Title: Black Diggers (Composition and Sound Design)
Abstract: This project is an exploration of how to integrate many different forms of organically sourced and digitally manipulated sonic media to create a sound design for a new theatre production. The research was conducted through experimenting with different techniques for recording, editing, arranging, layering and mixing samples directed by the requirements of this unique cultural onstage phenomenon. Through the use of multi-faceted audio technology, recordings and samples were able to be digitally edited and layered together to sonically create a dramatically abstracted version of the cultural and physical environments of the Indigenous Australian soldiers who served in WWI and WWII. The sound design was created and first presented in the Drama Theatre in the Sydney Opera House, using three dimensional speaker arrays to create a complete immersive sonic environment for every audience member. This work provided a unique opportunity to explore a different methodological approach for creating and integrating different forms of sonic media in a theatrical context. Sounds of war and battle were created through digitally manipulating experimental recordings of vibrations through multiple types of metal structures in remote locations, to be then repurposed as an imitation of a certain part of a war soundscape. The research also included mixing software-generated instrumental tracks with live trumpet and flute recordings, to develop an understanding of how that combination of media types could create an emotive and scenographically appropriate sonic environment for particular sections of the production. Creating original content for this project through mixing multiple forms of raw sonic media in audio software programs allows for a deeper understanding of the ways in which modern technology can be utilized to re-envision the past in the present day for dramatic impact with a contemporary audience.
Publication Year: 2014
Publication Date: 2014-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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