Music and sound design; they’re both just audio, right? Well.. yes, and no. While they both involve sound, they have different impacts on the listener. Music has the power to evoke emotions, memories, and stories, while sound design creates realism and helps to immerse the audience in an illusion.

Most people have a close relationship with music, but many fail to realize the important role that sound design plays in movies, games, ads, and other forms of media. Sound design is a wide field that encompasses more than just music. It involves creating a holistic audio experience that works together with the visual elements of a movie, game, or ad to convey a message or feeling.

Sound designers use various tools and elements to assist in this process. They work closely with directors, music composers, and other members of the creative team to create a soundscape that enhances the emotions and feelings of a scene without intruding on the consciousness of the viewer. They use ambient sounds, audio effects, Foley effects, voice-overs, and music to create a layered and immersive experience.

Ambient sounds are used to create a layer of realism that helps the viewer to believe in the story being told. Audio effects, such as dinosaur noises or spaceships, are non-existent sounds in the real world that require layering and combining different sounds to create a desired effect. Foley effects, which are the regular sound effects such as footsteps or glass cracking, are often manually created by the sound designer. Voice-overs and music are also used to narrate and influence the mood of the movie.

Sound design can be used in music as well. For example, the Hans Zimmer soundtrack for Batman: The Dark Knight features sound design effects such as the flapping of Batman's cape, which helps to immerse the listener in the story being told.

In conclusion, sound design plays a critical role in enhancing the audio experience of movies, games, ads, and other forms of media. It creates a whole soundscape around the listener, drawing them into the illusion that the media is trying to create. So, the next time you watch a movie, try muting the sound and adding some different background music to experience how the movie can change completely just based on music and sound.