What is the role of a Sound Designer?

A sound designer is a very important aspect of a live event or for

media such as film, Music etc. Sound is seen as the final and one of

the most vital aspects of one of these things for various reasons.

Emotion, a Sound Designer must consider the effect the music has on

the audience; the sound evokes emotion and highlights the themes

of the piece. Sound can also juxtapose what is being viewed, for

example a pleasant sound in a scene which is unpleasant; this also

can affect the audience.

The Sound Designer is also responsible for ensuring that singers

sound natural (as the process can make a natural voice sound

unnatural and distorted) they do this by adjusting the pitch, volume

Echo etc. on a Sound Desk, they also control the channel of the voice

which allows the Designer to make the voice stand out from the

instruments.

Sound Designersmake use of editing to manipulate the sound to the

director’s (or performer’s) liking. This may be to reflect the mood of

the piece to the audience which again evokes emotion. Use of

diegetic and non-diegetic sounds will also do this as non-diegetic

music can be used again to betray the nature of the scene.