Sound is a way to add emotion to art - The CreativeMindClass Blog
Phil Brookes is a music creator and sound designer hailing of Wales. He has worked with TedEd, Greenpeace, Tate, Medium, Passion, Strangebeast and many more. The music and sound design were also featured at major festivals like Cannes, BFI London, GLAS and Giffoni and has won multiple awards for his films.
In the video below it will be clear the story of how Phil came about becoming music and also his tips for how to get started in the realm of sound. Additionally, you can read about the details of an acoustic version of a great Socks project that he co-created along with Eva Munnich.
Phil Brookes' background
I'm a composer of music and sound designer originally from Wales within the UK.
From the time I remember, I've always been awed by songs, sounds and even voices. I remember falling asleep before the washing machine when I was young children, and being captivated by the droning sounds (appropriate, considering the project I'll be discussing!) was my first memory of sound.
I began mimicking humorous accents and voice.
My father was an obsessed music lover and would make use of recording equipment to create noises vocally, applying effects like reverb and delay to his voice just for fun. I would mimic him and people like Jim Carrey and Robin Williams by using a small dictaphone, and duplicate all of the humorous voice and accents they could make up.
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. When my brother moved out 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 and recording music. Challenging myself to create the sounds that I heard on albums or on television and creating my own music to existing music.
The desire to use the resources available to make or create sound is what still inspires me to push myself today. I am awestruck by the challenges of learning as I create and my favourite way to write is to write on the spot. Improvising, experimenting, jamming.
I learned piano for myself and synth to make the music for 'But Milk is important'.
My passion for animation led my to The University of South Wales in Cardiff which is where I first met an amazing animator called Eirik Gronmo Bjornsen. He returned to Norway and made a film together with Anna Mantzaris called 'But Milk Is Important'.
I taught myself piano as well as synthesizer to compose the music that was used in the film while making the film I've taken on sound design roles as well, and I haven't stopped creating.
The X-Files Project, aka the "Socks Project"
Recently, I collaborated alongside the incredible visual artist Eva Munnich in the creation of the initial of three Lemonade Insurance projects I've created the music and sound tracks for.
You can play with sound Your browser does not support the video tag.
The Lemonade videos are humorous 15-30 second short animations that can be played repeatedly. 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, it is my intention to create the sound first as the atmosphere I create is likely to inspire me in my music.
We've also had a conversation with Eva about her process for creating visuals and animation for this X-Files project. Listen to an interview with Eva.
Voice-wise, Eva liked the voices I'd done in a previous TedEd animation I made along with Lisa Vertudaches.
In that video I had pitched my vocals significantly. She thought this would fit for the particular sock and requested that I say "yay" in this voice. While recording the "yay" I left the recording in motion and then added "seeya" just before the sock had entered the UFO.
Eva loved it and she stayed with it. The rest of the voices were created improvised as I saw them.
Sound playback Your browser does not support the video tag.
If the washing machine were to speak, it would be low.
In order to contrast the loud tone of the sock's voice, I toned down my voice to the washing machine; as the machine is large and I thought that if it were to have a voice, it would be able to convey some depth. I mingled these sounds with the foley and mixed to create the perfect sound for music to be layered onto.
Your browser does not support the audio element. Your browser does not support the audio element. Your browser does not support the audio element.
I enjoyed the X-Files music when I was a kid.
Musically, Eva thought it would be fun to make music that was inspired by The X-Files theme of The X-Files, which I enjoyed immensely since I loved the music as a kid!
Much like the vast majority of work I've done, I work with an animatic (almost as a moving storyboard) which the animator provides me to gain a sense of timings, etc.
Your browser does not support the audio element.
I listen to sci-fi movies and game soundtracks.
I am a fan of kinds of music. that includes sci-fi movies and soundtracks for games, so in addition to being influenced by this particular X Files theme, I had an idea of what instruments could be suitable for the genre.
I mostly used synthesizers, drones, and basses to lay the foundation of the music. Drones that were layering was about getting the appropriate atmosphere and capturing the beam that emits out of the ufo, which is then absorbed by our tiny sock.
Then I created an incredibly powerful drum by layering two kick drum samples with a delay and reverb. I then added a delaying synth that pans from left to right to make it seem more engaging. The final synth I played in was the six-note pattern that is repeated through.
Whistling can be a wonderful human element to add to an arrangement of music.
It was time to take inspiration from the X-Files and incorporate a delay piano melody and whistle. I love whistling and find that it's a wonderful personal element that can be added to an arrangement. I initially recorded some basses guitar parts, but I felt it was not the right sounds I wanted to create.
Piano pattern
Your browser does not support the audio element.
A whistle
Your browser does not support the audio element.
Making an environment in just fifteen seconds isn't easy.
It was a pleasure working with Eva the way she worked, and her short-form approach is really enjoyable and exciting to work within. Even though it's short, it is still a lot of work and presents its own difficulties.
Making and creating an ambience within 15 seconds using the music can be a challenge, and composing an arrangement that isn't rush-like within that time frame is a challenge also.
These are challenges I relish but, in the wake of Eva's video, I've completed two other really exciting Lemonade projects! You can find the process videos on my website and on Instagram.
How to begin adding sound to visuals
If you're interested in using sound in a visual medium, there're currently more creative options to accomplish this than at any time before. there is really the best time to start doing it than now.
- If you have a creative drive, go with it wherever it leads you. The best way to start making something is to create things you love and show it to people.
- Send messages to budding filmmakers who are in the same boat as you,they constantly seek assistance with sound and they might be able to establish a connection.
- The first step is to get started somewhere. I was making ambient music before I even thought it was a possibility to work in film, and, luckily, there was an animation department at my university, but before this, I'd made and made enough recordings of music and sound to make it logical for me to follow that path when it presented it.
- Meet other creatives; that's what collaboration is all about. If you are fortunate enough to live in an area that has festival nights, film nights and events, then attend them and get to know people.
Do you enjoy the interview? Share it! Join CreativeMindClass on Instagram where we celebrate creativity and feature artists.