DNA

By Dennis Kelly

Sound Design

Directed by Marie Davis

October 2018

Set Design by Marie Davis, Lighting by Heidi Eckwall, Costumes by Gypsy Ames

A group of teenagers do something bad, really bad, then panic and cover the whole thing up. But when they find that their cover-up unites them and brings harmony to their once fractious lives, where is the incentive to put things right.

The Natural and Unnatural Juxtaposed…

Created in Ableton Live 10, I used a software instrument called Wavetable and various pads to create a generated sonic landscape.

The director was interested in the juxtaposition of the natural and unnatural in our world. I made all the beats in the transition music using samples from recycled plastic I found around campus to emphasize the unnatural, as well as only using a computer to create tones.

I have edited the sound clips here so that they can be played in stereo. Originally, the design was done in 8 channels surround sound. The beat would come from under the seating, and the harmonics from up above.

The audience enters into a modulating soundscape that never resolves, holding them in anticipation and a bit of anxiety with deep almost infrasonic tones buried underneath.

The transitions start mellow, using only the harmonic generations of the pad.

Then a beat is introduced, supporting the often primal and violent energy of the characters.