Sound Talk- Republic Poly

Sound Talk

The sound talk at Republic Polytechnic did not exactly give us the desired learning points we had hoped to gain by the end of the day. Even though many of us were disappointed that we did not learn anything much about sound DESIGN per se, there were some points in the talk where I though we could at least incorporate into our productions.

The speaker was very technical about his work. He taught us how to set up a sound system and how to overcome their respective environmental difficulties. For example, setting a system outdoor provides different challenges that when one is inside. In a room, one has to take into consideration how absorbent or reflective the surfaces in the room are to sound. Foam usually makes a good sound proofing material. For the outdoors, the temperature difference between the ground and the air is also important. If the ground is hotter, the sound waves travel upwards. The converse is true for the opposite situation.

In this way, if we were ever to perform in say… the ampitheatre compared to the blackbox, we at least know how the sound waves would travel. Setting up the sound system was something else altogether.

Another learning point was that direct sound (as opposed to indirect sound) was the ideal kind of sound we want. Indirect sound comes from echoes and the like whereas direct sound is pure and natural. With different frequencies, we also find that some sound waves (especially bass) hits harder and further than higher pitched sounds. However, based on contextual knowledge, I figured that we need a balance of both of course. By adding in more sound proof materials, we are able to cancel out the indirect sound. That added with clear speech and a balanced “EQ” of our voice, the audience should be able to at least enjoy and understand what we are saying very clearly.

I actually propose putting in more sound proof (or at least soft) materials in our black box so that we won’t have to worry about 2 different things: Sound leakage to the outside world, and echoes reverberating throughout our little dungeon.

All in all, the workshop was useful in the essence of giving us a better understanding of how sound in general, works. In the aspect of design however, there were little or no insights. I guess all we need to do is make use of that technical information to design our sounds in the way we want and need it to be. Maybe that’s what’s lacking in us. The desire to do the “correct” thing makes us forget what Theatre could be all about: doing what we can with what we have. Perhaps, like lights, there is no “theory” to sound. Just technicalities. It’s the painter’s paint, the puppeteers’ puppets, the musician’s instrument. What we create with it is entirely up to us.

-Mark