Northwestern Sound

If you listen closely, you can hear music all around you. Sound artists Francisco Lopez and Barbara Ellison place this idea at the center of their crafts through sound installations, workshops, and performances. They each create compositions through their discoveries in deep listening and conjure new meaning from existing environments and recordings. Listen as Francisco and Barbara discuss their recording philosophies and their methods of listening.

Where would you go to hear a unique sound? It turns out, fascinating sounds are all around us and all around the world. Listen as documentary artist and radio producer Kara Oehler revisits some of the sonic destinations featured in the “Sonic Voyages” issue of the New York Times Magazine and offers a glimpse into the special issue’s production.

Jonathan Mitchell is the creator and producer of "The Truth," a fiction podcast of original stories set in richly detailed, often strange and darkly comedic, audio worlds. Listen as Jonathan talks about the early days of "The Truth", the evolution of the show’s production, and the state of audio fiction.

Encyclopedia Britannica’s "Guardians of History" is an educational adventure game that guides the narrative through voice commands with an Alexa or Google Home device. It provided a unique creative process for sound designer and Sound Arts and Industries alum Jeffrey Nils Gardner of Audacious Machine Creative. Listen as Jeffrey discusses the development, collaboration, and gameplay for "Guardians of History."

Ele Matelan is a sonic storyteller working in Chicago as a Foley artist for both live theater and films. She has years of experience devising the perfect sound effects to propel a story forward. Listen as Sound Arts and Industries student Jeffrey Nils Gardner guides us through Ele’s view on Foley’s place in audio storytelling, and audio drama communities in Chicago.

Over a career including TV's "LOST" and "Game of Thrones", Emmy award-winning sound designer Paula Fairfield has created rich soundscapes that expertly blend reality with the fantastic. On a campus visit she inspired our students to fully express their unique selves in their work. Listen as Paula talks about sound designing "Game of Thrones", advice for collaborating in creative projects, and using the voices of dragons to spur animal conservation.

Seven-time Academy Award winner Gary Rydstrom has created some of the most memorable sound designs in modern cinema (Jurassic Park, Toy Story, and Saving Private Ryan, to name a few). He has also brought his audio storytelling outside traditional film, designing the sound for theme park Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge in Disneyland and an installation at San Francisco’s deYoung Museum called The Companions, an audio-only cinematic experience that guided visitors through immersive and directional sound. Listen as Gary takes us through the creative process behind The Companions, and the power of using audio in storytelling.

Trimpin loves natural and acoustic sound. He moved to America decades ago partly to have greater access to discarded technological and mechanical materials to create his inventive installations, which combine music composition with visually imaginative kinetics (and some wizardry). Listen as Trimpin talks about a selection of his world-renowned sound sculptures, navigating the art community as a sound artist, and the beauty of natural sound.

Karina Longworth loves film history. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the way she thoroughly investigates the stories in her very popular podcast on Hollywood's first century, "You Must Remember This". Listen as Karina talks about the origins, creative process, and economics behind “You Must Remember This”.

Brendan Baker likes to play with sound. Music composition, documentary, audio fiction - Baker can do it all, always maintaining that sense of play with the audio craft. After a successful stint as a producer on the podcast "Love + Radio," he brought his talents to directing Marvel's original audio dramas "Wolverine The Long Night" and the upcoming "Wolverine: The Lost Trail." Listen as Baker talks about his career, using music and experimentation in audio storytelling, and having fun with sound.

Listen to Chicago improviser Matt Young about performing improv in podcasts like "Hello from the Magic Tavern," from an interview by Sound Arts and Industries student Jeffrey Nils Gardner.

In this episode we conclude our series on radio producer Sarah Geis' course, The Art of the Podcast. Listen as Sound Arts and Industries student Julia Ferguson guides us on the quarter-long journey through the course that led her and her classmates to explore the medium of audio storytelling.

Listen as students Jason Foley, Lauren Kriel, and Erin Watt explore the question of cultural identity in this Radiolab-inspired piece that examines the popularity of DNA ancestry testing kits.

In this episode, we continue showcasing student work from the class The Art of the Podcast, taught by radio producer Sarah Geis. Students Jonathan Chambers, Julia Ferguson, Brendan Monte, and Pavan Vasdev interviewed Gabriel Gomes, also known as DJ Wizard, about his career in pioneering Moombahton music. Listen as DJ Wizard touches on cultural appropriation in music, selling out, and finding a place as a creative.

This past fall, radio producer Sarah Geis taught “The Art of the Podcast” for our program. This course guided students through the medium’s past, present, and future through listening, critique, and creation. Listen as students Sam Clapp, Dan Tinkler, and Molly Wagener present their essayistic documentary piece from the course, detailing their experience reporting on a ham-radio foxhunt.

Sound Arts and Industries student Brad Robin created the electroacoustic composition “Steam” after gaining inspiration from one of our core courses in sound studies. “Steam” was accepted into the New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival, where it was programmed for a concert at the Abrons Art Center. Listen as Robin discusses his process of creating the piece, followed by the complete recording of “Steam.”

Ali Aftab Saeed (@aliaftabsaeed) is one of the most influential sound artists working in Pakistan today, becoming an international viral sensation with his band Beygairat Brigade’s biting satirical pop song “Aalu Anday” in 2011. Listen as he and bandmate Saad Sultan discuss the stories behind some of their most controversial hits and their experience working with Northwestern faculty and students to record a new song in the soundstage of the MA in Sound Arts and Industries. "Jagay Koi" https://soundcloud.com/aliaftabsaeed/jagay-koi "Jagay Koi" Music Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8fo5Db7dVQ

Listen to projects from the new course Communicating Sound Science with Sound Media, where students use sound design to present topics in sound science so that they are accessible to a wide audience. The course is a microcosm of the unique interdisciplinary curriculum offered at Northwestern’s MA in Sound Arts and Industries and draws upon the expertise of some of its key faculty in sound arts, sound science, and sound studies.

Hear about the fascinating world of Foley art from Sandra Fox of the world-renowned Footsteps Post-Production Sound. Fox describes some tricks of the trade in an interview, and you can hear her in action at a recent workshop with Northwestern students sponsored by the MA in Sound Arts and Industries.

Northwestern University is the place for sound. Hear about how new facilities and initiatives are multiplying opportunities for sound-minded arts and research. Join us on a tour of the new sound spaces at Northwestern, which include the center for our MA, a brand new state-of-the-art recording studio, and a mysterious disc archive.