filmography

The China Syndrome (1979)
The Onion Field (1979)
Private Benjamin (1980)
Trancers (1985)
Summer Rental (1985)
Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987)
Sgt. Bilko (1996)
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (2005)
Dog Days of Summer (2007)
Anna Nicole (2009)

Voice Roles

Blue Dragon (Video Game) - Old Nene (2006)

References

^ Richard Herd Biography (1932-)

External links

Official site
Richard Herd at the Internet Movie Database
ilana’s “V” Celebrity site at http://www.mindpulse.com/users/lizlady
Richard Herd at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)
Interview with Richard Herd & The Enterprise Blues Band on Slice of SciFi

Retrieved from “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Herd”
Categories: 1932 births | American film actors | American television actors | Living people | People from Boston, Massachusetts