Sound Design Methodology

   Sound designers work within the entertainment industry and usually jump from different areas depending on where they are needed. They work on projects for films, TV, radio and games. When hired by a company sound designers are given a number of tasks that they must complete by creating sounds that correspond with the purpose. The first thing they would do once given a new project is plan; planning is very important to determine the level of importance of each task. It also helps them to determine the time and budget they have been given before they start production so they can contemplate how to tackle the task in order to get a better result. Once all aspects have been taken into account the sound designer will judge the best way to obtain the sounds then begin creating them.

   There are many methods that a sound designer could use to obtain sounds. One of which is Foley; Foley is one of the earliest methods used to obtain sounds; the concept is very simple. To obtain sounds using Foley you must take advantage of any and every object. When objects are manipulated they tend to make a unique sound; this is great for Foley artists because they would take advantage of this and obtain sounds by manipulating objects in front of a microphone and recording it. The technique is similar to location recording except Foley is done within a studio and use objects different to what the sound represents.

   Foley is a favoured method because of its time saving and control qualities. Some sounds are just impossible to record so Foley is a great way to make something that sounds like it. For example if you wanted to record the sound of a horse walking along a concrete road it would take a lot of effort but with Foley you record coconut shells being hit against a slab of concrete to create the sound.

   Foley Studios are usually full of lots of different objects that the Foley artists use to create different sounds. A Foley Pit is part of the studio that contains different terrain types (e.g. dirt, sand, leaves, etc.) Before the process of creating sounds it is important that the sound designer does a few test runs to ensure the sounds work for its purpose.

      An easier method of obtaining sounds is by accessing sound libraries; sound libraries are obviously libraries used to host a number of sounds that people can use. Most of the sounds have already been used so most sound designers try to avoid using them because nobody wants a recognisable sound within their original project. However sometimes it is impossible to avoid a situation in which you will need to take a sound from a sound library; sometimes there are times when it is impractical or impossible to create it yourself. In these situations most sound designers chose to change the base sound into something new through editing. Sounds from these libraries aren’t usually free but they don’t cost a lot so it is worth paying the amount because in some scenarios it would cost more to purchase the objects in order to make the sound yourself.

   There are a few methods which allow original sounds to be produced; the most commonly used way is through editing. During this process sound designers usually find themselves editing lots of individual sound clips then blending them together. All sounds are different so the creation of one may be as easy as tweaking a sound or as complex as mixing numerous sounds together. Editing sounds can be done in any of the many sound editing software applications.

   Another way to create an original sound is by synthesising a sound in a synthesizer. The software is made up of electronical tones that can be manipulated. A lot of the generated tones sound like instruments and can give the sound a realistic vibe.

   Outsourcing sounds is also a very commonly used sound creation technique. It is the process in which you use the help of others to create your sounds. This process is used a lot when the sound designer has a lot of work to complete in a short space of time. However this method can be a bad idea if the other people haven’t been told exactly what to do; any mishaps can be prevented by planning.