ABSTRACT
In many small theatre departments and programs, sound is a subject that can easily fall through the cracks due to lack of instructors and the small number of students professing interest in the field. Communication Departments often offer the technical side of sound production through television and radio work, but those experiences seldom have the dramaturgical component found in theatre production – unless, perhaps, the Communication Department supports radio drama and television serials. Sound is important to the theatrical environment (witness the Chekhov quote above) but at the undergraduate level students are not often presented with a systematic approach to developing a design that is meaningfully integrated with all the other design components of the production. As we’ve developed our course through the years, we’ve realized that our general approach also works as an introduction to sound design. This chapter is for those instructors unfamiliar with sound who seek a structured introduction to the field.
