WRITING AUDIO DESCRIPTION
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      • View of Domaine St. Joseph
      • Number 27
      • Nude Descending
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Writing AD with Sound

When a sighted person experiences a work of art, he/she can be left with a visual memory of the work and with a sense memory of the experience. For people with vision loss, Audio Description -- combined with sound -- can help do the same. Creative use of sound --- music, sound effects, ambiences, dialogue -- can help listeners have a richer sensory experience, help them understand how a work looks, and leave them with a visceral sense memory of the art. Here are different approaches I have taken in combining AD with sound.

1. BACKGROUND AMBIENCE AND SOUND EFFECTS   

Adding a few simple audio elements can support a feeling suggested by a work and also help the listener to visualize.
(Egs. birds in a forest setting, restaurant ambience, horses trotting on cobblestones, a church bell tolling in the distance.
The content of the work and imagination suggest the ambience).  An example: an inclusive museum tour stop of a painting by Paul Cezanne titled View of the Domaine St. Joseph. It is 3 minutes long. You can read a transcript here.​
Lou Giansante · CEZANNE View of the Domaine St. Joseph
2.  STORYTELLING WITH SOUND. THEN AUDIO DESCRIPTION 
In this approach I combine music, sound effects, and dialogue with storytelling techniques to first introduce the historical or cultural context for a work. That is followed by a detailed Audio Description of the work. An example: an audio tour stop of a painting by Jackson Pollack titled Number 27.  It is four minutes long. (Listen with headphones) You can read a transcript here.
Lou Giansante · POLLOCK Number 27

3.  INTEGRATING SOUND WITH AUDIO DESCRIPTION

Sometimes I integrate the sound with narration and with  Audio Description. This technique creates an inclusive listening experience for both people with sight and people with vision loss. An example: the painting Louisiana Rice Fields by Thomas Hart Benton. It is four and a half minutes long. (Listen with headphones).  You can read the transcript here. 
 

NOTE: You can find another example of integrating sound with Audio Description -- John Sloan’s painting Women Drying Their Hair – on this web site’s page Writing AD for Museums.

Lou Giansante · BENTON Louisiana Rice Fields
4.   CREATING AUDIO ANALOGUES         
Sometimes I have found or created sound analogues for visual images or artistic techniques. An example: The painting Nude Descending a Staircase by Marcel Duchamp. It is three minutes long. (Listen with headphones).  You can read a transcript here.
Lou Giansante · Nude Descending A Staircase

For more about writing Audio

Description with Sound, visit this site:

   
The Ear Leads... 

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  • Home
  • About
  • WRITING AD
    • A BRIEF HISTORY OF AD
    • AD FOR MUSEUMS >
      • Women Drying Their Hair
      • Empire State Building
      • Louisiana Rice Fields
    • AD FOR SOME -- OR ALL >
      • The Information Booth
    • HOW TO WRITE -- CONTENT
    • HOW TO WRITE -- FOR THE EAR
    • WRITING AD WITH SOUND >
      • View of Domaine St. Joseph
      • Number 27
      • Nude Descending
    • AD FOR HISTORIC SITES
    • DELIVERING AD
  • FAQS