AUDIO NEEDS
A guide to help you get an overview of what audio you need for your production.
AUDIO NEEDS
A guide to help you get an overview of what audio you need for your production.
By Asbjoern Andersen, Epic Sound ApS
Getting an overview of what you need when planning the audio aspect of a production can seem a daunting task. Here is a guide that will help you find out exactly what you require in terms of music, sound design and voice acting.
Imagine a movie without music, a video game without sound effects or a documentary without narration. It just wouldn’t work! Sometimes you may not even notice the sound in a production or product, but you would certainly detect if it wasn’t there.
That’s why music, sound design and voice acting are all elements that are vital to your production. They work together with the rest of your content to give the user or viewer the experience that you want them to have.
With this guide, I have tried to pinpoint areas that you particularly need to focus your attention on when determining the audio needs for a production. And remember, if you are in doubt about anything in this guide, you are more than welcome to contact me for further information and help relating to your project.
Now, let’s get started:
Using music is an excellent way of evoking emotion, building an atmosphere and enhancing a storyline. It can be everything from subtle to bold, and is a great tool for improving the user experience and engaging the viewer. However, with so many genres and expressions available, give some thought to the following questions:
* What style of music are you after?
A good way of determining what style of music will be most fitting to your production is to make use of temp tracks. A temp track is an existing piece of music that can be used as a reference for a certain emotion or style. For more information on how to make the most of temp tracks, please read my article called ‘The relevance of temp tracks’.
* What should the music accomplish?
Music can serve a myriad of purposes, so think about how and where it can enhance the experience or functionality in your production.
For instance, does you production need a jingle or musical theme that binds everything together? A well-composed theme can really make your production stand out from the rest and make it easily identifiable to your user.
Want to entice the user to perform an action or evoke a certain emotion? That is another area where music will be helpful. Or perhaps your production basically needs unobtrusive background music that provides a pleasant user experience?
* How many tracks do you need?
Look closely at your production to determine where music would be fitting. Areas to look for are introductions, the interface, animations, cut-scenes and other events where a certain mood or emotion is required. Add up all the places where you feel it would be appropriate with a piece of music to get an overview of how many tracks you need.
* How long should each track be?
For any music that needs to follow moving images of any kind, this is quite easy to figure out. Simply calculate the total length of all relevant scenes or events to see how much music you need there. For menus and other interface sections, you may want to go for a 30 second to 1- minute loop-able track. It all depends on how long the user will spend using the interface. Jingles – or sound logos - can be really short. They often need to be just 3-5 seconds to be recognizable to the user.
For background music, you need a track that sets the mood without being intrusive or distracting. As a rule of thumb, you should aim for a piece of music which is at least 1 to 2-minutes long to avoid repetitiveness.
Getting the right sound design for your production helps you create a believable environment that really draws in the user or viewer. It will add expression to a scene or event, bring focus to certain areas, and can even be used to change the user’s perception of your production.
Here are a few things to consider when deciding on sound design for your production:
*Do you need a complete soundscape or single sound effects?
A soundscape is a complete, linear sound mix that can contain both ambience sounds and added effects. It can be created from scratch or based on existing on-location recordings and can be tweaked so that it completely fits your production and the environment and mood you want the user to experience. A complete soundscape is fitting for scenes with a fixed length and structure. Soundscapes are created on a per minute basis, so calculate the total length of scenes or elements that require sound design to get an overview of what you need.
Single sound effects are called for when the sounds are triggered by user interaction or if you want to implement the sound effects yourself. Note every instance in your production where a sound effect is desired and pass on this information to the sound designer. Pay particular attention to repeated events. It is often a good idea to have alternative versions of certain sounds to avoid tiring the user with the same sounds over and over again. If you find it hard to get an overview of exactly where a sound effect is needed, ask the sound designer to help out.
* What sort of environment do you want?
Sound effects and soundscapes can be sculpted to create just about any kind of aural environment you desire. Consider whether you want an environment that sounds completely lifelike, or if you want to bring out certain elements, events, feelings or expressions. Also let the sound designer know what sort of overall mood you are looking for in your production.
Voice acting is used to communicate your message, and to add character and personality to your production. Getting your message presented by a skilled voice actor will bolster credibility and interest, and adding a distinct voice to a character will really make it come alive.
When deciding on the voice acting for your production, there are some things to consider:
* What sort of actor(s) do you require?
For voice-over tasks, you will need someone who can deliver your message in a way that suits your target audience. Consider whether your actor needs to be male or female, and if you need an actor belonging to a certain age group. There are many different types of voices, so hear some demos of various voice actors before making your choice.
For character acting, go for distinct voices that are easily recognizable. Provide any concept art, footage and other examples you might have that can help the voice actor in finding the most fitting voice for the character. Once you’ve found an actor that provides the character voice you are after, remember to keep that actor in mind for any future projects involving the same character. That ensures that the character sounds the same throughout your productions.
How many actors do you need?
Working out how many actors are required for a specific production depends on the number of characters in your script. Voice actors are usually able to do a number of different voices and post processing can also be applied to give characters a distinct voice. You can fill in your production company on the number of characters in your production to get an overview of how many actors are required.
How should your message be delivered?
Think about what tone of voice your message needs to be delivered in. Will it need to be:
* Serious
* Funny
* Energetic
* Relaxed
* Somber
* Monotone
* Comforting
… or something completely different? It all depends on your production, your copy and your target audience.
How is your copy?
Is your message or dialogue written in a style that is suitable for voice actors? If your copy was not written to be read aloud, make sure to get it adjusted. Bring in a dialogue editor or rework your copy yourself. If no attention is paid to this area, you will end up with dialogue that sounds stiff and uncommitted.
Does your production need to be localized for several markets?
If your production is targeted at users in many different countries, consider making localized versions available. As far as the sound goes, this means getting your original copy translated and bringing in and recording voice actors that speak the language. This will be a major task if your production involves a lot of voice actors, so contact an audio production company about this. Companies such as Epic Sound provide a complete solution in this respect, by taking care of both translation, recording and implementation.
I hope that this guide has helped you in finding out what audio you need for your production. As requirements vary greatly from production to production, you may have questions that have not been answered in this guide. If that is the case, click here to contact us directly here at Epic Sound and let us help you with your specific needs.
Asbjoern Andersen is co-founder of Epic Sound ApS, an audio production company that delivers original music, sound design and voice acting for a wide range of media. With his colleagues in Epic Sound ApS, Asbjoern Andersen has provided audio for brands such as Coca-Cola, Fanta, Sprite, Disney, Sky, Fox Kids, Honda, and many more.
