Creeeaaaak. Let’s get straight to the point: On this page we want to give you an overview of the topic of sound design. And that’s just what we’re going to do. Promise. Sound design allows you to create, compile and edit sounds in a variety of ways and combine them into exciting songs. However, sound design is a huge field. The transitions to recording, producing and mixing are fluid. So that you don’t have to worry about this and the whole thing becomes more vivid, we let people who work with it almost every day talk about it: The two musicians Jannick (singer atIced Chocolate Empire and drummer with Unsparrow) and Johan (TaeTrue) will now tell you how they use sound design for their songs. That way youֹ’ll find out how it actually works and what options you have.
Admittedly, it’s a little tricky to write about a topic that you’d be better off listening to. So let’s start with a little excursion into the 90s. Not that sound design has only been around since then. But the song “Hymn” by Music Instructor from 1995 is a prime example of this:
The sound editing is very evident here. You can also hear which elements a song can be made up of and put together to form a whole..
Jannick: “You have to keep in mind that with every single sound you hear in the song, someone has decided: That’s it. I’ll take that. Actually, the entire process of music production is sound design.”
Sound design can have a significant influence on the design of your tracks and shape them in a very deliberate way. Using sound design alone, you can “build” entire songs without real instruments or vocals.
Johan: “Sound design can make boring sounds into something interesting. You can edit sounds and change them so that they sound (completely) different afterwards.”
With sound design, you can create entire worlds of sound, details and nuances. You can evoke emotions, give your songs more depth and make them sound more spatial.
Samples are sounds that are either recorded as an audio recording or synthetically generated. They are the building blocks from which you can put together a track. Songs can either be composed entirely of samples or supplemented with them.
With sound design you can break sounds down into atoms. Each note can be produced in a variety of ways; sounds can be put together and modified. With sound design you can edit and transform the notes so that, for example, singing becomes an instrument.
If you’d like another sound example that demonstrates how a voice can be transformed into something completely different using sound design, then listen to the beginning of “Can You Feel My Heart” by Bring Me the Horizon:
Jannick: “Here, the former keyboardist and producer of Bring Me the Horizon shows how he heavily changes a vocal to create a great sample. The melody sample is originally a scream. This is then combined with the drums, guitar, bass board and the atmospheric stuff in the background that carries the sound.”
“A sequence that I’ve created purely synthetically can be part of what carries the rest.” – Jannick
A word of warning: It takes a little time to familiarise yourself with sound design and know how best to use it. But once you get the hang of it, it can be an extremely rewarding hobby that also benefits your music.
Jannick: “Sound design is a great way to give a song more depth and make it sound more spatial. This means you can get a lot more out of things by going into the details. And how amazing is it when you still discover new things after listening to it a hundred times? The term ear candy comes to mind: it’s really fun when you hear a big tapestry of sound made up of lots of individual parts.”
“Whether it’s fat chords, a cloudy sound, wobbly tones like jelly or a dark touch – with sound design you can create very specific sounds and atmospheres. You can even influence listeners’ moods and feelings. And it’s crazy that I can always create something new whenever I want.” – Johan
Jannick: “It’s awesome when I know what I want beforehand and can actually listen to it afterwards. It’s so fulfilling to make really detailed music myself.”
“I want to try out things that haven’t been done so often before. Things that awaken the listeners curiosity. That’s why, for me, it’s a fantastic hobby that’s become a great passion.” – Jannick
Basically, you can get started right away with a computer and a DAW.
Johan likes working with “FL Studio” best and Jannick prefers “Ableton Live”. Reaper is a free DAW. There are also lots of other programs. If possible, use trial versions to get to know a program. and then decide which one you like best.
In addition to a computer and a DAW, we also recommend a microphone and an audio interface. These allow you to feed in sounds and vocals. You probably have headphones at hand anyway to listen to your results whenever you need to.
You can start editing the sound with just a few basics. Change the pitches or the reproduction speed, for example, or layer sounds on top of each other.
Johan: “With an equalizer, I can remove the high ranges and make the track sound like it’s underwater. Or, for example, I take out the low end of the piano so that the bass line comes through.”
You can use effects to influence and decide whether your audio sounds artificial or natural. All of these effects are already included in the DAW. So get out the “chemistry kit” and start experimenting.
Johan: “With effects I can create variations and make a track sound more spatial: For example, with reverb it becomes more reverberant and can therefore seem bigger. Or else I use delay as an echo for melodies. A compressor provides more pressure because it compresses or “squeezes” the signal. With distortion, I can distort a sound and make it crunchier.”
“I can set whether an effect automatically changes, for example, the hook only. And I can decide exactly what needs to happen at what point so that it becomes interesting and attention-grabbing.” – Johan
You can also modify sounds with synths, oscillators and filters. You can familiarise yourself with these as you delve deeper into sound design.
When you’re fiddling around in your DAW, the stereo is irrelevant. But you should pay attention to it when you’re making vocal recordings. Or if you’re recording other analogue audios, such as instruments. The acoustics of your rehearsal space or the room can have an influence. But you might also want to use that as an effect.
If you’re really into sound design, you might work exclusively with headphones. Make sure that you also listen to your productions with good monitoring in the studio. This is your sound control, where you get another important acoustic impression.
Jannick: “I recommend listening to the result on different devices and in different rooms before releasing it. The room acoustics can vary greatly and you should aim for the best possible result: keep asking yourself how you want it to sound to your listeners.”
Jannick:
“Mixing is essential and means that I make adjustments in the composition that the listener doesn’t immediately notice.
On the one hand, sound design is a whole sequence that consists of synthetic stuff that I’ve put together. This then works as a whole. But very often the sound design of the music I make is just one element that supports the rest.”
“The mixing is super important because: How do I ensure that the mixture of strings, choir (digital) and atmosphere fit perfectly into the overall composition of the track without standing out too much? The other side is that you have a sample that is definitely worth listening to. How do you get it to pop out in the right place?” – Jannick
“You may also have a synth that carries your entire sound in the chorus. This should be considered as an additional instrument alongside your guitar and bass. How do I manage to get it in there and carry the whole thing along, but the listener only picks up on the guitar?”
Johan: “When it comes to music, I pay particular attention to the beats. Maybe that’s because I started with drums. One day, a colleague sitting next to me on the bus spontaneously started making up a beat on the spot. That made me feel the need to make some myself. So I bought a laptop and a DAW and taught myself the program.”
Jannick: “I’d already been making analogue music with a classical band line-up for a few years. My parents were always supportive in this. When I was 13, they gave me a DAW, an audio interface and a midi controller for Christmas so that I could record the music. I am very grateful to them because it must have been really expensive. And because they paved the way for my passion for sound design. In the following years, I listened to more elaborately produced songs and was able to integrate the collected impressions into my processes and combine sound design with my analogue music.”
“Sound design is a continuous learning process.” – Jannick
In your DAW, you create individual tracks for audio editing in sound design. You fill these with your recordings and the samples. A little reminder: Samples are any audio snippets that you either recorded yourself or created synthetically. In sound design you can modify sounds (even vocals) so that they are almost unrecognisable. You can use them as a stylistic device and to give your song more character.
A good example of this is “Intergalactic” by the Beastie Boys:
You can use plug-ins available in DAWs or for download to create a guitar sound, for example, and then shape it using various sound syntheses. Here you can find the fundamentals of sound synthesis from the Leipzig University of Applied Sciences.
Sound design is a fiddly but rewarding job. Don’t get too carried away, just take it step by step. How exactly you do this is entirely up to you. Don’t worry, nothing is set in stone: you can modify the individual parts in the DAW at any time and adapt them to your progress.
How do you know how to structure the song?
Jannick: “The crazy thing is: I usually hear a song that’s almost complete in my head. Unfortunately I can’t connect a USB stick to my head and export the song. Then I would be hyper-productive.”
“It’s a big advantage if I know where I want to go with it beforehand. And then I use the sound design to produce individual building blocks which I then use to recreate the song as closely as possible to my original idea.” – Jannick
To give you a better idea, Jannick and Johan explain their approach:
Jannick: “With the end result in mind, I work part by part: I know what the verse should be and I focus completely on that. Then I go to the next part of the song.
To make the track full, I always try to fill its frequency spectrum as much as possible:
“Sound design is often a process of trial and error: I’m closing in on where I originally wanted to go. Sometimes I find new things that I hadn’t expected during the process. They’re often an enrichment for the track.” – Jannick
Johan: “Unlike Jannick, I always start with the melody. To do this, I select plug-ins in my DAW to import sounds or click into the specific audio track. All components of my song are contained in these tracks (patterns). I need several tracks, especially when I’m arranging a song. For example, I can make the melody fuller and thicker by recording the piano twice. I may end up with 25 to 30 tracks, each edited individually. I go from sound to sound. The track is then 90% finished, including the lyrics and vocals, and all I then have to do is put it through the mixing and mastering.”
“It’s extremely important to create your own system so you can stay on top of things.” – Johan
Jannick: “I’ve found that the process is even more creative when I involve the others band members. Then, suddenly completely new ideas and elements come into play that I didn’t expect at all, but which make the sound even better.”
Maybe you’ve spent hours crafting a song in your little room. The only question is: How do you get it on stage? And what’s it like for the guitarist or bassist if you’ve put the track together synthetically and not recorded the instruments using analogue?
Jannick: “First and foremost, I think it’s great that I can share my songs with the world online. Bringing it to life on stage is of secondary importance. Of course, the sound design can be a soundscape that you have to bring with you. Because it also significantly changes the sound for the live performance. That’s precisely why I don’t compromise on sound design when I produce music.
When we put together our set list, we think about which tracks we want to play using the midi controller. What needs to come from the band? Because sometimes we don’t have a hand free to create the special sounds live ourselves.”
“I wouldn’t compromise on the sound design of my song just to be able to play it better on stage.” – Jannick
Jannick: “That can happen. If someone says they don’t like the composition, we think of something else or leave it out. Or ensure that everyone can be happy with it. There have also been times when I’ve programmed something “unplayable”. Because the rhythm was too elaborate and the timing didn’t work when playing live. Then we ask ourselves how we can simplify it and find a middle ground.”
Baaaaam – now you’ve got an overview of the huge topic of sound design and the opportunities it opens up for your song production. If you want to delve deeper, try out trial versions of sound design programs. Ask friends who may already have some practice to demonstrate and explain things to you. You can also find countless tutorials online that show you in great detail how to put together your song. Jannick recommends this channel @hardcoremusicstudio and Johan found a lot of inspiration here @AidenKenway.
© Headergrafik Adobe Stock - Login; Portrait Jannick: Stephan Rauter - PhotoDevil.de
