Black Noise, Green Sound and Conscious Ambience

In 2008 and 2009 I discussed the use of relative silence and 'conscious ambience' as potentially potent instruments of sonic branding. Silence is referred in some circles as BLACK NOISE. 'Conscious ambience' is another term I use for a related concept I also call GREEN SOUND.

Some background: In 2006 I was commissioned in a creative consultant capacity to provide some input into the creation of a new environmentally conscious media vehicle. Since my background is sound, after the project was finished, I ended up spending a lot of time considering how the global Green Revolution might affect the way I work –simply because those ideas were so prominent in my thoughts at the time.

One of the basic tenants of the Green Revolution is the urgent request to reduce our individual carbon footprint.

But meanwhile, my recording studio, your recording studio, everyone's studio is a plastic homage to coal, oil and toxins.

No wonder musicians are crazy.

Electronic music may sound like the future to your ears, but it's still an industrial health hazard to third world scavengers foraging garbage dumps for recyclable technology.

Not to mention, that sometimes the sounds we are commissioned to make are polluted or pollutants, themselves.

Too many people want it loud, meaningless and full of crap. If only audiences didn't respond to this kind of stimulation, but they do.

"Can we add something to make it more engaging", is often a coded request for 'more, more, more'.

Comparing aural to visual to messaging, It's interesting how additive actions play out differently between music and graphic. A two dimensional graphic (or 3-D on a flat screen) might catch your eye, but can it ever be said to be intrusive unless the accompanying volume is cranked to an unreasonable level?

No, simply avert your eyes, or turn your back and it's gone.

You can't say the same thing about sound.

I've never been annoyed by something I looked at (although I've been moved by terrible scenes of poverty and tragedy).

The same can't be said of sound:

Sound IS invasive.
Sound IS intrusive.

But in fact, that is the very reason why sound is also such a formidable communication tool.

At yet the same time, the power is greatly diminished with each successive addition of a sonic element. Pump a thousand sonic logos into a room at the same time and the result is NOISE. The same can't be said about the strip mall, or a grocery store aisle. You can call the offending view noise if you want to, because of competing messaging, but it won't make you go blind. On the other hand, too much sound will make you go deaf. If there is a visual comparison to be made, Sound is like a naked lady hitching a ride on the side of the road. You just might drive into a ditch looking at that.

And now, since there are more of us, there will continue to be more messaging. But BIGGER, FASTER, LOUDER won't continue to work in this busy environment.

What is required is a kind of environmentally cognizant sonic initiative. After all you don't need to scream at the angels in order to get your prayers answered.

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Collage by Terry O'Gara

Black Noise Branding

I'd like to introduce a new concept I've been thinking a lot about for some time now, which I call BLACK NOISE BRANDING.

As Invisible Branding is to Design strategy, Black Noise Branding is to Sonic Branding, –not polar opposites, but complimentary concepts capable of full integration.

FYI: "Invisible Branding refers to those stakeholder touchpoints that have little or no visual presence in the market". Such 'invisible' touchpoints include vision, relationships, training and strategy (Invisible Branding by Josh Levine, Steal this Idea).

At first, Active Noise Control and Black Noise Branding appear to be identical tasks, but they are actually quite different.

BLACK NOISE SHAPES ACOUSTIC ECOLOGY

Active Noise Control implies the exclusive elimination of nuisance sound. In contrast, Black Noise Branding implies a positive effort to shape a given acoustic ecology by creating deliberate (though possibly random in execution) intervals of Silence. The result does not produce a vacuum, but rather an opportunity for audiences, users and consumers to listen, contribute and arguably co-create –or at the very least, co-habitate the space.

If it's Silent, then why is it called Black Noise Branding?

Silence is sometimes referred to as Black Noise.

In our case, the Silence is not happenstance, but deliberately shaped within a given Acoustic Ecology, and therefore designed.

You don't need to possess synesthesia in order to know that sound comes in all sorts of colors. And anyone who owns a synthesizer probably knows the difference between White Noise and Pink Noise. In fact, noise comes in many (formally and informally) designated colors, including: Red, Blue, Brown, Violet and Gray.

That Silence might be designated Black Noise –or noise, at all– may make little sense at first until one realizes that Silence is generally relative, rarely absolute. A hushed street or garden, for instance, become all but that when you actually stop to listen. Suddenly, what might have initially seemed a dull Acoustic Ecology starts to hum and buzz with with all sorts of natural, ambient sound.

BLACK NOISE HEIGHTENS AWARENESS

John Cage made effective use of silence with his popular avant-garde work 4'33". By 'popular', I don't mean that a lot of people like it; I mean a lot of people have heard about the work, and once aware of it, have a strong opinion about it (regardless of whether or not they've personally experienced its effect).

However, if you're unfamiliar with the work, all you need to know is that in the manuscript, Cage directs the performers to make no sound at all. Instead the musician or musicians sit quietly for the entire prescribed term: four minutes and thirty-three seconds.

Most audience members describe the result as an uncomfortably long period of silence (and thank God when it's over).

The surface of the moon would actually provide a silent venue, but here on Earth, the result is Black Noise.

The interesting thing is, many audience members find themselves captivated by 4'33" –and no one forgets it easily, probably because Cage has made his audience co-creators of the final experience.

Black Noise isn't defined by absolute silence but rather by relative quiet interrupted with random spikes of ambient sound. In the case of the Cage piece, the shuffle of programs and feet, miscellaneous coughs, the leakage of outside traffic and weather, and all manner of sound for as far as the ear can hear –all become transitional audio components of the work, even if they only exist in the ever-changing and fast-fading present moment (if the 'performance' is not recorded).

4'33" works precisely because what Cage has done is framed these few minutes upon the premise that a formal work is, in fact, in progress. And audience members don't actually experience silence. Instead they are sort of tricked into a heightened sense of awareness, which leads to an almost compulsive act of sustained listening to (and for) any and all sounds that manage to leak into the room and which suddenly serve to fill an increasingly less and less silent space.

Half the controversy surrounding the work is not that silence is presented as music, but that when audiences finally open their ears to LISTEN, they come away amazed to learn that most of the time they're not really focused –that sighs and honks and and hums and buzzes whirl about them all the time, if only they would tune in from time to time, they might notice it. For a little while, for 4'33" to be precise, they suddenly do.

4'33" provides additional interest for us in the knowledge that like sound, (relative) silence' can also captivate an entire room of individuals, perhaps even as readily as a graphic. Attention is gained not by a flashy image or well designed logo –but, really, the opposite of all that: Deliberately framed Black Noise.

BLACK NOISE CREATES ANTICIPATION

Supporting this concept is the premise that absence of external sensory stimuli invites internal stimuli, such as anticipation or an awareness of self.

In the Benita Raphan documentary on Polaroid inventor Edwin Land, the film maker makes a strong point that indeed, Absence is Stronger Than Presence (1996), as easily demonstrated throughout the Twentieth Century by the sheer excitement garnered by even one undeveloped negative. Interestingly, excitement is experienced not after the film has developed, but before it's developed, or while it's developing.

BLACK NOISE INVITES CONTRIBUTION

If I look for another current, successful example of Black Noise Branding in action, the first thing I think of is the GOOGLE home page.

Note, Black Noise is metaphorical for our purposes, and can imply absence of Audio, Image or any other sensory data.

In contrast to Invisible Branding, which implies, not the absence of design elements, but rather intangible assets, Black Noise is indeed defined by absence. However, like Cage's work, Black Noised produced by absence of an aural focal point becomes a branding tool when framed by an idea, motivation or communication strategy.

As it happens, the Google home page essentially presents those who interface with it with visual silence, and in doing so invites interaction and contribution.

Sure, today, in 2008, the Google logo is perhaps the most recognizable brand in the world. But in 1998, when the company launched, most people looked at Google and saw a simple, unbranded website. That is, they saw nothing, but Google's interface designers somehow coaxed them into engagement.

Fast forward to the present, a decade on, and it's impossible not to notice that graphic artists worldwide continue to draw inspiration from the concept of visual silence, due in no small part to Google's success, and in the process access similarly powerful image statements.

At the beginning of this series I wrote:

"...from corporate messaging to personal ringtones, sometimes it's good to remember that the relative absence of sound, what we think of as SILENCE, can still be quite effective..."

But what's so special about the absence of sound?

Like many things, there is nothing particularly special about it. –At least not until you frame the perceived vacuum within a defined (and therefore branded) context, or by demonstrating contrast.

BLACK NOISE DEFINES CONTRAST

'Silence', 'Relative Quiet', 'Nothingness' -it all sounds pretty negative and nihilistic, but in fact a kind of anti-nihilism and negative branding is driving much of our present culture, if only because designers have rediscovered absence not only creates anticipation, but defines contrast.

For instance, consider that not only do Great Color TVs Depend on Black and White (New York Times, May 2008), manufacturers such as Pioneer, have gotten hip to the notion that the pursuit of absolute black –the absence of color– may just be the most effective way to brand their new electronic products.

It follows that the strategic use of Black Noise can also serve as an effective utility in the Music Designer's sonic branding tool kit.

After all, every composer knows what a REST is.

FYI: The Wikipedia definition of REST is: "A Rest is an interval of silence".

Rests (of varying degrees) usually appear between phrases. It is a place where a singer, for instance, can catch his or her breath. For listeners, a rest increases anticipation for what follows, but also simultaneously delivers a brief moment when the ear can wander elsewhere (but not too far). Composers can actually use rests in order to invite both increased focus or distraction (in audiences), depending on the requirements of the score. The result is that any musical statement that follows is consumed with rapt attention.

Within the context of sonic and audio branding, Rests (intervals of silence) hold the potential to present listeners with an invitation to listen to the ambient sound around them, and connect with it. Or to elicit a desired attention level before introducing a formally constructed Sound Mark.

SOUND AESTHETICS

Likewise, a Sound Masking consultant might consider re-positioning a noise suppression service as an audio design solution, especially if the assignments can generally be described as shaping quiet space from a busy existing Acoustic Ecology.

I should clarify: I'm not simply suggesting repackaging Isolation Foam and Mass Loaded Vinyl in a new Black Noise wrapper.

Simply consider that the hypothetical pairing of a Noise Reduction professional with a Brand analyst possessing sound aesthetic judgment on any given project might in fact maximize user or customer experience by virtue of their collaboration, rather than continuing to follow the old model where the foam went up on one day and the orchestra came in on another.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

Strategically Composed Intervals of Silence:

• Defines Contrast (as Pioneer demonstrates)
• Creates Anticipation (as Polaroid demonstrates)
• Heightens Awareness (as Cage demonstrates)
• Invites Contributors (as Google demonstrates)

If your brand is private and built-to-last, then of course the best solution is using traditional noise control to carve out a space (physical or virtual) to feature your solid state sonic branding.

But if you're creating a public and fluid environment or user experience, and thereby inviting co-creation, and if you're open to other voices enhancing and enriching your brand story, then perhaps the solution (also) includes the tasteful and expert application of branded Black Noise.

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Click any link below to read all the articles in the six-part July 2008 UNBRANDED series detailing the relationship between Effective Sonic Branding and Black Noise (Silence):

TO BRAND OR NOT TO BRAND?

That is the Question.

Part 1: Non Branding For The Best Branders
Part 2: Sonic Branding or Silent Branding?
Part 3: Websites and Sonic Branding
Part 4: The Sonification of Everything
Part 5: Silence Please, for the Soundtracks of Our Lives
Part 6: Black Noise Branding

Silence Please, for the Soundtracks of Our Lives

Sometimes we require silence in order to hear ourselves think –such as in a library.

And sometimes we need to squelch sound in order that someone else's story or message can get through, as in a movie theater, or during the exchange of important verbalized communication.

We're in such a rush to score the whole world that it's easy to forget that arranging opportunities for SIMPLE QUIET or shaping RELATIVE SILENCE may actually prove the most intelligible means for creating a platform to communicate with audiences, customers and users.

One reason for that is that more and more of us are bring our own sonic branding with us, principally in the way of customized playlists.

One way to look at a playlist is the same way a radio executive does programming: Audio content aimed at a target demographic or lifestyle position. So, why shouldn't your personally created playlists say something about your own individual micro brand?

Well, they do.

Of course, if you're wearing headphones or ear buds of some sort, you're not actually broadcasting your brand. On the other hand, you might be the only one listening, but it's as if the whole world is suddenly branded with your music!

On the surface, a given experience might appear to be the same for everyone, but is it really if every participant provides their own custom soundtrack? For instance, such as at a Silent Rave?

Does the film, THE WIZARD OF OZ, provide the same experience to those who watch it in its original form, as it does for those who replace Harold Arlen's score for Pink Floyd's classic rock recording, DARK SIDE OF THE MOON (Dark Side of Oz)?

Among other things, personal soundtracks package the environment around us –and influence the emotion within us– so that we each experience (more than ever) separate realities constructed of our own respectively individual designs.

One can therefore assume that if some hypothetical space will perhaps more often than not be used by people bringing personal media players, then maybe the best audio branding for that environment is silence –unadulterated room tone– or acoustically treated specifically in order to diminish natural sound.

Sonic Branding companies invested in selling audible recorded solutions may bristle at the idea that absence of sound is ever a better choice than a creatively voiced sound option. I would counter that unlike music and sound design houses, or music supervisors for that matter, that Sonic Branding consultants needn't specifically sell sound services, but rather present themselves as providers of branded communication solutions, of which quiet space –or the illusion thereof– via Sound Masking or Active Noise Control or otherwise controlling a natural or prescribed Ambient Noise Level, is as valid an advisement as any (if that is indeed the result of one's analysis of a given project).

ILLUSION THEREOF: What do I mean by that anyway?

Silence is rarely absolute, and the pursuit of it might not be a valid goal except for a studio vocal booth, but allowing a public room or environment to murmur with natural activity, or designing an experience so that one or more natural sound sources are accentuated over others can also be a useful option depending on one's entertainment, experience or communication strategy.

Is the sound of a library actually silence? Or is it the sound of movement through the stacks? Pages turned? The shuffle of footsteps in a reverberant space?

* * *

Click any link below to read all the articles in the six-part July 2008 UNBRANDED series detailing the relationship between Effective Sonic Branding and Black Noise (Silence):

TO BRAND OR NOT TO BRAND?

That is the Question.

Part 1: Non Branding For The Best Branders
Part 2: Sonic Branding or Silent Branding?
Part 3: Websites and Sonic Branding
Part 4: The Sonification of Everything
Part 5: Silence Please, for the Soundtracks of Our Lives
Part 6: Black Noise Branding

Mute Me: Websites and Sonic Branding

Lately I've been working with artist management to re-brand several websites. The dilemma is always: Should music start immediately when the index page opens? Or should it be muted, and the listener given the option of turning music on?

Personally, I think if you're in the business of sound, you can't be shy about making a big noise.

On the other hand, we've all experienced websites which we find annoying precisely because A) We find the sound unbearable, or B) The sound on the site is too loud and interferes with work, our own music player, or the sound coming from a website open in another Tab or Page, or C) Every click of the mouse yields redundant audible feedback.

Websites that immediately sound out when the home page opens can provoke a negative reaction. Unwanted voicing, repeated sound bytes, can all leave the audience/ user/ consumer with the impression that the brand itself is annoying.

HOWEVER:

There is a difference between an artist's or musician's website and a utilitarian corporate website, say. FANS. Fans visit artist websites. And fans come predisposed to hearing their favorite artist sing, ping and ringtone all the way home.

Sonic Branding (and skillfully produced, genre appropriate scoring) produces exceptional results on TV and Radio, and in film, because much like the fan visiting an artist website, the audience arrives predisposed to surrender their senses to the experience.

Conversely, most users don't consume websites quite the same way they do TV. We don't arrive 'predisposed to surrender' our senses, except for artist or dedicated entertainment sites. I think that point is key.

Prior great moments in sonic history aside, modern Sonic Branding has been effective since NBC first created the NBC chimes in 1931 or so.

What marketers still haven't completely figured out, however, is when branded sound is the most effective communication tool, and when to leave well enough alone.

It would be utterly fantastic, I think, and uniquely honest, if upon review of a project and subsequent brand analysis, you went back to your client and reported:

"Hey, the graphics is doing a great job in this area, so we don't think you need to introduce sound here in order to effectively communicate with your customers."

But I'm not holding my breath.

In fact, nothing cuts through the cutter like an effective graphic, and nothing adds more to chaos than ineffective or unnecessary sound.

Sometimes it's best to leave it UNBRANDED.

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By the way: Windows Vista users can mute their browsers (or any individual running application). Visit the Windows Vista Team Blog to learn more or find out how.

Just want to mute Flash movies? Einar Otto Stangvik has created Flashmute, a custom app for Windows users which, "will disable or enable sound output globally from Flash movies".

Mac users can install Firefox and add on Adblock, which is a partial solution. Alternately, on his own blog, Arve Bersvendsen suggests Mac addicts browse with Opera, which offers a global plugin shutdown by simply pressing the F12 key.

* * *

Click any link below to read all the articles in the six-part July 2008 UNBRANDED series detailing the relationship between Effective Sonic Branding and Black Noise (Silence):

TO BRAND OR NOT TO BRAND?

That is the Question.

Part 1: Non Branding For The Best Branders
Part 2: Sonic Branding or Silent Branding?
Part 3: Websites and Sonic Branding
Part 4: The Sonification of Everything
Part 5: Silence Please, for the Soundtracks of Our Lives
Part 6: Black Noise Branding

Sonic Branding or Silent Branding?

In the skirmish to package every experience with sound, from corporate messaging to personal ringtones, sometimes it's good to remember that the relative absence of sound, what we think of as SILENCE, can still be quite effective.

There's a reason why the saying is 'Silence is Golden' and not 'Chaos R Us'.

Even those who make a living in Sonic Branding would do well to heed its message. It's not enough to say 'We are Masters of Sound'. First convince your client you know where and when sound can be effective, and where and when you should leave well enough alone.

A library provides us with an obvious example of a space best left alone:

In a library we don't appreciate a cell phone going off in the history stacks. We all agree it is better to allow room tone to fill the vacuum, therefore creating a sense of QUIET. We certainly don't want the Library administration to feel compelled to brand each section with a unique hum (Just follow the cellos to Biology... –although, wow, I can imagine how that could possibly work).

A movie theater provides us with an example of when it's best to mute our personal branding so that other sound can be heard clearly and enjoyed by all.

Engaging sonic branding can both be a positive expression and produce a positive impression –that's what we hope it does– provided the context in which it is delivered suitable for sound, which is equally important to the equation, if it is to be effective.

What I mean by that is not whether the asset or environment is inherently suitable for sound, although that is a factor, but is the asset or environment a suitable platform for delivering your message?

If it is, then the next step is defining what that message is and how sound can effectively be used to deliver it, or be used as to attract audiences/users/consumers to a platform where they can learn more about a given product, service or experience.

This of course assumes the client clearly understands what they want to convey. Sometimes they don't know. Sometimes they need an analyst to tell them.

And sometimes someone simply needs to make a decision one way or the other.

* * *

Click any link below to read all the articles in the six-part July 2008 UNBRANDED series detailing the relationship between Effective Sonic Branding and Black Noise (Silence):

TO BRAND OR NOT TO BRAND?

That is the Question.

Part 1: Non Branding For The Best Branders
Part 2: Sonic Branding or Silent Branding?
Part 3: Websites and Sonic Branding
Part 4: The Sonification of Everything
Part 5: Silence Please, for the Soundtracks of Our Lives
Part 6: Black Noise Branding