Blending creativity with cutting-edge technologies, sound design transforms raw audio into the songs and albums we adore. Through advanced audio processing techniques, today’s passionate producers can create ambient soundscapes and hard-hitting tracks that evoke powerful emotions. These melodies and rhythms are what us tap our toes. It also makes music production incredibly rewarding: the chance to uncover hidden sonic possibilities.
Sound design calls for a skilled ear to hear the potential of seemingly simple tones or rhythms. It takes even more talent to translate that potential into a polished track — one that feels cohesive and has broad appeal yet manages to stand out in a sea of music. It’s a tall order but a challenge that today’s passion-driven music producers relish. Discover what sound design entails and why it’s so transformative across genres.
Understanding Sound Design in Music Production
Sound design is relevant in film, television, and even theater, but its impact cannot be overstated in the context of music production. Sound design determines each track’s sonic identity, bringing increased nuance and meaning to the ‘raw materials’ of sound. There are many ways to interpret audio elements, and when sound design is elevated in music production, these interpretations can be richer and more impactful.
What Is Sound Design?
As the art and science of shaping audio to fit specific purposes, sound design involves the recording and manipulation of audio elements. This ensures that sounds are properly captured and that they are strategically molded to create a desired auditory ambiance or atmosphere. Broadcast engineer Leo Murray describes this as the effort to “describe the way sound is used” while also pointing to sound design as a “comprehensive and rigorous overarching framework that describes all forms of sound.”
The Evolution of Sound Design in Music
For millennia, creatives have sought to push the envelope, exploring innovative ways to shape seemingly ordinary sounds. In Ancient Egypt, for example, awe-inspiring temples were not only visually impressive but also capable of amplifying the sounds of rituals, leading to a more immersive and therefore mystical experience. Elsewhere, singing bowls and whistling vessels produced eerie sounds that preceded the otherworldly effects later associated with synthesizers.
The origins of our current version of sound design emerged during the late 1800s, with technologies that allowed for the capture and playback of once-temporary sounds. The phonograph and graphophone, in particular, changed our perception of the listening experience, demonstrating that sounds could be preserved and shared. Soon after, microphones improved the precision of sound capture.
In the early 1900s, creatives such as Luigi Russolo began to experiment with mechanical noises, illustrating how a variety of sounds could join forces to create mesmerizing sonic experiences. Pierre Schaeffer’s musique concrete emerged a few decades later, which revealed the power of cutting or splicing to manipulate sounds.
Electronic music studios expanded on these methods, adding oscillation to the mix to create fascinating soundscapes. The synthesizer, however, arguably marked the most significant advancement in sound design, making it easier for artists to shape sounds according to their unique visions. As these went digital in the 1980s, musicians and producers enjoyed precise control over auditory elements.
In the past few decades, the digital audio workstation (DAW) has joined the synthesizer as a sound production changemaker, offering compelling ways to build cutting-edge devices into music production.
The Role of Sound Design in Music Genres
These days, sound design has a fundamental role in shaping every track and every album. Name any song or any artist, and you will uncover how sound design can amplify that musician’s talents. All artists and producers draw on similar tools and principles to make the most of captured sounds, but how they shape these sounds can vary dramatically depending on their vision and genre.
Sound Design in Electronic Music
As the essence of electronic music, sound design has long provided the building blocks for each track. Rather than shaping existing audio elements, sound design for electronic music means purposefully building effects from the ground up. This genre makes extensive use of sound layering or stacking, combining a wide array of sounds to produce a larger-than-life effect. Producers also use techniques such as synthesis to apply filters to waveforms and create new audio elements that sound little like conventional instruments.
A useful analogy for this is sculptures versus art installations. Sculpting, like pop music, takes existing raw materials but aims to refine them by cutting away what is not necessary to reveal a clear and compelling final product. However, electronic music constructs new forms that may not quite resemble ‘typical’ music shapes or sounds.
Sound Design in Film Scoring and Ambient Music
Sound design plays a unique role in film, with soundtracks designed to support the broad themes and aesthetics of the movies they accompany. These sounds can cross many genres, but they share a common goal: to elevate the ambiance of the film while bringing added meaning to each character or the overarching narrative. This also enhances emotions on a moment-by-moment basis; as one deep dive into film-oriented sound design explains, a significant “impact can be achieved by means of rhythmic and harmonic structures.”
This approach to sound design is far from new. Musicologist Danijela Kulezic-Wilson explains, “The seeds of the ‘holistic’ approach to film soundtrack were planted at the birth of sound cinema.” Despite this, there is an increasing desire among audiences to enjoy film scores as standalone works. Through experimental sound design, it is possible to craft works that both support film-based narratives and are also sonically intriguing enough to feel like fully realized works of art, even if heard without the context of the film.
Sound Design in Pop and Hip-Hop
As in film, sound design in pop aims to enhance existing sounds, rather than building them from scratch. While artists rely on similar sound design strategies to make their tracks feel radio-friendly, some experimentation is encouraged; this is what brings a fresh feel to each track or album. Sound design can also enhance vocals and instrumentals, creating a polished sound that holds broad appeal.
In hip-hop, sound design assumes a similar role — but with an increased focus on elevating the beat. Sampling dominates the hip-hop world, with producers manipulating fragments from other tracks to give these sounds new life. Drum design is also a priority, as it forms a rhythmic foundation via tailored percussive elements. Today’s producers work extensively with drum machines to achieve precise control over rhythms but may also sample from other tracks or even unique sources such as found objects.
Techniques for Creating Unique Audio Landscapes
As a multifaceted process, sound design draws on a wide range of tools and techniques to bring depth and interest to otherwise straightforward audio elements. Different tracks call for different strategies, but it is useful for producers to play with a variety of techniques. Options worth exploring include:
Sound Synthesis
Sound synthesis involves the process of creating sounds from scratch, as opposed to recording them or sampling them from other works. We’ve touched on the importance of synthesis in electronic music, but it has a powerful role to play across genres and even in film. This concept typically references one of a few main strategies: additive versus subtractive synthesis.
Additive synthesis combines sine waves (basic waveforms involving single frequencies) at various amplitudes, often leading to harmonic-rich sounds. Meanwhile, subtractive synthesis begins with a harmonically rich waveform but removes frequencies via filters to sculpt sounds as desired.
Sampling and Manipulation
Using pre-recorded sounds as the building blocks of new pieces, sampling encourages producers to repurpose audio elements with creativity, bringing a fresh feel to existing recordings. This was a big deal in the early years of hip-hop but has since expanded to influence nearly every music genre or niche imaginable.
Manipulation determines how samples are processed, thereby ensuring that these fit seamlessly into the overarching vision of the project in question. For example, the pitch or duration of the sample may call for subtle adjustments. Many producers also cut samples into smaller portions and then reassemble these snippets to make them sound fresh.
Effects and Processing
Capable of shaping textures and tonal qualities, effects, and processing reach beyond the tools and techniques highlighted above to bring that ‘special something’ to each track. These range from equalization or EQ (influencing the balance of frequencies) to compression (meant to control the dynamic range) and may even involve reverb (centered on the reflections of sound waves). This is where producers can get experimental, employing numerous effects to form an immersive experience or bring extra polish to existing soundscapes.
Tools and Software for Sound Design
While the synthesizer has long formed the foundation of sound design, this is just one of many tools or solutions that producers and audio engineers can harness to elevate creative sound design. Other solutions promise to organize or even streamline the process while helping producers make the most of their creative impulses.
Popular DAWs for Sound Design
Forming an intuitive interface through which producers can navigate various sound design challenges, DAWs form the hub of the modern studio. Each producer has distinct preferences for DAWs, with decisions often coming down to personal style and sound design goals. Top DAWs include:
- Logic Pro
- Ableton Live
- Bitwig Studio
- Studio One Pro 7
Essential Plugins for Sound Designers
Meant to extend the capabilities of DAWs, plugins take many forms, allowing designers to craft and shape a myriad of unique sounds. These limit the need for additional hardware while still enhancing versatility in mixing and mastering. No singular plugin is relevant to every project, although many are happy to work with stock plugins (which automatically come with DAWs). Otherwise, these options garner high praise:
- Fab Filter Pro-Q 3
- Omnisphere
- Voxengo Peakbuster
- Waves F6
- Vocalign
- Metric AB
Creative Approaches to Sound Design
Sound design has always been an experimental pursuit, and that is not about to change. As new technologies emerge, producers will enjoy a broader range of opportunities for elevating soundscapes. Beyond this, creative tools and techniques bring added fun to the experience of crafting new and compelling sounds. Exciting opportunities include:
Layering Sounds for Depth
Layering creates a dynamic sonic environment, establishing complex textures so that soundscapes feel more expansive and engaging. This often begins with bringing many frequency ranges to various layers of sound. Spatial layering also makes a difference, making audio elements feel as if they derive from multiple directions as they are placed within a 3D space.
Designing Sounds With Field Recordings
Field recordings encourage sound designers to move beyond the confines of the studio environment and, instead, seek inspiration from the authentic sounds from numerous real-world settings. These are often sourced from the natural world, with bird songs or the flow of water bringing a serene feel to any track. Other field recordings, however, may look to urban or industrial sounds to evoke a contemporary effect. This helps listeners perceive the intended ambiance of the track as well as producers bypass some of the challenges (including complex legal dynamics) of traditional sampling.
Tips for Aspiring Sound Designers
The tools and strategies highlighted above open up a world of possibilities for creating unique soundscapes. Aspiring sound designers or producers can benefit greatly from exploring these opportunities on their own as well as within a supportive and creative environment, such as a music production degree program. From there, the greatest challenge involves breaking into a competitive industry. These suggestions should help:
Experimentation and Exploration
While success in sound design is not possible without a firm grasp of fundamental music principles, experimentation is just as important. After all, it takes a thorough understanding of the rules to know how and when to break them.
First, it is essential to get equipped with a high-quality DAW, as this will form the basis of all sound design efforts to follow. Next, play with multiple synthesis strategies, including the additive and subtractive approaches described above. Experimentation should also involve multiple plugins, samples, and even field recordings — all used to form soundscapes spanning multiple genres.
Building a Sound Design Portfolio
Credentials can be valuable, but clients and employers also rely on portfolios to determine whether a particular sound designer or producer may be the right fit for a specific project. These portfolios reveal not only whether producers have a strong grasp of music fundamentals but also whether their skills and style align with the priorities for a given project.
Featuring a variety of samples (along with descriptions of the thought processes behind them), portfolios provide an immediate glimpse into how aspiring producers or audio engineers work with audio elements to create purpose-driven and highly memorable soundscapes.
Explore Creative Sound Design With a Music Production Degree
Are you intrigued by the sonic possibilities of creative sound design? As you explore new soundscapes and audio processing techniques, look to Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design to further expand your sonic horizons. Offering a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Music Production, we provide a structured and supportive degree program that promotes both fundamentals and experimentation. Reach out today to learn more about our online music production opportunities.
