So the young people have been in the studio with Patrick getting their cyborg grooves on and as the man himself says they are all keen and full of cool ideas! Here is a little of what they got up:

• Started off with intro to me / what I do / a little bit about how I do it, then a little studio tour.

• Moved on to look at some videos from previous projects highlighting the part sound plays in making things feel polished and immersive.

• Let the guys experiment with some custom instruments I’d made for the project using music boxes / guitar harmonics and cellos as per my initial research.

• Explained the process of sampling every day sounds and turning them into sound-effects / the art of foley etc.

• Recorded the guys experimenting with the launchpad (sample pad which is used to trigger the custom instruments I have created) which allows very quickfire and hands on possibilities for composition.

• Showed the guys that the system records all of their actions and when played back – can give visual feedback (a little light show in this case but could as easily be triggering real-time animations / video clips in direct response to the sounds being played).

• Did a demonstration of creating light-sabre sounds using a combination of field recordings, the doppler effect, signal processing and some imagination 🙂

• Layered the composition they created over the top of these sounds to demonstrate how music when layered with sound-design can help suspend belief and cover over any cracks in terms of inadequate sound-design and how that could be used to make things sound more polished than they actually are.
• Talked about the basics of composition – happy / sad / driving / how to use simple tricks to create appropriate moods.

• Demonstrated the need for underscore as opposed to music which might interfere with dialogue.

• Set an exercise to pick 5 colours and then think about what sound might be associated with each (for example – yellow >> sun >> frying bacon or sizzling).

• Talked a little about Hyper-realism e.g: making things sound larger than life or putting in sounds that wouldn’t strictly be in a scene but that help tell he story through sound (for example – there isn’t a definitive “night sound” depending on location, but things like Owl’s hooting would underpin the fact that it’s night – actual recordings of night-time environments might be too subtle but that it all depends on the context – there are of course many, many ways to approach this and we can get more into that detail in future).

• Also advised to take note of any cool sounds they find whilst experimenting in other areas – note down and anything they like the sound of, they can then come back to me and I’ll help them re-create / record / as appropriate.
• I explained that I am simply a tool to help them realise their ideas and although I’ll be working more closely with them towards the end of the project – I can be called on at any time to assist / help inspire or give guidance.

AND click here for some early sound experiments with the cello!