Musical sound design research

In my quest to learn more about sound design, I had to go deep into research. I am far more knowledgeable about the musical part of sound design, yet my knowledge is limited and especially for film production. So, as a refresher for the more basic stuff and an opportunity to learn new things, especially relating to the type of film my group is making.

A pattern

Music is a set of patterns that usually follow a rhythmic sequence. A combination of instrument and singing is used.

The most common patterns involve a 4/4-time signature meaning that for a full measure or line to play, there needs to be 4 beats to finish the pattern

In horror and thriller these concepts get bent and are distorted. Horror and thriller sound design involves making the audience tense waiting for what happens next. Especially the sound design of a thriller feels unpredictable, yet most of the time the music is quite slow and has lower notes. The reason why it feels unpredictable and wrong is because it breaks these patterns. Causing a sense of dissonance or lack of harmony in the music

 

Music in Films

Call me Cruella by Florence & the machines, 2021

the only original  song created for Cruella with the rest of the soundtrack which has popular songs

Mamma miah,2008 

Most big blockbuster movies use a combination of an original score and a soundtrack that has popular songs. A score is highly tailored to the movie, in which a composer works with the production crew to create a unique sound to the movie. Soundtracks involves everything sound related that has to do with a movie, things like dialogue, effect to even original scores. Media does not have an original score for example the movie and musical mamma Miah,2008 with all the songs coming from the popular group, while others like Arcane,2020 has a full original score that include instrumentals and music with popular artists and some can have a mix like Cruella,2021. But all these movies have soundtracks.


A great way to put unoriginal songs in a movie is through diegetic mean. More than a way to set the tone and mood of the scene, it also characterizes the character based on how they are listening to it, where they are listening to it and what they are listening to.

In Arcane,2021 the song dear friend, across the river, an original song for the show is sung by one of the characters, making it diegetic.

In thrillers, diegetic music is listened to through speakers at a party or headphones, usually it demonstrates the characters are having fun before anything bad happens to them. There is almost trope where music will get cut off once the bad things start to happen and things get more serious. Sound design is also when to choose to be quiet in a film to enhance the creepy factor and knowing when to cut off the pop song will keep the suspense.

Splitting things up

While researching, it felt overwhelming. Especially as when I started researching, I was doing all of sound design. Trying to learn everything all at the same and that felt like it was too much. So I separated topics into a way where I could research and learn it easier, taking my time to go deeper into each one instead of an overview.