Download Chapter 1 The Evolution of Sound Design

Sound and Music for the Theatre
Deena Kaye & James LeBrecht
Chapter 1
The Evolution of Sound Design
“We exist in a universe of sound.”

“The trouble with life is that, unlike movies,
it doesn’t have background music. We
never know how we’re supposed to feel” Lewis Gardner, 1985
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.
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.

Sound Design - defined

Sound design is the creative and technical
process resulting in the complete aural
environment for live theatre
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.
Development of Sound Design
Commedia dell’arte employed abundant
musical support of the action
 Shakespeare’s play used sound as a
necessary element of design

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”
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, ship’s bells, hunters with
dogs

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.

Development of Sound Design

The use of prerecorded sound effects was
limited until the mid-1930’s, when sound effects
recordings for the stage became readily
available.
 Bertolt Brecht incorporated sound recordings
into his productions in the 1930s, but cited
Piscator’s 1927 production of Rasputin as being
the first to make use of such recordings(a
speech by Lenin)
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

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
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