Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 2001 - 23

4. To create and sustain mood (combinations of
devices used for locale and atmosphere; distortion of speech; soft music);
5. As an independent arbitrary emotional stimulus
(music, non-associative sounds);
6. As an actor (the voice of the Living Newspaper);
7. To reveal character (the unspoken aside);
8. To advance the plot (sound bridges between
scenes or episodes) (Burris-Meyer 1979, 2)
David Collison attempted to quantify the functions of
sound effects in his book Stage Sound by suggesting five
functions:
1. To establish (a) locale, (b) time of year, (c) day
or night, (d) weather conditions;
2. To evoke atmosphere;
3. To link scenes;
4. As an emotional stimulus;
5. To reproduce physical happenings: spot cues
like cars arriving, babies crying, clocks
striking, elephants falling out of trees, etc.
(Collison 1976, 75)
Carol Waaser also lists five functions in her book Sound
and Music for the Theatre:
1. Realistic effects called for in the script;
2. Voiceovers;
3. Punctuation effects for entrances and exits, ends
of scenes;
4. Underscoring for mood or character themes;
5. Preshow atmosphere. (Waaser, 67-69)
John Bracewell identified seven in his excellent text,
Sound Design in the Theatre:
1. Audibility;
2. Motivation;
3. Music;
4. Vocal alteration;
5. Vocal substitution;
6. Extension of dramatic space/time;
7. Mood. (Bracewell 1993, 207)

Three Categories

T

he functions described in the preceding historical
texts all seem to group into three general (although often overlapping) categories:
1. Amplifying or otherwise manipulating actor's voice;
2. Recreating sounds as they naturally occur; and
3. Influencing the emotional content of the drama.1
1. Note that Bracewell also groups these functions into three
somewhat similar categories: Practical, referring to the "necessary
conisderations for audience comfort in perceiving the vocal
component of dramatic production;" Dramatic, referring to
"those things that directly advance or condition the progress of
the drama or the environment within which the dramatic action
takes place;" and Aesthetic, which "designates matters that have to
do with personal interpretation of the immediate emotional
character of the drama and with the long-term development of
feelings and attitudes as modified by the dramatic experience."
(Bracewell 1993, 207)
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TD & T

Grouping the authors under these three general categories might produce the following combinations:
Amplifying or otherwise manipulating the
actor's voice:
To transmit the human voice in speech or song; as
an actor; to reveal character (Burris-Meyer);
Voiceovers (Waaser);
Audibility, vocal alteration, vocal substitution
(Bracewell).
Recreating sounds as they naturally occur:
To establish locale, to establish atmosphere
(Burris-Meyer);
To establish (a) locale, (b) time of year, (c) day or
night, (d) weather conditions, or to reproduce physical happenings; (Collison);
Realistic effects called for in the script (Waaser);
Motivation (Bracewell).
Influencing the emotional content of the
drama:
To create and sustain mood, as an independent
arbitrary emotional stimulus, to advance the
plot (Burris-Meyer);
To evoke atmosphere, to link scenes (Collison);
Punctuation effects for entrances and exits, ends of
scenes, underscoring for mood or character
themes, preshow atmosphere (Waaser);
Motivation, music, extension of dramatic space/
time, mood (Bracewell).

Influencing the Emotional Content of the Drama

N

otice that the last category is by far the largest, and
all of the authors in one way or another imply an
inclusion of the first two categories in the last.
Bracewell specifically includes all of his seven functions
as influencing the emotional content of the drama:
Mood...is the manipulation of all of the other
functions in order to enhance the mood and
emotional character of a play, of acts and
scenes within the play, and of individual beats
and moments within acts and scenes. For example, one is not likely to choose a bright,
trumpet fanfare as lead-in to a dark, melancholy scene in a jail cell. (Bracewell 1993, 208)
Another outstanding treatise on the subject, written about the same time as Bracewell's book, also emphasizes the emotional function of sound. Deena Kaye
and James LeBrecht write in Sound and Music for the
Theatre:
Rain or snow can be calm, menacing, inviting,
or foreboding. Just as a menacing person presents the threat of attack, an approaching
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 2001
