MUSIC+SOUND AWARDS 2021

BEST SOUND DESIGN / BEST ORIGINAL COMPOSITION IN BRANDING

BEST SOUND DESIGN AND BEST ORIGINAL COMPOSITION IN BRANDING

ADAM ‘A New Sound For Air’

Entrant: German Wahnsinn, Hamburg

Sound Designer + Composer: Philipp Feit

Agency: Atelier Grand Berg

Production Company: German Wahnsinn

Director: Jan Berg

Executive Producers: Philipp Feit + Jan Berg

Some background info from German Wahnsinn…

“When we think about air, we normally think about the quality of it, wether it's clean or polluted, dry or humid, cold or warm. But what does air actually sound like? We asked ourselves this question when ADAM - a specialist provider of air hygiene safety - asked us to develop a brand sound for them that has never been heard before. Of course creating something that has never been heard before was the biggest challenge here, especially when you look at the history of sound designs for air. Typically the same sound spectrums are used across all audiovisual media. So we had to reinvent the sound of air.

Our idea was that if you can simulate pattering rain with the sound of bacon frying, then there must be some way to capture a completely original air sound in a new way. After spending a long time researching we discovered an unusual and largely unknown instrument: the Daxophone. Although it’s not actually a wind instrument, to us it sounds like the air is talking to us. An unusual mix of sound and noise.

It took another two years to learn how to build the instrument and ultimately make it sound right for our work. Using different types of wood from all over the world we created the sound lips, which create the sound with the so called DAX and bass bow. With this completely new and totally unique sound palette, we started composing music and recorded films, web special, telephone announcements and signal tones. The result was an unparalleled corporate sound that had never been heard before, which gives one of our most precious basic elements - air - the attention it deserves. ADAM - save the air.”