Course A · Self-directed · Asynchronous
Immersive Sound Design for Exhibit Designers
From a vision for your space, to a sound design you can hear, to an installation and a brief for whoever builds it.
Created by Billy Mark, Maro Kariya, and Ethan Marshall Cohen.
Imagine it, hear it, build it
Three modules, released from November 9 to early January. Each has a 30-minute core session, then time to work on it.
Module 1 · Imagine it
Environment-Building With Sound
Sound can turn a space into a place. Leave with a storyboard of your own space, with a technical overlay.
Ethan Marshall Cohen & Maro Kariya
Module 2 · Hear it
Hearing and Making Spatial Sound
Hear the difference, see how it’s made, and make a first sketch with free tools.
Ethan Marshall Cohen
Module 3 · Build it
Spatial Sound Installation
From a sketch to a room that runs on its own, and the words to brief whoever builds it.
Maro Kariya
Who it’s for
Made for the people who decide what a space sounds like
Exhibit designers, educators and venue staff who make choices about sound in science centers, children’s museums, and music and culture museums. No audio background needed; the tools are free and the technical parts are explained as you go.
What you’ll leave with
- A storyboard of your own space, with a technical overlay · Module 1
- A sound sketch you can hear on headphones, placed around a listener · Module 2, opens December 5
- A speaker layout, a priced gear list and a handoff brief for whoever builds it · Module 3, opens January 2
How it works
Format
Self-directed and asynchronous. Work when it suits you. Most parts are done at home; a few listening exercises take you on site.
Time
About 3–4 hours per module. A 30-minute core session, then assignments. Modules open from November 9; finish by early January.
You’ll need
Headphones and a computer. The software is free.
Feedback
Join the peer debrief call in early January.
The approach
Start from the visitor, then shape three things
Decide what visitors should experience, then shape the material (the room), the technical (the system) and the content (what they hear) to serve it. The whole course runs on this idea.
Vision
What experience do we want visitors to have?
Material
What does the space allow?
Technical
What can the system do?
Content
What will visitors hear, and why?
From the pilot · Belle Isle, Detroit
See what spatial sound does to a space
Before this course existed, its teachers, supported by Sound Travels, built a spatial sound installation on Belle Isle in Detroit and invited people in. Nathan Knox and Alexis Brunnert of Notable Human Films filmed what happened. Watch it before Module 1. It’s the spatial experience the three modules teach you to design.
Film by Notable Human Films
Ready to start?
Begin with Module 1.