2. SOUND Sound Design is extremely important to the success of a show and for the audience to have a “total” experience Sound can tell its own story.

3. SOUND Listen to the following sound clips and write down the following for each: Time Mood Style Characters Costumes Lighting effects Which type of music connects with your show the best?

4. is the process of specifying, acquiring, manipulating or generating audio elements. Sound design Sound designer is one who practices the art of sound design.

5. Sound in the Theatre years ago… Simple Preshow music -- approximated the mood and spirit of the play -- played over the auditorium for about 10 minutes before the curtain went up & during intermission Specific sound effects according to the script -- doorbell, telephone, thunder, wind, etc…

6. Improvement in sound equipment The tastes and expectations of the audience and of theatre craftspeople. Focuses the audience’s attention and reinforce the dominant emotional theme of the material being presented. Reasons for increased use of sound elements

7. FUNCTIONS OF SOUND IN THE THEATRE Music Effects Reinforcement

8. MUSIC Non-musical production Preshow, intermission, post show instrumentals Underplaying Action Scene Changes

9. EFFECTS The creation of specific sound effects such as barking dogs, telephones, doorbells, and train whistles is still an important element of sound designer’s work, but it is no longer the sole element. Constructed sound - Any sound effects created by editing, manipulating or changing previously recorded sounds.

10. REINFORCEMENT (Microphones) Reinforcement is used whenever there is a need to boost the loudness level of the actors’ voices, as when the acoustics of the auditorium are not good or during musicals when the singers can’t be heard over the orchestra.

11. HOW SOUND WORKS Sound is a compression wave. When something compresses air (For example, a vibrating guitar string forces surrounding air molecules to be compressed and expanded.) the resulting wave travels until it hits a receptor, which interprets the wave as a certain sound.

12. THE NATURE OF SOUND Frequency Intensity Timbre Acoustics

13. FREQUENCY Frequency is the rate at which an object vibrates - the rate that the sound travels creates the pitch. Pitch – the tone produced by the vibration, - the higher the frequency of vibration, the higher the pitch.

14. INTENSITY Intensity: The volume of the sound - measured in decibels 20 Quiet Whisper 60 Normal Conversation 90 Lawn Mower 100 Thunder 110 Car Horn 130 Jet Plane at 100 ft = pain Any sound above 85 dB can cause hearing loss Distance affects the intensity of sound -- if you are far away, the power is greatly diminished. All of the ratings above are taken while standing near the sound.

15. TIMBRE Sound "quality" or "timbre" describes those characteristics of sound which allow the ear to distinguish sounds - that makes one voice sound different from another or a trumpet sound different from a violin.

16. ACOUSTICS The properties or qualities of a room or building that determine how sound is transmitted in it. Reverberation refers to the phenomenon of sound continuing to be present in a room because of sound reflecting off of surfaces. We limit this with absorbers - curves, carpet, curtains, anything soft. We can increase this with reflectors - hard-smooth surfaces, metal, plaster)

18. Sound Equipment Microphones Playback Equipment Mixer (Sound Board)

19. Handheld Mics Used when amplification is not trying to be hid. Used in situations where there are not a lot of individual speakers (less than 5 usually). Public Speakers and Lead Singers mostly. Can be omnidirectional - Receiving signals from or transmitting in all directions Can cost between $75 (corded) to $400 (wireless).

20. Lavalier or Headset Wireless Used when amplification is trying to be hid and/or there is a lot of movement on the performer’s part. Can cost between $150-$400 per.

21. Shotgun Mics Used when amplification is for a large group of people or over a large area (evenly). Can be omnidirectional. Can cost between $150 to $300 per.

22. PZMs or Mice Used when we want a natural sound to the amplification and we can’t or don’t want to body mic the performers. Can cost between $100 to $300 per.

23. CD, MP3, Midiplayer Used to play back sound (music and/or effects) at a required time. Cost is relative to how ‘powerful’ you want them to be.

24. Sound Board A mixing console, also called a sound board, is a device that allows the combination (mixing) and distribution of many audio signals and also provides the ability to increase or decrease the amplitude of the various signals. Cost is relative to features – can be upwards of $10k.