SFX: Sound effects in film and video, it can also be used to describe special effects as a whole.
Techniques that can be used are: mixing, liveness, repetition, serendipity, fugitive nature of the sound, where radio is located.
Sound effects can be shared are explosions, dramatic weather, a prison or forest environment, a hammer blow to the head. (Make sure this sfx have been realised)
- Listen to “Knock Knock – 200 years of sound effects,” a programme made last year for BBC Radio 4’s Archive on 4. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001hxs4 This guide to sfx is itself an elaborate and wide-ranging tour de force and a work of art in its own right.
- Write up your notes on how Foley/Sfx have been achieved and share these on your blog. This is your second blog post as asked for in the Assignment Brief.
In this further section the teacher led us to experiment putting the sound effects and music behind the broadcast. After listening to a few examples I got a basic idea about what can be added for a broadcast, the sonic design could come after each line or design according to the scenario.
From research and experiment I found out these sfx can be created by using: Field recordings, Foley (where sound can be created by using items and imitate), Synthesis (electronic sound where made by computers softwares), Sampling (record exist sound and made electronically), Layering and process (sound can be layered up with multiple sound sources and also process in different sound edits like sound effects into new sound shapes).
- Polish and archive any sound files that might contribute to your Unit Assessment, or the group broadcast.
For the group project, we have finalised our theme and decided to meet on Thursday to decide further about work divisions. I have collected down all the ideas we had and are planning to bring them up for our meeting. Before we finalise all the details we have strong feelings about freedom of speech in China or even broader all around the world, we consider this is the fundamental right of all people and it is important for people to realise the matters of being heard and seen. We were thinking about writing a speech that could be sarcastic and having traditional Chinese instruments as the music for the background.
To know what specific music and sound we want, the first thing is to explore a range of ideas around sound effects. The traditional chinese instruments in China are:
- Melodic Instruments:
- Guqin and Guzheng: These plucked zithers have a warm, mellow, and resonant tone quality.
- Erhu: The bowed erhu has a haunting, expressive, and sometimes nasal sound due to the python skin resonator.
- Dizi and Xiao: The bamboo flutes produce a bright, airy, and penetrating sound.
- Tonal Quality:
- Many Chinese instruments, like the guqin, guzheng, and pipa, have a rich tonal quality with a wide range of overtones and harmonics.
- The use of materials like wood, bamboo, and silk contributes to the unique timbres of these instruments.
- Microtonal Inflections:
- Traditional Chinese music often incorporates subtle microtonal inflections and embellishments, which are easily achieved on instruments like the erhu and dizi.
- Percussion Instruments:
- Gongs and drums have a significant presence in Chinese music, providing a distinctive rhythmic foundation.
- The sound of gongs, like the Chinese opera gong, can be resonant and sustaining, while drums like the tanggu add rhythmic depth and complexity.
- Ensemble Blend:
- When played together in an ensemble, the various Chinese instruments blend in a unique way, creating a rich and harmonious tapestry of sound.
- The combination of melodic instruments, like the dizi and erhu, with percussive elements like gongs and drums, creates a distinctive sonic landscape.
We are thinking about testing these instruments to see which are suitable for our broadcast in the further sections.