Here is my soundtrack for assignment 5: World's Fair

​

     For the soundtrack project, I chose a whimsical cartoon clip that I felt had opportunities for some unique and cheerful sound design. The instrumental that I chose was “Gay Activity” by Clive Richardson. I found this on YouTube and saw its potential for use in a cartoon due to its upbeat march tempo and brass-heavy punch. It was also accompanied by some vinyl crackle which I found on freesound.org. The scene opens with rapid construction of the World’s Fair which I layered with fast-paced construction noises and marked the completion with the playful ding of a bell. Machine, construction, and crowd noises were present throughout the video and matched up with elements on screen.

     Two scenes I’m particularly proud of are the cloud machine and arriving trains. The cloud machine includes a sampled track of hand tools that is looped for a mechanical rhythm. The arriving trains are layered with about 7 individual sound clips (train, whistle, crowd x 2, footsteps, boing, and curtain) to illustrate the arrival, stop, and disembarking. Automation is present on the train clip as the panning implies motion of the train relative to the viewer and an increasing level implies its proximity to the screen. EQ adjustments were necessary throughout in order to clip off harsh treble sounds. I listened closely to the original soundtrack to notice the balance between the instrumentals and foley. I noticed that foley was quieter than one might expect it to be in reality, which I replicated in my version to preserve the cartoon characteristic. Finally, I returned to each foley element and leveled it out to keep the overall level hovering at about -20 dBFS. Overall, I’m quite pleased with my choice and processing of sounds. I feel like they accurately reflect what’s depicted on scene and generate a nostalgic appeal that is intended to make viewers smile while watching.