“We use music, but we also use sound to score our stories.”
For me, all the articles about utilizing music (or silence) in an audio piece, were highlighting the idea of pacing and the idea of using all the different sound elements to compose a whole score. The music, the pauses, the voices, and the sonic effects are placed strategically together to create a whole flowing, meaningful piece. Music and silence can be used to have a certain effect on listeners because of where they are placed and crafted into the work. Music doesn’t just become a transitioning tool; it is a device that can have a different effect depending on where it is placed and what kind of sound or mood it evokes.
An example of a device used differently based on where it occurs in the audio is Biewen’s description of the pause. It can be used for emphasis, for authenticity, to fade to black, or to be expressive, but all of these uses of the pause depend on where they are placed or where they occur in the audio. The George Foreman Grill piece uses a pause right when George Foreman introduces himself and the music changes to a piano. This emphasizes George Foreman’s entrance into the piece and also adds a moment of transition. The pause is also used in Mitchell’s piece and he explains, “That’s because I wanted to leave space where I could add sound design elements that illustrated and helped us feel the river basin’s evolution.” These pauses affect the pacing of the story, and have a different result in the whole piece instead of allowing one sound element to run up into the next (which would have a very different effect).
Music is also crafted in the same way. Mitchell shows us how he uses the music as a sonic depiction of a visual idea, but also to stress points in Bejan’s speech. Mitchell notes, “these vibraphone strikes hit at precisely the moment when they would underline points in Bejan’s description, almost like turning on a lightbulb. He says, “the drawing of the Mississippi River Basin,” and then (bing!) a connection is made.” Music is strategically chosen, looped, extended or slowed to have a particular impact against the other sounds in the “score.”
My only concern is how in all of these examples they found the “right” music. It seems to be an associative process. Mitchell explains how he focused on the idea of patterns to highlight the concept of repetitive actions in the piece, and the kitchen sisters made rules of origin to try and pin down their search for music but ended up expanding their filter until landing on a song. It seems a daunting task to find music that fits the mood of a piece, doesn’t drowned out anything, or isn’t too literal, but that supports the sounds and theme of the story.
