00:05CONOR O'SULLIVAN: My
name is Conor O'Sullivan.
00:07I'm the head of sound
design at Google.
00:09And I'm really excited
to be here today
00:12to talk about sound
design and sonic brand.
00:17So today I'm going to talk about
how we approach sound design
00:20at Google, how you can think
about sound as part of the user
00:24experience, and I'm
really excited to be
00:28able to announce the release
of the first ever material
00:31sound design guidelines.
00:34So starting today you can
make full use of the material
00:36guidelines, learn
about best practices
00:39for designing with
sound, and you can even
00:42download product sounds
for you to incorporate
00:45into your own products.
00:49So you can find the
guidelines at this URL
00:52from the main
material page either.
00:55And these guidelines
are for product sounds.
00:58So product sounds are a little
bit different from other types
01:02of sounds or sound
design that you
01:04may be familiar with, such
as sound design for movie,
01:10For product sound
design, you're trying
01:12to create an experience that
has both function and aesthetic,
01:16and one that stands up
to interaction over time.
01:20And this can become a
central and valuable part
01:25So at Google, we've realized
that in order for us
01:28to use sound in an intelligent
and meaningful way,
01:33We have to fundamentally rethink
what it means to design sound
01:37for product experiences.
01:39So we've decided to share
our learnings from this work
01:43and make available our
techniques and best
01:45practices for anyone to use
as part of their product.
01:51And these techniques
can be used by anyone
01:53considering the use of sound
as part of product design,
01:57not just sound designers.
01:59But we do provide an additional
level of detail for people
02:02more familiar with
sound and composition.
02:08So just to step
back a little bit
02:09and think about the role of
sound in our lives, as humans
02:14we're constantly
experiencing sound.
02:17Sound is everywhere.
02:18And we even experience
it when we sleep.
02:21Sound comes in
omnidirectionally.
02:23So it comes in 360 degrees.
02:26And we don't always
notice it, but when we do,
02:29it's because our brains have
detected a change in the sound
02:33and decided that we
need to pay attention.
02:36So as sound designers, we can
take advantage of this fact
02:40to create a soundscape
that sometimes
02:43recedes into the
background and other times
02:46grabs your attention.
02:50And the sound that
a listener hears
02:52can have a powerful impact on
their perception of a product
02:56or of an experience.
02:58And sound has been
shown in research
03:00to impact the
perception of things
03:02like quality, time, and emotion.
03:06For example, with quality,
where in one study people
03:09were motivated to spend
more money depending
03:12on whether they were
listening to classical music
03:15versus popular music,
or in time where people,
03:19their perception of
time changed depending
03:22on whether they were hearing
familiar or unfamiliar music.
03:25And we know as well that people
attribute positive emotions
03:30to what they see when
they hear happy sounds.
03:35So good sound
design will generate
03:37an emotional connection
between the listener
03:42And when we get it wrong,
it not only stands out
03:44but it can have
negative consequences.
03:48So we're all familiar with
product sounds interjecting
03:51an alert throughout the day.
04:06And we all know how annoying
hearing lots of these things
04:10So we need to be careful
about overusing sound.
04:14But worse than all of
this, poorly designed
04:16sound can have the power to have
truly disastrous consequences.
04:21There's been a lot
of research done
04:23in the aviation and
medical industries
04:25around the role of sound.
04:28And in aviation,
for example, studies
04:30have shown that flight crew were
more concerned with turning off
04:34a warning sound rather than
understanding the underlying
04:38cause of that sound, or
in the medical field where
04:42a majority of
anesthetists admitted
04:44to deactivating sound
warnings because the sound
04:48itself was displeasing.
04:51And if you think about the range
of medical equipment sounds
04:53out there all making sound, a
study has shown that only 3%
04:58of them actually signaled
a real risk to the patient.
05:03And perhaps even
more scary, patients
05:05were shown to
experience more when
05:08there is a lot of
background noise
05:10versus in a quieter environment.
05:14So it's safe to say then that
considering the role of sound
05:17as purely around sound
effects or decoration
05:20is not going to make for a
successful product experience.
05:25And thinking of designing
sound as designing clicks
05:28and beeps, as far as I'm
concerned those days are over.
05:33So there's many considerations
that a sound designer
05:36takes into account when
approaching a new project.
05:39For example, on the
design side, things
05:42like the UX principles,
or the usability involved,
05:46or what's the brand
and personality,
05:49whereas on the sound side
a sound designer will
05:52look at things like acoustics
and psychoacoustics.
05:55So you think about things
like pitch, rhythm, loudness,
05:59what environment are we
hearing the sounds in,
06:01and what's the
reverberation like.
06:04And then there's even more
advanced considerations.
06:07So increasingly as we think
about the role of machine
06:10intelligence, sound
can be enhanced
06:13such as thinking of
sound as a service
06:16or how does machine intelligence
help with sound personalization
06:19and contextualization.
06:22And these are all things
that we consider at Google.
06:25So we've taken our
learnings and captured them
06:28in the first ever material
sound design guidelines.
06:33And these guidelines give
you practical techniques
06:35for incorporating those
considerations into your design
06:38process, explanation of
how sound is broken out
06:43for material, and also
tools that you can use
06:47as part of your design process.
06:52So we're going to dive through
the material guidelines now.
06:55And you can follow along on
the breadcrumb trail on the top
06:58just so where we are
in the guidelines.
07:01But they're organized
in the following way.
07:03I look at principles and how
to use them to guide the design
07:07process and an overall look at
sound, applying sound to UI,
07:12so how to best use sound
for different scenarios.
07:16I look at attributes,
which includes a little bit
07:18more detailed information
for sound designers,
07:22choreographing sound--
07:24so this is how to
create a sound system
07:26and think about building
and bringing them together,
07:30and then technical
optimizations,
07:32which is how to get the
best sounding product.
07:36We also give sounds
for development,
07:38which includes some
free sounds that you can
07:40use right now in your product.
07:44So this first section is around
the principles and approach
07:50So for material, we take a
first principles approach
07:53to designing with sound.
07:55And these principles
are based on sounds
07:57being informative,
honest, and reassuring.
08:01So for informative,
at their core,
08:04sound should always have a
functional reason to play.
08:08So they exist to provide
information and contextual
08:11cues to the listener.
08:15For honest, inherent
in the sound
08:17is an honest expression of the
personality and brand identity
08:22of the product experience.
08:24So for example at
Google, for the sound
08:27that someone could choose
for their Pixel notification
08:30where we want to
offer people more
08:32of a personal expression
of their own identity,
08:36that sounds going to be
different from the type
08:38of sound that we would play
as default say on Google Meets
08:42where we know people are
more likely to be in a work
08:45environment in
encountering the sound.
08:49For reassuring then,
sound has a role
08:52to play in assuring the listener
that we're on top of things.
08:56We're being open and transparent
about our communication to you,
09:01and that we're also being
respectful about when
09:03and where you hear the sound.
09:08Another very important tenet
is the idea of silence,
09:11so understanding
how to use silence.
09:14And often assuming silence by
the phone is very important.
09:19So it's the visual
equivalent of less
09:21is more or working
with negative space.
09:25And the first question I'll
always ask the product team
09:27if they approach me
to request a new sound
09:30is do we really
need it, or have we
09:33part about the role of
silence in balancing
09:35out the overall soundscape?
09:40A note on visualization too.
09:41So we find it
really helpful when
09:43designing sounds to represent
attributes of the sound
09:48And this is not only useful
for the sound designer.
09:51It's also quite useful
as part of design reviews
09:55where if you have a visual
representation of the sound,
09:58it makes it a lot more
digestible for people
10:01so that they can hear
and see things together.
10:03Makes it easier to
talk about the sound.
10:06And there's different ways to
visualize sound dynamically.
10:10Here are three that
we found to be useful.
10:13The first one, of
course, is time based,
10:15so visualizing a
waveform in real time.
10:19This helps people understand
the shape and liveliness
10:24So sounds with faster percussive
moments or software ambient
10:28sounds all look different
when displayed in this way.
10:38Does anyone
recognize that sound?
10:40So if you know that
sound you probably
10:42have a Google Home
in your house.
10:45But visualizing sound this way
helps facilitate discussion
10:49around the movement
of the sound.
10:53And if you want to focus on
other aspects of the sound,
10:56it's often useful to think
about how and where it occupies
11:00the frequency spectrum.
11:02So doing this can
highlight where one sound
11:04lives relative to another.
11:07For example, we're going
to hear the previous sound
11:09that we heard but it's
visualized in a different way.
11:17So this can reveal
unique characteristics
11:19about how the sound moved from
one pitch center to another
11:27But for a deeper dive into
the character of the sound,
11:30you want to think about the
attributes that we call timbre.
11:33And timbre is a sometimes hard
to define quality of the sound.
11:38But the classical way
to describe timbre
11:41is that if you have two
notes at the same pitch
11:44and for the same
duration, timbre
11:47is the quality of the sound that
makes one sound like a violin
11:51and another a
piano, for example.
11:54So timbre describes
characteristics of the sound.
11:58And there's more technical
ways to think about timbre,
12:00but this gives you an idea.
12:03So in visualizing timbre, you
can use many different aspects
12:07or attributes of timbre to
visualize where a sound lies
12:11in the timbre of space.
12:13But for a well-designed
product ecosystem,
12:16you should have a
good understanding
12:17of what your particular timbre
space is for your product.
12:22So here's an example
which shows how
12:24sound can vary digitally
to acoustically
12:28across the timbre space.
12:29So as you hear the sound, it
will become progressively more
12:43So let's touch on
the type of sound
12:45that we have in UX design.
12:47We think about sound categories
for products in terms
12:51of sound, music, and voice.
12:53And each have their own
role in communicating
12:56information and brand
identity to the audience.
13:01So much of the information
that we convey to people today
13:04is visual or screen-based.
13:06And sound offers is
a great opportunity
13:09to offset some of
the burden of demands
13:11that we face on the visual
domain onto this other sense.
13:16Sound's great for providing
state information quickly,
13:19sometimes even
subconsciously too.
13:22And sound kind of can help
establish personality, brand
13:26And if done well, it can
be an honorable asset
13:31Music is great for establishing
emotional tone quickly,
13:34it supports storytelling,
and, of course,
13:37can be powerfully
used in advertising.
13:40And voice works well
for communicating
13:42more complex information
non-visually,
13:45for conversational
interfaces, and stylistically
13:49can be used to also inform
your product personality.
13:53We're focusing on UX sound
here for these principles
13:57and for their guidelines.
13:58But it's more important
to be aware of
14:01and consider the role
of music and voice
14:03and sound together as part of
the overall product soundscape.
14:08The values and principles that
you use to establish sound
14:12should be consistent and
cohesive across music and voice
14:17So they should
all work together.
14:18They should all feel like they
come from the same family.
14:23The next section is
applying sound to UI.
14:25And we found it helpful to apply
some systems level thinking
14:29to our sounds, our UX
sounds, and break them out
14:33So this effectively approaches
the design and implementation
14:39So for system sounds, these
comprise the nuts and bolts
14:44Ambient sounds are
a way to provide
14:46mood and emotional tone.
14:48Notifications are
attention getting devices.
14:52Hero sounds are a way to
celebrate unique moments
14:57And brand sounds then will
capture the overall essence
15:03So let's jump into
primary system sounds.
15:05These are part of the
product experience.
15:07They're heard the
most frequently.
15:09And they're used to provide
context or convey information
15:14So an example of primary
UX sounds or a scrolling
15:17sounds or sounds to
support important motions,
15:20such as like a screen
change or ascending
15:23animation, typing, or other
repetitive action feedback.
15:28And these sounds are always
generally quite short.
15:31I'm going to play an example
here of primary system sounds
15:34on Google Home Mini.
15:35So you'll hear the volume
increasing, hitting max,
15:38and then decreasing.
15:39[TAPPING INCREASING IN VOLUME]
15:43[TAPPING DECREASING IN VOLUME]
15:47So as these sounds are
heard quite frequently,
15:50it's important that they be able
to stand up to use over time.
15:56And one method of doing this
is to provide subtle variation
16:00and perform an
algorithmic selection
16:02over a set of variable sounds.
16:05And this could be based on
some input variable or even
16:09But what we're
trying to do is mimic
16:11a more real world or natural
behavior of sound events.
16:17So for example, I could touch
this podium 10 different times,
16:21and we're going to hear
10 different sounds.
16:24So building in subtle variation
into the product experience
16:28is good material design
behavior for sound.
16:32Here's a couple of examples.
16:34So the first one, we're
touching an object
16:36three different times.
16:37And you hear three
slightly different sounds.
16:40And the second one, we're
swiping away objects.
16:42And again, you hear
this subtle variation.
16:54So overall, primary
system sounds
16:56should be a good
aesthetic representation
16:58of the product soundscape
without being overly intrusive.
17:04Secondary UX sounds
are sounds that
17:06are heard less frequently
as part of your typical user
17:11So there are sounds
to cover a corner
17:12case experiences or
just interactions
17:15encountered less frequently.
17:17So for this reason,
they're highly
17:19indexed towards the functional
end of the spectrum.
17:22And they're still part
of the soundscape family,
17:24but they're not strong
representatives of the brand
17:26or the brand of experience.
17:28So an example of
these sounds might
17:30be sounds for a thinking
indicator or a low battery
17:34Here's a couple of
secondary sounds.
17:37This one for feed refresh.
17:49And this next one for
a sound to let you
17:52know that a button is inactive.
17:56And one tip with
secondary system sounds,
17:59if memory constraints
are an issue
18:01for your product or
your application,
18:04consider lowering the
resolution of secondary sounds.
18:07So you can lower sampling rate.
18:10You can reduce the
number of channels.
18:11Because these are going to be
less frequently encountered
18:18Ambient sounds are used
to create a sense of place
18:22or to establish an
emotional tone that
18:25enhances the connection with the
product or with the experience.
18:28So these can be sound or music
based, like we're hearing now.
18:32But they should be subtle enough
to recede into the background,
18:36unless you're explicitly
trying to create, say,
18:38more of like a game-like feel.
18:41An example of good
use of ambient sound
18:44is sound to set a welcoming
tone as part of an onboarding
18:47experience or a sound for a
set-up experience in a product.
18:54Notifications then cover
a wide range of feedback
18:57to users, things like alerts,
message notifications,
19:00ringtones, timers, alarms.
19:02And they're often
used in communication
19:05to imply some
time-sensitive action.
19:08So as such, they're going
to be more prominent
19:10and attention getting than
the UX sounds that we heard.
19:14So when thinking about
the default for one
19:16of these categories
of notification,
19:18you should consider
this an opportunity
19:20to showcase the tone of
your product experience.
19:24So this could be anything from
a boldly designed new sound that
19:27embodies a new identity to
something more subtle that's
19:30a gentle nod to your
overall design philosophy.
19:34And here are two that
we use on the Pixel.
19:40The first one there is
our default notification
19:44But in general, when
you're designing
19:46a sound that needs to get
the listener's attention,
19:49it's a good idea
to have sound that
19:51has rhythmic or
timbrel variations
19:54so that the ear
can latch onto it.
19:57Sounds that work well
in noisy environments
20:00include high frequency sounds.
20:02And broad spectrum
sounds also worked well
20:04in different environments.
20:08So we also recommend,
if possible,
20:10to provide options
for people that
20:12allow for personalization
and customization
20:15of their sound experience.
20:17It's great to have
sounds that strongly
20:19represent your product.
20:21But also understand
that providing
20:22an opportunity for
people to express
20:25their unique voice as
part of your product
20:27is very powerful too.
20:30So speaking of sound
personalization,
20:32we recently released a total
redesign of the Pixel sound
20:38And we used some cool
technology to provide
20:41dynamic visualization to the
sounds that people preview.
20:45Here was an early sketch of
what the motion might look like.
20:50And here's how the
visualization ended up
20:52on the redesigned sound picker.
20:54You can see it there on the
left, where the visuals react
20:57in real time to the sound.
21:00So we expanded the range of
sounds in the cloud for people
21:04to download in the categories
shown here in the middle.
21:08And here's a few
examples of the range
21:10of sounds we have on Pixel.
21:44CONOR O'SULLIVAN: Et voila.
21:46So the next category
is hero sounds.
21:48And we think about hero
sounds as UX sound moments
21:52that should stand out as
a strong representation
21:55of the product experience.
21:57So think about
one or two moments
21:58in your product that
could be celebrated
22:01as the essence of what
your product is about.
22:05You might find that
adding a unique sound
22:07gives an opportunity to create
more of a hero moment, where
22:11the action or
accomplishment of a user
22:14is celebrated in a way that's
an authentic representation
22:17of your product voice.
22:19So for example,
here's a hero sound
22:21we created for Google Files.
22:27So as with any kind
of bigger sound,
22:29just be careful about
overusing the hero sounds.
22:32Make sure that the moment
of extra decoration
22:34is worth it, not in danger
of becoming annoying.
22:39And a brand sound
then might be worth
22:41considering if your
product experience demands
22:43its own unique sound mark
or a moment of represents
22:47the fundamental
essence of the brand.
22:49And this can live inside
or outside the product.
22:53So it could be
used in advertising
22:54if you do tutorial videos.
22:56You could use it to bookend
those, maybe during the product
23:02But this sound and
your hero sound
23:04have the potential to become
ownable assets for your brand.
23:08So treat them with respect
and avoid overdoing it.
23:12At Google, we've designed
a simple piano sound that
23:15sometimes accompanies the logo.
23:17It provides a nice, clean,
minimal auditory cue
23:25And the piano is played
fittingly in the key of G
23:31So this next
section around sound
23:33attributes, we started to get
into a little bit more detail
23:35for people with a
sound background,
23:37but also generally
explain it too.
23:39But understanding
the type of sound
23:41timbre you're going to need is--
23:44it's going to be key in
finding the right style
23:48So we consider various
aspects of sound
23:50attributes that all
comprise the overall timbre
23:53and behavior of sound.
23:57The first attribute
to consider is
23:59whether you want to use
tonal or more musical sounds.
24:02So sounds can be designed using
tonal or atonal, non-musical,
24:07Sometimes the sound
will use both.
24:10Tone and sounds work best
to communicate personality,
24:13emotion, and state changes.
24:16So for tone and sound,
they're normally
24:18short, musical phrases,
which we refer to as motifs.
24:21And we like to keep a motif
under five notes if possible.
24:26The more you move beyond
that, the more burden
24:28you're placing on the
user to remember the sound
24:31and the associated action.
24:33But there is fairly standard
common motifs that are used.
24:37So the first one
is an upward motif,
24:41which tend to denote things
like openness, positivity,
24:45initiation, or success.
24:48Second one, its counterpart,
the downward motif,
24:51which denotes
returning, closing,
24:53going back, or resolving.
24:55And then we have the
repetition motif--
24:59--which indicates progress
indication, or holding,
25:06Atonal then, or
non-musical sound,
25:08is another way to design sound.
25:10And think of these as textural
or more noise-based elements.
25:14They're usually not pitched.
25:16And I mentioned, sometimes
sounds are a mixture of both.
25:19So this first sound
is an example of that.
25:21It has noise-based textures
for the number input and then
25:25a more pitched resolution.
25:28It's quite a subtle sound,
so I'll play it twice.
25:38So another technique then
for using atonal sound
25:41is to use what we call
a skeuomorphic sound.
25:44These are sounds derived
from real world examples.
25:48So they should be
considered if there's
25:50a strong pre-existing
history of association
25:53between the sound
and the action.
25:55An example would be a
camera shutter sound.
25:59So it's not required
to use skeuomorphic,
26:01but it's good practice to at
least consider that if there's
26:04a strong existing association.
26:09Another important
attribute is dynamics.
26:11And dynamics and
sound refers to how
26:14the volume changes between
the loudest and softest parts.
26:17And this can be applied over
one sound or a set of sounds.
26:21But consider using
dynamic variation
26:24to introduce a more
natural sonic behavior
26:27and to provide
interest to the ear.
26:30So listen to these two
sounds, both short sounds.
26:34The first one becomes
progressively brighter.
26:36It builds dynamically
as the pitch increases.
26:40[TWO DINGS WITH INCREASING
26:43So I'll play that one more time.
26:44[TWO DINGS WITH INCREASING
26:46And the second is flatter, and
it has less dynamic variation.
26:49[TWO DINGS WITH SIMILAR PITCH]
26:51It doesn't feel as natural.
26:53So even in these short sounds,
having a difference in dynamics
27:01The envelope of the
sound then, this
27:02refers to the shape of the
sounds amplitude over time.
27:06So the two primary
components to think about
27:09are the rise of the sound,
which we call the attack,
27:13and the fall of the
sound we call the decay.
27:16And there's many more
detailed and more complicated
27:19analyses of envelopes.
27:20For example, a lot
of sound designers
27:22will be familiar with the ADSR,
which stands for attack, decay,
27:28But essentially,
you want to think
27:30about the shape of the
sound and what that does
27:32that the listening experience.
27:35So softer attacks will sound
smoother and more ambient.
27:41Whereas harder attacks
will be a little bit more
27:44aggressive and percussive.
27:48And these ones are really
good for interjecting,
27:50for getting your
attention, or for creating
27:52the effect of tactility.
27:57So just like the auditory
equivalent of photo filters,
28:01there's lots of different
types of effects
28:03that you can apply to create
some interesting and complex
28:08For material, we
recommend restraint here.
28:11Less really is more, unless
you have a unique and fun
28:14reason to go crazy with it.
28:16I'd say try to
exercise restraint
28:18when you think about
what the effect is adding
28:20to the overall sound palette.
28:23So two common effects
are reverb and delay.
28:26And here's an example of what
we consider good use of reverb--
28:31--versus excessive use.
28:33I'll play those again.
28:35So it's good use of reverb--
28:38--and excessive use.
28:44So generally, unless
there's a really good reason
28:46for the effect to become a
noticeable timbrel element,
28:51think of it more as
a light decoration.
28:53So it can be used
to sweeten a sound
28:55but not change its
flavor altogether.
29:00In the next section,
we look at how
29:02you can bring all these
sounds together, consider
29:05how to build out the
soundscape holistically,
29:08and we think of this as
choreographing the sound.
29:13So think of the overall
system of sounds
29:15that are required for
your product experience
29:17and how these could be designed
with a hierarchy in mind.
29:21Here is a typical
hierarchy diagram
29:23that we'd recommend to
map out the priority
29:26and prominence of sounds.
29:29So typically, in the top
half of this diagram,
29:31it's where you want to
focus more of your time
29:34on indexing on the
personality aspects of sounds.
29:38Say, for example, your reviewing
sounds with your work partners,
29:41maybe with the leadership team,
the higher up on this chart
29:45you are, the more
attention needs
29:47to be given to gaining
the right level of buy
29:50in to ensuring the sound
becomes an ownable asset and one
29:54that works across your brand
development and product
30:02So one thing that you
will also want to consider
30:04is what your home base
musical key going to be
30:07and how are other sounds
going to work on top of that.
30:09And this is going to depend
on how big or flexible
30:12the product ecosystem is,
whether you're planning
30:15to introduce personalization
or not, which
30:17will open up the range of keys.
30:19But consider the role
of relational sound.
30:22These are sounds that provide
feedback for a pair of actions.
30:26And the sounds
themselves can be paired.
30:28So forward-backward,
beginning-end,
30:31these can all have sounds
that are related to each other
30:33even if the sounds themselves
aren't heard back to back.
30:38And this can be useful to
subtly educate people over time
30:41as they get used to hearing
the sounds after repeated use.
30:45So sounds that are
meaningfully related,
30:47they help teach
things like placement
30:50in the UI, state changes, or a
sense of urgency versus calm.
30:55And here's an example of
good material sound practice.
30:59So these sounds for related
actions play in the same key.
31:06Here's one we don't
recommend where
31:08sounds that are for
associated actions
31:11have different musical keys.
31:18So once the sounds
are all designed,
31:20you should, if possible,
and if your error
31:22budget was to stretch for it,
work with a sound designer
31:25or potentially even
a mix engineer,
31:27to think about how to mix or
combine the sounds together.
31:32So for mixing, you want
to consider the context
31:34and priority of the sound
being played as well
31:37as how the sound will
be physically rendered.
31:40So will it be played
over headphones,
31:42on a separate speaker, or
maybe on a specific device?
31:45And even the shape of
the way that one sound
31:48fades into another,
this can have
31:51an impact on the
experience of the product.
31:54So if this happens too
abruptly or even too slowly,
31:57it can feel jarring, stilted,
or just poorly designed.
32:02So here's an example
of the same sound which
32:04is mixed in two different ways.
32:06Again, short sound--
32:13And you can hear the
emphasis on different parts
32:15of the sound and this versions.
32:19The last section is around
optimization and auditioning.
32:24And this is one of the
most important steps
32:27that you can take as part
of the sound design process.
32:30It can be a highly
iterative process.
32:32But it's absolutely essential
to delivering a world class
32:38So practically speaking, if
you're working on a product,
32:42and it's still in development,
if your budget is to stretch,
32:45you can work with
an audio engineer.
32:48But you're trying to integrate
this sound that you've
32:50designed into the product.
32:52Inevitably, what you'll find
is that the sound that you've
32:56designed on these
pristine sound studio
32:59monitors and then had people
maybe review on laptop speakers
33:03and it doesn't sound as good
ends up on the final product
33:06and sounds completely different
than how you originally
33:10And over time, a
sound designer can
33:13account for this as part
of the design process.
33:16But it can be quite a shock
to the novice designer.
33:19So working to audition, iterate,
and re-audition the sounds
33:24is absolutely vital.
33:26And it's a necessary
loop in the process.
33:29And by iterate I mean
reorchestrate the sound,
33:33maybe perform EQ or
equalization changes,
33:36or even redesign the sound.
33:38But the audition, iteration,
re-audition step is vital.
33:43And it should be allocated
the appropriate amount of time
33:47in the design process.
33:49So I remember I created
over 100 different versions
33:53of the big adventure ringtone,
the default ringtone on Pixel.
34:00So I just wanted to get
it sounding, you know,
34:02exactly as I had originally
intended on the final device.
34:06So I'm going to play some of the
early iterations and evolution
34:09of the sound, and then you'll
hear the final ringtone.
34:39So it's worth taking
time, I believe,
34:41to do this for a
quality experience.
34:45So as part of the
material guidelines,
34:47we've created a
group of sounds that
34:49are freely available for
anyone to use in their product.
34:53If you want to hear a bit more
about that, come to my box talk
34:56in the Design Sandbox,
either tomorrow or Thursday.
35:00And you can hear more
about how you can use
35:02those sounds in your product.
35:05So today, I've shared some
of the tools and techniques
35:08that we use in the craft
of sound design at Google.
35:11I'm really excited to
hear what comes next.
35:14So thank you very much.
