Hear from Patrick Haesler, Sound Designer for You Can’t Tell Anyone.
14 Aug 2023
We sat down with the Sound Designer of You Can’t Tell Anyone, Patrick Haesler, to gain an insight into his journey, creative process and approach to sound designing You Can’t Tell Anyone!
Howdy Patrick! We’d love to know more about you and your journey, how did you get where you are now?
I started in music playing instruments in school band (mainly trumpet), and I started composing in High School. Being able to create new, original music always excited me and I spent all my spare time composing – just for fun. I only realised later that all the time I spent writing music for fun was all practice for the work I’d be doing professionally. Now I write, arrange, record and produce original music for many different amazing projects (including those with CYT), as well as music of my own. I release music under my name Patrick Haesler on Spotify, Bandcamp and more, and make videos on my YouTube about how I make music.
Sound design is an integral part of creating the immersive experience in a production. How did you approach designing the sound for this particular project to enhance the storytelling and evoke the desired emotions?
For a while I struggled to find the voice of You Can’t Tell Anyone, and I still am. One key thing I’ve found working on this production is the importance of silence. I’ve always understood the importance of silence in sound design, but as a person who makes music and sound, I’ve always had difficulty implementing it fully. In this play, moments that are absent of sound are far more impactful than those with it, so my approach to a lot of moments is to create sound that is felt not when it is heard, but the moment it stops being heard.
Sound has the power to evoke powerful emotions and immerse the audience in the world of the play. How did you utilise sound to enhance the audience’s experience and contribute to the overall narrative? Did you have any specific intentions or themes in mind when designing the sound for this project?
I tend to look for whatever the intended emotion is in the scene, or an intended message. That could be something like a character’s intent, a physical gesture, the expression of the play’s theme. Once I find that something I think about what sound or music could be used to augment, to subvert it. With this play I’m looking at augmenting the magical realism in the script, as well as the characters’ nastiness.
You Can’t Tell Anyone opened at Canberra Theatre Centre in The Courtyard Studio on August 10, running until August 20. Don’t miss out, buy a ticket now through our website!
