As I’ve said here before, there is a disappointing dearth of discussion about the aesthetics of sound design for theatre. It’s out there in spades for film, but oddly, the vast majority of theatre sound design books and articles are about the technology—where to hang speakers, which Midas console to use, stuff about wireless microphones. That’s all valuable stuff, but as Steve Ptacek points out, “all of the technical know-how and pristine equipment on earth won’t give you a good idea.” I want to read about how a designer decided what kind of music to use, what types of sound effects, preshow music or no preshow music, whether to underscore scenes with ambient sound…
Thankfully it looks like the discussion is starting to happen. Recent posts by Nick Keenan, Tony Adams, Heather Fenoughty and Steve Ptacek all have some great insights. Of course, I realize I’ve not been much help in getting this talk going…I hope to contribute soon.
Right now, though, I’m in tech.
May 25, 2009 at 11:18 am |
[...] of aesthetic considerations of sound design that several bloggers have been talking about here and elsewhere over the past few weeks – from collaboration, using the text as a starting point, to having a [...]