#4, All Ears

PART I

Do you hear that? There are sounds all around us everyday. We have become so acustom to noise and sounds that we rarely listen. In Heidi Mckee's, "Sound Matters: Notes toward the analysis and desgin of a sound in multimodal webtexts" she dives deep into the process and importance of sounds and even states, "We live immersed in sounds" (Mckee, 335). Mckee's essay argues the importance of sound and the different approaches or type of sound. The main elements that Mckee focuses on are volcal delivery, music, special effects, and silence.

As a culture "immersed" in sound we are not coming across the problem of how sound interacts with writing. Mckee opens this essay by asking questions. Questions such as: Where can composition instructions begin when it comes to interacting and diologuing with students about sound? How can we begin to develop a vocabulary and intellegent discussions about sound and its role in our writing? (paraphrase, Mckee, 336). She came to these questions when she cotaught a creative multimodal web composition course. Mckee uses both academic, scholoarly resources as well as personal experience to strengthen her aruguements.

Writing is no longer alphabetic text on a piece of paper. As technology developes and expands so does our form of writing. Mckee begins by stating, "With the continued developement of digitized technologies, sound is also becoming integral to our writing process as well" (Mckee, 336). Sound is central to multimodal texts and communitcation today. The role of sound is to enhance what alphabetic words or pictures are already present. Sound is the adgent that draws out the deeper meaning of a text, film, or webpage.

As Mckee takes us deeper into the thoughts of sound, we derive from her arugements and quotes from other academic professionals that sound stimulates meaning. The combonation of both a visual as well as an aural can evoke a high sense of meaning. "There is no separation of I see in the image and I hear on the track. Instead, there is the I feel, I experience through the grand-total of picture and track combined" (Mckee quote of Douane, 1985, 56). We may be able to seperate both visual an aural but the affect that the comination can have on an audience is worth putting the two together. The combination of the two allows the audience to no longer participate in 2 out of the 5 senses, but something that transcends. We as an audience now step into an emotion instead of merely a natural sense. Sound helps to create that emotion.

Meaning is not solely carried in one element but in many. Verbal delivery is another element used in sound that Mckee finds important. Within this element there are different facets that can affect the quality of the verbal delivery such as tension, breathiness, volume, pitch, or vibrato. Mckee argues that spoken performance or the delivery's composition can dictate the mood (paraphrase, Mckee, 341). Deepending on the facet of the verbal delivery, we can be drawn into a mood or aura. A simple change in pitch, volume, or breathiness can result into a type of context for the audience. Verbal and vocal delivery can "set the scene" more than we know.

Music is a key component to the puzzle of sound. Music can make powerful or subtle statements when it comes to writing. Mckee offers the idea that music can add a "layered" or "complexity" to a piece (Mckee, 346). Music is a messanger used to represent. That is why music is typically not a monomodal form of composition when it comes to writing, but it is a representation and a reverborator of what is already being "said" or "shown". Without the element of music we can lose such complexity in writing.

"Clearly sound effects matter" (Mckee, 347). Sound effects must be placed with precision and tact. Mckee states that sound effects DO in fact matter, but must be used properly; too many effects and the piece can "disrupt" the experience (paraphrase, Mckee, 347). Sound effects can be used to even hold the audiences attention. Mckee used the example of watching an eight minute video clip that did in fact hold her attention, "...part because of the power of the images in relation to the text and in part too because of the soundtrack, which is both mesmerizing and jarring" (Mckee, 348). The importance of sound effects is pivotal to holding a viewer's attention and keeping it there.

Sound is an important form of multimodal writing that can often be overlooked. "Sound is not something to be added as an afterthought. Sound and all the elements of sound play crucial roles in such important areas as setting the mood, building atmosphere, carrying the narrative, directing attention, and developing themes in multimodal works" (Mckee, 352). Mckee wants instructors as well as students to understand the importance and gravity that sound carries. Mckee may not know where to start with the education of sound in society, but she does call forth that we need to begin studying and discussing sound with students and instructing peers alike. As we study writing and composition, to exlude sound from those would only be folly on our part.


PART II

One of the passages that quickly took my attention was the passage about silence. Rarely do we think of silence as a strategically placed sound. Mckee explains how silence is not an absence but a presence (Mckee, 349). Mckee quotes Alberto Cavlacanit, "Silence can be the loudest of noises, just as black, in a brilliant design, can be the brightest of colors" (Mckee quote of Cavlacnit, p.111, 349). Silence is often overlooked and filled in American culture as we busy ourselves with constant aural distractions. We have become a culture that fills the silence, whether thats an "awkward pause" in conversation or discussion or not being able to study without some background music. We have become a culture addicted to sound that we have become deft to silence. "When there is noise on the screen there are also silences to be heard...Silence should not be considered separate from sound but rather an integral and important element of sound, one whose relationship to the other elements needs to be analyzed" (Mckee, 351). Do we even hear or note the silence in multimodal texts? When visiting other countries I have learned that there is something sacred about silence. That in silence you can find things, ideas, or thoughts that you would never be able to find in noise. Silence represents comfort. How many times have we heard someone talk about the people you are closest to are the ones you can sit in silence with and it is not awkward. What if a multimodal author of a text could integrate silence in such a way as to stimulate comfort?