Function of Music in a Radio Drama

Joshua David Sherlock /

We are all familiar with how music and sound add to the visuals of a movie, to build on the overall experience, and it has long been debated in the film world as to whether the visuals or the sound contribute more the overall viewing experience, and arguments continue to this day over which is more important, however, in radio, the whole experience is solely reliant on the sound. It has to do 100% of the work. In some ways this makes the job of the audio professional easier, in that they are perhaps allowed more freedom to tell the story through sound and music.

 

I have used The Radio Drama Handbook as a research source when looking in to the functions of music in a radio drama, they state:

“The power of music in radio cannot be underestimated. After all it is central to the vast majority of radio output” (Hand & Traynor, 2011, p.50)

 

They then go on to describe the four main literal functions of music in a radio drama, these being:

 

As a link – boundary between scenes.

 

To set the mood – tells the story of the character’s, the setting, the ‘mood’ or feeling of the scene.

 

Stylised sound effect – Instead of using foley, the music can be used as a sound effect. The example that Hand & Traynor (2011, p.50) give suggests using percussive instruments in place of a thunderstorm.

 

Indexical Function – Another way of setting the scene, representing what is actually happening.

 

Andrew Crisell describes this as “music as part of the ordinary sounds of the world which radio portrays.” (1994) If we compare this to the world of cinema sound, using the terms diegetic and non-diegetic to describe to role of music, then the indexical function of music in a radio drama would be diegetic.

Diegetic in film being a

“representation of sounds occurring in synchronisation with the visual events which appear to cause them” (Bignell, 2002, p.193)

As the indexical function of music is described specifically as being part of the ordinary sounds of the world being portrayed, then this would come under the banner of Diegetic music.

In terms of ‘Cohort’ this might be used say if there were street performers or singers that formed part of the plot, which is drawn attention to as part of the central story line.

Bibliography

Bignell, J., 2002. Media Semiotics: An Introduction. 2nd ed. Manchester University Press.

Crisell, A., 1994. Understanding Radio. 2nd ed. London: Routledge.

Hand, R. & Traynor, M., 2011. The Radio Drama Handbook. New York: Continuum.

 

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