DRAM 283 - Theater Sound Design

Semester Offered: Spring
0.5 unit(s)

Sound is one of the five essential aspects of theatrical design, alongside scenic, costumes, lights, and projections, but it is the only one that does not exist in the realm of the visual. However, it is just as essential as it provides context, emotion, humor, atmosphere and mystery, filling in the imaginative world of the play while also existing as a living element within the room alongside the actors and the audience. Sound is another character in the show, and plays a significant role in telling the story and communicating theme, tone, and meaning. This course explores the role of the sound designer within the scope of the team, and their tools in a modern production. We learn how to use programs like QLab and Audacity to program and edit sounds, and how to make those sounds come out of our computer or media player and into the room of the theater to be effectively heard. Sounds can come from anywhere! We then study the creative aspects of sound design through a compositional lens, looking at why we choose certain sounds or music and how to build cues that fit the text and world of the play. In this way we discover how sound plays alongside onstage action to build a full and cohesive theatrical world. We learn about the technical elements of a theatrical sound system, and how to build and setup a basic sound plot including speakers, mixer, amplifiers and microphones. We learn how to safely set levels for a room, and best practices to ensure that your sounds “sound good”. Finally, we combine all of what we learned and collaboratively design a short scene of a play to demonstrate our acquired knowledge of the fundamentals of sound design.

First six-week course.

One 3-hour period and additional lab time required.

Course Format: CLS