How Microsoft cuts noise to create a useful and beautiful sound world
Have you ever thought about the sounds your computer makes when a message arrives, a battery is low, or a meeting reminder appears? But Matthew Bennett was thinking. Thought a lot.
Bennett composed, executed and processed more than 900 versions of the sound of the Windows 10 calendar alert before choosing the perfect one.
“It was a long time, but it worked out well,” Bennett recalled, with a shrug, during a recent visit to his recording studio in Redmond. In the soundproofed room, lit by candles, there is a mixer, several high-quality studio monitors and large LCD screens, and in the center is a full-keyboard synthesizer keyboard.
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As a composer and sound engineer working on many Microsoft applications and devices, Bennett has been playing an important role in the company's sound design for 15 years. He has strong convictions and an established philosophy regarding sound, and he is fluent in professional terminology to discuss these issues.
This article is on our website .
Summarizing his role, he reflects: “Our responsibility to consumers lies, first of all, in order not to cause harm. Create sounds that do not cut the ear and do not annoy. In addition, the sound must be functional and beautiful. Beauty and functionality go hand in hand. The more beautiful the sound, the more positively it will affect the overall feeling of the product that we want to evoke in people. ”
Bennett says that for a whole year, along with four assistants, he made a family of sounds for Windows 10 to bring his work to perfection. “I went through these sounds like a madman. I am a little confused how long it took. I am fixated on control. ”
Bennett, 53, a jazz fan who plays keyboards and is interested in West African music, has a master's degree in music ethnography - the science of the social and cultural aspects of music. In the early 2000s, he left Microsoft for 10 years and worked as a freelance composer, created sound designs and wrote music.
During this time, he recorded several soundtracks for films and companies from the Fortune 500 list, but in the end this work ceased to satisfy him.
In search of new inspiration, he gave up composing and began to study medieval singing and music of West Africa, India, the Middle East and Indonesia. Gradually starting to write again, he sought to create a personal musical language - “a sound world with which I could live,” as he himself describes it. These examples show the results of these searches.
Back at Microsoft, Bennett went head to head. Now his creations can be heard not only in Windows, but also in the Xbox operating system, as well as in applications and other products, such as Office, Cortana and Skype. It creates a sound landscape that should unify the Microsoft sound profile, as well as the developers of the user interface design strive to achieve visual and functional consistency in all the company's products.
In addition, Microsoft created the Fluent Sound and Sensory Design development environment to influence the sounds used outside the company.
“Using sounds, we form the rhythm and emotional structure of the user interface,” says Bennett. - Sounds become elements that are consistent with other user experiences - from touch, graphic texture and dynamics. We are changing our attitude to sound design at Microsoft, and, hopefully, outside of Microsoft. We want to achieve harmony between devices and feelings. ”
Rick Seneschal, Microsoft's media solutions architect, has been working with Bennett for 20 years. Seneschal runs the international music service, which each year selects about 4,000 tracks for events, videos, podcasts and products from various companies and agencies.
The Seneschal says that Bennett is in no hurry and very picky.
“Matthew is the most focused person I've ever worked with,” says Seneschal. - He can infinitely refine and improve what he is working on. He has a deep and broad vision of his field and ponders everything very well. He doesn’t just create sounds and says, “Yes, it sounds good.” Behind the sounds and textures that it creates, there are logic and reason "
Bennett immediately said what Microsoft sounds are not.
“These are not sound effects, not game sounds, not a cacophony like beeps, howling dogs and trumpets, not futuristic sounds, music not filling everything around, not speech and not alarms,” he says. “We do not record fragments of the sound of real instruments, such as kong, lute or violin, because they can take you to a certain cultural place and time, and sometimes to your own past, and distract you from what you do.”
He does not name the brands, but says that the sounds from the major manufacturers of smartphones are not at all thought out in this regard.
“Listen to all these ringtones. Have you heard that at least one of them is used in real life? ”The By the Sea version is digitally processed, arpeggiated minor guitar chords, synthesized birds singing with a dramatic touch. "At first they are amusing, and maybe 15 years ago they would be interesting, but nowadays they leave much to be desired."
Bennett notes that the sounds in the old versions of Windows were significantly different from those that appeared in Windows 10. First, there were a lot more. “Triumphant sounds for successful downloads are no longer needed,” he says. “Why should we celebrate when the computer turns on?” Now we have to take it for granted, which, in general, we are doing. ”
Today's sounds are much shorter. Former sounds, such as the shutdown signal in Windows NT Workstation 4.0 (1996), could last up to 8 seconds — infinity by today's standards, requiring less intrusive sounds, measured in fractions of a second. System start-up sounds, like cut-off sounds, are a thing of the past and are now considered to be another unnecessary source of technological noise pollution.
Matthew Bennett at Microsoft Production Studios with sound engineer Dan Sharett.
Modern sounds are not as grand as their predecessors. The launch sound in Windows 2000 lasted almost 12 seconds: it seemed that a squadron of fighters was taking off, after which the iridescent marimbas entered. “Today we use the most organic, calm, quiet and unobtrusive sounds,” says Bennett. “We create sound, remembering silence.”
The sounds, which experts call skeptomorphic, have disappeared: they copy the sound of real objects, for example, crumpled paper when deleting a document or typewriter keys when typing.
“Such sounds helped people to get acquainted with new technologies, but they are no longer needed, they no longer carry any benefits. Now it’s just meaningless trinkets, ”says Bennett.
In today's minimalist design, meaningless sounds are not welcome.
“In the world of visual design, about five years ago, the cutting off of all unnecessary things, such as shadows, wide frames, lighting effects and large fonts, began,” adds Bennett. “The same thing happens in sound design.”
In Bennett’s work, a comparison of intonation circuits — people who change their voices and say the same in different languages ​​— helps. Question Ready to go? pronounced with almost the same height change in English, French, Japanese, Chinese, Spanish and Russian: "Up, down, down, sharply up."
Bennett embodied such intonation with musical instruments, and he had a 2.5 second sound that can be heard when the Windows 10 calendar alert appears. This is one of those sounds that he is proud of.
Intonation contours can be heard both in the melody of the new message (the phrase “Message for you!” - “You are a message!”) And in the melody of a general alert (“Everything's good” - “Everything is good”).
Bennett believes that the sounds of the operating system should take into account the characteristics of the actions with which they are associated. For example, messages in the messenger usually require a more urgent response than emails, so in Windows 10 the sound of receiving messages in the messenger, according to Bennett, "is more stressful and more encourages the user to take action." When you receive a new letter, "you still want to know that something has come, but the sound is calmer."
Does he call his creations music?
“They are like music in the sense that they have melody, rhythm and harmony,” says Bennett. - They sound rich and musical, not being music as such. We do not want users to imagine a musician playing electronic music and putting some kind of emotion into it, like in Windows 8. Then it was a big step forward compared to Windows 7, but not yet mature. And now, although the sound style remains electronic, you no longer think that a man is sitting inside the computer. And at the same time the computer feels the soul, and only in moments of sound, it seems to come to life. This is one of our main ideas. ”
Musical concepts certainly play an important role in Bennett’s work.
“In the melody of the error message, a minor nonaccord (m9) is used, because of which she is dissonant a bit and as if she says: you really should pay attention to these words,” he explains.
Only a few IT companies are attracted to the work of composers, sound engineers, such as Bennett. There is no professional association or a large group of like-minded professionals who would communicate and discuss current issues.
“Sound design lags slightly behind industrial, hardware and graphic design,” says Bennett. - Sound engineers have no close connection with product design teams other than games. Microsoft was one of the first companies to connect the sound engineer to direct work with the products. ”
Bennett believes that sound design should influence not only Microsoft and other IT companies, but also the whole world. On February 9, 2018, an article appeared in the New York Times about the cacophony created by ubiquitous modern electronic devices: “Thundering, demanding attention, inorganic noises are becoming the norm; distracting sound signals produce reflexes in us, like Pavlov's dog. ”
Bennett hears this.
Matthew Bennett at Microsoft Production Studios
“Windows sounds alone sound hundreds of millions of times a day,” he says. “These are many sounds, and they affect the lives of many people, even if they last less than a second. They affect mood and well-being and can be beneficial or harmful. ”
The World Health Organization has recognized that unexpected loud sounds can cause dangerous cortisol jumps in the body. In addition, unnecessary sounds and excessive volume - is one of the forms of noise pollution.
“In the tropical forest there are a lot of sounds that carry information - bird trills and wind noise. But these are organic sounds that are easily perceived. This is a powerful metaphor that shows how we should relate to sound design. ”
By the end of our conversation, I admitted to Matthew that on my Windows computers I have been turning off system sounds since 1990 or so. In my opinion, they are not needed and only annoying.
I asked him if I lost something from this — perhaps some unobvious aspects of working with the operating system went unnoticed?
He replied: “Sound can add depth and beauty to the interaction. We want to tell people that now you can turn on the sounds again. We will be respectful, we will not wake up your children, we will not break the silence when you are in the library or at a meeting. This is no longer an occasional noise. These are a few carefully selected sounds that will organically sound in your surroundings. ”
Many people are annoyed by the sounds that make their calendars, because each such sound means that you need to do something. Someone even thinks that these sounds are like fire alarms, because of which you have to run somewhere, but not once, but all day. We wanted the alert sound to be quite invigorating, but not disturbing. We needed to find the right amount of optimism and energy that prompted action, but without worrying about it.
Such a sound should be heard at a low volume, and at the same time should be felt rather than heard. If you listen, you can understand that these are seven tones with equal intervals. The melody starts very quietly and smoothly, and lasts long enough for the user interface - 2.5 seconds. But at normal volume, you really will hear no more than half, because the first three tones are barely audible. They sound like breathing, like a musical hint that says something is about to happen. After that, the volume increases and the sound becomes more audible. At the end there is a fading reverb, which you can hear while away from the sound source.
It is a long sound, but very open. It causes a rather long, but not disturbing sensation. It is light, pleasant and beautiful.
Through headphones or speakers with a good separation of stereo channels, you can hear movement from left to right. It sounds very convincing and natural.
This solid sound consists of several layers: there are foreground, middle and background. In the foreground are electronic plucked and tonal percussion sounds. They do not resemble real musical instruments, but they also do not seem completely alien. They were not recorded, but modeled using digital technology.
In this short tune (as in many others from Windows 10) there is a triol. All those melodies that seem to be the most harmonious and soothing, are based on the triple rhythm to which we have become accustomed over the years.
We try to ensure that our sounds do not resemble either a computer program or a person. They must be refined and natural. Like the breath of our operating system. Without these sounds, there would be no such feeling of harmony in it.
Photo: Brian Smale / Microsoft
Bennett composed, executed and processed more than 900 versions of the sound of the Windows 10 calendar alert before choosing the perfect one.
“It was a long time, but it worked out well,” Bennett recalled, with a shrug, during a recent visit to his recording studio in Redmond. In the soundproofed room, lit by candles, there is a mixer, several high-quality studio monitors and large LCD screens, and in the center is a full-keyboard synthesizer keyboard.
')
As a composer and sound engineer working on many Microsoft applications and devices, Bennett has been playing an important role in the company's sound design for 15 years. He has strong convictions and an established philosophy regarding sound, and he is fluent in professional terminology to discuss these issues.
This article is on our website .
Summarizing his role, he reflects: “Our responsibility to consumers lies, first of all, in order not to cause harm. Create sounds that do not cut the ear and do not annoy. In addition, the sound must be functional and beautiful. Beauty and functionality go hand in hand. The more beautiful the sound, the more positively it will affect the overall feeling of the product that we want to evoke in people. ”
Bennett says that for a whole year, along with four assistants, he made a family of sounds for Windows 10 to bring his work to perfection. “I went through these sounds like a madman. I am a little confused how long it took. I am fixated on control. ”
Bennett, 53, a jazz fan who plays keyboards and is interested in West African music, has a master's degree in music ethnography - the science of the social and cultural aspects of music. In the early 2000s, he left Microsoft for 10 years and worked as a freelance composer, created sound designs and wrote music.
During this time, he recorded several soundtracks for films and companies from the Fortune 500 list, but in the end this work ceased to satisfy him.
In search of new inspiration, he gave up composing and began to study medieval singing and music of West Africa, India, the Middle East and Indonesia. Gradually starting to write again, he sought to create a personal musical language - “a sound world with which I could live,” as he himself describes it. These examples show the results of these searches.
Back at Microsoft, Bennett went head to head. Now his creations can be heard not only in Windows, but also in the Xbox operating system, as well as in applications and other products, such as Office, Cortana and Skype. It creates a sound landscape that should unify the Microsoft sound profile, as well as the developers of the user interface design strive to achieve visual and functional consistency in all the company's products.
We want to achieve harmony between devices and feelings.
In addition, Microsoft created the Fluent Sound and Sensory Design development environment to influence the sounds used outside the company.
“Using sounds, we form the rhythm and emotional structure of the user interface,” says Bennett. - Sounds become elements that are consistent with other user experiences - from touch, graphic texture and dynamics. We are changing our attitude to sound design at Microsoft, and, hopefully, outside of Microsoft. We want to achieve harmony between devices and feelings. ”
Rick Seneschal, Microsoft's media solutions architect, has been working with Bennett for 20 years. Seneschal runs the international music service, which each year selects about 4,000 tracks for events, videos, podcasts and products from various companies and agencies.
The Seneschal says that Bennett is in no hurry and very picky.
“Matthew is the most focused person I've ever worked with,” says Seneschal. - He can infinitely refine and improve what he is working on. He has a deep and broad vision of his field and ponders everything very well. He doesn’t just create sounds and says, “Yes, it sounds good.” Behind the sounds and textures that it creates, there are logic and reason "
Behind the sounds and textures he creates are logic and reason.
Bennett immediately said what Microsoft sounds are not.
“These are not sound effects, not game sounds, not a cacophony like beeps, howling dogs and trumpets, not futuristic sounds, music not filling everything around, not speech and not alarms,” he says. “We do not record fragments of the sound of real instruments, such as kong, lute or violin, because they can take you to a certain cultural place and time, and sometimes to your own past, and distract you from what you do.”
He does not name the brands, but says that the sounds from the major manufacturers of smartphones are not at all thought out in this regard.
“Listen to all these ringtones. Have you heard that at least one of them is used in real life? ”The By the Sea version is digitally processed, arpeggiated minor guitar chords, synthesized birds singing with a dramatic touch. "At first they are amusing, and maybe 15 years ago they would be interesting, but nowadays they leave much to be desired."
Bennett notes that the sounds in the old versions of Windows were significantly different from those that appeared in Windows 10. First, there were a lot more. “Triumphant sounds for successful downloads are no longer needed,” he says. “Why should we celebrate when the computer turns on?” Now we have to take it for granted, which, in general, we are doing. ”
Today's sounds are much shorter. Former sounds, such as the shutdown signal in Windows NT Workstation 4.0 (1996), could last up to 8 seconds — infinity by today's standards, requiring less intrusive sounds, measured in fractions of a second. System start-up sounds, like cut-off sounds, are a thing of the past and are now considered to be another unnecessary source of technological noise pollution.
Matthew Bennett at Microsoft Production Studios with sound engineer Dan Sharett.
Modern sounds are not as grand as their predecessors. The launch sound in Windows 2000 lasted almost 12 seconds: it seemed that a squadron of fighters was taking off, after which the iridescent marimbas entered. “Today we use the most organic, calm, quiet and unobtrusive sounds,” says Bennett. “We create sound, remembering silence.”
The sounds, which experts call skeptomorphic, have disappeared: they copy the sound of real objects, for example, crumpled paper when deleting a document or typewriter keys when typing.
“Such sounds helped people to get acquainted with new technologies, but they are no longer needed, they no longer carry any benefits. Now it’s just meaningless trinkets, ”says Bennett.
In today's minimalist design, meaningless sounds are not welcome.
“In the world of visual design, about five years ago, the cutting off of all unnecessary things, such as shadows, wide frames, lighting effects and large fonts, began,” adds Bennett. “The same thing happens in sound design.”
We create sound, remembering silenceIn Windows 7, there were about 40 sounds. In Windows 10 - about eight, although the old sounds left "for unknown technical reasons." Bennett says: “When I started, there were seven different sounds for error messages, and no one knew what they meant. There were no clear rules for partners or for ourselves. We got rid of all these sounds and replaced them with two: one for non-critical errors, the other for more important ones. ”
In Bennett’s work, a comparison of intonation circuits — people who change their voices and say the same in different languages ​​— helps. Question Ready to go? pronounced with almost the same height change in English, French, Japanese, Chinese, Spanish and Russian: "Up, down, down, sharply up."
Bennett embodied such intonation with musical instruments, and he had a 2.5 second sound that can be heard when the Windows 10 calendar alert appears. This is one of those sounds that he is proud of.
Intonation contours can be heard both in the melody of the new message (the phrase “Message for you!” - “You are a message!”) And in the melody of a general alert (“Everything's good” - “Everything is good”).
Bennett believes that the sounds of the operating system should take into account the characteristics of the actions with which they are associated. For example, messages in the messenger usually require a more urgent response than emails, so in Windows 10 the sound of receiving messages in the messenger, according to Bennett, "is more stressful and more encourages the user to take action." When you receive a new letter, "you still want to know that something has come, but the sound is calmer."
Does he call his creations music?
“They are like music in the sense that they have melody, rhythm and harmony,” says Bennett. - They sound rich and musical, not being music as such. We do not want users to imagine a musician playing electronic music and putting some kind of emotion into it, like in Windows 8. Then it was a big step forward compared to Windows 7, but not yet mature. And now, although the sound style remains electronic, you no longer think that a man is sitting inside the computer. And at the same time the computer feels the soul, and only in moments of sound, it seems to come to life. This is one of our main ideas. ”
Musical concepts certainly play an important role in Bennett’s work.
“In the melody of the error message, a minor nonaccord (m9) is used, because of which she is dissonant a bit and as if she says: you really should pay attention to these words,” he explains.
Only a few IT companies are attracted to the work of composers, sound engineers, such as Bennett. There is no professional association or a large group of like-minded professionals who would communicate and discuss current issues.
“Sound design lags slightly behind industrial, hardware and graphic design,” says Bennett. - Sound engineers have no close connection with product design teams other than games. Microsoft was one of the first companies to connect the sound engineer to direct work with the products. ”
Bennett believes that sound design should influence not only Microsoft and other IT companies, but also the whole world. On February 9, 2018, an article appeared in the New York Times about the cacophony created by ubiquitous modern electronic devices: “Thundering, demanding attention, inorganic noises are becoming the norm; distracting sound signals produce reflexes in us, like Pavlov's dog. ”
Bennett hears this.
Matthew Bennett at Microsoft Production Studios
“Windows sounds alone sound hundreds of millions of times a day,” he says. “These are many sounds, and they affect the lives of many people, even if they last less than a second. They affect mood and well-being and can be beneficial or harmful. ”
The World Health Organization has recognized that unexpected loud sounds can cause dangerous cortisol jumps in the body. In addition, unnecessary sounds and excessive volume - is one of the forms of noise pollution.
“In the tropical forest there are a lot of sounds that carry information - bird trills and wind noise. But these are organic sounds that are easily perceived. This is a powerful metaphor that shows how we should relate to sound design. ”
By the end of our conversation, I admitted to Matthew that on my Windows computers I have been turning off system sounds since 1990 or so. In my opinion, they are not needed and only annoying.
I asked him if I lost something from this — perhaps some unobvious aspects of working with the operating system went unnoticed?
He replied: “Sound can add depth and beauty to the interaction. We want to tell people that now you can turn on the sounds again. We will be respectful, we will not wake up your children, we will not break the silence when you are in the library or at a meeting. This is no longer an occasional noise. These are a few carefully selected sounds that will organically sound in your surroundings. ”
A gentle reminder (instead of an epilog)
Matthew Bennett about making sound alerts calendar Windows 10
Many people are annoyed by the sounds that make their calendars, because each such sound means that you need to do something. Someone even thinks that these sounds are like fire alarms, because of which you have to run somewhere, but not once, but all day. We wanted the alert sound to be quite invigorating, but not disturbing. We needed to find the right amount of optimism and energy that prompted action, but without worrying about it.
Such a sound should be heard at a low volume, and at the same time should be felt rather than heard. If you listen, you can understand that these are seven tones with equal intervals. The melody starts very quietly and smoothly, and lasts long enough for the user interface - 2.5 seconds. But at normal volume, you really will hear no more than half, because the first three tones are barely audible. They sound like breathing, like a musical hint that says something is about to happen. After that, the volume increases and the sound becomes more audible. At the end there is a fading reverb, which you can hear while away from the sound source.
It is a long sound, but very open. It causes a rather long, but not disturbing sensation. It is light, pleasant and beautiful.
Through headphones or speakers with a good separation of stereo channels, you can hear movement from left to right. It sounds very convincing and natural.
This solid sound consists of several layers: there are foreground, middle and background. In the foreground are electronic plucked and tonal percussion sounds. They do not resemble real musical instruments, but they also do not seem completely alien. They were not recorded, but modeled using digital technology.
In this short tune (as in many others from Windows 10) there is a triol. All those melodies that seem to be the most harmonious and soothing, are based on the triple rhythm to which we have become accustomed over the years.
We try to ensure that our sounds do not resemble either a computer program or a person. They must be refined and natural. Like the breath of our operating system. Without these sounds, there would be no such feeling of harmony in it.
Photo: Brian Smale / Microsoft
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/453842/
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