Articles

Talking About Music Is Like Dancing About Architecture

Laurie Anderson sure was right about that. Recently I did some sound design for an audio logo for a major corporation, a brief "stinger" that would be the sonic component of their brand. The client had never before commissioned, reviewed, or even really discussed sound design or audio before.

It wound up being pretty simple - and came out pretty well, if a tad bland - but I learned some important techniques along the way.

Step One: Pretend It's Not Audio

The first step was to ease the client into the process by underscoring that this was just an extension of their physical branding; the usual exercises of deriving brand descriptors, understanding their core audience(s), and even word association helped here. It got the client thinking about how they wanted the listener to feel.

Another obvious technique is to ask what audio logos they might remember themselves. This is harder than it seems. The client could only come up with audio logos in their industry: the bing-bing-bing chimes of Intel and the yodel of Yahoo! were the only ones they could recall.

Step Two: Pretend It's Something You Can See

Next I tried to understand whether they were looking for something that was melodic or something that was just a sound effect. After trying to describe the difference, I tried to explain it as art, comparing abstract sounds from representative ones.

I explained that abstract sounds were unique, and could be evocative, but they didn't really sound like anything from the real world. Representative sounds sounded like something real: a piano, a watermelon hit with a hammer, or a jet engine. That at least got them talking about a sonic palette.

They agreed about something in between. Not very targeted, but certainly useful to know.

We also talked about mood and texture, as we would a painting. That went swimmingly, even getting down to describing colors. It took some interpretation, but more data points are always better.

Step Three: OK, Fine, Admit It's Audio

Then we discussed tempo and a variety of other sonic qualities, largely taken from David Sonnenschein's excellent book Sound Design, which is every bit as definitive as its title suggests. Casting these qualities as pairs of extremes - loud and quiet, harsh and smooth, rhythmic and droning - it provided a pretty good idea of where we were going. We only did this exercise briefly, as it became pretty clear that, at this point, the client wanted me to shut the hell up and fill their ears with brilliance (which, ironically, describes light, not sound). No pressure.

Step Four: The Rubber Hits the Road (and sounds like crap!)

It was now time to go away and design. I came up with five usable sounds that were primarily melodic, but had some abstract elements, figuring the client was fairly conservative. I chose the three best, posted them on a client-facing extranet, and waited for the next meeting.

The review went well - they chose one design as being closest to what they wanted - but it wasn't there yet. The client did well in identifying what was too light, too dark, too fast, too slow...but it took some coaxing out of them for what they wanted. Soon, it became clear the mode they wanted to follow: telling a narrative.

Step Five: The Ten-Second Story

A ten-second audio logo is not a lot of time in which to communicate something as complex as a mature brand. They wanted the first sound to lead the user in; Whoa, what's that noise? Then building quickly to a crescendo, they wanted a release that instilled them with confidence and strength. To me, that translated as a pretty accurate action plan: Abstract sound that rises in pitch or filter frequency, reaches a climax midway through, and then descends in pitch or filter frequency in a more representative major chord or arpeggio.

In another afternoon of work, I wound up making three more final sounds for them to choose from. One was, in my opinion, spot on, and I gave them two more for interest, variation, and the red herring factor. But sure enough: I nailed it. They picked the one I thought would satisfy their needs. Beer ensued.

Was there a lesson here..?

First of all, I learned that there is no single bulletproof technique for discussing audio; it is the most emotive of all art forms as there is nothing to see, and its result is entirely ephemeral. Peoples' experience with, and love of, music and sound varies so widely that you can't use one technique on all people.

What you can do, however, is to evaluate your client's methods of thinking and apply the right technique. Had I started by asking What story do you want this 10-second audio experience to tell?, I'd have nailed it the first time around (or so I convince myself). But some people love the visual metaphor. Others respond better to verbal descriptors. It all depends on your client's own experiences and mindset...and don't be afraid to ask directly how they might feel comfortable describing audio.

Ahh, beauty, once again, is in the ear of the beholder.