Sound design is the art of recreating sounds and using them in interesting ways to turn them into detailed sound effects. All the different sound effects that we keep hearing in films other than the dialogues are basically a result of a process called sound design.
For instance, sound can be created just to show the movement of footsteps. Similarly, there can be hitting sounds, punching sounds, etc. The sound designers recreate these sounds by inducing specific ambiances so that they can awaken the senses of the listeners.
As a part of the curriculum of the Bachelor of Design in Communication Design, Chitkara Design School invited a renowned Sound Designer and Music Composer to teach students more about sound design and its possible effects early this year. This session allowed students to understand more about sound and how to work with it for becoming successful Sound Engineers.
In this blog, we will delve more into how that session highlighted sound design principles and the different things it can do to awaken the senses.
How Do You Recreate Sounds?
There are many ways to recreate sounds. In fact, there are specific sounds that can be created if you know just how to induce an environment for them. If we want to record the ambience of the place we are in, we can induce that by using the right sounds. For example, a forest ambience, a rain ambience, or an ambience of an ocean can be recorded while working on sound design.
We can also record some sounds in the post-production phase by manipulating them using different audio plugins. A lot of it has to do with imagining the sounds and creative ways to record them. Hitting things around, moving stuff around to see what sound a specific object can make, and then just imagining where to use those sounds is the process by which the sounds can be recreated.
An important thing to keep in mind is that being mindful of the sounds is a huge part of learning sound design and if you don’t listen to your surroundings then you will have challenges recreating the sounds.
How to Create a Good Sound Design?
There are little details present in the sound which is something that you will become mindful of only when you actually start and listen. So it’s extremely crucial to listen and to observe your surroundings.
The process of recreating the sounds is pretty similar to solving a puzzle. You can think of it as having a situation in front of you that you need to figure out. The best way to get this sound is by listening and observing. You can record the sounds of wings flapping by just recording them with towels. To hear the sound of wings flapping you can use different objects such as paper, a paper towel, a paper bag, etc. A principle to remember is that the lesser sounds you use, the more intense it gets.
What is the Difference Between Sound Design and Sound Effects?
The sound is solid. Sound is a physics term but sound effects are created by working with sound in different ways. To understand sound effects and create them, it’s very important to understand how sound works.
It is important to understand how the frequency changes the sound, how the tonality affects a sound and even a temperature affects the sound along with the physical properties of the sound. You know how that affects the physical property of the sound. Good design lies in minute details and helps us understand the properties of sound and how sound get affected.
Also, read this blog post: The Essential Concepts of Communication Design Explained
Soft Skills Required to Become a Good Sound Designer:
One of the most important soft skills to become a successful sound designer is to be mindful of everything going on around you. Understanding sounds is very important. In addition, another prerequisite required to become a successful Sound Designer is to be a good person because everything happens from there on.
Ethical values are really important if you plan to work in the industry. You might be unique and extremely talented when it comes to sound design but if people don’t enjoy working with you then they will not call you more than once.
However, if people enjoy working with you then they will come to work with you again and again. And that’s how you make industry connections. A project becomes really fun to work on and rewarding when you are a good person who feels responsible for getting the work done at the right time.
Summing Up:
Sound is something that can be celebrated as a universality of the Universe. It resonates with timeless vibrations through our mind and body while also reinforcing our oneness with everything around us.
If you want to explore a career in the field of sound designing then pursue the four-year Bachelor of Design in Communication Design at Chitkara University and learn to work with sound for making a successful career.
