From the outset, it is clear as a company that we were agreed on what we want to achieve in our final performance, we want to make the audience feel something. In order to make it memorable and dynamic we want to include lighting, using the stories of real people, incorporating physical theatre and also the use of live and recorded music to underpin the piece which is my main role; the sound designer. The primary role of a sound designer is to ‘help establish the emotional atmosphere in which the scene occurs’ (Kaye and LeBrecht, 2009, 226). Early on in the process, we wanted to get as much inspiration as we could from professional theatre companies. After seeing Paper Birds incredible and moving performance of Broke at Lincoln’s Drill Hall, I met with the Musical Director afterwards. I discussed with him different techniques and top tips that musical and sound designers should incorporate, and the one thing I found the most useful was the fact that there should be a reason for having the piano on stage. As part of our production, we want to incorporate live music on stage on stage, and by having a piano it will bring a further dynamic for the audience to engage with. As part of my role as sound designer, I have started to explore the kind of pieces of music I want to use.
During this week’s rehearsals, we began to devise our opening, a movement/physical theatre sequence based on a practical task we explored in rehearsal; writing a letter to someone you know you could never actually send. Today we experimented with intertwining our solo movements with pair movements; creating multiple stories on stage for the audience to interpret. In order to reflect the mood of the scene, I gave Michael (the director) a piece of music that had a more uplifting feel to it.
Onde Corte by Ludovico Einaudi:
After listening to it, and trying it out with the scene we had created, it became clear that we needed something that builds in dramatic and then returns to becoming gentler again to reflect the increase in anguish. So I carried on researching into different artists, and came across Imogen Heap.
You Know Where to Find Me by Imogen Heap:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sXnAly79G4
Both pieces of music allow a story to unfold through the piano melody. As Brown mentions ‘hearing is a sense that immerses us in the world, vision is a sense that removes us from it’ (Brown, 2010, 211). Specifically, the melody of the Einaudi piece is based on one repeated phrase that changes key half way through. The simplistic yet beautiful runs of the melody evoke memories and feelings of warmth and joy. Although the Einaudi piece does not fit in with the opening scene, I want to incorporate in somewhere throughout because it is such a beautiful piece of music.
-Naomi
Works cited
Brown, R. (2010) Sound: A reader in theatre practice. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan.
Einaudi, L. (1996) Onde Corte [online] Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4B1Nt3TE8EU [Accessed 19th February 2015].
Heap, I. (2014) You Know Where to Find Me (Instrumental) [online] Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sXnAly79G4 [Accessed 19th February 2015]
Kaye, D. and LeBrecht, J. (2009) Sound and Music for the Theatre: The Art and Technique of Design. Oxford: Elsevier.