Sound Design

Sound has a massive effect on any performance as it is able to create different atmospheres and moods that are able to tell the audience exactly what is going on at that time in the performance. Sound is very important as it can be used in a variety of different ways and the two major parts of sound are sound effects and music. Sound can be used to show the weather that is there in the scene and sometimes also the location of where it is taking place. It can also show the time of the day and also something that could be happening off stage that is only heard by the audience. Music can be used to show a particular mood and they could have different genres to show different moods in the scenes. Music along with sound effects could also create/ build up tension in the scene by putting intense music in the scene. The music would also show what kind of play is taking place and also in what historical period. Sometimes music could also show characterisation and it could also show a whole story line.
This is our short scene from the Drama book using sound effects to build tension:

In our performance we included tension building music throughout the performance so that the tension was building up. We also has street sounds of New York back streets because the scene was set in a back street so it made it sound more realistic. I also kept tapping my hands on the boxes to show heavy footsteps and they were getting louder as they got closer to the guy.