Synthesis, Sampling, and Sound Design in Film Scoring: Electronic and Textural Resources – Michele Darling

Current music technology helps us add entirely new realms of possibilities for sound. As composers working with synthesized sounds, sampling, and audio effects, you will take on the role of a score sound designer. Creating sounds that no one has heard before is a mission that will engage and excite listeners, and it will make your scores sound unique.

Throughout this course, you will look closely at purely electronic music scores as well as mixed scores that combine electronic-based sounds with traditional instruments. We’ll go through a brief history of electronic music and sound design as score to give us context and we’ll learn to recognize the most influential scores that have had an impact on composers in the field today. We’ll also look closely at current music technology and composition techniques used in film scoring today.

This course focuses on using sound as texture within the film score, working with raw and electronic sound material to create innovative and cutting-edge soundscapes. Following an overview of music synthesis concepts, students will use software synthesizers and samplers to develop their own unique sounds and create dramatic musical soundscapes. You will create your own electronic and sampled sounds, use effects to enhance the sounds, generate audio loops, and apply these sonic textures to a score.

Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:

• Use music synthesis to create a textural score
• Create original instruments for cinematic composition
• Manipulate existing sampled or synthesized instruments to customize a sound
• Apply audio effects for creative sound enhancement

Syllabus

Lesson 1 Intro to Sound

Lesson 2 Subtractive Synthesis

Lesson 3 Subtractive Synthesis, Part 2: Modulation and Motion

Lesson 4 Effects and Soundscapes

Lesson 5 FM Synthesis

Lesson 6 Drive and Rhythm in the Soundtrack: Step Sequencers and Arpeggiators

Lesson 7 Creating Sample-Based Loops

Lesson 8 Drum Production

Lesson 9 Wavetable Synthesis and Distortion Effects

Lesson 10 Vocal Synthesis, Sampling, and Sound Design

Lesson 11 Granular Synthesis and Ring Modulation

Prerequisites and Course-Specific Requirements

Completion of Orchestral Mockup in Film Scoring and Mixing the Film Score or equivalent knowledge and experience is required.

Students should have:

• Graduate level skills and understanding of film scoring
• Advanced facility in a DAW of choice, one of:
  • AVID Pro Tools
  • Apple Logic Pro
  • Steinberg Cubase
  • MOTU Digital Performer
  • Ableton Live

Required Textbook(s)

• None required

Recommended Textbook(s)

• Music Technology and the Project Studio: Synthesis and Sampling 1st Edition, by Dan Hosken

Hardware and Software Requirements

• This course requires both professional headphones and speakers, as well as the MIDI keyboard.
• Sample libraries, notation software, and a listed algorithmic reverb are not required in this course.
• In addition to a listed DAW, the following free software are required:
  • Tal Noisemaker
  • Komplete Start

Note: Most lessons throughout this course will allow you to use your own DAW, synths, and effects. You should be able to apply the lessons to your own technology. In the case where your DAW does not have a particular tool that is a focus, options will be available for relevant free plugins to download in order to complete the lessons.

Instructors

Michele Darling

Author & Instructor

Michele Darling is the first-ever assistant chair of the Electronic Production and Design department at Berklee College of Music and an instructor for Berklee Online. An accomplished sound designer, composer, recording engineer, and educator, Darling worked for many years as part of an Emmy-winning production team at Sesame Workshop, where she composed music, worked on sound design, and recorded voice work for Muppets characters.

Her career highlights include sound work for several animated television shows such as Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh!, online media, games, and applications for clients such as 4Kids Entertainment, HBO Family, the Learning Channel, Moshi Monsters, and Toca Boca, among many others. Before coming to Berklee, Darling was the director of education at the electronic music and DJ school, Dubspot. Currently, she is a member of the Ableton sound design team, making Ableton Live sound presets for multi-genre music producers worldwide.

Darling holds a bachelor’s from Indiana University School of Music and a master’s in music technology from New York University. She is a founding member of Aerostatic, where she, along with Terry Golob, composes and designs audio environments for films, installations, and music performances featured in galleries and festivals around the world. She is also the founder of the New York-based performance collective Girls Like Bass, a house and funk-influenced band that collaborates with musicians, dancers, and visual artists.