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In a world occupied by sound, it can often be challenging to find a moment of silence in everyday life. In the realm of sound design, however, silence can be a very powerful tool.
The use of silence in film isn’t a new technique, but it is indeed one that makes a bold statement. For example, films like Saving Private Ryan and 2001: A Space Odyssey make great use of silence as a compositional tool. More recently Star Wars: The Last Jedi used the technique to emphasize a colossal explosion of a dreadnaught ship.
Well, I believe it comes from the premise that silence is supposed to be uncomfortable. The phrase ‘awkward silence’ for example is used frequently to describe situations when the conversation runs out, or you’ve just run out of phone battery and need to look up at other people in a crowded train – to name a few examples. We are almost programmed to believe that silence is something to feel uncomfortable about.
In the context of cinema, silence makes the audience hyper-aware of their surroundings. Especially if the entire film up until that point was beautifully orchestrated and every second was underscored by lush sound design and Foley work. To hear silence is almost unnatural.
To quote Mary Shelley “nothing is more painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change,” and silence is almost always used as a dramatic modification to the score.
Whether that be to shock, anger or to create a break in the sonic narrative, silence can be a straightforward yet powerful tool to add to any sound designer’s project.
If you’re interested in film scoring or just even want to jazz up the track that you’re working on, perhaps find inspiration in silence. I have tried it a few times when I have been struggling for ideas. On one particular occasion, I added a bit of silence to a track that was getting too repetitive, and I think it worked. The sudden silence definitely makes you re-engage with what you were listening to in the first place.
By stripping away some of the unnecessary tracks in your session, you could be left with a sound that differs just enough so that it offers something new to the listener.
Overall I think adding silence to a project is often overlooked. It’s a great creative tool to use and is also extremely simple to incorporate into any project. Even if you don’t always like the outcome of adding in silence, the main benefit is that it makes you re-engage with what you’re listening to and often adds a different texture and layer to your project.
Article by SoundGirl: Jen Athan
Another great article by SoundGirls: I Have A Work Addiction: Life In Entertainment
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The mission of SoundGirls.org is to inspire and empower the next generation of women in audio. Our mission is to create a supportive community for women in audio and music production, providing the tools, knowledge, and support to further their careers. SoundGirls.Org was formed in 2013 by veteran live sound engineers Karrie Keyes and Michelle Sabolchick Pettinato and operates under the Fiscal Sponsorship of The California Women’s Music Festival, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. In 2012, Karrie and Michelle participated in the “Women of Professional Concert Sound” panel at the AES Conference in San Francisco. The panel was hosted by the Women’s Audio Mission (WAM) and moderated by WAM founder Terri Winston. Terri brought together five women working in live and broadcast audio. The groundbreaking panel (which also included Jeri Palumbo, Claudia Engelhart and Deanne Franklin), provided young women and men a glimpse into life on the road, tips and advice, and a Q & A with the panelists. More importantly though, was how incredibly powerful the experience was for the panelists. We had all been in the business for 20 years or more, yet most of us had never met before that day and within minutes we bonded like long-lost sisters. We were struck by how similar our experiences, work ethics, and passions were and wondered why our paths had never crossed and how our careers would have been different had we been there to support each other through the years. Each of us are strong on our own, but together we were even stronger and a powerful force. We were empowered. Each of us had been asked hundreds of times in our careers: Are there other women doing sound? How did you get into sound? How would a young woman go about getting into sound? Through creating SoundGirls.Org, we hope to establish a place for women working in professional audio to come for support and advice, to share our success and failures, our joys and frustrations, and for empowerment and inspiration.
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