Sound Design Deep Dive

Whispers, Hysteria, and the Gallows Drum

"The Golden Rule: Contrast is your best weapon. To make the screaming hysteria of the girls terrifying, you must first establish the suffocating, heavy silence of the strict Puritan household."
CH 1: THE FOREST CH 2: MASS HYSTERIA CH 3: THE GALLOWS

Concept 1: The Forest Whispers

The Big Idea: The Puritans believed the wilderness outside Salem was the Devil's domain. Sound can be used to make the outside world feel constantly threatening.

📝 Sound Terminology Bank

Diegetic Sound

Sound the characters can actually hear within the world of the play. Examples include the rattling of Proctor's iron chains in Act 4, or the girls screaming in the courtroom.

Non-Diegetic Sound

Sound added for the audience's emotional benefit that the characters cannot hear. Example: a low, ominous cello drone playing underneath Danforth's interrogations.

Reverb / Echo

Applying an echo effect to voices. Adding heavy reverb to the girls' screaming in Act 3 makes them sound supernatural, overwhelming, and demonic to the audience.

Crescendo

A sound that gradually increases in volume. The drumming at the end of the play should slowly crescendo to a deafening roar as Proctor approaches the noose.

📝 Exam Strategy: The Design Grid

Edexcel Students: Fill out a table exactly like this in your exam.
AQA/WJEC Students: Use this structure to write perfect paragraphs (Point ➔ Effect ➔ Terminology).

Element / Effect How would it enhance the extract for the audience? Technical language you could use
Click 'Generate Example' to see a top-band answer...