Do You Hear What I Hear?
/(And don’t worry, I’m not talking about the Christmas song.)
Sound is a very powerful thing. It surrounds us at all times, and yet how often are we paying specific attention to those sounds?
Sound can be music of course, but it can also be created by a billion other things:
Objects (doors closing, printers printing, squeaky floors, keyboard clicks, etc.)
People (unintelligible chatter, direct conversation, whispering, yelling, sneezing, etc.)
Actions (vehicles on the road, steam from a radiator, glass breaking, etc.)
Reactions (fires crackling, the frying of an egg, stomachs digesting food, etc.)
And more
And because of this pervasiveness of sound in our lives and its ability to recall in us specific thoughts, images, and emotions, sound is an excellent way to create an environment and to tell a story.
Theater Sound
Last weekend I saw a preview performance of the current Broadway revival of West Side Story. (I would have posted a review here, but since the show does not open for another several weeks and is likely to change, it seemed unfair to do so.)
I have always been particularly sensitive to sound - just ask my poor parents who dealt with a sobbing child covering his ears every time a firetruck passed - and this includes both the volume of that sound and the emotions it tends to elicit.
(***Though I won’t be giving very much away about the new West Side Story, DO be warned: Here There Be Spoilers***)
So sitting in the theater this past weekend, staring at a very non-Broadway-musical-set and ready to watch a West Side Story that is supposedly not very like a West Side Story, I was immediately jarred when a big ‘ole Broadway pit began blasting out the Jonathan Tunick orchestrations that sound essentially like the original production.
Wait, what?
Everything else about what I was seeing and experiencing in this commercially avant-garde Ivo van Hove musical production was screaming “This is not a normal Broadway musical!!!” But the music was. And it didn’t fit.
It remained basically unchanged, and the music suddenly seemed to be undermining everything that the production was attempting to accomplish.
This was incredibly jarring, and not in the way that it seems Ivo van Hove was intending.
Now, I didn’t feel this way for every single number - there were 3 big dance sequences that, I think, benefited from the orchestration. But 3 out of an entire show would not be a passing grade in high school.
And this got me thinking. (A dangerous pastime, I know.)
In the theatre particularly, directors are so good at having visions of their productions that create a world and come together cohesively and wonderfully, transporting the audience into the story. But, I have often felt that this doesn’t always apply with directors to the sound of a piece.
“Well, that’s the job of the [Sound Designer/Musical Director/Composer/Orchestrator/Arranger], right?”
Is it?
Isn’t a large part of a world or an environment the sound of that environment? Shouldn’t that be part of the vision, and therefore part of the cohesive whole?
When a director says (for example) they imagine “a run-down street as the main set with heavy colors of blues, greens, and grays, with streaks of yellow,” we don’t then say “Well, that’s the job of the Scenic and Lighting Designers.” So why would we say the same of sound and music?
In the case of Ivo van Hove’s West Side Story, several of the (interesting and potentially very effective) changes he made to the show and its presentation could have landed brilliantly with a soundscape that supported his vision.
But it didn’t.
Sound is so important to a story.
Sound As Environment
Sounds are such an important aspect to creating an environment and, often, we may not even be aware as to why it works as well as it does.
But it does.
Someone who understood this completely and utilized this idea to the max? Mr. Walt Disney.
In Cartoons - Dialogue was (originally) scarce or non-existent, so the entirety of the emotion, pacing, and language of his cartoon shorts were communicated through music.
In Films - Music creates a sense of wonder and fantasy, or sometimes danger and darkness, and supports (literally underscores) the dialogue and action of the films. Additionally, Walt understood that a catchy tune creates both joy in the audience and commercial success in its repetition.
In Parks - The first thing you hear when you enter Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom is one of the classic Disney tunes from his early cartoons or movies being played out across the Main Street, orchestrated to sound like a recording from the early 20th century. You are transported immediately. And the music changes (song, tempo, orchestration, and volume) as you enter each new section of the park (Adventureland, Fantasyland, Tomorrowland, etc.).
On Rides - Walt knew the importance of environment for the sake of entertainment, which is why his inventive use of “Dark Rides” was so popular. He even made sure that the queue to get on the ride was part of the same environment, both to prepare people for the ride to come and to provide entertainment and stave off boredom. A large piece of this? The sound. Think about the soft, low, inconsistent drum beats and strings that mix with chain clinks, thumps, and incoherent grumbles while waiting in line for Pirates Of The Caribbean. Or the ominous and wandering organ music that plays amidst howls, squeaks, crashes, and screams in the line for The Haunted Mansion.
Sound can transport you to a time and place without any visuals at all. And this happens in real life too.
What does your bedroom sound like? Mine sounds close to silent most of the time, but there’s a consistent soft rumble of distant tires on pavement, occasional echoing car horns, and a slight whistle from passing wind. Sometimes this mixes with a loud hiss from the radiator, muffled water splashes from the nearby shower, or the clinks of dish ware from the kitchen next door.
How about your place of work? Your favorite coffee shop or restaurant? Your relaxation place?
They all sound different, and I bet you could describe what they sound like if you stopped and thoughts about it.
Application?
How does this apply?
Well, if you work in the business of creating stories and environments, it’s definitely something that needs to be carefully thought about, discussed, and analyzed.
For everyone else?
I think it’s a good idea to take stock of sound and music and the way it affects you, your moods, your tastes, your desires, and your overall comfort levels.
Perhaps the reason you didn’t like that new Broadway show last month had more to do with the sound of the music than the storyline?
Perhaps you don’t feel like your workouts are hard enough because you haven’t underscored them with the right kind of music?
Or perhaps you have a hard time falling asleep because of the natural sounds of your room, and maybe a sound machine would prove useful?
Take stock of what you hear and see what you notice. Maybe you’ll even learn something new about yourself.
