Sound can add the emotion of art - CreativeMindClass Blog
Phil Brookes is a music composer and sound designer of Wales. He has worked alongside TedEd, Greenpeace, Tate, Medium, Passion, Strangebeast, and more. His sound and music were also featured at major events like Cannes, BFI London, GLAS, and Giffoni with multi-award-winning films.
In this interview, you can find what Phil came about becoming a musician and check out his tips for how to get started in the realm of sound. Also, dive into the musical details of a great Socks project that he created 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 attracted to music, sounds, and even voices. I remember falling asleep before the washing machine when I was a kid, hypnotized by its droning (appropriate for the kind of project I'm about to discuss!) is the first time I've heard a sound.
I started mimicking funny accents and voice.
My dad was an obsessive music lover and would make use of recording equipment to make noises in his voice, and apply effects like delay and reverb on his voice just for fun. I would mimic him and other people such as Jim Carrey and Robin Williams by using a small dictaphone, and duplicate all of the humorous voice and accents they could 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. After my brother left, he left his guitar in the car, and, as an adolescent I used it to instruct myself to write and recording music. Challenging myself to create sounds I had seen on records or television, and then adding my own sounds in the material already available.
That passion for using whatever resources I had to create or recreate sound is what still inspires me to push myself today. I love the challenge of learning as I create and my favorite way of writing is on the fly. Improvising, experimenting, jamming.
I learned piano for myself and synthesizer to compose the tune for 'But Milk is important'.
My obsession took me to The University of South Wales in Cardiff and I got to meet the amazing animator Eirik Gronmo Bjornsen. The animator returned to Norway and created a short film with Anna Mantzaris called 'But Milk Is Important'.
I taught myself piano as well as synthesizer to compose the soundtrack as well, and in the time since I started I've been working on the film I've been able to take on roles in sound design too, and haven't stopped creating.
The X-Files Project, aka the "Socks Project"
Recently, I collaborated with the amazing visual artist Eva Munnich, on the third of the three Lemonade Insurance projects I've created the music and sound tracks for.
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The Lemonade videos are humorous fifteen to thirty seconds of short animated videos that can 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.
In nine times of 10, it is my intention to start by creating the sound, since my atmosphere will most likely inspire me to create music.
We've also had a conversation with Eva about her process for making animations and visuals for the X-Files project. Listen to the full interview with Eva Munnich.
Vocally, Eva liked the voices I'd done in a previous TedEd animation I made with Lisa Vertudaches.
In that animation I had raised my vocals significantly. She thought this would work for the sock specifically and asked if I could say "yay" with this tone. When I recorded this "yay" I kept it rolling and added the "seeya" shortly before that sock entered into the UFO.
Eva loved it and it stayed in. The rest of the voices were created improvised according to what I could see.
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If the washing machine were to have a voice, it would be low.
To contrast the high tone of the sock's voice, I decreased my voice in the direction of washing machines; since it is a large object which is quite large, I thought as if if it had a voice, it would have some depth to it. I mixed these with the foley , and then mixed with the sound ready for music to be put on.
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I was a fan of the X-Files songs as a child.
Musically, Eva thought it would be interesting to create music that was inspired by The X-Files theme from The X-Files, which I was very happy with because I was a huge fan of that soundtrack as a kid!
Like most of the work I've done, I work with an animatic (almost as a moving storyboard) that animators give me so that I can have a rough idea of the timeframe, etc.
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I enjoy sci-fi films as well as game soundtracks.
I listen to a lot diverse styles of music and that includes sci-fi movies as well as game soundtracks. So as well as referencing in the X Files theme, I had an idea of what instruments might work well within this particular genre.
I used mainly synth-based instruments drones, bass, and drones to build the basis of the sound. Drones that were layering was about getting the perfect atmosphere, and also representing the light that emanates from the UFO to abduct our sock.
I then created an impressive drum by mixing two kick drum samples and adding reverb and delay. Then I added a delay synth which pans from left to right in order to make the music appear more immersive. The final synth I played using was the 6-note pattern that repeats itself throughout.
Whistling can be a wonderful human aspect to include in the music.
The time was right to draw an inspiration from X-Files and add a delayed piano pattern as well as a whistle. I am a fan of whistling, and that it's a wonderful human element to add to an arrangement. I had originally recorded part of the bass guitar however I was of the opinion that it took away from the synthetic tone I was trying to achieve.
Piano pattern
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A whistle
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In just 15 seconds can be challenging.
It was a pleasure working with Eva as a short-form approach is really enjoyable and exciting to work within. While it's fast however, it's an enormous amount of work and presents its own problems.
Creating and establishing an atmosphere in just 15 seconds by using sound can be difficult, and composing the right melody without sounding rush-like within that time frame can be quite a feat also.
This is a challenge I enjoy but, in the wake of Eva's animation, I have completed two other really exciting Lemonade projects! The process videos for them on my website as well as on on Instagram.
Ideas on how to begin creating sound for images
If you want to start using sound in the visual world, there's currently more creative ways to do it than before. And there is really an ideal time to begin it now than today.
- If you're a person with an urge to be creative, then follow it to the point where it will lead to. The most effective way to get started with your creations is to design something you love and show the people what you have created.
- Send messages to budding filmmakers who have the same interests with you.they have always been looking for help with sound, and they might be able to establish a partnership.
- The first step is to get started at some point. I was making ambient music prior to the time I considered the possibility to work in film, and thankfully there was an animation department in my university, but before this, I'd made and made enough recordings of music and sound that it made sense for me to follow that path when it presented it.
- Get to know others who are creative; that's what collaborating is about. If you are fortunate enough to be located in an area that has festival nights, film nights and other activities, you should visit them to meet people.
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