Inspired by a Library

      Ever since taking an audio post-production class at Full Sail University, I have wanted to learn how to create and design great sound FX. We worked on various projects where we had to utilize sound FX from a sound FX library to create and establish mood for pieces of video. Among the many libraries we had access to my favorite was Hollywood Edge. The sound FX files in this library were crisp and clean, they were very easy to manipulate and edit. The way they were arranged and archived made them easy to locate and use. It was this library that inspired me to become a sound designer and start to gather the equipment to create my own sound FX libraries.

The sound of the Universe

            As an aspiring sound designer I have always been fascinated with natural sounds that nature makes. As a student of technology I have always been taught that space is a vacuum and is absent of sound. I watch a speaker on ted .com named Janna Levin discuss sound that the universe makes and it blew me away. I would like to share the link to her speech so you can come to your own conclusion.

            In her speech she breaks down black holes what they are and how they operate. She started to lose me at that point a little bit because I thought this speech was about the sounds that the universe makes. She then showed a model created by NASA of two black holes orbiting each other and their gravitational waves. She went on to explain how these waves were literally the sound of space ringing as a result of these black holes.  Jana then explained if it were possible for us to be near enough to the black hole our ears would resonate with this stretching of space. What fascinated me is she played a mocked sound of a black hole banging in space and t literally sounded as she described it, like a drum.

Sound FX libraries

I have always been captivated by the creativity that goes into creating and manipulating sound. In earlier blog posts I have touched on sound design and have given a general definition of what it essentially is. I have also touched on a bit of sound design history and how far the art form has come. In this blog post, I want to touch a little on sound FX libraries and field recording.

How far we've come

     I remember learning, in my audio post production class at Full Sail University, about sound design. The instructor had us watch a video on early sound design and how it was implemented in film. The sound designers had to be creative to not only portray what was going on and establish mood but to draw the audience in as well. They often used instruments as sound effects for crashes, hits, slaps and other animated uses. The orchestral sound effects were innovative for that time but as time progressed so did the technology for the sound design. Sound designers began to use random things lying around to create their sounds. They often designed and built custom contraptions for specific sounds. Below is a picture of an early contraption used in the sound design for early Disney animation taken from www.imagineeringdisney.com.

Sound Design

Have you ever watched a movie or played a video game and wondered how the creators of the material came up with the sounds you were hearing? How do they get sounds that cannot be recorded from the source because the source does not exist? For example: the sounds for a futuristic plasma rifle, or the sound of a dinosaur roar. How do they capture these sounds? They don’t, well not technically. They design the sounds by manipulating previously recorded audio files.

Introduction

Hello, my name is Clifford Thomas and this is my blog dedicated to the art of sound design. This blog will showcase articles, product reviews, books and information relating to sound design and the audio post production field. I am a student, an audio engineer, a writer, an artist and aspiring sound designer. I hope my blog will educate and intrigue everybody that chooses to read it. Hope you enjoy.