Sound can add emotions to artwork - CreativeMindClass Blog
Phil Brookes is a music musician and sound designer who hails from Wales. He worked alongside TedEd, Greenpeace, Tate, Medium, Passion, Strangebeast and many more. His music and sound design have also played at events like Cannes, BFI London, GLAS, and Giffoni with multi-award-winning films.
In this interview, you can find how Phil began his journey to becoming music and also his tips for how to start in the world of sound. In addition, take a look at the details of an acoustic version of an enjoyable Socks project he worked on along with Eva Munnich.
Phil Brookes' background
I'm a musician and sound designer originally from Wales in the UK.
Since I can recall, I've always been awed by music, sounds, and voices. I remember falling asleep before the washing machine as an infant, being seduced by its droning (appropriate given the topic I'm about to discuss!) is the first time I've heard a sound.
I started mimicking funny accents and voice.
My father was an obsessed audiophile and used recording equipment to make noises vocally, applying effects like delay and reverb to his voice for the sake of having fun. I would imitate him as well as other people such as Jim Carrey and Robin Williams with a little dictaphone and duplicate all of the humorous voice and accents they could 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. My brother was moving out the guitar he had left at home, and when I was an adult, I used it to teach myself how to begin writing and recording music. I was attempting to make the sounds that I heard on albums or on television, and then making my own sound to existing music.
That passion for using the resources available in order to produce or recreate sounds continues to inspire me to continue to push myself to the limit today. I enjoy the process to learn as I make and my favorite way to write is on the fly. Improvising, experimenting, jamming.
I learned to play piano as well as synth to create the music to 'But Milk is important'.
My passion for animation led me to The University of South Wales in Cardiff which is where I first met an awesome animator named Eirik Gronmo Bjornsen. The animator returned to Norway and made a film with Anna Mantzaris called 'But Milk is Important'.
I learned piano for myself as well as synthesizer to compose the music for it, and since making the film I've assumed sound design roles also, and haven't stopped creating.
The X-Files Project, aka the "Socks Project"
Recently, I collaborated with the amazing visual artist Eva Munnich, on the first of three Lemonade Insurance projects I've created the music and the sound design for.
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The Lemonade videos are humorous 15-30 second animations which 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.
In nine times of 10, I will make the music first, as the ambience I create will most likely inspire me in my music.
We've also had a conversation with Eva about her process for designing animation and visuals for the X-Files project. Read an interview with Eva.
The voice, Eva liked the voices I had performed in a prior TedEd animation I made along with Lisa Vertudaches.
In that animation I had pitched my vocals dramatically. She thought this would work for the sock specifically and wanted me to shout "yay" in this voice. While recording the "yay" I left the recording in motion and then added "seeya" just before that sock entered into the UFO.
Eva enjoyed it, and it stayed in. The remaining voices were created improvised as I saw them.
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If the machine was to have a voice, it would be low.
In order to contrast the loud tone of the sock's voice, I decreased my voice in the direction of the washing machine. Since it's a huge object and I thought that should it have an ear, it should be able to convey some depth. I mixed these with the foley , and then mixed with the sound ready for music to be added on.
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I loved the X-Files songs as a child.
Musically, Eva thought it would be cool to have something inspired by the theme from The X-Files, which I enjoyed immensely because I was a huge fan of that soundtrack as a kid!
Much like the vast majority of projects I've worked on I use an animatic (almost like a moving storyboard) that animators give me so that I can have a rough idea of timings, etc.
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I enjoy sci-fi films and soundtracks for games.
I listen to a lot diverse kinds of music. it includes sci-fi as well as game soundtracks. So along with reference to in the X Files theme, I thought about what instruments could be suitable for this genre.
I used mostly synth-based instruments drones, basses, and drones to build the basis of the sound. The drones were layered to capture the right atmosphere and representing the light beam out of the ufo, which is then absorbed by our tiny sock.
Then I created an impressive drum by mixing two kick drum samples along with delay and reverb. I also added a delaying synth that pans from left to right in order to make it seem more engaging. The final synth that I played with was the pattern of six notes which repeats through.
Whistling is an excellent human element to add to an arrangement of music.
The time was right to draw inspiration from the X-Files and incorporate a delay piano pattern and a whistle. I love whistling and find it's generally a great factor to include in a piece of music. I originally recorded some bass guitar parts too However, I found that they did not fit with the synthesized tone I was trying to achieve.
Piano pattern
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The whistle
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Creating an atmosphere in fifteen seconds isn't easy.
It was a pleasure working with Eva the way she worked, and her method is very thrilling and enjoyable to design within. Even though it's short, it is still a lot of work and poses its own set of difficulties.
Establishing and maintaining an atmosphere in just 15 seconds by using music can be a challenge, and composing an arrangement that isn't like it was recorded in a hurry is a challenge too.
This is a challenge I enjoy however, and, since Eva's animated, I've been working on two additional exciting Lemonade projects! The process videos of them on my website and on Instagram.
Tips on how to start adding sound to visuals
If you're interested in using sound in the visual world, there's today more inventive methods to achieve this than at any time before. there is really no better time to do this than right now.
- If you've got an urge to be creative, then follow it to the point where it will lead you. The most effective way to get started creating is to make stuff that you enjoy and then display it to people.
- Send messages to budding filmmakers who share the same passion like you.they constantly seek assistance with sound and they might be able to establish a relationship.
- The first step is to get started somewhere. I was making ambient music before I even thought it was a possibility working 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 that it was logical for me to follow that path when it presented it.
- Get to know other creatives; that's what collaboration is all about. If you are fortunate enough to live in an area that has films nights, festivals or other events, attend them and get to know other people.
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