In the previous two articles, I covered the basic origin of Binaural audio or "3D Sound" and some things to consider when deciding if it's the right approach for your story. I also shared that I have been using Binaural audio in all my work since 2017. That's what this article is about.
As I mentioned previously - my general approach with Binaural has been to use it in subtle ways rather than in obvious ways that would call attention to itself. But, of course, there are exceptions, and I'll share some here.
My approach has been based on the way film sound treats surround sound. The general guide in film sound (not a rule) has been to be a bit conservative with the rear surround speakers - to use them to gently wrap the story world around the audience without drawing too much attention to itself. The point is to enhance immersion but avoid creating distractions "back there" that might take attention away from the screen. Of course, this is only a guide (most films adhere to it, though), but many ignore this rule to great dramatic effect.
Even in documentary work, I start with backgrounds and ambiances. I love creating deeply layered and evolving backgrounds in my audio stories. It's a great way to paint the world outside the dialogue and situate our characters in a place and time. To my ear, this is one of the main ways to create sonic immersion.
Let's take an example from the fiction series I designed, "Aftershock," and the main interrogation room.
Pop on some headphones and take a listen to this clip where I walk through my approach.
So there are the main ambiance sounds placed normally. And then more layers of ambiances binauralized to appear behind the listener - like surround sound speakers. And just like in film these sounds are usually a bit quieter than the main ambience sounds in front. The point is to gently wrap the world around the listener and create more depth.
It's common for me to put moving things "back there" as well. Like this exterior example in post-earthquake LA.
Again we have the upfront backgrounds - and the "surround" background. Plus the activities binauralized to create a sense of distance, scale, and depth to the world.
Ok - sounds good- but what else? How about characters! It’s one thing to have immersive environments but we need to do more that just plop our characters on top. How?
Returning to the Aftershock interrogation room - here's a demonstration of various ways 3D can help put our characters IN the world.
So we have what I call the "narration zone" - this is where the voices sound completely upfront and as close as they can get. This is where narration sits. Our characters should not be in this zone unless they are narrating the story.
The main level is what I call the "personal space" zone - or distance. I like characters to be about 3- 6 feet away from each other and our listeners. This feels most natural to how we're used to listening to others speak in real life. By using this 3- 6 ft of personal space as a baseline we not only have a more realistic spatial relationship between characters and the listener - we also have room to make more creative choices in moving our characters closer or further away depending on the needs of the story.
I also identify Far away Zone - that seems obvious and there are numerous examples in Aftershock of characters who start out far away and come closer.
DANGER ZONE
And then there is the “Danger Zone” - or the Intimate Zone. The Intimate Zone is very close to each other and to the listener - almost ASMR close. This zone is the “Danger Zone” because it’s very easy for it to be confused with the Narration Zone if characters exist at this distance for too long. Like anything else, it loses its effect the longer it persists or the more it’s used.
I learned this lesson the hard way on a project where the repeated request was to move the characters “closer”, “closer”. Following this request put the characters almost constantly in the Intimate Zone. As a result, to my ears, the characters sounded separate from the sonic world the listeners were supposed to believe they existed in. This is probably the most common misstep I hear in audio drama - “Studio voice” closeness of characters tacked on top of distant backgrounds.
The solution is to push your characters back a few feet. Don’t worry - we will still be able to hear and feel them. And when they do move in close to the Intimate Zone… it can be really powerful.
So those are some of the more subtle ways I've been hiding "3D sound" in plain ... hearing. These kinds of examples are used countless times in nearly every series I've worked on - documentary and fiction.
So how about a more upfront example? From a documentary?
Here’s a section from episode one of Wondery’s “The Vaping Fix”.
This is a first-person account and the sound design is intentionally dramatic. The use of 3D Sound is more upfront and stylized here to deliver a sense of hyper-realism.
It wouldn’t be fair for me to talk about Binaural sound without mentioning Mark Ramsey’s “Inside the Exorcist” docu-drama. It was in designing the sound for that series where regular use of 3D Sound really started for me.
Here’s a sample from Episode 1.
The entire series makes use of Binaural audio, but it’s not a 3D show. The “3D” elements exist as a spice rather than the main point.
These examples were created with various commercial binaural audio tools including software and microphones to spatialize the sounds.
What about Dolby Atmos?
Atmos is getting more and more use for Podcasts so I decided to start working with it. It was too late to use it on Aftershock episodes as they were already finished - but I did get the chance to design and mix the Aftershock trailer in the Dolby Atmos tool.
Again - best heard with headphones as this is a fairly upfront example of the Binaural “sound”.
So that wraps this series on “immersive” audio tools and techniques for audio stories. I hope this was helpful to you in thinking about this topic - and I look forward to hearing from you on your approaches and what you’ve been up to with it all. Obviously, this can go very deep and there will always be new creative ways to use these tools when the stories really inspire it.
As always please reach out with any questions or comments!
Cheers!