Brother Wolf is a musical that is set in North Carolina in the 1830’s. It is an epic tale of a family who is attacked by a demon and seeks revenge. A preacher named Brother Wolf comes along to help defeat the evil in the land and face the fear held within himself.

 

Today’s epic tales and legends come in much different forms then they once did. They have evolved from the Greek and Roman myths into the superhero movies our culture has become very familiar with. The sound design I have created has a modernized sound palette to give a sense of familiarity to the audience and to serve as a tool to help show that the villainous characters are from a place out of this world, a world known as your imagination.

 

These sound effects derived from a present-day sound palette serve as a reminder to the audience to consider the ideas of the play through the lens of today’s society. This reminder in juxtaposition to the period specific musical aspects of the play creates contrast and further develops the audience’s interest.

In Brother Wolf’s story, the sound design is a character of its own. Evil is developed in this design as sounds that come from every direction, a deep overwhelming, overpowering sound that the audience can hear and feel. The sound of evil is heard and felt primarily in the lower frequency ranges (anywhere from 60 Hz to 500 Hz) with some variation going above the normal vocal range to add a layer of depth to the sound design.

 

At times, evil presents itself through environmental sounds such as crows cawing, wolves howling, snakes hissing and ambient forest sounds. Some of these sounds you may hear out in the woods of western North Carolina. Evil sometimes takes the form of a low bass note or a supernatural compilation of sounds that represent an evil character in the story or a foreshadowing of an evil to come. These sounds are heard as though you are imagining them right out of a story.

 

As my design progressed and after much consideration, I found that vocal enhancement was needed due to the complexity of the scenic design, the directors blocking, the contrast of the actor’s dynamics and range and my desire to have a sound palette is louder than dialogue.

 

When the director and I first discussed the concepts of the show, he explained the story as a telling of a “campfire story”. The part of this idea that I focused on was the imaginative aspect of a story and how I could translate it into sound. In the final moments of the play we learn that evil and fear is something that is found within oneself. It is at that moment that the sounds of fear fade and we find silence.