Sonic Design Project II - Auditory Imaging Project
MODULE VSA 60304: Sonic Design
Tristan Vaughan Sleep - 0365120
Sonic Design / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media
Sonic Design - Project II: Auditory Imaging Project
MODULE INSTRUCTIONS:
“SEPT 2025: VSA 64304 / SONIC DESIGN MODULE INFORMATION BOOKLET”
Sonic Design: Exercises (Weighted 20%)
Exercises: Students of the cohort are expected to complete the series of projects given to them by the lecturer with the purpose of developing their sound design sensibilities while also increasing their technical proficiency. With the tasks provided, students are to analyze and manipulate sound properties through the use of sound editing software to fit to a desired scenario. All exercises are to be published to the students E-Portfolio and are to be submitted as outlined by the MyTimes.
PARTICIPATED LECTURES:
WEEK IV & V: Creative Sounds + Audio file Manipulation
Making Creative Sound: For this week’s activity and preparation for the final project; the lecturer has provided students with demonstrations and exercises on how to effectively + fully edit audio files. In relation to the final project which will see students needing to make their own audio files to mimic an existing sound, this exercise shows how files can be tweaked and combined to make a sound which normally does not exist. This editing of files can be achieved in one of two ways; students can either use a combination of rack effects on a multi-track to make a consistent edit of multiple files or can directly alter the core file itself - being saved as a new file.
For the exercises, students were tasked with altering the previous sound of a woman talking to sound more like a monster or alien; mainly using the multi-track and its rack effects. For this task, I started with the alien as it is something more commonly understood between people - a high pitch voice which sounds similar enough to language without being understood. For this, I would simply use effects such as the pitch shifter to make the higher tone and a denoiser to remove any artifacting caused by the distortion. To make the alien sound more ‘other-worldly,’ I would also use the reverb effect & _ effect to make the alien sound more tinny and unclear while also being technological. Finally, the speech would be reversed to sound close enough to a language but not enough to be understood.
“Edited audio - Alien from space”
For the monster effect, the same process was followed but with more of an emphasis to sound intimidating. At first, I had pitched the voice down and paired it with a light chorus effect to sound all encompassing - reverb helping to make it sound more ‘booming.’ While this led to a monstrous sound, it didn’t feel too unique so I took inspiration from a ‘near human’ monster from the media and decided to pair this monstrous voice with a second track with a slightly higher human pitch. The audio on this track would be made to sound more mono-tonal with a weird jitter to make it sound like it's almost human.
“Edited audio - Monster from unknown”
For the second exercise, students were asked to edit the sound of an explosion using more permanent effects to make it sound unique and not like an explosion. For this exercise, students should’ve been able to slow down and denoise the explosion which can make it sound like something similar to the firework or gunshots which is adjacent to the explosion but still a different concept. Additionally, if the explosion is further slowed down and has its volume increased, it can sound more like thunder + if you leave some of the artifacting, it can make it sound like the lightning struck much closer. Even if the artifacting is present, it can be manipulated to sound more interesting.
Audio3
“Edited audio - Gunshot”
Audio4
“Edited audio - Thunder”
WEEK VI: Structuring Soundscape
Introduction to module: With the need to move to an online platform due to local events, this week's class would be shortened yet, important in recommending how to handle the upcoming Project II. For this week, The lecturer mainly outlined the requirements for the submission while also noting where to be careful when mastering the audio in the submission file. Furthermore, it outlined what processes should be within the file to show the students understanding of creating soundscapes.
To start the sessions, students would be introduced to the switch panel as well as a new method of mass audio manipulation in the form of ‘Bus Tracks.’ In brief, bus Tracks are another sound output branch which can control multiple tracks with ease. By making edits to the Bus Track, all connected tracks will change - this includes the adding of rack effects, graphs, panning and other sorts of editing. To add to the professionalism of the audio, students were also informed to use the automation features more regularly; a process which makes audio fade in and out. This is mainly useful when using audio which doesn't settle close to the audio line meaning it makes an abrupt sound when played. To make the sound feel more diegetic, adding automation makes it seamlessly enter and exit without sounding forced.
As for the other requirements of the project, the lecturer wanted to see the full use of our current tool and it can be applied to make a creative soundscape. This would mainly come in the form of using processes (sound racks) to make the audio sound distant, close or through surfaces. Panning was a great requirement as it shows students are familiar with pacing and creative in presenting directional audio. Finally, audio tracks should be edited to never exceed the 0db mark or reach too far/too long into the red which can make the audio sound rather harsh.
WEEK VII: Understanding Sound Fundamentals
Introduction to module: With the first live-lesson within the module, the cohort and I were introduced to the core material of Sound Design while also discussing the projects + assignments and their
Project II - Auditory Imaging Project:
Auditory Imaging: For this project, students would be tasked with creating an audioscape to help produce a mental image of an existing space - using a combination of all the skills we have previously learnt. The goal of this exercise is to create a sense of space with different components which the audience ‘feels’ like the experience from the first person perspective. The audience should be able to visualise the space and have a good grasp on what is happening within the scene. We are not allowed to use voices or dialogues as it can immediately define the space (sometimes however, voices are a key point of an environment in which they are expected to be kept to a minimum.) Furthermore, students are limited to publicly accessed sounds and are not permitted to capture their own audio. The final requirement is that the audio should be between 2:00 - 3:00 minutes in length.
Storyline & Development: To begin the project, it is recommended for the students to develop a storyline sheet as well as audio breakdown to aid them in pacing a defining section of their audio scope. Furthermore, it can help them in finding the sources online or by defining what a specific audio should sound like. For this project, I wanted a storyline based on the third option presented to us (Cities + Transport + Exterior Atmosphere) while also leaning into the audio exclusive requirement of the project. For this, I created a story based on a blind individual returning home:
“Storyline - Just as I remembered it”
Developing Project: Starting the project, I looked through the PDF and picked out the necessary sounds using online sources such as FreeSound or BBC Sounds in some cases. With the files collected, I arranged them in a separate folder system based on the scenes which I’d done to make compiling them together easier to do and allow me to go section by section. In the multitrack file, this can be seen with the use of ‘Bus-Tracks’ which separates each scene into their own categories which makes management or editing easier.
For this project, Bus tracks were used to manipulate audio based on their position or relevance in the scene which became useful when editing the audio to sound more distant or lowering to prevent it from peaking past the red zone as required. For the automation (effects racks,) the bus-track is also good for bulk editing a collection of sounds to make it blend better with the sound scape. This can be seen with all the sounds on the opposite side of the train doors as well as the sound fading out as the audience exits the train station and enters the town close to the ocean.
“Use of Bus-Track”
“Use of Panning Audio”
An additional effect which was important to add was panning audio; this effect can help place a position for a person, place or object within the environment and prevents the audio from sounding like its stacked on-top of the audience. For this project, this effect can mainly be heard at the beginning with people around the train, minding their own business or preparing to leave. This can also be heard with places or objects such as the restaurant in the middle and the pedestrian crossing towards the end. Finally, the footsteps of the audience are also slightly leaning to each side, allowing the audience to know which foot is moving.
“Final Rendering”
With the process outlined and the project completed, the audio is ready to be submitted.
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