Breaking Waves: how to listen and how to compose

NOW AVAILABLE OVER ZOOM - This comprehensive two-part workshop will walk participants through the theory and practice of sound design that can be applied to audio narrative forms such as sound installations, podcasts, or radio fiction and documentary works. Attendees will learn to deep listen to how music and sound design play a critical role in creating subtext, story mechanics and world-building in a a variety of aural mediums including documentary, fiction, traditional and experimental music, audio drama, and sound art.

In the second part of the workshop, participants will dive deep into the fundamental tools and methods for sound design.

This course is for anyone working in (or with ambitions to work in) audio media—documentary, fictional or artistic.

Topics will include:
- sound design fx (reverb, delays, filtering and eq-ing)
- an introduction to acoustic and musical concepts (spatialization and quantizing)
- maximizing digital resources on a budget
- surveying the mainstay Digital Audio Workstations available on the market
- employing sound design choices thoughtfully and creatively.

For people with musical backgrounds, this workshop will help you apply your skills into the realm of storytelling and for those coming from a writing background, you will learn to enrich your stories by thinking about them musically.

The workshop has been taught at the University of Pennsylvania Communications and English Departments at Rowan University Communications Department and was also hosted by non-profit media and arts organizations such as Women In Sound (NYC), PhillyCam (PHL) and Union Docs (NYC).