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Echoes of reverb: from cave acoustics to sound design

Conference Paper · October 2015

DOI: 10.1145/2814895.2814915

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 Echoes of reverb: from cave acoustics to sound design
Christos A. Goussios Nikolaos Tsinikas Niovi Kitsiou
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
School of Fine Arts School of Architecture School of Fine Arts
Film Studies Department Faculty of Engineering Film Studies Department
Thessaloniki, 54124, Greece Thessaloniki, 54124, Greece Thessaloniki, 54124, Greece
00306974407843 00306977203701 00306978377085
cgoussios@hotmail.com tsinikas@arch.auth.gr nkitsiou@gmail.com

ABSTRACT the parallel existence of the soundtrack of each film, there can be
This work attempts to highlight some specific interconnections potential for narration through the use of the sounds, especially in
between certain human artistic expressions and their relation with certain film genres. In this work we focus on the possible use of
sonic environments and architectural soundscapes, especially the effect of reverberation in films as a storytelling means.
connections with some acoustic qualities of spaces, such as the Humans were always connected and influenced from the room
reverberation. The main focus is the effort to discover applications and even open air acoustics. These acoustic conditions are results
of these acoustic qualities, as identifying characteristics of certain of physical qualities (caves, canyons, mountains etc) and can also
spaces, in order to serve the narration in fiction films through be achieved through architectural design (ancient theaters, roman
sound design. The use of the reverberation as a story telling tool odea, Pantheon in Rome & Rotunda in Thessaloniki, churches,
in films is highlighted. The difficulty of the human definition and cathedrals, opera houses, concert halls but also everyday spaces,
expressions concerning our sonic environment is mentioned rooms, halls, public buildings etc).Specifically, some scientists
through the partial absence of a sonic vocabulary. One the first support that the acoustics of caves influenced the drawings of
part the unintended effect and reflection of acoustic characteristics their inhabitants, but also that the prehistoric civilizations had a
of spaces on certain human artistic and generally creative wide knowledge on sound that was also applied to architecture,
procedures is presented and part of a related research-in-progress, music and the arts in general [1],[2],[3],[4]. And from this starting
is introduced. The second part of this work focuses on the point, most of the spaces can be separated, on those with cave and
intentional use of acoustic characteristics on film sound in order to those with open air acoustics [5].
imitate certain spaces and furthermore underline, multiply etc
feelings, psychological situations, emotional experiences and
many more in audiovisual narration.
2. SONIC VOCABULARY AND SOUND
MYTHS
General Terms In everyday living we characterize sound as dry, crunchy, big,
Design, Experimentation thin, intimate, that can have strength, clarity, definition, warmth.
The difficulty to describe sound with sound terms or parameters,
Keywords reflects the difficulty to really determine what sound is and what
Reverberation, sound design, sound narration, myths feelings sound can evoke. This might be a reason for the
connection of sounds with mythology and the divine in general.
Categories and Subject Descriptors There are many sound myths that testify the knowledge of past
H.5.1 [Multimedia Information Systems]: Audio, Video; H.5.2 civilizations on acoustics (Echo, Sirens, Orpheus, Amphion,
[User Interfaces]: Sonic environment, Soundscapes and social Apollo and Marsias, Aeolus etc) but also -as myths- a respect on
interaction; J.5 [Arts and humanities]: Arts, fine and performing- the phenomena, and also a respect on the deities. Since the first
Music quantitative measurements of sound parameters in the early
1920’s and even until nowadays that sound became, or is mainly
treated, as a signal [6], the sound vocabulary remains non-sonic in
1. INTRODUCTION a way, and words that attempt to focus on emotions, surfaces,
Apart from the sounds that comprise the final soundtrack of every colors, temperature, humidity, solids etc are being used.
movie, it is also their qualities, usually as a result of processing,
that provides the potential for the underlining and augmentation of
the visual experience. These qualities can be transformed or 3. THE EFFECT OF THE ACOUSTICS ON
modified basically with the use of effects. However, apart from HUMAN COMPOSITIONS AND
Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for
PERFORMANCES
personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are Most of the ritual spaces and temples, especially the very well
not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that known, were and still are characterized from certain acoustical
copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights parameters. The Pantheon in Rome (inner diameter: 43,3m, height
for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be to the oculus: 43,3m) is an example of a round temple, with a high
honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or ceiling that definitely has a unique acoustical identity, as well as
republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior the Rotunda in Thessaloniki, Greece (inner diameter: 24,5m,
specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions height: 29,8m). Most of the orthodox churches and the cathedrals
from Permissions@acm.org.
AM15, October 07-09, 2015, Thessaloniki, Greece
have a long reverberation time that is connected to the devoutness
© 2015 ACM. ISBN 978-1-4503-3896-7/15/10…$15.00
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2814895.2814915
and worship and also corresponds and ideally promotes feelings
such as faith, glory, devotion, grace on an attempt to create the
appropriate ambience for a connection with the divine.
Additionally these acoustical parameters of the cathedrals and
their general architectural characteristics, influenced the ways of
music composition, that was about to be performed in them
[7],[8]. From Renaissance composer Willaert (1490-1562) with
main focus on polyphonic church Music, and Baroque composer
of vocal church works D. Gabrielli (1659-1690), to J.S. Bach
(1685-1750), almost all the composers who were involved with
certain ritual spaces (even subsequently composers whose
compositions were related with certain halls in palaces) adjusted
some of their compositions, or specific composition parameters,
as the tempo, in the acoustic conditions of the churches that their
Music was about to be performed. But also today, most of the
musicians tend to adjust their performances according to the
acoustical parameters of the spaces where they are about to Figure 2.A forest.
perform. It is impossible for a musician to ignore the acoustical
characteristics and neglect them during her/his performance.
In a still-going experiment with three guitarists in three different
spaces with specific acoustical parameters, an anechoic chamber,
a huge abandoned old factory and in a forest, we had the chance to
ascertain how these musicians adapted their performances
following the needs and the sonic conditions of the above
mentioned spaces of acoustic interest [9].A professional electric
jazz guitarist, who is also a specialist on improvisations, had to
perform in an anechoic chamber, initially without the use of his
guitar effects. It was almost impossible for him to perform in this
room that does not add any sonic qualities to the produced
musician-instrument-amplifier sound. The performer was very
uncomfortable basically due to the transmission and attenuation of
sound which follows the Inverse Square Law in the anechoic
chambers. Even with the addition of his effects, the guitar player
couldn’t produce the musical sound he wanted since this sound is Figure 3.An abandoned old factory.
also shaped by performance spaces too.
Another guitarist, who performed with an acoustic guitar, had to
play in an abandoned factory, where the reverberation time
definitely exceeds 5 seconds. The performer had prepared a
sequence of certain musical parts, but realizing the rare acoustic
identity of the space he adjusted his playing to it, mainly
regarding the dynamics, his ways of producing sounds (different
techniques) and also the content of the musical performance he
had prepared. The musician added harmonics, certain chords, very
slow fades and very fast cuts. The musician who played the
classical guitar, had to perform in the woods, in an environment
that is converse to the spaces where he usually performs his
Music. He had to adjust his playing too, since he discovered how
the acoustics of this certain ambience influence the final sonic
result. He said that he didn’t perceive any of the sounds that were
produced in the forest while he was performing, and that he had
an intense feeling of the way that the sound was propagated and
transmitted.

4. SONIC ENVIROMENTS AND SOUND

Figure 1.An anechoic chamber.
DESIGN
Additionally, the fact that sound is not only what we hear (low
frequencies, infrasound, ultrasounds etc), but also the acoustic
memory which is retrieving the sounds that are related with
certain images, without the need for them to be heard), creates an
even wider field of interdisciplinary questioning and research, but
also specifies a field of experimentation for people involved in
creative sound professions. In this work we focus on sound design
for feature films, where all the above mentioned conditions, houses, and indicates power and authority. This is because even
parameters, notes and facts are used and applied, on an attempt to the slightest sounds that man can create, can be heard.
create sonic environments that serve, strengthen and sometimes Furthermore, when we meet with the inside of his office, we have
undertake the narration. Specifically for the use of reverberation the feeling of a dry environment that opposes the outside. As his
in feature films, in order to create soundscapes and evoke personal feelings for Joe that oppose his general image of the
emotions. ruthless boss of the Loopers.

5. REVERBERATION IN FILMS 5.4 Reverberation for narration

While exploring the connections of the acoustics and sound Reverb can generally have a narrative dimension. For example the
designing for films, it is almost impossible to find a feature film enveloping ambience of dreams, nightmares, thoughts and
where there is no reverberation used in sound design or added on specific emotional experiences is part of the narration. Again in
the final mix of the soundtrack. It is one of the frequent tools that Looper (Rian Johnson, 2012) we meet with a ten year old kid,
can be used with a wide variety of applications. The use of Cid, who has supernatural abilities and will become the
reverberation is multiple and can be applied in different ways and Rainmaker. Three times (1:17’:00”, 1:32’:56”, 1:45’:10”) we
for different reasons, technical or aesthetic. watch and hear his extraordinary telekinetic abilities, in a full
reverberant surrounding atmosphere. Another example for this
category of the use of reverb as a storytelling tool is the way
5.1 Reverb that recreates existing places footsteps are heard or can be heard which always has the potential
Reverberation can be used to recreate sound-spaces that for a narrative explanation [10]. Confidence, indecisiveness,
correspond to the spaces that we see on screen. It is used to shape courage, shyness, suspense, power are reflected from the way
the soundscape that should be heard in order to persuade the footsteps sound: especially the cinematic footsteps .
audience for the existence of its corresponding landscape. In this
case, the successful use of the reverb is based on the former
knowledge, experience and acoustic memory of the 5.5 Reverb of impulsive sounds
viewers/listeners. Furthermore on the interconnection of all the In many cases reverberation can be used as a simple tool to create
film elements, sound, light, décor, costumes and the overall remaining sound ambiences that fade out to present a new
artistic design. There are certain spaces with characteristic atmosphere. For instance the decay of the reverberant part of an
acoustic qualities with which, most of the people of the western impulsive sound helps on the succession of sequences and scenes
world, are familiar: churches, palaces, court houses, tunnels, since it has the possibility to create a neutral sonic condition that
canyons etc. Their acoustics can be persuasive for the existence of allows for a storytelling, scenery, place, time change. It can be the
these spaces. In the starting sequence of the drama Tous les matins shutting of a door, the sliding of a drawer, a crash, a passing
du Monde (Alain Corneau, 1991), we see Gérard Depardieu in a vehicle, a shooting whose reverberant decay can create this short
palace, where his clothes, the décor but also the acoustics, time that is useful for a narrative shift. This short time interval
persuade us for the date, late 17th century, and also for the space, provides also some time for the viewers/listeners to understand or
the palace hall where a rehearsal is taking place. stand on significant events, as a shooting, killing and death for
example. In Looper (Rian Johnson, 2012) Joe’s car brakes right in
front of a young boy (09’:08’’) which has some similar
5.2 Reverb that creates virtual spaces characteristics with Joe and we have some seconds to think of his
With the use of reverberation it is possible to create part of the childhood and the opportunities of the poor in this movie. At the
sonic parameters and acoustical values of virtual spaces that last sequence of the film in 1:48’:07’’ Joe is shooting himself in
usually don’t exist. Mostly in science fiction films, where order to save young Cid. The reverberation lasts until 1:48’:15’’
unknown planets, spaceships, constructions etc appear, their while all other actions -gun fall, body fall- are silent. It is followed
acoustic characteristics, are usually significant and notable. by a sudden cut of the reverberation decay to silence when old Joe
Starting from the Star Wars (George Lucas, 1977) to animation disappears.
Wall-E (Andrew Stanton, 2008), and many more, it is part of the A quiet sonic environment starts succeeding with mother’s
work of sound design pioneer and guru Ben Burtt to give voice breathing and wind which is ripped from mother’s scream
and characteristic sonic dimensions to these fore mentioned “Cid”.This quiet remaining or decaying sound, highlights another
spaces, but also to objects, conditions and characters of the film. interesting side concerning the creative use of reverberation: the
In science fiction film Prometheus (Ridley Scott, 2012) the connection between the use of reverberation and silence in films.
acoustic of the caves, tunnels and corridors inside the structure of
the unknown planet are characterized from a certain reverberation
time and other acoustic qualities. In this movie a very interesting 6. CONCLUSIONS
acoustic space with a significant role in the narration, is the inside The limits between the fore mentioned categories are not perfectly
of the helmets which the scientist -who visit the distant planet- clear, however this is not a disadvantage but on the contrary a
wear. proof for the different ways and the interconnections of using
reverberation as a storytelling means in films. The connection of
humans with sounds and sonic environments, our training through
5.3 Reverberation for emotion everyday listening but also from film screenings and the ways that
Reverberation can be used as an aesthetic creative mean on an our sonic memories are being retrieved, are possibly some of the
attempt to produce or underline emotions. In the film Looper parameters that can explain the ways that sound design can lead to
(Rian Johnson, 2012) Joe and Kid Blue are outside Abe’s -the successful story telling through the use of sounds and their
bosses- office (14’:57’’). There is a long reverberant field, which process. The reverberation tools that can be used in film sound
reminds us of sonic environments such as these we meet in court design, for practical and aesthetic reasons, but also for the
 reinforcement of the narration, are certain but also without certain
limits, which are unexplored. Interdisciplinary methods of
research and analysis can lead to helpful results for the
construction of persuasive and creative soundtracks of feature
films.

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