The world around us is dynamically changing and developing. This can be seen in the new professions that regularly appear, especially in the digital sphere. They are separated from more general areas of activity or are born at the intersection of two specialties and gradually acquire their own features.
Today we will talk about a young promising profession, understand what sound design is, who needs it and why, what a sound designer does and how to become one.
Definition and theory of creating unique sounds
How you can create a unique sound:
- By using common household appliances, objects, actions: clapping your hands, the noise of a vacuum cleaner, the sound of water pouring, the sound of footsteps, etc. Sound designers collect such noises into their library, much like a graphic designer references and clip art.
- Clean up existing audio from extraneous sounds or layering, extract individual sound effects.
- Create using musical instruments and computer programs.
- Combine several audio tracks into one new track.
- Perform a series of actions to build a chain of audio processing.
- Process the voice using computer programs.
What a professional sound designer does
Sound designer creates new or adapts pre-made sounds, music and noise effects for use in videos of different formats and purposes.
Here’s an example for clarity. The director wants the squeak of boards under the boots of the main villain in the movie to make the audience tense and feel something wrong. Or to sound the flapping of a butterfly’s wing so that the sound was on the edge of audibility, as light and airy as possible. The task of a sound specialist is to bring these requests to life.
Thus, the main goal of a sound designer is to create a certain atmosphere, mood, emotions in the audience with the help of sounds superimposed on the video. Sound effects should fully correspond to the picture on the screen in video games, applications, cinematography and multimedia. This is what professionals strive for.
What skills and personal qualities are needed in the job
Sound design combines creativity and knowledge of the physics of sound and requires a high level of technical and software skills. A good ear and experience of music school, where the ability to listen and hear is honed, will be very useful in the work.
Basic skills and knowledge required of a sound designer:
- The ability to communicate with people and clearly understand the task, grasp the concept of a project or piece of music.
- Creativity, the ability to create something new.
- Generating noise and sound effects.
- Creating sound recordings in good quality.
- Mastery of techniques, understanding of technical parameters of sound and ability to follow them.
- Mastery of plug-ins and programs such as Ableton Live, REAPER, Audiokinetic Wwise, Sound Forge, Pro Tools, AudioThing, Adobe Audition, Soundtoys, Sugar Bytes, EchoBoy, Looperator and Adobe Premiere Pro.
- Ability to clean up audio from extraneous noise.
- Working with voice, mastery of tools for its recording, processing and modeling.
- Creating a certain mood, atmosphere with the help of sounds.
- Sounding of moving objects, creating a sense of dynamics.
- Knowledge of modern genres and trends in music.
Personal qualities of a sound designer:
- Love for what you do, because in such a creative profession you can’t get far without it;
- the ability to generate ideas;
- readiness for revisions and criticism;
- unconventional thinking, a tendency to search for new solutions;
- a high level of communication skills, as you often have to work in conjunction with other specialists: directors, film makers, producers, sound engineers, musicians, etc..;
- ability and willingness to learn and master modern technologies;
- self-discipline, ability to work within the time allotted for the project.
Pros and cons of the profession
If you love working with sound and have a fine sense of it, know how to create a mood in video and can clearly adjust the audio to the video sequence, then most likely the job of a sound designer will suit you.
Pros of the profession:
- a large space for creativity;
- working on a variety of interesting projects;
- unlimited income, especially now, in conditions of low competition;
- relevance – this young specialty is actively developing and, therefore, you will be in demand in the market of services;
- often free work schedule.
But there is a spoonful of tar in this dream. At the moment it is quite difficult to find orders and, therefore, the first time about stable earnings can be forgotten. In my opinion, this is the main disadvantage, but over time it will become a plus, because the one who starts working in the field of sound design today will be several steps ahead of those who want to master the profession in 2-3 years.
Where you can study sound design
At the moment, full-fledged higher education in the specialty “Sound Design” is available only at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, and you can study remotely and get a bachelor’s degree after 4 years.
There are also faculties and educational disciplines for sound designers and editors in some universities, for example:
- St. Petersburg State Institute of Cinema and Television;
- Humanitarian Institute of Television and Radio Broadcasting;
- S. A. Gerasimov All-Russian State Institute of Cinematography;
- Kazan State Conservatory named after N. G. Zhiganov.
But higher education alone will not be enough, since the technical and scientific base is outdated rather quickly. Therefore, it is advisable to take up-to-date sound design courses, constantly find and read additional literature and books on sound design, exchange experience with other specialists, follow trends and start practicing as soon as possible.
Where to look for a job after training
Sound design has only recently spun off into a new field. Previously, these functions were most often performed by a sound engineer. Now the audience is becoming more sophisticated and working with sound requires special care, attention and creativity.
Sound designers are involved in sound design:
- movies,
- video games,
- cartoons,
- promotional videos,
- brand identities,
- applications and computer programs,
- motion graphics,
- TV shows,
- podcasts,
- music.
There is plenty of room for creativity, but there are few vacancies on the usual sites such as HeadHunter at the moment.
How to become a professional sound designer and where to start your career?
Specialists who have already achieved results in this field recommend creating a portfolio, constantly looking for new creative solutions and showing your work to those with whom you would like to start cooperation, as well as participating in various conferences, online and offline meetings of sound designers. Just there you can find not only like-minded people, but also your first orders.
Now the first agencies that deal exclusively with sound work are beginning to appear. You can look for work with them.
As for salaries and the cost of individual audio, there are no specific figures yet. According to The Village, the salary of a sound designer can vary from 1000$ to 150,000$ and the price for author’s sounds and noises can be set at your discretion.
Start with a figure that is comfortable for you, consider your experience and you are sure to find your first orders. MONETIZE YOUTUBE:
Conclusion
We have dealt with sound design: what it is, where it is applied and how you can start working in this direction.
To date, the peculiarity of the market of services is that it is not easy for a sound designer to find a customer, and it is difficult for the customer to find someone who will help to realize his ideas, because there are very few specialists. Catch the moment, because in a few years, most likely, this profession will become even more relevant, and competition among specialists will increase.