The sound designer is responsible for how a production sounds beyond the noise the actors make. Sometimes the sound designer is responsible for music too, but usually music and sound design are separate roles. It depends on the requirements of the show. A production with a lot of live or incidental music might have a separate composer, who writes original music for the production or a musical director, such as in Musical theatre.
Some shows use a lot of sound effects and it's the sound designer’s job to decide what should be added where to enhance a production. They must then source the sounds and plan when they come in, when they stop and what volume level they should be at for best effect.
Once again, the artistic choices the sound designer makes will depend on the style of the production. Just like lights, sound can be used effectively to create atmosphere and location, such as adding a faint sound of birdsong under a scene set in a garden. Sound can also be used in an abstract way. For example, you could choose sounds which reflect the emotions of the characters onstage or a sound that creates fear or builds tension, eg a repetitive ticking noise that increases in volume throughout a scene.
Music may also be used to create mood and atmosphere. Playing it underneath the action onstage in this way is called underscoring. Can you think of a production where the music choices impressed you?
Choice of music is very important. You must decide if it should be live or recorded and consider whether it improves the work or if a scene would be more powerful without it.
These are the Diagetic sounds in your play that NEED to be there
Does this require a soundscape of atmospheric noise?
They can be collected from youtube or free online sound effect websites, or created yourself!
An example
SFX01 - Sound of ominous wind.
SFX02 - Sound of buzzing mosquito
Note: These sound effects will need to be placed on a USB in your folio.