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Orion and the Goatman
Sound Design
March 2023
Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama
On what is perhaps the final camping trip in a years-long tradition, half-brothers Logan and Luke are tasked with spreading their father's ashes. Logan hopes to do what needs to be done and leave the camping life behind, while Luke wants to relish each and every tradition their father created for them. Tensions rise as they delve into their family's own personal lore—grappling with their individual relationships with their dad, their own personal shortcomings, and the meaning of the legends they were told as young boys. It’s only in the woods that they are able to strip away the politeness and face all their demons.
For Orion and the Goatman, I decided to explore environmental sounds both natural and deconstructed. As the play is set in a Georgia campsite, I created a surround system to immerse the audience in an evening in Georgia. With panLab and Ableton Live, I created a "birdscape" where audience members could trace birds as they flew back and forth through the woods overhead. Speakers on the ground provided crickets and environmental ambience, while a speaker hidden in the center of the campsite allowed the actors to grill burgers and roast marshmallows over a fire.
During the climax of the show, Goatman shifts from being a quiet family drama into something more horrifying when the titular Goatman arrives onstage. For these sounds, I utilized a Kyma system to deconstruct the sounds of goats and people laughing, screaming, crying. When laid beneath morphed growls and calls, the effect was simultaneously natural, unnatural, and horrifying.





