Hannah Albrecht, 4th of November 2023
Both of my parents played in bands when I was born. Granted, my existence eventually put an end to their rock star ambitions within the second-largest town in Tyrol, but that did not mean the abundance of sounds and music that were heard in the apartment I grew up in came to a stop. Listening to albums from beginning to end became a sort of mundane, quiet luxury that made the days complete and resulted in me pinpointing the seasons of my life not really by the ages that the memories happened in, but by the most played artist in the house at that time. This blog entry aims to connect this personal, very elemental connection to music with my current field of study by giving some insight into my background, interests and current mission in sound design.
Like many Austrian children who are interested in learning an instrument, I started playing the soprano recorder the same year I entered school, and continued to learn the flute and take dance classes until I found my mum’s purple electric guitar from her band days and decided I wanted to learn how to play it. In hindsight, this decision probably pivoted the trajectory of my musical development the most, because I ended up being admitted to learn with a guitar teacher who did a fantastic job at not sticking to his subject in the best way possible. During his lessons, I was gradually introduced to recording software, synthesizers, sound effects, and playing live in various ensembles. I was provided with the opportunity to explore whatever interested me musically without restrictions. This way, I not only learned to play the guitar, but also played bass, keys, manipulated effects and sang live, all while receiving continuous updates on new music technology and being relieved of a pressure to perform that I had not experienced in my musical education before. For me, this opened doors to explore my creativity with and alongside sound.
At the time I had already been writing lyrics and composing songs with my best friend for a couple of years, and this was also welcome in lessons – in this space we developed our sound and the performing opportunities that came of this still impact the way we operate as a duo today. During my BA studies in music production and sound engineering I started venturing into experimental pop solo projects and began to produce for a couple of local artists to grow my portfolio and improve my skillset.
After completing my degree, I found fulfilment in manipulating audio and somewhat mangling original audio sources to a point where they were unrecognisable, yet conducive in bringing an aesthetic vision or narrative to life. The desire to learn about new techniques and especially the technologies behind the tools made me want to dig deeper and explore the world of sound even more. I felt that where the creativity came easier to me, the acquisition of technical understanding and opportunities to develop something new were something I needed a framework for in order to get to where I really wanted to be. The idea of being on campus and working with people after studying online for so long was an additional meritthat led me here.
One special feature of sound design that I like to make use of is its ability to function as a tool to connect audible components with other aspects of sense perception within a project – when the design aspect is being taken as seriously as the sound aspect, a whole new interdisciplinary world awaits. As someone who used to think I could not fully combine my passions for music and the visual arts, designing sound with an image in mind and vice versa has enabled me to provide my craft with an additional sense of direction, cohesion and identity that is fuelled by influences from a broad spectrum of media. My hope is that as my knowledge and toolbox for shaping sounds expand, I will be able to create unique sonic identities that live up to my expectations through craftsmanship that can be applied in a variety of contexts – like music production, theatre, sound installations, sound for media or brand development, just to name a few. I want the sound design to not just take on a practical role, but utilise it to explore how the context of an original sound can be transformed and enhanced to guide a narrative through manipulation.
My mission when it comes to sound design is heavily influenced by my desire to become a lifelong learner who commits to employing kooky, everchanging creative methodsresponsibly in order to turn the projects I work on into meaningful experiences alongside the people I collaborate with. I strive to synchronise the desire to challenge myself with the art of challenging the sounds I work with – how far can I push them? Where is the sweet spotbetween complex techniques and aesthetics that can be understood by a consumer? How can the dedication to culture and arts be translated into a commercial context? The goal is to develop a symbiotic workflow between the unfamiliar and the familiar that can still lead me to responsible, effective design decisions.
There are a couple of more concrete projects that I am currently really interested in working on and learning from. My circle of friends and colleagues draws me into the direction of theatre, where I would love to attempt designing and composing sound for a whole production alongside a director at some point. Plays I am currently thinking about exploring concepts for are Prima Facie by Suzie Miller or The Doctor by Robert Icke.
Another idea I had was to create a plug-in prototype (see Image 1) that is fully catered to my needs when working with audio. I find that I often come back to very basic techniques in the initial stages of my work when it comes to shaping atmospheric sounds, which are extreme time-stretching, pitch shifting, filtering and some form of spatial effects processing. To be able to integrate these features into one intuitive interface with the option to A/B sounds and drag them into my digital audio workstation quickly without losing out on quality would truly transform my workflow, and also give a clearer definition to my sonic identity within its limitations.
In addition, I could see myself working on curating and constructing an exhibit that bridges the gap between the illustrations (see Image 2) and the sounds I create. My art style is very theatrical and connected to objects from daily life, so to find a way to bring these ideas to life in a three-dimensional plane with added sonic sensory input as a type of installation or performance art piece would present me with a challenge both artistically and in terms of techniques.
Sound connects the people that perceive it – and it usually does not matter whether these people have extensive background knowledge about it or not. It resonates on the most basic, human level. The entrance barrier to respond is lower, allowing everyone the freedom toexpress themselves or react based on the input they have received, which I find to be a very beautiful thing. I hope to create soundscapes that tap into these human responses, and I look forward to discovering how the broad area of sound design with all its branches can help me achieve this over the next couple of years.
