Concepts: Introduction to Sound Design, Effects Chaining, Talk Radio Flow
As the students have been learning about effects and the parameters, we began by a review of what we’ve learned so far. The students were able to distinguish between Reverb, Delay, Echo, Chorus and Flangers and describe when a producer would want to use each effect. We then began a discussion about how the effects can be ‘chained’ together to create unique and interesting results. I explained that the order of effects in the rack matters, and asked what the students think would happen if I placed a Reverb device after an Echo in the chain. They correctly predicted that the Echoes created by that device would then feed into the Reverb. We noticed that when one begins to link effects together, some pretty unexpected and unique results happen. This led to a discussion of sound design, and how producers can create entirely new sounds that are only limited by their imagination.
I told the students that sound design is a crucial aspect of modern music development, and plays a central role in the music used in advertisements, music, films, and video games. I asked them for their definitions of what they thought sound design would be, and how sound design is the field where audio engineers create, manipulate, acquire and process audio components to match what they need for a project.
The proof of concept for this idea was to have the students begin with the same audio source file and to then chain effects in order to create their own unique sound files. The aim of this project was two-fold: first, it demonstrated the transformative power of multiple effects linked together, and secondly, it illustrated that the same audio file can be morphed into drastically different ‘new’ sounds. Each student acted as engineer and these are some of the examples of their first forays into sound design! This also provided an opportunity to review the importance of monitoring the Wet/Dry mix of effects, as this ratio can be used to further sculpt the sounds that are created by manipulating the amount of each effect on the source sound.
J’s Sound Design 1
[audio:WLOY_RadioEdu_Justice_SD_1.mp3]
J’s Sound Design 2
[audio:WLOY_RadioEdu_Justice_SD_2.mp3]
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