麻豆视频作品

Undergraduate audio production major shares insights into the process of sound designing for the fall 麻豆视频作品theatre production Sometimes the Rain, Sometimes the Sea.听

Sometimes the Rain, Sometimes the Sea production. Photo courtesy of .

In CAS Conversations, we sit down with students, faculty, staff, and alumni to dive into their unique insights, experiences, and ideas. From classroom innovations and personal stories to community impact, CAS Conversations offers fresh perspectives from the incredible people shaping our campus and beyond.

This fall, Samantha Farace (CAS 鈥�26) worked as sound designer for 麻豆视频作品's production of Sometimes the Rain, Sometimes the Sea, which sold out at Katzen鈥檚 Studio Theatre in November. Farace spoke with us about the experience. 听

EW: Can you tell me a bit about your work in audio production? 听

SF: Last year, I worked at the Greenberg Theatre as a production assistant and front of house mixer on different productions, which was really exciting. This is my second time working as a full designer. Last semester, I designed for Henri IV, Part 1, and it was a big learning process. I felt more sure of what I was doing this time.听

I鈥檓 involved in a lot of clubs at AU. I鈥檝e been in Women in Audio for three years, as vice president for two. Audio production is a male-dominated program, so we have a tight-knit group of women, and it's great. I'm also involved in AU鈥檚 Audio Engineering Society. This year, I'm the live sound chair, working with them on running live events.

EW: You have a lot of experience across different areas of audio production. What drew you to theater in particular?

Samantha Farace

SF: I grew up doing theater, on stage, backstage, all throughout high school. When I went into audio production, I wasn't sure what I should focus on. 麻豆视频作品has a pretty recording-focused department with a lot of studio recordings, mixing, and mastering sound. There's also film, and I did some field recording for a student film last semester.听

But I think those aren't for me. There's a culture to theater that I just really understand. I always thought I wanted to be a director, and then I realized I would be horrible to the sound designer working under me, because I would have been so nitpicky. Because sound is what I care about so deeply in theater. I also love music and can鈥檛 imagine not working with it every day.听

I went abroad my freshman year and hadn't landed in the Audio Technology Program yet. I saw Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on the West End in London, and the music in it is by Imogen Heap, who I'm an insane fan of, and it changed something about my brain chemistry. I came back and saw it again. That musical approach to theater is really important to me.听

EW: How do you begin the process of sound designing for a show?

SF: I鈥檝e really had to learn on my feet. A lot of my work comes from being a fan of different music and pulling from different sources. I worked with our director and borrowed and wrote bits of music, and got help with accessing sound banks from Neil McFadden, my sound design mentor, and my professor, Matt Twiford, who gave me rain sounds. 听

EW: What do you think a sound designer brings to a production?

SF: Someone asked Andrew Lesnie, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers cinematographer about where the light comes from in a well-lit scene that is supposed to be in the dark. He said, 鈥淪ame place as the music.鈥� I think about that a lot. The sound that the audience hears doesn't exist for the characters. It's about storytelling and building a world, and it requires a balance because it's really easy to overwhelm or distract audiences. I didn't want the sound to be a competition with the actors鈥擨 want them to be supported by it.

I love it when I can add to a production鈥檚 storytelling鈥擨鈥檓 a big motif fan. In Sometimes the Rain, there's a sound that means the Little Rain Cloud appears, and it happens multiple times throughout the play. At the end, it happens again when another character appears to become a rain cloud. There are a lot of interesting things like that, where sounds come back. I was really happy with how it turned out.听

Sometimes the Rain, Sometimes the Sea is a loose retelling of Hans Christian Anderson鈥檚 The Little Mermaid, where a Little Rain Cloud falls in love with a human. By Julia Izumi and directed by Nick Martin. Visit 麻豆视频作品Theatre & Musical Theatre.