MediaArtTutorials

W7 - Sound as Temporal Structure

Objective

You will build on your W6 scene by creating a 30-second sound composition and integrating it into your Blender project.

This activity focuses on how layered sound, rhythm, silence, and dynamic shifts reshape attention and emotional trajectory within a fixed visual frame, without changing the stage layout or lighting design.

Tutorial time may be used to begin or complete this activity depending on your tutorial day. Some work is expected outside of class.

Materials Required

Computer (laptop or desktop) + Computer mouse (recommended)
Headphones (highly recommended for accurate sonic perception)
Free acount on Freesound
Reaper (free software)
👉 Download: https://www.reaper.fm/download.php
Blender (free software)
Your Week 6 Blender file (.blend)
Paper + pen (preferred) or digital drawing tool

Activities

Complete the following in order. Ask your professor or TA for help as needed.

[10 min] Sonic Intentions — Start Here

Use W7 vocabulary

Define the emotional and sonic direction of your 30-second composition in direct relation to your Week 6 lighting approach. Write 4–5 lines that answer the following:

How does your sound build on your Week 6 lighting transformation?
Does it reinforce the lighting shifts, contrast them, intensify them, or slow them down?
What is the emotional arc?
What feeling defines the beginning, what shifts in the middle, and how does it end?
What types of sounds will you use?
Will they be environmental (wind, room tone, footsteps), instrumental (strings, percussion, drone), mechanical, vocal textures, or abstract digital tones?

[20 min] Gather & Curate Sound Samples

Using only royalty-free / free-use sound sources from Freesound, gather 10–15 sound samples that align with your sonic intentions. You may not use all of them, but you should curate a small palette to work from.

Look for a mix of:

Instrumental textures (drone, strings, percussion, tonal layers)
Environmental sounds (room tone, wind, mechanical hum, footsteps, ambience)
Abstract or digital sounds (glitch, filtered noise, processed tones)

⚠️ No lyrics. Vocal textures are allowed, but no spoken word or songs with lyrics.

Save all files in an organized folder and record the credit information for each sound (title, creator, source link, license). You will need this for proper attribution.

[60-120m] Compose in REAPER (Basic Sound Composition Focus)

👉 Download: REAPER

Follow the REAPER tutorials below and build a 30-second sound composition.

Be exactly 30 seconds long
Combine at least 3 different sound samples
Use only one or two tracks with a simple, intentional structure that includes a clear beginning, middle, and end
Adjust the volume of individual sound samples to maintain balance and consistency
Use crossfades between sound samples to ensure smooth transitions
Add a fade-in at the start and a fade-out at the end
Remove any clicks or pops that downloaded samples may contain

Clicks and pops are unwanted, sharp, transient audio artifacts that may sound like digital clicks or low-frequency thumps.
Maintain clean audio levels (no clipping)

Clipping is distortion that occurs when audio exceeds the system’s maximum level.

When finished:

Export your final composition as a WAV file
📄 Filename: Lastname-Firstname-W7.wav
Save your REAPER project file
📄 Filename: Lastname-Firstname-W7.rpp

Tutorials

❗ Review this week’s slides for practical tips on Blender’s interface, create new tracks and import samples, normalize files, and create marks for organization.

This is REAPER 7 - Basic Audio Editing

Change volume for a part of a track in REAPER

Removing Clicks & Pops in REAPER

Export in Reaper and avoid master clipping

Render Settings:

Source: Master mmix
Bounds: Entire proejct
File name: [Set name]
Reder to: [Select Folder]
Sample rate: 48000
Channels: stereo
Format: WAV

Dry Run = Analyzes the project locally to check peak levels without creating a file.
Render = Exports the full audio file and saves it to your selected folder.

[30 min] Blender: Sound Integration

First:

Open your duplicated W6 scene.
Adjust your timeline to 720 frames (30 seconds at 24 fps).
Remove any previous camera animation from Week 6.
Position the camera in a wide frontal shot and animate a simple, continuous forward movement or zoom (in or out) that lasts the full 30 seconds.

Then:

Follow the Blender tutorials below to import your 30-second WAV file into your scene.
Adjust the timing of the lighting animation to align with your 30-second sound composition.

Your goal is to demonstrate how sonic changes interact with lighting transitions to reshape perception.
Follow the tutorials below to export video with sound.

Save your updated Blender file as: Lastname-Firstname-W7.blend

➡️ Export Video as MP4, codec H.264
📄 Filename: Lastname-Firstname-W7.mp4

⚠️ Videos must be final renders, not viewport screen recordings.

Tutorials

❗ Review this week’s slides for practical tips for importing sound, organization, and having multiple workspaces for sound and animation editing.

How to Add Sound to your Blender Projects

Blender: Export File with Audio

Video Submission Example

Submission Documents

Create a single PDF that includes:

4–5 sentence sonic intention description
Briefly describe the emotional arc (beginning → middle → end) and the types of sounds you selected.
List of sound samples used
Include for each sample:
- Title
- Creator
- Source link
- License information

➡️ Export as PDF
📄 Filename: Lastname-Firstname-W7.pdf

Component	File Name
Project document (PDF)	`Lastname-Firstname-W7.pdf`
Reaper file	`Lastname-Firstname-W7.rpp`
Sound file	`Lastname-Firstname-W7.wav`
Video file	`Lastname-Firstname-W7.mp4`

⚠️ Follow submission protocols carefully. Incorrect submissions may result in lost points.

Assessment

Your work will be assessed based on:

Clarity of Sonic Intentions (PDF)
The written description clearly defines the emotional arc (beginning → shift → ending), and the composition meaningfully extends your Week 6 Lighting as Temporal Transformation approach.
Sound Composition Structure (WAV + RPP)
The 30-second composition demonstrates intentional layering of at least three sound sources, clear temporal development, effective fade-in and fade-out, and clean audio levels without distortion.
Integration & Framing in Final Render (MP4)
Sound is properly synchronized with lighting timing across the 30-second duration.
The static wide shot demonstrates a deliberate framing strategy (rule of thirds, symmetry, or leading lines), and sound reshapes attention within a fixed frame.
Technical Execution & File Organization
All required files (.pdf, .rpp, .wav, .mp4) follow correct naming conventions, maintain a 30-second duration, and are properly exported (not viewport recordings).