0:00:00.952,0:00:03.476 I want to start by doing an experiment. 0:00:04.857,0:00:08.307 I'm going to play three videos[br]of a rainy day. 0:00:08.935,0:00:12.819 But I've replaced the audio[br]of one of the videos, 0:00:12.843,0:00:15.217 and instead of the sound of rain, 0:00:15.241,0:00:18.309 I've added the sound of bacon frying. 0:00:19.137,0:00:23.109 So I want you think carefully[br]which one the clip with the bacon is. 0:00:23.695,0:00:25.607 (Rain falls) 0:00:27.394,0:00:29.300 (Rain falls) 0:00:31.627,0:00:33.532 (Rain falls) 0:00:40.611,0:00:41.893 All right. 0:00:43.064,0:00:45.638 Actually, I lied. 0:00:45.662,0:00:46.932 They're all bacon. 0:00:46.956,0:00:48.531 (Bacon sizzles) 0:00:52.276,0:00:54.303 (Applause) 0:00:57.216,0:01:00.489 My point here isn't really[br]to make you hungry 0:01:00.513,0:01:02.162 every time you see a rainy scene, 0:01:02.186,0:01:08.106 but it's to show that our brains[br]are conditioned to embrace the lies. 0:01:08.696,0:01:10.794 We're not looking for accuracy. 0:01:11.754,0:01:14.539 So on the subject of deception, 0:01:14.563,0:01:17.926 I wanted to quote one[br]of my favorite authors. 0:01:17.950,0:01:24.899 In "The Decay of Lying,"[br]Oscar Wilde establishes the idea 0:01:24.923,0:01:30.532 that all bad art comes from copying[br]nature and being realistic; 0:01:31.096,0:01:36.340 and all great art comes[br]from lying and deceiving, 0:01:37.030,0:01:40.063 and telling beautiful, untrue things. 0:01:40.087,0:01:44.001 So when you're watching a movie 0:01:44.890,0:01:46.402 and a phone rings, 0:01:46.426,0:01:48.428 it's not actually ringing. 0:01:48.942,0:01:53.196 It's been added later[br]in postproduction in a studio. 0:01:53.220,0:01:56.074 All of the sounds you hear are fake. 0:01:56.098,0:01:57.908 Everything, apart from the dialogue, 0:01:57.932,0:01:59.086 is fake. 0:01:59.110,0:02:02.770 When you watch a movie and you see[br]a bird flapping its wings -- 0:02:02.794,0:02:04.815 (Wings flap) 0:02:06.141,0:02:08.404 They haven't really recorded the bird. 0:02:08.428,0:02:13.422 It sounds a lot more realistic[br]if you record a sheet 0:02:13.446,0:02:14.998 or shaking kitchen gloves. 0:02:15.022,0:02:17.374 (Flaps) 0:02:18.849,0:02:21.792 The burning of a cigarette up close -- 0:02:21.816,0:02:23.813 (Cigarette burns) 0:02:25.351,0:02:28.102 It actually sounds a lot more authentic 0:02:28.126,0:02:30.971 if you take a small Saran Wrap ball 0:02:30.995,0:02:32.213 and release it. 0:02:32.237,0:02:35.380 (A Saran Warp ball being released) 0:02:35.869,0:02:37.272 Punches? 0:02:37.296,0:02:38.818 (Punch) 0:02:38.842,0:02:40.774 Oops, let me play that again. 0:02:40.798,0:02:41.997 (Punch) 0:02:42.535,0:02:46.271 That's often done by sticking[br]a knife in vegetables, 0:02:46.295,0:02:47.717 usually cabbage. 0:02:48.661,0:02:50.113 (Cabbage stabbed with a knife) 0:02:50.788,0:02:53.752 The next one -- it's breaking bones. 0:02:53.776,0:02:56.001 (Bones break) 0:02:56.670,0:02:59.004 Well, no one was really harmed. 0:02:59.028,0:03:00.428 It's actually ... 0:03:01.163,0:03:04.418 breaking celery or frozen lettuce. 0:03:04.442,0:03:06.483 (Breaking frozen lettuce or celery) 0:03:06.947,0:03:08.179 (Laughter) 0:03:09.253,0:03:13.968 Making the right sounds[br]is not always as easy 0:03:13.992,0:03:15.899 as a trip to the supermarket 0:03:15.923,0:03:18.619 and going to the vegetable section. 0:03:18.643,0:03:21.018 But it's often a lot more[br]complicated than that. 0:03:21.042,0:03:24.065 So let's reverse-engineer together 0:03:24.089,0:03:26.413 the creation of a sound effect. 0:03:26.437,0:03:29.786 One of my favorite stories[br]comes from Frank Serafine. 0:03:29.810,0:03:31.661 He's a contributor to our library, 0:03:31.685,0:03:35.247 and a great sound designer for "Tron"[br]and "Star Trek" and others. 0:03:36.291,0:03:41.549 He was part of the Paramount team[br]that won the Oscar for best sound 0:03:41.573,0:03:43.504 for "The Hunt for Red October." 0:03:43.528,0:03:46.918 In this Cold War classic, in the '90s, 0:03:46.942,0:03:51.727 they were asked to produce the sound[br]of the propeller of the submarine. 0:03:51.751,0:03:53.096 So they had a small problem: 0:03:53.120,0:03:56.640 they couldn't really find[br]a submarine in West Hollywood. 0:03:56.664,0:04:00.322 So basically, what they did is, 0:04:00.346,0:04:03.701 they went to a friend's swimming pool, 0:04:03.725,0:04:08.260 and Frank performed[br]a cannonball, or bomba. 0:04:09.069,0:04:11.265 They placed an underwater mic 0:04:11.289,0:04:14.065 and an overhead mic[br]outside the swimming pool. 0:04:14.089,0:04:17.342 So here's what the underwater[br]mic sounds like. 0:04:17.366,0:04:18.901 (Underwater plunge) 0:04:19.608,0:04:21.114 Adding the overhead mic, 0:04:21.138,0:04:23.091 it sounded a bit like this: 0:04:23.115,0:04:25.490 (Water splashes) 0:04:25.514,0:04:29.961 So now they took the sound[br]and pitched it one octave down, 0:04:29.985,0:04:32.461 sort of like slowing down a record. 0:04:32.850,0:04:35.266 (Water splashes at lower octave) 0:04:35.929,0:04:38.697 And then they removed[br]a lot of the high frequencies. 0:04:38.721,0:04:40.996 (Water splashes) 0:04:41.020,0:04:43.076 And pitched it down another octave. 0:04:44.314,0:04:46.602 (Water splashes at lower octave) 0:04:46.626,0:04:49.132 And then they added[br]a little bit of the splash 0:04:49.156,0:04:51.440 from the overhead microphone. 0:04:51.464,0:04:54.629 (Water splashes) 0:04:54.653,0:04:57.191 And by looping and repeating that sound, 0:04:57.215,0:04:58.405 they got this: 0:04:58.429,0:05:01.270 (Propeller churns) 0:05:04.463,0:05:10.991 So, creativity and technology put together[br]in order to create the illusion 0:05:11.015,0:05:14.186 that we're inside the submarine. 0:05:14.868,0:05:18.229 But once you've created your sounds 0:05:18.253,0:05:20.647 and you've synced them to the image, 0:05:20.671,0:05:24.722 you want those sounds to live[br]in the world of the story. 0:05:25.397,0:05:29.431 And one the best ways to do[br]that is to add reverb. 0:05:29.997,0:05:32.612 So this is the first audio tool[br]I want to talk about. 0:05:33.198,0:05:38.320 Reverberation, or reverb,[br]is the persistence of the sound 0:05:38.344,0:05:40.275 after the original sound has ended. 0:05:40.299,0:05:42.867 So it's sort of like the -- 0:05:42.891,0:05:45.927 all the reflections from the materials, 0:05:45.951,0:05:48.838 the objects and the walls[br]around the sound. 0:05:48.862,0:05:51.074 Take, for example, the sound of a gunshot. 0:05:51.098,0:05:54.100 The original sound is less[br]than half a second long. 0:05:56.138,0:05:57.288 (Gunshot) 0:05:57.747,0:05:59.436 By adding reverb, 0:05:59.460,0:06:02.677 we can make it sound like[br]it was recorded inside a bathroom. 0:06:03.470,0:06:05.033 (Gunshot reverbs in bathroom) 0:06:05.057,0:06:08.562 Or like it was recorded[br]inside a chapel or a church. 0:06:08.887,0:06:10.440 (Gunshot reverbs church) 0:06:11.043,0:06:13.047 Or in a canyon. 0:06:14.199,0:06:15.960 (Gunshot reverbs in canyon) 0:06:15.984,0:06:18.637 So reverb gives us a lot of information 0:06:18.661,0:06:23.591 about the space between the listener[br]and the original sound source. 0:06:23.615,0:06:25.724 If the sound is the taste, 0:06:25.748,0:06:29.932 then reverb is sort of like[br]the smell of the sound. 0:06:30.309,0:06:32.467 But reverb can do a lot more. 0:06:32.491,0:06:36.401 Listening to a sound[br]with a lot less reverberation 0:06:36.425,0:06:38.508 than the on-screen action 0:06:38.532,0:06:41.552 is going to immediately signify to us 0:06:41.576,0:06:44.219 that we're listening to a commentator, 0:06:44.243,0:06:49.034 to an objective narrator that's not[br]participating in the on-screen action. 0:06:50.471,0:06:54.662 Also, emotionally intimate[br]moments in cinema 0:06:54.686,0:06:56.633 are often heard with zero reverb, 0:06:56.657,0:07:00.627 because that's how it would sound[br]if someone was speaking inside our ear. 0:07:01.024,0:07:02.985 On the completely other side, 0:07:03.009,0:07:05.505 adding a lot of reverb to a voice 0:07:05.529,0:07:08.906 is going to make us think[br]that we're listening to a flashback, 0:07:09.637,0:07:12.946 or perhaps that we're inside[br]the head of a character 0:07:13.946,0:07:16.422 or that we're listening[br]to the voice of God. 0:07:16.446,0:07:18.708 Or, even more powerful in film, 0:07:18.732,0:07:20.219 Morgan Freeman. 0:07:20.243,0:07:21.527 (Laughter) 0:07:21.551,0:07:22.718 So -- 0:07:22.742,0:07:24.972 (Applause) 0:07:25.502,0:07:29.373 But what are some other tools or hacks 0:07:29.397,0:07:31.257 that sound designers use? 0:07:32.186,0:07:34.489 Well, here's a really big one. 0:07:39.901,0:07:41.198 It's silence. 0:07:41.807,0:07:45.411 A few moments of silence[br]is going to make us pay attention. 0:07:45.881,0:07:48.321 And in the Western world, 0:07:48.345,0:07:50.468 we're not really used to verbal silences. 0:07:50.492,0:07:53.521 They're considered awkward or rude. 0:07:54.537,0:07:58.110 So silence preceding verbal communication 0:07:59.021,0:08:01.081 can create a lot of tension. 0:08:01.105,0:08:04.810 But imagine a really big Hollywood movie, 0:08:04.834,0:08:09.178 where it's full of explosions[br]and automatic guns. 0:08:10.389,0:08:13.984 Loud stops being loud[br]anymore, after a while. 0:08:14.008,0:08:15.952 So in a yin-yang way, 0:08:15.976,0:08:19.113 silence needs loudness[br]and loudness needs silence 0:08:19.137,0:08:21.535 for either of them to have any effect. 0:08:22.350,0:08:23.727 But what does silence mean? 0:08:23.751,0:08:26.689 Well, it depends how[br]it's used in each film. 0:08:27.416,0:08:30.595 Silence can place us inside[br]the head of a character 0:08:30.619,0:08:32.237 or provoke thought. 0:08:32.261,0:08:35.314 We often relate silences with ... 0:08:36.654,0:08:37.972 contemplation, 0:08:38.558,0:08:39.815 meditation, 0:08:41.185,0:08:42.752 being deep in thought. 0:08:44.569,0:08:47.671 But apart from having one meaning, 0:08:47.695,0:08:49.865 silence becomes a blank canvas 0:08:49.889,0:08:54.414 upon which the viewer is invited[br]to the paint their own thoughts. 0:08:54.962,0:08:58.638 But I want to make it clear:[br]there is no such thing as silence. 0:08:59.192,0:09:03.637 And I know this sounds like the most[br]pretentious TED Talk statement ever. 0:09:04.835,0:09:10.140 But even if you were to enter[br]a room with zero reverberation 0:09:10.164,0:09:12.229 and zero external sounds, 0:09:12.253,0:09:15.370 you would still be able to hear[br]the pumping of your own blood. 0:09:16.004,0:09:20.321 And in cinema, traditionally,[br]there was never a silent moment 0:09:20.345,0:09:22.265 because of the sound of the projector. 0:09:22.716,0:09:25.163 And even in today's Dolby world, 0:09:26.034,0:09:29.315 there's not really any moment of silence[br]if you listen around you. 0:09:30.485,0:09:32.710 There's always some sort of noise. 0:09:32.734,0:09:35.661 Now, since there's no such[br]thing as silence, 0:09:35.685,0:09:39.256 what do filmmakers[br]and sound designers use? 0:09:39.280,0:09:43.776 Well, as a synonym,[br]they often use ambiences. 0:09:44.307,0:09:48.176 Ambiences are the unique background sounds 0:09:48.200,0:09:51.248 that are specific to each location. 0:09:51.272,0:09:53.121 Each location has a unique sound, 0:09:53.145,0:09:55.121 and each room has a unique sound, 0:09:55.145,0:09:56.718 which is called room tone. 0:09:56.742,0:09:59.165 So here's a recording[br]of a market in Morocco. 0:09:59.189,0:10:02.129 (Voices, music) 0:10:05.470,0:10:08.238 And here's a recording[br]of Times Square in New York. 0:10:08.843,0:10:13.366 (Traffic sounds, car horns, voices) 0:10:15.449,0:10:19.071 Room tone is the addition of all[br]the noises inside the room: 0:10:19.095,0:10:21.484 the ventilation, the heating, the fridge. 0:10:21.508,0:10:24.419 Here's a recording[br]of my apartment in Brooklyn. 0:10:24.443,0:10:29.321 (You can hear the ventilation, the boiler,[br]the fridge and street traffic) 0:10:35.422,0:10:39.726 Ambiences work in a most primal way. 0:10:40.718,0:10:43.572 They can speak directly[br]to our brain subconsciously. 0:10:44.538,0:10:50.387 So, birds chirping outside your window[br]may indicate normality, 0:10:50.937,0:10:53.728 perhaps because, as a species, 0:10:53.752,0:10:57.889 we've been used to that sound[br]every morning for millions of years. 0:10:58.360,0:11:02.303 (Birds chirp) 0:11:05.839,0:11:09.480 On the other hand, industrial sounds[br]have been introduced to us 0:11:09.504,0:11:10.995 a little more recently. 0:11:11.969,0:11:14.027 Even though I really like[br]them personally -- 0:11:14.051,0:11:16.464 they've been used by one[br]of my heroes, David Lynch, 0:11:16.488,0:11:18.423 and his sound designer, Alan Splet -- 0:11:18.447,0:11:21.009 industrial sounds often carry[br]negative connotations. 0:11:21.033,0:11:23.787 (Machine noises) 0:11:28.092,0:11:32.948 Now, sound effects can tap[br]into our emotional memory. 0:11:34.869,0:11:37.226 Occasionally, they can be so significant 0:11:37.250,0:11:39.824 that they become a character in a movie. 0:11:40.569,0:11:45.174 The sound of thunder may indicate[br]divine intervention or anger. 0:11:46.373,0:11:49.338 (Thunder) 0:11:51.957,0:11:55.932 Church bells can remind us[br]of the passing of time, 0:11:55.956,0:11:57.861 or perhaps our own mortality. 0:11:59.827,0:12:03.341 (Bells ring) 0:12:07.773,0:12:12.263 And breaking of glass can[br]indicate the end of a relationship 0:12:12.287,0:12:13.515 or a friendship. 0:12:14.390,0:12:16.191 (Glass breaks) 0:12:16.788,0:12:20.341 Scientists believe that dissonant sounds, 0:12:20.365,0:12:25.136 for example, brass or wind[br]instruments played very loud, 0:12:26.438,0:12:30.882 may remind us of animal howls in nature 0:12:30.906,0:12:34.033 and therefore create a sense[br]of irritation or fear. 0:12:34.506,0:12:37.437 (Brass and wind instruments play) 0:12:40.714,0:12:43.886 So now we've spoken[br]about on-screen sounds. 0:12:44.298,0:12:48.931 But occasionally, the source[br]of a sound cannot be seen. 0:12:48.955,0:12:51.479 That's what we call offscreen sounds, 0:12:51.503,0:12:52.951 or "acousmatic." 0:12:53.641,0:12:55.275 Acousmatic sounds -- 0:12:55.887,0:13:00.920 well, the term "acousmatic" comes[br]from Pythagoras in ancient Greece, 0:13:00.944,0:13:04.535 who used to teach behind[br]a veil or curtain for years, 0:13:04.559,0:13:07.749 not revealing himself to his disciples. 0:13:07.773,0:13:10.561 I think the mathematician[br]and philosopher thought that, 0:13:11.727,0:13:12.878 in that way, 0:13:13.584,0:13:17.621 his students might focus[br]more on the voice, 0:13:17.645,0:13:19.609 and his words and its meaning, 0:13:19.633,0:13:22.803 rather than the visual of him speaking. 0:13:22.827,0:13:25.526 So sort of like the Wizard of Oz, 0:13:25.550,0:13:30.364 or "1984's" Big Brother, 0:13:30.388,0:13:33.654 separating the voice from its source, 0:13:33.678,0:13:35.569 separating cause and effect 0:13:36.379,0:13:40.174 sort of creates a sense[br]of ubiquity or panopticism, 0:13:40.198,0:13:42.278 and therefore, authority. 0:13:43.156,0:13:46.217 There's a strong tradition[br]of acousmatic sound. 0:13:47.129,0:13:53.739 Nuns in monasteries in Rome and Venice[br]used to sing in rooms 0:13:53.763,0:13:57.622 up in galleries close to the ceiling, 0:13:57.646,0:14:01.586 creating the illusion that we're listening[br]to angels up in the sky. 0:14:02.390,0:14:06.080 Richard Wagner famously[br]created the hidden orchestra 0:14:06.104,0:14:09.940 that was placed in a pit[br]between the stage and the audience. 0:14:09.964,0:14:15.007 And one of my heroes, Aphex Twin,[br]famously hid in dark corners of clubs. 0:14:15.420,0:14:20.163 I think what all these masters knew[br]is that by hiding the source, 0:14:20.187,0:14:21.850 you create a sense of mystery. 0:14:21.874,0:14:23.943 This has been seen[br]in cinema over and over, 0:14:23.967,0:14:27.047 with Hitchcock,[br]and Ridley Scott in "Alien." 0:14:27.071,0:14:29.463 Hearing a sound without knowing its source 0:14:29.487,0:14:32.712 is going to create some sort of tension. 0:14:34.530,0:14:40.144 Also, it can minimize certain visual[br]restrictions that directors have 0:14:40.168,0:14:43.858 and can show something[br]that wasn't there during filming. 0:14:43.882,0:14:45.967 And if all this sounds[br]a little theoretical, 0:14:45.991,0:14:48.397 I wanted to play a little video. 0:14:49.289,0:14:51.816 (Toy squeaks) 0:14:52.383,0:14:55.034 (Typewriter) 0:14:55.761,0:14:58.267 (Drums) 0:14:59.164,0:15:01.485 (Ping-pong) 0:15:02.484,0:15:05.444 (Knives being sharpened) 0:15:05.786,0:15:08.832 (Record scratches) 0:15:09.405,0:15:10.591 (Saw cuts) 0:15:10.615,0:15:12.072 (Woman screams) 0:15:12.663,0:15:16.458 What I'm sort of trying[br]to demonstrate with these tools 0:15:17.930,0:15:20.119 is that sound is a language. 0:15:20.516,0:15:23.658 It can trick us by transporting[br]us geographically; 0:15:24.571,0:15:26.087 it can change the mood; 0:15:26.579,0:15:28.000 it can set the pace; 0:15:29.482,0:15:32.936 it can make us laugh[br]or it can make us scared. 0:15:34.698,0:15:38.048 On a personal level, I fell[br]in love with that language 0:15:38.072,0:15:39.389 a few years ago, 0:15:39.413,0:15:44.020 and somehow managed to make it[br]into some sort of profession. 0:15:45.274,0:15:48.500 And I think with our work[br]through the sound library, 0:15:48.524,0:15:54.320 we're trying to kind of expand[br]the vocabulary of that language. 0:15:55.797,0:15:59.279 And in that way, we want[br]to offer the right tools 0:15:59.303,0:16:00.943 to sound designers, 0:16:00.967,0:16:02.315 filmmakers, 0:16:02.339,0:16:04.174 and video game and app designers, 0:16:04.748,0:16:07.883 to keep telling even better stories 0:16:08.382,0:16:11.114 and creating even more beautiful lies. 0:16:11.138,0:16:12.425 So thanks for listening. 0:16:12.449,0:16:15.968 (Applause)