on the importance of celebrating sound

[Corona360]

Posted: 6/8/16 at 10:20pm

https://www.theodysseyonline.com/on-the-importance-of-celebrating-sound

Thoughts on the sound not being recognized at this years Tony's.

Please share the article if you agree.

[HogansHero]

Posted: 6/8/16 at 11:33pm

It is indeed important to celebrate sound. The article-which is great-fails, however, to reconcile what is at the heart of the unfortunate decision to exclude this design element from the Tonys. The problem is that sounddesigners have done a terrible job of defining what sound design is. It cannot be about what technicians do; it has to be about what designers do. In order for lay people to have a basis for evaluating sound, the criteria must be the same as they are for other design categories - fundamentally based on how well and how cleverly the design aids the storytelling on stage. The criteria cannot be "it was too loud," "it wasn't loud enough," "it had too much bass," etc. Hopefully some day the standard can be clarified enough that sound designers can again be restored  to their rightful place.