Thinking In Sound: Why the Process Is Like a Rollercoaster with Sarah Aument
Sarah Aument is a Brooklyn based multi-instrumentalist, audio engineer, composer, sound designer and producer. With original compositions on shows such as Saturday Night Live (NBC), Los Espookys (HBO), Alone (History), Queer Eye (Netflix), and The Voice (NBC), Sarah has more than a decade of experience in music for television and film. Beyond composition, in 2020, they co-created an eight-episode series for iHeartRadio called 'Tampon Rock', where Sarah served as director, co-writer, composer, and voice actor in the series. Sarah has worked on audio for Chase, Bandaid, and Nabisco, and has collaborated with big names such as Tyra Banks, Vanilla Ice, Lil Wayne and A-Rod.
Sarah has several album credits for writing, production, mixing, and/or mastering work and loves being in the NYC music community. Catch them touring in band's Psymon Spine and Tmboy, or DJ'ing at The Lot Radio.
LBB> When you’re working on a new brief or project, what’s your typical starting point? How do you break it down and how do you like to generate your ideas or response?
Sarah> I love working in sound because my body just naturally has a physical response to at least something about the material that I’m working with. Whether it’s the hairs on my neck standing up or the strong desire to harmonise coming out, I tend to always trust what my body tells me when I listen to musical references or digest other sensory inspiration.
I’m a verbal/social processor so I like to get in a meeting with people IRL or over Zoom and hear first what it is that they want to convey. After clients divulge their direction, I tend to translate their keywords and emotions into images, sensations, and metaphors. For instance, if a client wants to capture the essence of a nostalgic summer day with the music and graphics of their spot, I’ll want to talk about what summer foods, memories, and smells that come to mind for them. Is their vision of a summer day hazy and humid or is it blazing hot and dry?
Once we hone in on main reference points for the overall sound direction, I then go back to my body and see what reactions I have while listening to the music and soundscapes. I’ve always had the desire to create noise when I hear something. It’s like a copycat knee jerk response. My friends with accents different from mine will certainly tell you that I repeat and try to emulate things they say almost immediately after it’s said. I can’t help it, okay?! On the job, once my bodily reaction kicks in, I know whether I’m going to want to start composing with a synth, a guitar, or the sound of my voice.. etc.
LBB> Music and sound are in some ways the most collaborative and interactive forms of creativity - what are your thoughts on this? Do you prefer to work solo or with a gang - and what are some of your most memorable professional collaborations?
Sarah> The process of working on music alone is kind of like a rollercoaster ride for me. I have to patiently push and climb towards flow state, and when it hits, I’ll suddenly go full speed down with my ideas until I inevitably hit a lull again. I then have to stop, get off the ride, get back in line and then to crank back up to the top. Rinse and repeat. When working with collaborators the rollercoaster ride is bigger and longer but has more customers. I’d say it’s imperative for me that I oscillate between working by myself and collaborating. I tend to learn through seeing others do things I’ve never done before and then put what I’ve learned into practice when I’m alone.
When working with people that I feel safe and comfortable with, our individual creative lulls hit at different times, so we can keep the flow going and pass it back and forth to each other. Inspiration is infectious. It’s also so much easier for me to get things done when I can let a collaborator take over while I need to turn my brain off for a few minutes. That said, it’s hard to get everyone on the same page sometimes, and as soon as the safety to fail in front of each other goes away, the creative process can come to a screeching halt.
LBB> What’s the most satisfying part of your job and why?
Sarah> The most satisfying part of my job is when the pieces of what I’m creating finally blend together and make sense as a whole. It’s like starting to sculpt a block of clay into a face. It doesn’t look like a face, until part of the way through the process. Passing through that threshold is incredibly satisfying.
LBB> As the advertising industry changes, how do you think the role of music and sound is changing with it?
Sarah> The role music and sound play in advertising is constantly changing, so much so, that I would say we are at a point where anything and everything goes. Ads are competing with so much diverse content, that ads themselves need to be extremely diverse. At times, even the absence of sound and music is what is needed to stand out or even to reach out. My co-workers and I were just discussing the power of sound and lack thereof in a recent Subaru commercial (spearheaded by Carmichael Lynch) that spotlights the importance of accessibility in US national parks. The spot features a black father and son, speaking in American Sign Language as they explore Yosemite National Park. With sound design at the crux of its effectiveness, the commercial beautifully centres around a deaf experience highlighting an incredibly underserved community. This kind of sound design goes beyond appealing to the masses; it has a greater mission and purpose.
LBB> Who are your musical or audio heroes and why? And when it comes to your particular field, whether sound design or composing, are there any particular ideas or pioneers that you go back to frequently or who really influence your thinking about the work you do?
Sarah> Last year, I saw a film called '32 Sounds' at BAM that featured composer Annea Lockwood as their main subject. I’d never heard of her before but here she was, in her 80s, spending her days closely listening to the nature surrounding her home in Poughkeepsie, NY. She literally drops microphones in the marsh water and listens for hours at a time. In the 1970s, Lockwood composed a series of pieces that featured burning and drowning pianos which she became well known for. I’d say that I have too many audio heroes to count but Lockwood really spoke to me in that documentary. She said simply that 'sound is a channel of connection' and that statement really just sums it up for me!
LBB> When you’re working on something that isn’t directly sound design or music (lets say going through client briefs or answering emails) - are you the sort of person who needs music and noise in the background or is that completely distracting to you? What are your thoughts on ‘background’ sound and music as you work?
Sarah> For some reason, I really don’t engage in much passive listening. When I’m writing emails, I often find myself with headphones on but with no sound coming out! I like to be in a little cocoon of quiet.
LBB> I guess the quality of the listening experience and the context that audiences listen to music/sound in has changed over the years. There’s the switch from analogue to digital and now we seem to be divided between bad-ass surround-sound immersive experiences and on-the-go, low quality sound (often the audio is competing with a million other distractions) - how does that factor into how you approach your work?
Sarah> It is super important to know how your music is going to be consumed, whether it's via TikTok, a night club, or an Atmos-mixed theatre. For instance, if I’m making a dance record that is going to be pressed on vinyl and marketed to DJ’s, I’ll want to mix the music in such a way that favours a night club experience. The low end is so important in these settings, whereas the low end on an interview-based podcast hardly matters. I often listen to podcasts via Air Pods while riding the subway or doing dishes. That is a lot of other noise to compete with! You have to mix for the consumers ears and human ears react differently in different settings.
LBB> On a typical day, what does your ‘listening diet’ look like?
Sarah> My day-to-day listening diet is comprised of mostly audiobooks and podcasts, especially in the morning. Then I switch into work mode and do close listening while I make music or digest other people’s work. At the end of the day, when it’s time to cook or hang out, I’ll turn on a record that I’ve been meaning to listen to or a friend’s latest release. That said, a lot of my listening diet is comprised of silence! I need that off time to recalibrate and only take in environmental sounds. My wife and I like to listen to full albums on weekend mornings. It’s great to chat and listen to an album over a cup of coffee.
LBB> Do you have a collection of music/sounds and what shape does it take (are you a vinyl nerd, do you have hard drives full of random bird sounds, are you a hyper-organised Spotify-er…
Sarah> I definitely love collecting vinyl. It is so satisfying to listen to an album in full as the writer intended and I love the medium so much. I also have hard drives and hard drives of random sounds. I wouldn’t say it is well organised. More so than collecting music and sounds though, I collect instruments and gear with an insatiable hunger. My Sweetwater rep probably has my number on speed dial.
LBB> Outside of the music and sound world, what sort of art or topics really excite you and do you ever relate that back to music (e.g. history buffs who love music that can help you travel through time, gamers who love interactive sound design… I mean it really could be anything!!)
Sarah> I am obsessed with learning about behavioural psychology and the why behind people’s actions. I was driving last night and listened to like four hours of 'Codependent No More.' Lol. This probably stems from the fact that I am someone with big emotions and a big need to express them. I think that music has always been a tool for me to express how I feel in a more wholistic sense. Sometimes, words are not enough!
LBB> Let’s talk travel! It’s often cited as one of the most creatively inspiring things you can do - I’d love to know what are the most exciting or inspiring experiences you’ve had when it comes to sound and music on your travels?
Sarah> I absolutely love traveling and could not agree more that it is extremely inspiring and creatively stimulating. My wife and I try to have at least one big vacation every year, and the time taking in new places, new food, new people - it’s all ripe with material for inspiration. I like to pull from sensory memories for inspiration as I mentioned before and the more I travel, the more diversified experiences I can pull from. I also find touring incredibly inspiring. Last month I went to Slovakia to play with Psymon Spine at the Pohoda Festival, and we ended up meeting the president of Slovakia after swimming in a fire truck reserve pool behind the festival grounds. For me, I really have to go and have experiences to then write music and create soundscapes that have substance.
LBB> As we age, our ears change physically and our tastes evolve too, and life changes mean we don’t get to engage in our passions in the same intensity as in our youth - how has your relationship with sound and music changed over the years?
Sarah> Oh wow. Aging changes everything! I’m more sensitive and careful when it comes to my ears. I also get a stiff neck when I practice my guitar without stretching. I actually played a few gigs last year while wearing a neck brace. Talk about a physical change to my relationship with music! That said, I think as a listener I am WAY more open-minded as I get older. I think as my own insecurities lessen, my desire to judge other music harshly lessens as well. My taste in music was almost an identity for me at one point, but now my tastes are much more fluid. My identity in general feels much more fluid as I age.
