Ambiences
Sound designers are frequently called on to create the sound of real and imaginary places where the events of a story or game take place. Real-world sites can be straightforward: visit the location, record, edit, process as needed, and add to your production. This is not always the case, however. Often the recording of an actual place does not sound right, given how the location is portrayed after editing a scene together. Imaginary locations (“fantastic,” “futuristic,” and so on) that do not exist are a blank canvas. Elements of these worlds can be rooted in our conception of reality. Still, the actual sound is ultimately determined by the collective vision and work of directors, designers, and those who create the sound. This assignment presents these challenges to you.
Using the recording, editing, and synthesis techniques we have discussed, create one 30-second ambience: one of a real-world location OR one of an imaginary place.
Since your final project proposal is due before this assignment, the best choice is usually the setting of one of your final project scenes — the ambience you build here can become an ambience bed in your final mix, so the work counts twice. If your film doesn’t suit that, a real or imagined place of your own is still fine.
Take the following steps:
- Find an image that provides a visual reference for the location you have in mind.
- Make a sound map that lists all possible elements that would create the sound of this place. Based on your image, what’s needed to create the sound of this place? Consider what you see, but also consider those elements that you suspect would be nearby and audible within the frame of your chosen image.
- Record (and if helpful, synthesize) the elements you need to develop the sound of the location.
- Use the L-I-S-T-E-N editing mantra to prepare your recordings. Follow the techniques presented in class to mix the environment and put everything together in REAPER. Your final session should sound like a continuous recording of the place depicted in your chosen image.
- Put the following items into a folder:
- REAPER project
- Final, 30-second stereo WAV or AIFF file. Name it based on the environment you intended to create, such as ancient-mars.wav or downtown-street-corner.aif.
- Soundmap with details for your chosen location
- Image that guided your work
- Zip this folder and post to D2L.
Grading Rubric (40 points total)
| Criterion | Exemplary | Proficient | Developing | Emerging | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sense of Place (16 pts) | The 30 seconds reads as one continuous recording of the place in your image; beds and details balance into a believable whole | Reads as the place, with one element sitting slightly apart | Elements are present but do not cohere into one location | A collage of unrelated sounds | /16 |
| Craft (12 pts) | Recording, synthesis, editing, and mixing are clean: smooth fades, no seams, no stray artifacts | Clean overall with one audible seam | Recurring seams, abrupt entries, or artifacts | Assembled without editing | /12 |
| Sound Map (6 pts) | Accounts for what is in frame and what would be audible just outside it | Covers what is in frame; little beyond it | Partial list of the obvious elements | Missing | /6 |
| Files (6 pts) | Named stereo WAV, Reaper project, sound map, and image, zipped and posted | All present with naming or packaging issues | One item missing | Two or more missing | /6 |
Total: ___ / 40