The show was produced by Blind Frame Productions and performed at the Solid Tricular LAN party. Inspired by sci-fi classics like Star Wars, Terminator, and Transformers, the second half featured a lightsaber battle.
I reviewed existing lightsaber sounds but found them insufficiently menacing and too rigid for the show’s needs, so I created my own.
Using Plogue Bidule, the core sound combines PWM sawtooth and synced sawtooth waves. Pulse-width modulation envelopes produce the ignition effect. This waveform passes through multiple filter banks adding subtle distortion, with the centerpiece being a custom monophonic formant filter. The final sound layers three distinct elements.
Movement sounds derive from processing the core signal through additional filters mixed with an amplitude-modulated copy. This creates an “energy field” effect, blended with the original via a crossfader. The crossfader and other parameters are controlled in real-time using a MIDI keyboard modulation wheel.
Though initially planned as a prerecorded track, I manipulated the sound live during the show for greater responsiveness. Contact sounds are variations of the core process, also triggered via keyboard. Beyond lightsabers, I designed many other sounds for the production.
This sound design wasn’t meant to imitate the originals but to create a unique, powerful sonic identity—and it sounded incredible through the party’s PA.
The light-responsive audio device, connected to a laptop running modular sound software, transformed oscillator pitches into synthesizer control messages, blending textured and solo sounds to bridge visual and auditory media in the performance.