Thread by @apollopods

Ready to PAINT WITH SOUND? 🎨 The legendary @starplanes is here at #PM22 to tell us all about sound design 😍

First, what the heck is a soundscape? Let's break it down;
-What does the audience want to know?
-Where does it take place?
-What is in the place? What things are there?
-How does the place FEEL?

And yes, you'll start listening to all the sounds around you closely #PM22

And Minear is also a visual artist, so they're always thinking about light. They're thinking about the changing colors of clouds ☁️⛅⛈️

The same is true for sound: "I think about how the sound is impacted by the things around it" #PM22

When someone looks at your visual art, you want them to feel something. The same is true for sound!

Tip 1: use the whole palette!

Use your painting supplies like reverb, echo, fade, distortion, pitch, volume, and panning #PM22

"It's not just the sounds you pick for your scene. It's also HOW you drop those sounds into the scene."

Layer sounds like you layer paint! Stack and stack and stack layers of sounds with different textures. Blend them together. Mix them around! #PM22

Example of an sfx cue: large warehouse, canister dropped and splattered on the floor

First, warehouse: hard floor, tile or wood or concrete

Next, short action, but broken up point by point: pick up, pass it, open, drop, liquid hits ground, etc. #PM22

You can tell when water is dropped on a single spot, when it drops in a splatter, when it's spread out, when it's dropped into other water versus a floor #PM22

Have a consistently of style

Sounds coming from the place or thing should sound like they're coming from the same place or thing!
Be consistent: is the jacket denim or leather? Is the canister over there or over here?
You can get away with a lot as long as it's consistent! #PM22

Pick complementary sounds like you would pick complementary colors

If you have a big cave with consistent bass drone, look for higher pitched staccato sounds

Think about textures: crunchy gravel contrasts with drone of the cave #PM22

Also be mindful of music and try to blend

The foreboding cave music blended with the foreboding cave drone!

Tal is playing the scene and my synesthesia is going wild 😂 #PM22

In this scene, Tal also snuck in creaking of ropes--it blends with the crunchy gravel but it's higher pitched and distinct!

Next tip: don't bend just to "photorealism"

Don't limit yourself! Tal sees realism and says, "Cover your ears... Fuck that!" 😂

Another good example for those at home: a real life punch doesn't at all sound like what it does in film/TV #PM22

The examples Tal are giving are absolutely stunning. Work with Tal. Just like. Work with Tal. Pay them well. Holy shit. Conveying them accurately in tweet is full on not gonna happen. The vibes are too unnameable and gorgeous #PM22

Next tip: connect with emotions!

Connecting with emotions can be hard when you're "hunched over like a little gremlin" working in your DAW 😂

But always keep it in mind! You can build soundscapes that are comforting--or "fearful and uneasy" #PM22

Think about what you want your listener to imagine BEYOND visually

Do you want them relaxed, or on the edge of their seat?

Think about EVERY sense you can inspire in the audience! #PM22

Let's think about building a Happy Forest 😌🌳

You want crinkles. You want crackles. You want it cool, calm, cozy.

Think about: a breeze (cooling), rustling foliage (rustling, low), campfire crackling (warming, cozy), birds if day and crickets of night #PM22

Now let's be different... a SCARY ELEVATOR! 😰🚪 i wonder if @SDITEpod

What sounds make you cringe and squirm and stress out? Ropes creaking. Metal squeaking! Cold metals and inorganic clangs. Machine motors that sound unnervingly old. Gears clanking and clicking too slow #PM22

Another quick tip: doors opening and closing often sound too similar even if they're realistic. Add a thud to emphasize closing! #PM22

DON'T USE THE FCC ALARM TONE OR SIRENS IN YOUR PODCAST. #PM22

Don't forget about tense breath!

Don't forget that "you can set stakes through music alone"--Minear says they just played Skyrim and it bugged so the fight music followed them into a chill inn and they were so stressed 😂 learn from video games tbh! #PM22

Ooooooh and don't forget about

very

sudden

SILENCE! 😰❗

Play with the audience's expectations. Make them say, "Wait... WHY 😱" #PM22

Think about environmental concepts like air pressure, and CHANGES in air pressure

Think about weather, temperature, etc

Make a listener try to solve a puzzle with just the sound. That's tension! #PM22

And don't forget about using actual materials to do foley! Learn from the film classics, like using a metal spring stretched out and hit for some pewpew lasers 💥 #PM22

This panel is also WAY funnier than I cam convey here 😂 We're sound designing for a stock photo of an astronaut in a space ship

And in the words of Minear,

"We've given this man a lot of problems."

😂😂😂 #PM22

Q&A time!

Q: What do you do when you don't have as much time as sound design often needs?

A: Think about what sounds are most important, then which emotions are most important. Use the sounds that convey that the quickest. Find presets as much as you can! #PM22

Q: How do you find clarity without visuals?

A: Do it from the start, and write SCRIPTS that are suited to audio!

Q from ME!!! What's the importance of room tones?

Room tone is what a room sounds like without any other incidental sounds happening. Is there AC? Is there noise outside a window? There's a huge difference between the sound of an empty room and silence #PM22

Room tone helps a scene sounds full, and helps all of your characters sound like they're really in the same room--even if they recorded remotely and asynchronously

It's also a great blending tool to pull everything all together #PM22

Q: What about subconscious sound?

A: This idea owns, but be mindful that not everyone can hear the same frequencies, and not every speaker plays the same frequencies. "I get really worried about freaking out some dogs 😔" says Minear 😂 #PM22

Q: How do you know if you've gone too far with intense scenes?

A: When people yell at you 🙂

But for real: send it to beta listeners you love and trust. Look for feedback you value and listen to it. And don't forget about content warnings at the top of the episode! #PM22

Last Q: Fave plugins?

TAL SOFTWARE? FOR REAL? 😂 omg... @ToguAudioLine uhhh do y'all know Tal Minear? Amazing sound designer Tal Minear?

If this intro hasn't been made, I'm making it now. This is too perfect. #PM22

And that's wrapped!

Tal Minear is a damn superstar. #PM22