Sound Design Course for Beginners

Learn Sound Design with our video short courses in Sydney!

Sound design is the heartbeat of a film, TV show or video game, combining technical skills and creative flair to enhance narrative and emotion. This sound design course in Sydney provides you with an introduction to the principles of sound design as well as the basics of microphones, recording foley, editing and mixing.

Using a free sound editing program (DaVinci Resolve Fairlight), learn how the use of multi-track recording and sound effects give you the tools necessary to create atmosphere and depth to your production. Course notes provide a comprehensive reference to the topics covered and more. If you're looking for a fun and easy introduction to sound design then this course is for you!

Learning outcomes

By the end of this online sound design course, you should be able to:

• Understand the fundamental technical and creative elements that contribute to effective sound design.
• Understand the user interface, tools, and effects of a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW).
• Record, edit, and mix a basic sound design for a piece of video.

Course content

What will be covered in this sound design course?

Sound design overview

• What is sound design used for?
• The key elements of sound design
• How to get started - 1st cut
• Key steps in the sound design process

Recording

• Choosing the correct microphone
• Making live recordings
• Field recording/found sound
• Experimental recording techniques

Sound design tools & techniques

• SFX Effects, Sampling, Synthesis, MIDI
• Sidechaining, Reversing Audio, EQ Filters
• Plugin Orders, Distortion and Noise
• Patch cloning, Bit crush, Using Auxome
• Layering Textures, Extreme time stretching

In-class exercises cover the following tasks:

• Voice-over & Automatic Dialog Replacement (ADR) – Voice-over is a narrative provided by someone not shown on screen. ADR fixes the problem of poor quality or non-existent voice of the characters on screen.
• Enhancing with Sound Design Tools & Techniques
• Creating Sound Effects (SFX)
• Building a Soundtrack from elements of dialogue, Foley, sound effects, ambience & music.

Intended audience

Who is this sound design course for?

This sound design course is for absolute beginners, no prior experience or skills are required to attend.

Course venue

This course will be offered online over Zoom

Course materials

To participate in this class students will need access to a computer or laptop with internet access and will need to install the software DaVinci Resolve (free version available). Notes will be provided by the tutor.

What to bring to class (for in-person courses)

• A pair of headphones or earphones with a 3.5mm plug.
• A USB if you would like to save your work

Additional information

Please note the following:

• This course uses DaVinci Resolve Fairlight as the Digital Audio Workstation.
• When run in-person, the course runs in our computer lab, fitted with 27-inch Apple iMac systems.