Earlier in the semester we discussed THX and the creation of a blank audio canvas for modern cinema theaters. This gives the sound designers a lot of freedom to create and mold the audio film. In a way, I could imagine a sound engineer achieving what Brian Wilson had hope to by creating his own pet sounds but not only creating pet sounds, but creating the pet cage or world too. To be honest, it sounds daunting and exciting for any artist.
Anyways, the question I pose is this and any composition majors should feel free to chime in. What is wrong with having a blank audio canvas to work with? I would figure that having such freedom would be a composer’s dream. You could craft every sound, every phrase to its own uniqueness and truly hope to control the aspects of piece. Granted there is the worry that, during a performance, such guided audio creations may not be reproduced entirely accurate but that is a problem even now.
Another question: does it matter that you have a blank audio canvas based on what type of piece you are writing? What I’m asking is would it be more helpful to have an acoustically flat room for composing a film score or sounds versus creating a commissioned piece or vis-versa? Does what you are composing change what you want from an acoustic space? I would love to hear everyone’s answers and explanations for these questions.
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3 comments:
Something that could lead to issues along the lines of your question is the level of 'blankness' of a canvas. At the most simple level- even the same room on a different day can sound different. Especially since variables such as air pressure, objects in the room, and the perception of the people in it can change the sound drastically. As far as I've been informed, creating a blank canvas for sound can only go so far.
As for the acoustically flat room- I guess I don't believe one exists that would be perfect for everyone. Maybe on that is suited for a specific purpose, but relatively less for another.
But this all could change with infinite resources. If one had the time and money- I'm sure at one point they may be satisfied with a different room for every occasion.
I agree with "Anonymous" in that there really isn't a perfectly flat room. In general, you'd want the recording to be as flat as possible, and in some cases, the playback. A sound designed wouldn't want to have the room interjected too much into the sound experience. As a composer, however, I'm interested in different spaces, even if it isn't always "real"
But do you compose for spaces or are they secondary to what you are composing?
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