Customer Reviews

Sound Design: The Expressive Power of Music, Voice and Sound Effects in Cinema

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This is a fantastic book. David Sonnenschein is an oracle of sound. I really like the way that he covers both the commercial applications of designing sound and music for Film & Media and also the creative and even spiritual dimensions of working with sound & music. Speaking as someone who works within this sector, if one day I have anything like the understanding of sound, that Sonnenschein has, I will be a happy man !

From the effects of mantras, ragas and the subconscious chantings of the american indians to voice overs, step by step guides on building sound designs, advice on how to conference with directors, the film industry and a whole range of practical and technical applications within the field - this is a truly comprehensive book. Written by a man with an obvious glut of knowledge and experience right accross the board.

If you are new to sound design get this book - it is easy to read, accessible and extremely informative. If, on the other hand, you are an experienced musician or sound designer get this book - you will learn things that you may not have even considered before and find the inspiration to try new things.

If you work or are interested in working in this field - I cant recomend it enough. Carry it with you on the train, have it handy in the studio, go to bed with it under your pillow !

Just get it.

With my attempt at becoming a Sound Designer I've found that there are not many books that pin-point all the aspects as this one does. Mr. Sonnenschein has written my Bible! Beginning to end this book is packed with specific examples from many different types of film and comments from the top people in the bussiness. It also gives you projects that can be done on your own. It covers everything that can be heard on a soundtrack. An absolute MUST for anyone interested in sound design and should be required reading for anyone involved in film.

This is one of the most eye (I mean EAR) opening and fascinating books I have looked at for a long time. I am an animation producer, and admittedly have always taken a hit-and-miss, often formulaic approach to sound as something secondary in importance to the visuals. This book changed my thinking. It provides a clear foundation in the narrative power of sound and music, is written with great insight and passion, and includes thought-provoking and playful exercises that you can't resist trying!

I have been surrounded by and involved with sound production in many different forms since I was a kid, and as relatively easy as it is to get solid technical information on sound, the art of sound, particularly as it relates to visual productions, can be a little harder to come by. Most of the attempts (that I have come in contact with) have been too esoteric or vague to be of much practical value. In depth, intelligent, but accessible, David Sonnenschein's "Sound Design" is a real "ear-opening". Whether you are a sound designer, musician, film or video maker, or enthusiast, this book is highly recommended.

This book is an amazing and complete guide on how to (step by step) and why two create a sound design for a film. Full with practical tips and examples, it should be incorporated in the pensum of every Film school. I personaly used the book and it's description of the different steps in how to approach the creation of a sound design for my clases in Sound for Film. The concept of "storyboarding" for sound is not easily found in many schools.

Pro Sound Magazine Review
by Steve Harvey

Sound Design: The Expressive Power of Music, Voice and Sound Effects in Cinema by David Sonnenschein (Michael Wiese Productions; www.mwp.com) is a fascinating read for anybody who has even a passing interest in the subject. Whether you are considering a career in sound design or film, are already involved and want to improve your skills, or want to learn more about how sound propels a film's narrative, this book is a must-read.

The author, a musician, writer and director who lectures and consults in sound design for TV and film, and who is involved in interactive media sonification through Sonic Strategies, a company he co-founded, goes way beyond the nuts and bolts of sound design to also explore the perceptual and physiological effects of sound. Stemming from Sonnenschein's neurobiology undergraduate work at UC San Diego, the research informs his own unique approach to sound design and has also led him to an interest in the creation of therapeutic sound.

A constant thread throughout Sonnenschein's thesis is his plea that sound designer's be invited into the inner circle with the director, sound editor and music composer as early as possible in a project's life, preferably from the very start, the better to reinforce the story. A film can only be enhanced by the application at the project's inception of even just a few of the ideas presented in this book.

Exploring the emotional and physical perception of music, voice and sound, the author offers listening techniques and exercises to stimulate the imagination and for the creation of a sound design that takes the explicit and implicit sound cues of a script and strengthens its emotional impact. From the initial 'realtime' reading of the written words through the drafting of a sound map to the final mix and print mastering, Sonnenschein offers a thorough exploration of every aspect of the process, with the help of real world commentary from sound designers such as Dane Davis (The Matrix), Gary Rydstrom (Artificial Intelligence and George Watters II (Pearl Harbor).

Sound is a frequently misunderstood aspect of film production. As any sound designer knows, budget, scheduling and political considerations can often mean that he or she is not called in until after the picture is edited. But the next time you watch a particularly dramatic scene, turn the sound off. Energy, tension and emotion all evaporate. As Sonnenschein points out, that's the power of sound.

I really enjoyed this book and have enthusiastically recommended it to our composers and sound designers. I consider it the closest thing to a "bible" for our work as it knits together the artistic and technical roles of music and sound in storytelling on the screen.