Sound effects and music

Sound effects and music in ALEX should enhance the content at hand. They’re important tools that we use to inject life into our products, helping the viewer engage with ALEX’s voice and visuals.

Sound effects

Mix realistic and abstract sounds. Sound effects in ALEX are grounded in some amount of realism: an object moving across the screen will sound like something moving. But an art moment’s sound palette is rarely strictly realistic. A great ALEX sound effect evokes and enhances the visual without literally sounding like it.

Be playful, but subtle. A small note of musicality or surprise can work wonders when you’re discussing benefits, of all topics. Subtext and juxtaposition are useful tools. But remember that playful does not mean silly: overt “funny” sound effects rarely are, and will drain the viewer’s interest rapidly.

This example is short but sweet. The palette is initially realistic, segues into the abstract when the cash signs grow on the leaves, and eventually blooms into a serene musical accent. A considered moment like this, paired with a great voiceover read, can focus somebody’s attention and reward them for the time they’re spending with ALEX.

Follow the art. The vast majority of ALEX sound effects are closely timed to match the onscreen art and animation. Consider the emotional intent, timing, speed, direction, and physicality of the art. Sound effects shouldn’t anticipate or trail animation beats, unless that’s true to the visual motion.

Avoid using sound to punctuate a line of onscreen text or voiceover (VO) unless the script calls for it.

Follow best practices on user interface (UI) sounds. On the web, it’s generally best to steer clear of sounds for UI elements, such as buttons. This isn’t a hard and fast rule, though: notifications, message reactions, and other “punctuation” in an interface are often great opportunities for sound design.

What sounds fit the ALEX palette? There isn’t a strict list of sounds to adhere to, but ALEX products often feature:

  • Subtle whooshes and pops
  • Percussion instruments, like tambourine, wood block, or snare drum
  • Monophonic, sine-wave synthesizer accents
  • Mallet percussion, including glockenspiel and marimba
  • Foley that follows motion (e.g. jingling coins when money appears or moves)
Another good example of thematic and musical sound design. Note the abstract pops used to bring the coins onscreen, but the literal sound of coins jingling to signal money being paid. This blend of abstract and realistic treatments is a cornerstone of the ALEX palette.
An explanatory moment in Benefits Counselor’s Accident Insurance module. Note how the sound design closely follows the art beats, and the small touches that tie back to the script (e.g. the quick ambulance-like sound after ALEX says “emergency room.”)

Music

Music brings many of the same benefits as sound effects in terms of maintaining engagement. Music in ALEX usually avoids easily-defined musical genres or time periods, and often works best when it combines unique, unconventional instruments and sounds. A dash of the unexpected can go a long way.

There are two ways to approach music in an ALEX product, depending on the format:

Loop-based music

A short piece of music intended to loop for the entirety of the product. Usually, loop-based music isn’t closely mapped to the visuals, and is mixed low compared to other audio tracks. While this makes it less distinct, it’s also more versatile: it can be used regardless of what’s presented on screen. This makes loop-based music ideal for products with a variable duration, like a web application or a configurable video with no fixed duration.

In ALEX, loop-based music is produced at a consistent walking tempo of around 115–130 beats per minute. It usually contains 2–3 musically distinct sections to offer variety during editing/development, each typically 4–6 layers of instrumentation. These variations can sometimes include stripped back arrangements with fewer instruments.

Through-composed music

A much more customized soundtrack, written from scratch to closely support the pace, beats, and intention of the visual content. It can vary in tempo, and also step forward and back from focus—at times coming center stage, and other times dipping back to a quiet, supportive role. Most video (except when it has a varying length) is an ideal use case for through-composed music.

A variation on through-composed music is focus music, where—instead of music responding to visuals—the music dictates where visual action occurs, sort of like a music video. In this case, the music would be written first, informed by the product’s goals and text, after which the visual beats would be created.

See Benefits Sneak Peek for an example of through-composed music.