MARIO MARIANI SOUND DESIGN COURSE

Course Program
The course covers Sound Design in its broadest perspectives and multidisciplinary meanings.
Seeing, drawing, and sculpting sound. This fruitful perceptual short circuit enables the
unfolding of a world and possibilities in which sound synesthetically acts as a hinge between related arts and
disciplines such as theater, film, dance, and performance.
Understanding these dynamics enables a conscious use of the sound medium and its innumerable expressive and artistic possibilities, with particular attention to the audiovisual medium.
The course will address sound design from a historical perspective, in its connection with images, the visual and performing arts, to arrive at current techniques with practical applications of digital production and multimedia programming with a touch of integrated audiovisual composition.
Each student will be taught the cultural and practical tools for sound design and production, starting with field recording, independently producing
original material and/or elaborating existing material according to the intended listening destination and its application
to audiovisual video, whether environmental or “virtual.”
Through a balanced approach between theory and practice, students will master the main DAW software, learn to manage a professional audio workflow, manage
the timbral and dynamic balance of a mix, and use creative and corrective tools to modify the sound material. Particular emphasis will be placed on sound experimentation, field recording, sound treatment in immersive or site-specific environments, and the integration of sound with images, bodies, and spaces. At the end of the course, students will be able to design and create works.
Module 1: The Synesthetic Ear & Historical Foundations

• • Introduction to Sound Design as a multidisciplinary art form.
  • The historical relationship between sound, moving images, and performance arts.
  • Developing a “visual” approach to sound: seeing, drawing, and sculpting audio frequencies.
  • Analytical listening and the psychology of sound perception in multimedia.

• • Introduction to professional microphones, portable recorders, and field techniques.
  • Capturing environmental soundscapes, textures, and found objects.
  • Building a personalized, original sound effects (SFX) library from scratch.
  • Best practices for file management and metadata tagging.

• • Comprehensive overview of professional DAW environments and interface navigation.
    
  • Advanced editing techniques: time-stretching, pitch-shifting, and structural manipulation.
  • Destructive vs. non-destructive editing workflows.

• • Corrective audio tools: noise reduction, equalization (EQ), and dynamic restoration.
  • Creative sound shaping using synthesis, modulation, delays, and reverbs.
  • Transforming raw environmental recordings into abstract musical or narrative textures.
  • Integrating midi, digital production, and basic multimedia programming elements.

• • Principles of multi-channel audio and immersive soundscapes.
  • Designing sound for real physical spaces: theater stages, dance floors, and galleries.
    
  • Interaction between sound, physical human bodies, and architecture.

• • Techniques for integrated audiovisual composition.
  • Synchronizing audio accents with visual movement, cuts, and emotional beats.
  • Mixing fundamentals: achieving tonal balance, depth, clarity, and dynamic impact.
  • Mastering formats and exporting assets for final delivery across different media platforms.