Sonic Design : Task 3 - Audio Storytelling
Sonic Design
Task 3 - Audio Storytelling
Start from 23.9.20258
11.11.2025 - 25.11.2025 Week 8-Week 10
LI XIN LI / 0379305
Sonic Design / Bachelor of Interactive Spatial Design
Task 3 - Audio Storytelling
Introduction
Task Description: Choose a popular fairy tale and create an audiobook (similar to a radio program). Required tasks include:
1. Designing suitable sound scenes.
2. Recording engaging voice-over performances.
3. Incorporating sound effects to enhance the narrative experience.
Submission Requirements:
1. Audio files (WAV or MP3 format).
2. Publishing reflective learning content in an e-portfolio.
Learning Objectives: Master technical and digital media skills: Creatively use software and effectively utilize digital media skills to convey design concepts or solutions.
Progress
After going through the assignment requirements, the story that came to mind was my favorite childhood fairy tale—Snow White. So I decided to choose this story for my audio storytelling project.
I found the storybook of "Snow White" and extracted the material I needed from it. The storybook itself contained a complete script structure, including narration and dialogue, which made it easier for me to organize the story content for further use in recording and sound design.
Subsequently, I compiled a list of the necessary sound effects based on the story content and then searched for and downloaded the required sound materials one by one from relevant sound effect material websites.
Sound recording
I used my phone to record audio according to a pre-prepared script. During the recording process, I tried to choose a quiet environment to reduce the original background noise. To facilitate subsequent noise reduction processing, I deliberately reserved a few seconds of pure ambient sound at the beginning of each recording as a noise sample.
After recording, I imported all the audio files into Adobe Audition for post-processing. To make the dialogue and narration sound cleaner, I first used AU's "Noise Reduction/Restoration" tool. Before the actual noise reduction, I located the few seconds of ambient sound at the beginning of the recording, selected this pure noise area, and then clicked "Capture Noise Print." This allows AU to analyze the fixed noise characteristics in the background, such as airborne noise and background noise.
Next, I opened the "Noise Reduction" panel and adjusted the "Reduction" and "Noise Capture" ratios to reduce noise as much as possible without compromising the vocal quality. After noise reduction, the overall vocals were cleaner, providing a cleaner foundation for subsequent EQ, compression, limiting, and reverb adjustments.
After noise reduction of the vocals, I used Adobe Audition's Parametric EQ to further optimize the clarity and layering of the dialogue. First, I moderately attenuated the low-frequency muddiness commonly found in the recordings, making the sound cleaner and preventing booming or muffled effects in the mix. Then, I slightly boosted the mid-to-high frequency range to enhance the clarity of enunciation, ensuring that the narration and character dialogue maintained sufficient presence against the background music and ambient sounds.
When working with characters like the Queen and Mirror, I also made personalized adjustments using the EQ. For example, I made the Queen's voice colder and sharper, while enhancing specific frequency bands in the Mirror's voice to give it a hollow, resonant, metallic quality. Through these subtle EQ adjustments, the timbres of different characters became more easily distinguishable, making the entire story sound more vivid and layered.
After completing the basic processing of the dialogue and character voices, I used Adobe Audition's dynamic tools to further control the overall volume. The purpose of dynamic processing is to make the volume of each line of dialogue more stable, preventing sudden increases or decreases in volume, thereby improving the consistency of the listening experience.
I mainly used compressors, expanders, and limiters for this part of the production. The compressor automatically reduces the volume when a character gets excited or their voice suddenly rises, making the sound smoother and softer; the expander helps reduce the faint noise remaining during pauses in dialogue, making quiet passages cleaner; finally, I used a limiter to prevent popping sounds caused by sudden peak volumes, ensuring the final output sound remains safe and distortion-free.
Through the combined use of these dynamic tools, the dialogue throughout the story sounds more professional, remaining clear and natural even after adding background music or ambient sounds.
I used Adobe Audition's DeEsser tool to remove sibilance, making the voice smoother and more natural while maintaining clarity. This tool is very useful in post-production voice-over, making it easier to convey a character's tone and emotions.
I used a high-pass filter in the Queen's voice acting to remove low-frequency noise and rumble, making her voice clearer and sharper while retaining her cool and arrogant demeanor. Combined with noise reduction and equalization, the lines sounded clean and powerful, further highlighting the character's majesty.
In the voice-over for the Magic Mirror, I used a pitch shifter to adjust the pitch, giving the mirror a mysterious yet slightly unstable tone, adding to its magical atmosphere. Simultaneously, I added harmonic reverb to create spatial depth and echo, making the mirror appear to float in the air, carrying a faint echo. Through these two techniques, the Magic Mirror's presence and magical quality are effectively conveyed, further enhancing the story's atmosphere.
I applied a hard limiter to all voices to control volume peaks, avoid abrupt pops, and maintain clarity and fullness. This processing makes the overall dubbing sound more balanced and professional, maintaining stable volume and a good listening experience for the Queen, the Magic Mirror, and other characters.
After adjusting the voices, I tried adding different background music and sound effects to different scenes to create a richer atmosphere for the story. For example, in the scene where the Queen appears, I chose a somber and tense soundtrack to enhance her majesty; when the magic mirror appears, I added music with a mysterious echo to highlight the magical atmosphere; by tailoring the background music to each scene, the emotional ups and downs and immersion of the story were further enhanced.
I then submitted my work to my teacher for feedback.
The teacher's feedback:
The teacher emphasized that the vocals must be kept at maximum volume, more prominent than the background music and sound effects.
The teacher pointed out that the current background music volume was too high and needed to be lowered, only to be appropriately increased when supporting the plot or scenes;
The teacher affirmed the quality of the audio recording, stating that "the audio recording is very good."
Based on the feedback, I adjusted the volume balance to make the vocals clearer and more prominent while ensuring that the music and sound effects supported the story without overshadowing it.
Finally, I exported the voiceover and added visual effects and page-turning effects to the story, making each scene more vivid. Through the combination of visuals and sound, the story not only has more layers in terms of auditory experience but is also more visually appealing, making the overall presentation more complete and immersive.
Snow White Video
Audio Documents
All files
REFLECTION
Completing the audio story for *Snow White* made me realize that audio creation is not just about recording and editing but also a process of "shaping an experience." Every line of dialogue, every piece of background music, and the rhythm and volume of every sound effect directly affect the listener's experience. I learned to design sound from the listener's perspective, rather than simply stacking audio tracks.
In Adobe Audition, I used tools such as noise reduction, deessing, equalization, treble shifter, pitch shifter, harmony reverb, and forced limiting to meticulously process different characters, making the queen's majesty, the magic mirror's mystery, and the personalities of other characters more prominent. With feedback from my teacher and repeated revisions, I gradually mastered adjusting volume balance, spatiality, and rhythm, making the sound cleaner and more three-dimensional and the story more immersive.
This assignment made me deeply appreciate the importance of patience and attention to detail. Each repeated listening and optimization made me understand that creation is not just about completing a work but about continuously refining the experience. Through this experience, I not only improved my technical skills but also learned how to tell stories with sound and considered how to integrate sound into spatial interactive design to create a stronger sense of immersion in the future.
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