I am a sound worker, and most people tend to associate sound work with music. Music is indeed a well-established industry, and many global superstars are singers or music composers. Even lyricists receive awards and recognition. However, my current situation is challenging because simply explaining what I do is difficult enough. My scope of work encompasses all sounds except music. When I mention this to listeners, they often ask, ‘So, only music?’ Then I need to provide numerous examples, such as sound effects in films or television dramas, dialogues, sounds of cars, children playing, and various special effects in entertainment shows. These are the sound effects that I am responsible for. I feel that sound has low recognition in the economic aspect. In my line of work, most of my income comes from technical production. Particularly in Taiwan, I cannot sustain my income solely by selling recordings and producing sound effects. Therefore, my work leans more towards the technical output.
The concept of sound libraries involves packaging sounds into products and storing them in a database for others to use and generate profits. This is a common practice in many places, but not so much in Taiwan. Recently, a friend of mine launched a sound library in Taiwan, and it was the first example I encountered in recent years (Ocean Waves—East Coast of Taiwan). I speculate that industries abroad are more comprehensive, with each department being able to specialize and have dedicated individuals focusing on specific projects, which allows them to thrive and generate more benefits. For example, websites like A Sound Effect allow you to upload and sell sound libraries, such as ocean wave sounds from Taiwan’s eastern coast.
Based on our current understanding, industries that generate significant revenue are television dramas and high-value commercial films. Most viewers watch these works on streaming platforms on mobile phones during their daily commutes on the metro railway. Some even watch without headphones, relying solely on subtitles, and still enjoy the entertainment. While working, I have a rough estimate of the time it takes to achieve film-like precision in dialogue processing per minute of content. This level of refinement is often beyond the budget of television dramas or mainstream films. I spend time carefully sculpting the dialogue, removing sharp sounds, enhancing thin sounds to make them fuller, and ensuring that all voices have an equal and consistent volume level. However, such meticulous editing may not be effective, and listeners may not even notice the difference because most people consume these works through their phones, computers, or televisions. As a result, the budget spent on such detailed editing may not be cost-effective.
Getting commercial returns for sound is a positive thing. There has always been a demand for sound, but people are not quite aware of its copyright. On one hand, it has low recognisability, making it difficult for people to realize that it is a product that is created. For example, everyone knows that famous music companies do not allow us to play their music publicly without compensation. We should understand licensing fees and the scope of broadcasting. However, we have less awareness of the same concept when it comes to the application of sound. If I were to create a sound library, my starting point would still be based on my work needs. For example, basic sounds like light switches I use in my daily work are simple, but if necessary, can turn into a complete collection. The goal of design would be to have a single library that fulfills all the requirements for my work, which would surely be highly valuable.
There is a difference between reality and the ‘realistic effects’ created in art. Regardless of the form taken, art is fundamentally about producing the intended realistic experience for the audience. For example, in the gunfight scenes in the movie Saving Private Ryan, an American veteran may immediately know that the sound does not resemble a real battle, but it is a creative choice, an artistic expression. My aim is not to represent reality, but to interpret the feeling I want to convey in a particular scene. Therefore, I collect sounds because I have a special connection to them. For example, I enjoy listening to the sound of opening and closing doors. There are many foreign sound libraries for that, but no matter how I listen, I feel that they are not suitable for expressing the scenes in Taiwan, even though they are indeed wooden doors and similar doorknobs. When the door closes, it’s not just the sound of the doorframe and the doorknob, but there are also reflections of the entire room. The structure of houses in foreign countries is different from that in Taiwan, and they sound completely different.
