Chapter 1 The Evolution of Sound Design

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Chapter 1The Evolution of Sound Design

• Sound and Music for the Theatre
• Deena Kaye James LeBrecht

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We exist in a universe of sound.

• The trouble with life is that, unlike movies, it
  doesnt have background music. We never know how
  were supposed to feel -Lewis Gardner, 1985

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BERNARDO 'Tis now struck twelve get thee to
bed, Francisco.FRANCISCO For this relief much
thanks 'tis bitter cold,And I am sick at heart.
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• In a play, not a single word is arbitrary.
• Sound design works the same way.
• The silences - as well as the dog barks or
  musical underscoring - are determined by specific
  aesthetic decisions.
  
• Meaning and purpose are attached to everything
  you do as a sound designer.
  

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Sound Design - defined

• Sound design is the creative and technical
  process resulting in the complete aural
  environment for live theatre
  

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Development of Sound Design

• Since the beginning of recorded time ritual has
  been accompanied by music
  
• The ancient theatre of India and China depended
  little on scenery and props, but was always
  underscored by music.
  
• Medieval drama, developed nearly four centuries
  ago, served as a proving ground for many of the
  theatrical conventions commonplace in the Italian
  and English renaissance.

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Development of Sound Design

• Commedia dellarte employed abundant musical
  support of the action
  
• Shakespeares play used sound as a necessary
  element of design

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Development of Sound Design

• In the Elizabethan Theatre, music functioned to
  create atmosphere and to effect transitions.
  
• Dumb show with accompaniment which did as much to
  convey the message of the players as did the
  action
  
• Stage directions from early prompt books
  described the tone of the music, recorders
  doleful, bells strange and solemn or the
  pipes sweet

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Development of Sound Design

• Production books indicate that many musicians
  were hired for Elizabethan plays
  
• Scripts called for noises off, bells, alarms,
  clocks, whistles, thunder, storms, gunshots,
  cannons, wolves, crickets, the crash of armor,
  ships bells, hunters with dogs

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Development of Sound Design

• As Restoration, Neoclassical, and Romantic
  periods of theatre evolved, emphasis on offstage
  sound and music went in and out of style.
  
• Introduction of gas lighting in 1820, production
  values changed dramatically. Scenery became a
  set, with emphasis on realistic settings and
  conversational dialogue.

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Development of Sound Design

• The use of prerecorded sound effects was limited
  until the mid-1930s, when sound effects
  recordings for the stage became readily
  available.
• Bertolt Brecht incorporated sound recordings into
  his productions in the 1930s, but cited
  Piscators 1927 production of Rasputin as being
  the first to make use of such recordings(a speech
  by Lenin)

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Development of Sound Design

• 1948 introduction of the long playing record
• 1952 tape recorders began to replace turntables
  for general use in theatre
  
• Many Broadway Productions of the 1950s made an
  attempt to incorporate sound like Hollywood

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Development of Sound Design

• First credited sound designer was Dan Dugan, who
  was producing designs for the American
  Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco for the
  1968-69 season.
• That same year the Broadway production of Hair
  included the credit, Sound by Bob Kernan
  
• 1971, Abe Jacob, first to receive sound
  designer billing on Broadway for Jesus Christ
  Superstar

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Development of Sound Design

• Reel-to-reel, cassettes, CDs,synthesizers,
  samplers, computers, and high-quality speakers,
  MIDI(musical instrument digital interface),
  mini-disks, DATs, and DAWs have become the
  standard fare of the contemporary sound designer