The Audio Manual: Language
At Resounding we have something we call our Audio Manual. It's a collection of media that we use to help educate our clients on various aspects of audio branding: what we do, how we do those things, the meanings behind some of the terminology we use, etc. Before we release sections of it on our forthcoming website, I'm going to publish parts of it here. Beginning with a brief summary of some terminology....
The terminology we use is pretty simple, and by explaining our language to clients, it makes communication easier.
Audio UX and Logo Lingo
There are really just four basic items, and you are already familiar with what they represent because you will have encountered many examples of them in your daily life. We also use a fifth term, which is really an extension of the fourth. We'll begin with the term 'audio logo'.
Audio Logo
Audio logos are short - typically less than ten seconds - though there are exceptions. You hear them at the cinema, on TV, Podcasts, radio, YouTube, and now also on smart speakers. In fact, they are used anywhere a business or brand needs to identify themselves with either the addition of audio (accompanying video) or as just audio on its own.
Sound Icon
Sound icons are very short branding elements, often used to identify a company or brand to a listener when available time is very brief, or when longer audio would be inappropriate. Typically they are much shorter than audio logos, though not always. You hear them on TV, Podcasts, radio, YouTube, and now also on smart speakers; they can also appear as brand, business, or product identifying elements within an audio UX.
Soundscape
Brand soundscapes tend to be much longer than audio logos, one of the most common uses of these is the soundtrack to promotional videos.
Sound Element
These are typically informational, instructional, or feedback, elements in a UX. The simplest example of a sound element is an error message alert sound from a computer, or a warning sound from a car. A sound element does not have to be a tone, sound, or melody, it can also be words, such as those generated by Siri or Alexa, or a pre-recorded human voice. The term sound element can also be used to refer to the sound components that make up an audio logo, sound icon, or soundscape.
Sound Family
This is probably a term not used outside of our offices, but we find it useful, and it explains a concept we feel is important. For us, a sound family is a system of sounds used to communicate different things to a listener. It is, in fact, an audible language, and that language does not have to contain any words, but it does tend to follow a style theme.
In a Sound Family, each sound is different from the others and communicates its intended message (perhaps a success sound, or startup sound), but in doing so that individual sound will also still be recognisable as belonging to that particular product, device, brand, business, etc.
For example, a physical product or app may need to communicate different things to a user in different scenarios. The two most common would probably be a success sound, and a fail sound. However, there are usually many more different auditory indicators in a single product. In a sound family, each of these sounds communicates its intended message, but also sounds as if it is related in some way to the other sound elements of the product or app. One product or app is different from another and so each will have its own 'language' of sounds (or sound family).
Think of it this way: it would be a waste if your well-developed, well-designed, product sounded like a random collection of noises. For us, in an ideal sound family, each element is recognisable as being a member of that family: each sound will communicate its intended message, but in doing so will also still be recognisable as belonging to that particular product, device, brand, business, etc.
Sound families also exist outside of a product UX: they may include multiple pieces of music, each used in a different location or situation, but each also sounding like it is related to the other pieces in the sound family; a brand may have both an audio logo and a, shorter, sound icon - both may even be quite different from one another, but they can still sound as if they are related and representative of the same brand.
Summary
Whilst there are not really any officially agreed definitions of terminology in the world of business and product audio, we find it useful to differentiate between audio logos, sound icons, sound elements, and soundscapes, and also consider sound families important enough to warrant a term of their own.
- Audio logos are sounds that may or may not be musical. They are short - typically less than ten seconds.
- Sound icons are very short branding elements, often used to identify a company or brand to a listener when available time is very brief.
- Soundscapes tend to be much longer than audio logos. One common use is as a soundtrack in brand promotion videos.
- Sound elements are the audible elements in a UX, for example, success sounds, error sounds, and startup sounds. This term may also indicate the sounds that comprise an audio logo, sound icon, or soundscape.
- Sound families is our way ensuring that all the different types of audio produced for a business, brand, or product, can communicate their various messages, whilst maintaining enough of a common theme to enable them to be associated with one another.