Casting my mind back to the readings and lecture for week 4 – based on sound – is not an easy feat.

First of all – even as a musician – sound theory has never been of much interest to me. I’m musically illiterate (totally unable to read sheet music) and when I write I put little thought into sustain, attack, or any other concepts many would associate with sound theory. I simply write based on what sounds good. There is a level of music theory to it – working within major/minor scales to fit the indie-pop style I write; but I digress. I put little thought into the actual sound process – even when recording and looking at wavelengths. This is probably linked to my distaste of physics. I’ve never found the appreciation many others do.

So to study an entire week purely on sound theory was not – excuse the pun – music to my ears. Nonetheless, as a beginning to media affordances – it is important to consider the function of sound; and at the very least we’re getting the boring stuff out of the way first.

All the nuances of sound aside, perhaps the key part of the lecture was the discussion on aural semiotics. These are strongly used in media in a variety of functions – immersion, character development, setting, etc. Particularly breaking sounds down into figure, (fore)ground and field can create depth and realism in a lot of shot.