Sound can add emotion to art - The CreativeMindClass Blog
Phil Brookes is a music composer and sound designer who hails from Wales. He worked with TedEd, Greenpeace, Tate, Medium, Passion, Strangebeast and many more. His sound and music were also featured at major festivals such as Cannes, BFI London, GLAS as well as Giffoni with multi-award-winning films.
In the interview below, you can find the story of how Phil came about becoming music and also some of the most useful tips to start in the world of sound. In addition, take a look at the musical details of an enjoyable Socks project that he co-created with Eva Munnich.
Phil Brookes' background
I'm a musician and sound designer originally from Wales located in UK.
As far back as I can remember, I have always been attracted to music, sounds, and voices. Falling asleep in front of the washing machine as young children, and being captivated by the droning sounds (appropriate for the kind of project I'll be talking about!) is the first time I've heard a sound.
I began to mimic funny accents and voices.
My dad was an obsessive music lover and would make use of recording equipment to make noises vocally, applying effects like reverb and delay to his voice to make it more enjoyable. I would imitate him as well as people like Jim Carrey and Robin Williams using a dictaphone to imitate all the hilarious voice and accents they could create.
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. My brother was moving out and left his guitar in the car, and, as an adult, I took it as a tool to educate myself to write as well as recording my music. Challenging myself to create the sounds that I seen on records or TV and then adding my own sounds to the existing material.
This passion to utilize whatever resources I had to create or recreate sound continues to inspire me to keep pushing myself. I enjoy the process to learn as I make and my favourite way to write is in the moment. Improvising, experimenting, jamming.
I taught myself piano and synthesizer to compose the tune for the song 'But Milk is Important'.
My fascination led me across The University of South Wales in Cardiff, where I met an awesome animator named Eirik Gronmo Bjornsen. He returned to Norway and made a film together with Anna Mantzaris called 'But Milk Is Important'.
I learned piano for myself and synth to create the music that was used in the film as well, and in the time since I started making the film I've taken on sound design roles too, and haven't stopped creating.
The X-Files Project, aka the "Socks Project"
Recently, I collaborated alongside the incredible visual artist, Eva Munnich for the very initial of three Lemonade Insurance projects I've created the music and the sound design for.
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The Lemonade videos are hilarious fifteen to thirty seconds of short animated videos that can be played repeatedly. Eva's project had a strong sci-fi/extraterrestrial theme to it, and so she had some great ideas about music and sound.
Nine times out of ten, I will create the sound first as the ambience I create can be a source of inspiration to create music.
We've also had a conversation with Eva about her process for designing animation and visuals to be used in this X-Files project. Check out the interview with Eva Munnich.
Vocally, Eva liked the voices I'd done in a prior TedEd animation I worked on with Lisa Vertudaches.
In the animation I had raised my vocals significantly. She thought this would fit for the particular sock and asked if I could say "yay" with this tone. While recording the "yay" I let the recording in motion and then added "seeya" just before that sock entered into the UFO.
Eva enjoyed it, and it stayed in. The remaining voices were improvised and created as I saw them.
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If the machine was to have a voice, it would be low.
In contrast to the heavy tone of the sock's voice, I toned down my voice to the washing machine; as it's a huge object which is quite large, I thought if it were to have a voice, it would have some depth to it. I mingled these sounds with the foley , and then mixed the sounds ready for the music to be layered onto.
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I was a fan of the X-Files songs as a child.
Musically, Eva thought it would be fun to make music that was inspired by The X-Files theme from The X-Files, which I loved as I loved that music as a kid!
As with the majority of projects I've worked on I'm working with an animatic (almost similar to a storyboard that moves) that animators give me so that I can gain a sense of the timeframe, etc.
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I enjoy sci-fi films and game soundtracks.
I enjoy a variety of different genres of music, and this includes sci-fi films and soundtracks for games, so along with being influenced by in the X Files theme, I was thinking about which instruments would work best in this genre.
I used mostly synth-based instruments drones, bass, and drones to build the basis of the music. Layering drones was about capturing the perfect atmosphere, and also representing the light that emanates from the ufo to abduct our tiny sock.
Then I created an impactful drum, mixing two kick drum samples and adding reverb and delay. I then added a delaying synth that pans from left to right in order to make the music appear more immersive. The final synth that I played in was the six-note pattern that repeats itself all through.
Whistling is an excellent personal element that can be added to the music.
It was time to take an inspiration from X-Files and include a delayed piano pattern as well as a whistle. I love whistling and find it to be a fantastic personal element that can be added to an arrangement. I originally recorded some basses guitar parts However, I found that they was not the right sound I was going for.
Piano pattern
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A whistle
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Making an environment in just 15 seconds can be challenging.
I really loved working with Eva, and this short-form approach is really exciting and fun to create within. Although it's quick however, it's quite a bit of work, and has its own difficulties.
Making and creating an ambience within 15 seconds using the music can be a challenge, as well as composing the right melody without sounding rush-like within that time frame is quite an accomplishment too.
These are challenges I relish, though, and since Eva's video, I've completed two other really fun Lemonade projects! You can find the process videos for them on my website as well as on on Instagram.
How to begin adding sound to visuals
If you want to start making sound a visual medium, there're currently more creative options to accomplish this than before. And there's the best time to start doing it now than today.
- If you're a person with some creative spark, you should take it wherever it leads you. The best way to start creating is to make stuff that you enjoy and then display the people what you have created.
- Send messages to budding filmmakers who have the same interests like you.they have always been looking for advice on sound. it is possible to build a partnership.
- The first step is to get started at some point. I was making ambient music long before I considered the possibility to pursue a career in film and thankfully there was an animation program at my university, but before that, I had made and created enough sound and music that it made sense for me to take the path that presented the opportunity.
- Meet others who are creative; that's what working together is all about. If you are fortunate enough to be located in an area that has festival nights, film nights and other activities, you should go to them and meet people.
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