The shaping of ‘good sound’ in handbooks for theatre sound creation

Abstract

ABSTRACTWhat is a ‘good sound’ according to handbooks for theatre sound creation? Using discourse analysis, it is demonstrated that three principles guide this specific notion of ‘goodness’. Adequacy, inconspicuousness and prioritization were mentioned in most of the texts as the fundamental rules by which the sound creators had to perform their unique art. The sounds had to primarily illustrate the staged – or not stageable – action, but could also serve the purpose of creating a mood or accentuating scenes and spoken words. Beyond this, the principles served to create and sustain a state of concentration in the audience – the idealized form of perception within the context of realistic theatre. My interest is directed at the implicit hierarchies that I assume are at work in the process of choosing, creating and performing certain sounds in theatre following this concept of ‘goodness’. I argue for the importance of further analytical work on the history of sound effects in theatre, putting the machines, the practices and discourses around them in relation to historical documents concerning theatre aesthetics, spatial relations, acting practices and modes of perception.