Sound can add emotion to art - The CreativeMindClass Blog
Phil Brookes is a music composer and sound designer from Wales. He worked in collaboration with TedEd, Greenpeace, Tate, Medium, Passion, Strangebeast, and more. The music and sound design are also showcased at festivals like Cannes, BFI London, GLAS and Giffoni with award-winning multi-award films.
In this interview the interviewer will discuss how Phil came about becoming an artist and read his tips for how to begin your journey into the world of sounds. Also, dive into the details of an acoustic version of a great Socks project that he co-created with Eva Munnich.
Phil Brookes' background
I'm a composer of music and sound designer who hails from Wales within the UK.
Since I remember, I have always been awed by music, sounds, and even voices. Sleeping in front of the washer as a kid, hypnotized by the droning sounds (appropriate for the kind of project I'll be discussing!) is my first sound memory.
I began to mimic funny accents and voice.
My father was an obsessed music lover and would make use of recording equipment to create noises that he would sing, adding effects such as delay and reverb to his voice for the sake of having fun. I would mimic him and others like Jim Carrey and Robin Williams using a dictaphone to imitate all the hilarious accents and voices they would create.
Prince
My older brother played guitar, and it was his love for music and specifically the multi-instrumentalist Prince that really rubbed off on me. After my brother left and left his guitar at home, and when I was an adolescent I took it as a tool to educate myself enough to start writing or recording songs. I was attempting to make music that I'd seen on music albums or television, and then creating my own music in the material already available.
This passion to utilize any resources I could find in order to produce or recreate sounds remains what drives me to push myself today. I love the challenge of learning as I create and my favorite way to write is to write on the spot. Improvising, experimenting, jamming.
I learned piano for myself and synth to make the music to 'But Milk is important'.
My obsession took my into The University of South Wales in Cardiff, where I met the amazing animator Eirik Gronmo Bjornsen. The animator returned to Norway and made a film with Anna Mantzaris called 'But Milk is Important'.
I taught myself piano and synth to create the music that was used in the film as well, and in the time since I started working on that film, I've been able to take on roles in sound design as well, and I haven't stopped creating.
The X-Files Project, aka the "Socks Project"
Recently I worked with the amazing visual artist, Eva Munnich for the very third of the three Lemonade Insurance projects I've created the music and sound for.
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The Lemonade videos are humorous 15-30 second short animations that are designed to be looped. Eva's project had a strong sci-fi/extraterrestrial theme to it, and so she had some great ideas about music and sound.
9 times out 10 it is my intention to start by creating the sound, since the atmosphere I create can be a source of inspiration musically.
We've also talked to Eva about her process for creating visuals and animation to be used in The X-Files project. Check out an interview with Eva.
The voice, Eva liked the voices I had performed in a previous TedEd animation that I created together with Lisa Vertudaches.
In that animation I had raised my vocals dramatically. It was thought by the animator that this might fit for the particular sock and wanted me to shout "yay" in this voice. While recording the "yay" I kept the record in motion, and added "seeya" shortly before that sock entered into the UFO.
Eva enjoyed it, and she stayed with it. The rest of the voices were created improvised as I saw them.
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If the washing machine were to have a voice and a voice, the machine would sound low.
To contrast the high tone of the sock's voice, I lowered my voice for the washing machine; as the machine is large and I thought that if it were to have some voice, it'd possess some depth. I blended these in with the foley and mixed the sounds ready for the music to be put on.
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I enjoyed the X-Files songs as a child.
Musically, Eva thought it would be interesting to create music that was inspired by The X-Files theme from The X-Files, which I loved since I loved the music when I was a child!
As with the majority of projects I've been involved in I'm working with an animatic (almost as a moving storyboard) that the animator gives me so that I can have a rough idea of timings, etc.
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I like sci-fi film soundtracks as well as game soundtracks.
I am a fan of different styles of music and it includes sci-fi as well as game soundtracks. So along with being influenced by the X Files theme, I had an idea of what instruments would work best in this particular genre.
I used mainly synth-based instruments drones, bass, and drones to build the basis of the sound. Drones that were layering was about getting the perfect atmosphere, and also representing the beam that emits from the UFO to abduct our little sock.
I made an incredibly powerful drum by mixing two kick drum samples with a delay and reverb. I also added a delaying synth that pans from left to right to make the music seem more immersive. The final synth that I played in was the six-note pattern that repeats itself all through.
Whistling is an excellent human element to add to an arrangement of music.
I decided to draw cues from the X-Files and add a delayed piano pattern as well as a whistle. I am a fan of whistling, and it to be a fantastic human element to add to an arrangement. I had originally recorded bass guitar parts too However, I found that they took away from the synthetic sounds I wanted to create.
Piano pattern
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The whistle
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In just fifteen seconds isn't easy.
I really loved working with Eva, and this method is very thrilling and enjoyable to design within. While it's fast but it's still quite a bit of work, and presents its own problems.
Establishing and maintaining an atmosphere in just 15 seconds by using sound can be difficult, and composing the right melody without sounding rush-like within that time frame is a challenge also.
They are the kinds of challenges that I love, though, and since Eva's animated, I've worked on two more really exciting Lemonade projects! The process videos of them on my website and Instagram.
How to begin creating sound for images
If you're looking to begin putting sound to the visual world, there's currently more creative options to accomplish this than ever before, and there is really no better time to do it than now.
- If you're a person with some creative spark, you should go with it the point where it will lead to. One of the best ways to begin creating is to make stuff that you enjoy and then display the people what you have created.
- Send messages to budding filmmakers who share the same passion like you.they have always been looking for assistance with sound and it is possible to build a connection.
- You need to start at some point. I was making ambient music before I even thought it was a possibility to pursue a career in film and, luckily, there was an animation program at my university, but before this, I'd made and made enough recordings of music and sound to make it logical for me to pursue the path that presented it.
- Meet others who are creative; that's what collaboration is about. If you are lucky enough to be within a region that hosts festival nights, film nights or other events, go to them and meet people.
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