Sound is a way to add emotion to art - The CreativeMindClass Blog
Phil Brookes is a music composer and sound designer of Wales. He was a collaborator in collaboration with TedEd, Greenpeace, Tate, Medium, Passion, Strangebeast as well as other. The music and sound design have also played at festivals like Cannes, BFI London, GLAS, and Giffoni and has won multiple awards for his films.
In the video below the interviewer will discuss the story of how Phil was inspired to become a musician and check out some of the most useful tips to get started in the realm of sound. Also, dive into the musical details 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 who hails from Wales in the UK.
From the time I remember, I have always been awed by music, sounds, and voices. Sleeping in front of the washer as a kid, hypnotized by the droning sounds (appropriate given the topic I'll be talking about!) is my first sound memory.
I began mimicking humorous accents and voices.
My dad was an obsessive audiophile and used devices to record sounds that he would sing, adding effects such as delay and reverb to his voice just for fun. I would mimic him and people like Jim Carrey and Robin Williams using a dictaphone to copy all of the funny accents and voices they'd 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. My brother was moving 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 as well as recording my music. I was attempting to make music that I'd seen on music albums or television and adding my own sounds to existing music.
This passion to utilize the resources available to make or create sound continues to inspire me to continue to push myself to the limit today. I love the challenge to learn as I make and my preferred way of writing is on the fly. Improvising, experimenting, jamming.
I learned to play piano as well as synth to make the music for the song 'But Milk is Important'.
My obsession took my into The University of South Wales in Cardiff, where I met an awesome animator named Eirik Gronmo Bjornsen. He returned to Norway and produced a movie with Anna Mantzaris called 'But Milk Is Important'.
I taught myself piano and synth to make the music that was used in the film as well, and in the time since I started I've been working on the film I've taken on sound design roles as well, and I continue to create.
The X-Files Project, aka the "Socks Project"
Recently, I collaborated with the stunning visual artist Eva Munnich in the creation of the initial 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.
9 times out 10 it is my intention to make the music first, as the atmosphere I create will most likely inspire me in my music.
We've also had a conversation with Eva about the process of designing animation and visuals for this X-Files project. Check out an interview with Eva.
The voice, Eva liked the voices I'd performed in a previous TedEd animation I worked on along with Lisa Vertudaches.
In the animation I had raised my vocals dramatically. She thought this would work for the sock specifically and asked if I could say "yay" using this vocal. Whilst recording this "yay" I let the record in motion, and added "seeya" shortly before the sock had entered the UFO.
Eva loved it and she stayed with it. The remaining voice-overs were made up in the same way I observed them.
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If the washing machine were to have a voice and a voice, the machine would sound low.
In order to contrast the loud sound of the sock I decreased my voice in the direction of the washing machine; as it's a huge object which is quite large, I thought as if if it had a voice, it would possess some depth. I mingled these sounds with the foley and mixed with the sound ready for music to be layered onto.
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I was a fan of the X-Files music as a kid.
Musically, Eva thought it would be fun to make an idea that was inspired by the theme of The X-Files, which I enjoyed immensely as I loved that music as a kid!
Like most of the work I've done I use an animatic (almost similar to a storyboard that moves) that animators give me, so I can gain a sense of the timeframe, etc.
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I enjoy sci-fi films and soundtracks for games.
I listen to a lot of different genres of music, and it includes sci-fi as well as game soundtracks. So in addition to referencing this particular X Files theme, I was thinking about which instruments would work best in this genre.
I used mostly synth-based instruments drones, bass, and drones for the base of the music. Drones that were layering was about getting the appropriate atmosphere and capturing the beam that emits from the UFO to abduct our sock.
I made an impressive drum by using two kick drums and adding reverb and delay. I also added a delaying synth that pans left to right, making the music seem more immersive. The final synth I played in was the six-note pattern that repeats itself through.
Whistling is a great human element to add to an arrangement of music.
It was time to take inspiration from the X-Files and add a delayed piano pattern and a whistle. I am a fan of whistling, and it to be a fantastic human element to add to an arrangement. I originally recorded some bass guitar parts too, but I felt it did not fit with the synthesized sound I was going for.
Piano pattern
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The whistle
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Creating an atmosphere in 15 seconds can be challenging.
I truly enjoyed working with Eva the way she worked, and her short-form approach is really thrilling and enjoyable to design within. Even though it's short but it's still quite a bit of work, and poses its own set of problems.
Creating and establishing an atmosphere in just 15 seconds by using sounds can be quite difficult and composing the right melody without sounding rushed within the timeframe is quite an accomplishment too.
They are the kinds of challenges that I love, though, and since Eva's video, I've worked on two more really exciting Lemonade projects! The process videos for them on my website as well as on my Instagram.
How to begin creating sound for images
If you're interested in using sound in the visual world, there's now more innovative options to accomplish this than ever before, and there's no better time to do it than now.
- If you're a person with an urge to be creative, then follow it to whatever direction it takes to. The most effective way to get started with your creations is to design something that you enjoy and then display it to people.
- Send messages to budding filmmakers who share the same passion as you,they are always looking for advice on sound. they might be able to establish a partnership.
- The first step is to get started somewhere. I was making ambient music prior to the time I thought it was a possibility to work in film, and, luckily, there was an animation department at my school, however prior to it, I'd created and recorded enough music and sound that it was logical for me to take that path when it presented it.
- Get to know others in the field; that's how collaborating is about. If you are fortunate enough to live in an area that has festival nights, film nights and other activities, you should attend them and get to know people.
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