Equal parts art and science, great sound design will really immerse a viewer in a piece of content or make a listener ‘feel’ something. From online content to broadcast video, sound design is a crucial part of producing killer content.

Sound is the building block on which most TV commercials & video ads are made. Starting with a voice over and/or music track, the vision is usually cut and edited to suit. A fast moving spot will often have quick visual cuts on the beat of the music to add to the impact, or a voice over might dictate which shots are used and for how long they remain on screen. A commercial may also require to-camera or location audio to be used, and it’s important this is produced and mixed well to ensure the location sound blends with other elements added in the studio.

Once the rough edit of the video is completed, it’s over to the sound designer to weave their magic. At this point, sound effects are added (both library and Foley) to enhance the visuals. Mixed together with the music and voice over, this audio track is then combined back with the visuals before being uploaded for distribution.

If there’s one thing that’s certain in this era of a changing media landscape, both broadcast and streaming television platforms are hungry for content. Some say this is truly the golden age of television with so much choice available to consumers, however getting noticed in this age is the challenge. An original idea, well shot and produced, will gain attention and build an audience.

Great sound design is crucial to producing great TV programme content, because all the nicest 4K vision in the world will look cheap if it simply sounds bad. From lip-syncing gone wrong to dialogue that’s hard to hear, we’ve all seen programmes where the sound has really let down the visuals.

All TV content has a soundtrack, with incidental music, dialogue and sound effects and this needs to be mixed in such a way as to produce a consistent audio level. (Have you ever had to lunge for the remote to turn down a show that suddenly blasts into your living room?) A good sound designer will ensure this doesn’t happen with their special blend of creativity and technical experience.

As the name suggests, a live event gives the event producer an opportunity to create an immersive experience for the attendees. From huge video screens playing video content to background ambient soundscapes, a good sound designer is worth his weight in gold and can really add something special to material produced for a live event.

For example, imagine a room full of guests are sitting down to a 3 course meal at an awards ceremony and you want them to feel as if they’re actually sitting in the Australian bush. Short of planting hundreds of Eucalyptus trees in the function room and training crows to fly around overhead, there is a way to create an authentic experience (without needing live animals!)

How?

By producing a soundscape of the Australian bush and having it seamlessly looped and played through powered speakers positioned around the space!

With dozens of different bird calls, animal noises and other ambient sounds, a background soundtrack can be designed and built that will make guests feel as if they’re in the Aussie outback! Coupled with the right lighting and imaginative set design, the soundtrack will help transform an ordinary function room into an amazing, authentic bush setting.

Good sound design can add so much to a project. Read our blog articles to discover more.