What is sound design ?

Welcome to the sometimes little-known world of sound design, the subtle art that envelops our senses without always being noticed.

What is Sound Design ?

It plays a key role in many creative and cultural fields. Films, videos, podcasts, advertising, video games, the list is long! Sound design uses sound as a raw material for a specific purpose: to inspire, to engage, to make people laugh, to help them understand, to highlight a detail… the possibilities are extremely diverse, and almost endless.

In this article, we take a closer look at a discipline that accompanies us on a daily basis, sometimes without even noticing it.

What does a sound designer do?

The sound designer is much more than an operator in charge of setting up a simple background sound; he or she is the creator of a canvas that shapes emotion and guides the audience’s experience. Every sound effect, every piece of music, contributes to building a convincing and engaging world.

The essence of a sound designer’s work lies in his or her ability to creatively enhance the audiovisual experience. They add a dimension to the on-screen action that makes it possible to fully immerse oneself in a scene. Sound effects reinforce the credibility of the environment depicted, while music adds emotional depth, subtly guiding the audience’s reactions and feelings.

This delicate approach to sound design aims to complement and enrich, for a deeper connection with the work.

What are the sound designer’s tools?

A WIDE RANGE OF TECHNIQUES

From the precise choice of sound effects and musical textures to the use of sophisticated audio processing, the sound designer is a sound craftsman. Alternately technician, artist and creator, he or she uses an extraordinarily wide range of tools, both musical and technical, to process, generate and transform sound, from recording, through creation and mixing. Each technique, such as sampling, sound synthesis, experimental recording and immersive sound, has its own specificity. The sound designer also uses a wide range of digital tools, such as virtual instruments and plug-ins, to create unique soundscapes.

DIGITAL TOOLS AT THE HEART OF CREATIVE WORK

The sound designer uses sound as a palette to bring life to audiovisual productions. Each project is a blank canvas, where techniques and technologies combine to create audio creations that awaken the senses and trigger emotions in the audience.

At the heart of the process is the DAW (Digital Audio Workstation), software enhanced by a wide range of plug-ins and virtual instruments. Here is a non-exhaustive list of the most commonly used software and plug-ins:

• Softwares : Pro Tools, Ableton Live, Logic Pro X, Reaper, Cubase, Reason
• Plugins : FabFilter, Universal Audio, Arturia, Soundtoys, iZotope..

Choosing the right software depends on the sound designer’s profile. Even if the boundaries are becoming blurred, Pro Tools is still more often considered the true reference for mixing. Ableton Live and Logic Audio, on the other hand, are more geared towards musical creation.

These different techniques make up the sound designer’s vocabulary, and now you need to be able and know how to express yourself, to implement appropriate and relevant solutions that will bring real added value.

WHAT’S THE SOUND DESIGNER’S ROLE?

WHAT WE EXPECT FROM A SOUND DESIGNER

The sound designer is often the single point of contact for all sound-related issues. He must be able to adapt to his interlocutor, understand the stakes of a project, and propose the artistic and technical orientations that will best suit the subject. They are called upon for their expertise, their world, their know-how, to make the most of the power of sound. Having an infinite number of possibilities in front of you makes it all the more important to make the right choices. This implies cultural awareness, a taste for transversality, openness and pedagogy.

THE SOUND DESIGNER’S SKILLS AND KNOW-HOW

The presence of the word design in the title of our profession underlines the importance of context and purpose. This means not approaching a subject from the angle of sound production alone, and not creating according to personal aesthetic considerations alone. On the contrary, we need to take a step back and take a global approach, in order to design soundscapes that are fully integrated and inseparable from the content that sound is intended to augment. In short, to put yourself at the service of a project.

THE MANY APPLICATIONS OF SOUND DESIGN

SOUND DESIGN FOR VIDEO GAMES

Video games make particular use of sound design to create immersive, dynamic environments. In a video game, every sound is carefully designed to enhance the player’s immersion in the game world.

The use of interactive music is also a key aspect of game sound design. It allows us to create a soundtrack that evolves as the game progresses, offering a unique audio experience for every session, every game. This ability to generate an adaptive soundscape contributes to deep immersion and an emotional connection with the game.

In video games, sound design takes advantage of advanced technologies to produce increasingly realistic and spectacular sound effects. For example, 3D sound simulates a realistic acoustic space that behaves dynamically: it adapts and changes, in real time, according to the player’s actions. This allows the player’s perception of the direction and distance of sounds in the environment to evolve, enhancing realism and therefore engagement with the game.

Sound design goes far beyond the simple function of background music; it becomes a gameplay element in its own right.

Want to know more about immersive sound technologies?
Read our article on immersive audio.

SOUND DESIGN FOR FILM

In film production, sound effects don’t simply reproduce reality, but seek to accentuate certain aspects of it to intensify the viewer’s experience. A gunshot, the rustle of leaves, or the distant rumble of a thunderstorm can be amplified or stylized to elicit specific emotional reactions or to signal important narrative elements, becoming a prominent staging element.

In cinema, too, sound design draws on technological advances to produce ever more immersive sound atmospheres. Dolby Surround, Dolby Atmos and THX sound are just a few examples. Sound from multiple sources immerses the viewer in a multi-dimensional universe of sound, accompanying, for example, the movement of a spaceship from one end of the room to the other, for a tenfold increase in realism.

Here, for example, is a video explaining sound designer Mark Mangini’s approach to Denis Villeneuve’s film DUNE: Watch video

CONCLUSION: THE ECHO OF SOUND DESIGN IN THE

CREATIVE WORLD

Sound design is a discipline at the crossroads of art and technology, where creativity meets the possibilities offered by technological advances. Sound design creates auditory sensations that considerably enrich the narrative and immersiveness of the content it enhances.

From the first talking films to the sound immersion of modern video games, this discipline has continually pushed back the boundaries of creativity. By taking advantage of perpetual technological advances, sound design is transforming the way we experience sound. It reinforces immersion and engagement in both fictional and real worlds.

As we move towards new sound horizons, sound designers continue to explore unknown sonic territories. A promise of future creations that will continue to amaze and engage listeners in all spheres.