Analysis of Sound Design Practices [ASDP]. Research Methodology Laura Zattra, Nicolas Misdariis, Frank Pecquet, Nicolas Donin, David Fierro To cite this version: Laura Zattra, Nicolas Misdariis, Frank Pecquet, Nicolas Donin, David Fierro. Analysis of Sound Design Practices [ASDP]. Research Methodology. XXII Colloquio di Informatica Musicale (Congres d’Informatique Musicale CIM), Nov 2018, Udine, Italy. hal-02003019 HAL Id: hal-02003019 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02003019 Submitted on 1 Feb 2019 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. ANALYSIS OF SOUND DESIGN PRACTICES [ASDP]. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Laura Zattra Nicolas Misdariis Frank Pecquet Nicolas Donin David Fierro Conservatorio di Musica di STMS Pantheon Sorbonne STMS Ircam-CNRS- CICM EA 1572 Rovigo Ircam-CNRS-SU, University – CNRS SU, Sorbonne MUSIDANSE STMS – IRCAM, CNRS Sorbonne Université fpecquet@univ- Université EDESTA - Paris8 [email protected] [email protected] paris1.fr [email protected] davidfi[email protected] ABSTRACT up to inhuman torture practices using sounds in ancient Chinese times [p.109: 7]. If we except the previous This contribution describes an on-going project started example, such activities are at the intersection of in March 2018 entitled “Analysis of Sound Design different disciplines: art, craftsmanship [35] [36], Practices” [ASDP]. The team comprises members from industry (at large) and science. the LABEX CAP (Création, Arts et Patrimoines); the Professional practices relating to sound design come ACTE Institute (Arts Creation Theory Aesthetics); from the depths of time and they were recognized as IRCAM’s APM (Analysis of Musical Practices) and such only on the last century. These activities are PDS (Sound Perception and Design) teams. carried out in different fields: architecture and urban By means of a large-scale study – based on web environment, visual and digital arts, cinema and TV, documentation, an online questionnaire, interviews and advertising, ecology and acoustic regulation, industry, analytical results – the team is working towards communication and marketing. Such professional understanding the creative process as well as the practices are therefore characterized by identity of Sound Design and Sound Designers in interdisciplinarity, as expressed by Murray Schafer in particular, in Europe. The main target concerns the 1977 [10]. Sound designer must have acoustical development of a consistent sociological, geographical knowledge, sound processing skills, psychological, and historical knowledge of the discipline, and, information technology, cognitive, socio-economic consequently, to better identify the relevant issues in know-how, musical and aesthetical talents. both artistic, technical or scientific commitment. In many areas, sound designers have already a The purposes of this article is to describe (a) the recognized career path. In theatre e.g., the process of general framework of the project; (b) the methodology designing/creating sound and ambience has been of the ongoing study (collaborative tools, writing and described as earlier as 1936 by Frank Napier [8] [31]. sending a questionnaire); (c) initial developments and At the same time one might consider as well Vitruve results - terminology and definition, translation issues, architectural conception of early theatres (Antiquity) as conception of a database, listing of professionals and pertinent sound design practices, calling for specific different institutions in Europe, first feedback analysis. fields of sound research/creation such as acoustics, architecture and drama (voice and noise production). 1. INTRODUCTION However, despite the long history of such activity The pursuit of designing sounds in human activities and the related jobs involving sound design, the appears to be as ancient as the human race: using terminology of “sound design” and “sound designer” automatic alarm signals and striking clocks in ancient have remained puzzling and, as such, quite new and not Greece, combining a clepsydra with a water organ ([1] yet clearly accepted as a specific profession in different cited in [2]); designing the acoustics of ancient Greek places in Europe. As such, associating “sound” with and Roman theatres [3] [4]; building bell towers and “design” was first mentioned by David Collison (1959) using bells as earcons [30] since their introduction, [4] in theatre to describe together with stage manager according to tradition, by Paulinus, bishop of Nola - a audio engineering activity. In the film industry, years town of Campania, Italy - during the V century AD [5]; later, this terms appear together first in the credits of the using sound effects to evoke emotions and underscore movie Apocalypse Now (1979), when, with the actions during the Commedia dell’Arte performances introduction of new audio technology, Walter Murch from the XVI through the XIX century [pp.97-98: 6]; (followed by, or at the same time of, Ben Burtt) was able to «collapse for the first time the duties of sound Copyright: © 2018 Zattra et al. This is an open-access article recordist, editor, and mixer to experiment with sound in distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution unprecedented ways» [p.288: 9]. The discipline has also License 3.0 Unported, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and been explored and theorized by Raymond Murray reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source Schafer during the same period, although in a totally are credited. different perspective [10]. As a field of science, research and development, sound pertinent design contexts such as artistic, musicological, design leads to a growing interest in academia and sociocultural, technical/technological or ecological concerns various domains, whether it be industrial domains. (economic) or artistic, in which innovative engineering By means of large-scale studies – realized through an meets artistic creation. Although sound design studies online questionnaire and interviews – the project has and research are caught into different fields of practices different objectives: promoting the understanding of - earlier referred to as human and applied sciences, creative processes underlying sound design practices; there need specific studies in order to connect sound building a consistent (historical, anthropological and design practices as a subdomain of the science of methodological) knowledge about the discipline; and design. consequently, better evaluating how sound design Moreover, one may consider that sound design still impacts the artistic, technical or scientific domains. concerns related domains as distinct types of vocation. The following sections describe the methodology, As a matter of fact, on Internet, everyone may call research protocol and the first phases of the project (the him/herself a sound designer, although practicing questionnaire), as well as the hypotheses and initial different activities, when it comes to work on sounds. thoughts on our research topic. This article is meant to Being a sound designer might be even ‘trendy’. The be a vehicle «to think [our] way through the research impression is that the profession of sound designer is process» [p.2: 15], because our «research is not a severely compromised by the general attitude reported straightforward process» (ibidem). Writing about our in the quotation by Mark Kilborn. methodological choices and our research protocol helps us establishing a more coherent framework to our future First, if you're seeking sound design roles, call yourself a Sound Designer. Don't obsess about your outcomes. By sharing the protocol of this investigation, lack of shipped titles or experience. For the first year a collaborative work with a defined method, we also or two I was trying to get my foot in the door, I hope that such a learning process will bring back self- obsessed over whether it was disingenuous and/or evaluation. presumptuous to call myself what I so desperately wanted to be. It was silly. If you design sound, you 2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND are a sound designer. Be confident about that [12]. PREVIOUS RESEARCH Either the concept defining this word is self-evident, The project is inspired by different design research and does not need to be explained, or there is actually approaches elaborated by [16] [14] and more recently something that all the different interpretations of the [11]. From that point of view, sound design may be term have in common, and must be clarified. We considered as a proper «discipline», a research object believe that Mark Kilborn’s words, similarly to many «on its own», and a specific, or «third» culture being others expressing doubt on the meaning of the term, halfway «between arts and humanities» [16]. The bring forward to a necessary research on the topic. In transposition of original paradigms established by Cross other words, the question could be whether or not there to the field of science of design [14] leads us to propose is a real difference between a designer and a sound a framework