Sound

• Purpose of sound


  • Supporting the style of the production
  • Creating mood and atmosphere
  • Conveying:
  • time period
  • setting
  • time of day
  • Communicating themes
  • Influencing pace
  • Comunicating personality
• Supporting style


  • Similar to all design elements
  • e.g naturalistic plays will use realistic sound to create the impression of real life
• Creating mood and atmosphere


  • Music can heighten the mood of a scene
  • Can also contrast to the action on stage for dramatic effect
• Conveying the time period


  • Effective for conveying a play's historical context
• Conveying setting


  Sound and music can help set the scene
• Communicating time of day


  • Can establish time of day
  • e.g. a scene in the morning could have birdsong
• Communicating themes or symbols


  Music and sound can be used to communicate thematic or symbolic ideas
• Influencing pace


  Music can influence the pace of a scene on stage
• Communicating a character's personality


  • Some plays can use a musical theme or sound effect to represent a character on stage
  • can be subtle or obvious
• Aspects to consider with sound design

  • sound effects
  • digetic or non-digetic
  • live or recorded
  • underscoring
  • mixing
• Sound effects


  • The artificial reproduction of sounds that help to create realism on stage
  • e.g. the sound of a window smashing
• Digetic sound


  Sound that a character can hear within the world of the play
• Non-digetic sound


  Sound that exists outside the world of the play that the characters cannot hear
• Live or recorded


  • The decision whether to use live music or recorded sound effects
  • can depend on the style of the show and the budget
• Underscoring


  The use of music underneath dialogue to help create an atmosphere or convey a theme
• Mixing


  • The process of layering one sound with another
  • can be done live or pre-recorded
• Other aspects to consider

  • amplification
  • direction
  • pre-set
  • transitions
  • volume
• Amplification


  • The process of increasing the reach of sound
  • usually done through microphones, amplifiers and speakers
• Direction


  • The direction of the sound can be influenced by the position of the speakers
  • can create a more immersive effect for the audience
• Pre-set


  Sound that plays as the audience enter the auditorium
• Transitions 


  • Sound helps to speed up or slow down the pace of the play
  • can establish the setting of a scene
• Volume


  • How loud or quiet sound is within a production
  • needs to be loud enough for the audience to hear but can be altered for dramatic effect