In the traditional commercial production pipeline, music and sound design studios are almost invariably brought in at the very tail end of a project. By the time audio teams receive a cut, the visual narrative, pacing, and overall structure have usually been firmly locked in place. However, the creative crew at audio studio Cypher has decided to flip that script entirely. With the launch of their brand-new project series, Sonic Studies, the studio is carving out space to explore the intrinsic relationship between sound and image from the ground up, entirely free from the conventional constraints of commercial briefs and post-production timelines.
The initiative aims to redefine how audio artists approach moving imagery, shifting the paradigm away from standard demo reels or abstract manifestos toward tangible, experimental film pieces. John Black, the founder and creative director at Cypher, explains that the motivation behind the project stemmed from a desire for deeper artistic involvement. As sonic artists, Black notes, audio teams often find themselves with very little meaningful input regarding the core subject matter or structural development of commercial projects. Consequently, the team wanted to establish a dedicated platform to showcase their hands-on approach to crafting music and sound design directly to picture, using practical experimentation rather than commercial storytelling templates.
The inaugural release in the Sonic Studies series was born out of an intersection of creative disciplines, specifically driven by team member Joseph’s ongoing fascination with connecting his professional work in sound design with the tactile world of sewing and textiles. Rather than sourcing generic audio libraries or building synthetic soundscapes from scratch, the starting point for the first film was an actual jacket that Joseph had handcrafted himself. This physical artifact provided the studio with direct, unmediated access to the very fabrics, tools, and heavy machinery involved in its construction—not only utilizing them as the primary visual subjects for the film but also turning them into the foundational source material for acoustic recording.
Exploring the intersection of audio and physical fabrication revealed a natural synergy between the two practices. According to the studio, both sewing and sound design fundamentally rely on the exact same creative mechanics: gathering raw elements, manipulating their physical or digital forms, and carefully assembling them into a cohesive finished piece. By embarking on this independent study, the team at Cypher created a rare opportunity to bridge those two distinct worlds together, allowing them to experiment freely outside the typical pressures, revisions, and deadlines imposed by standard commercial client briefs.
A central theme of the first study involves examining the creative liberties inherent to professional sound design, particularly the fascinating disconnect that often exists between what an audience sees on screen and what they ultimately hear. Sound designers frequently employ auditory illusions, utilizing audio elements that may technically bear little resemblance to the visual objects on screen, yet successfully evoke the precise movement, physical texture, or emotional feeling required by the narrative. In this specific project, however, Cypher took a dual approach: they worked extensively with sounds that organically and physically belonged to the subject matter, but then heavily manipulated, warped, and processed those audio recordings without ever severing that vital underlying connection to their source.
Visual storytelling for the project was approached with a similarly raw and minimalist philosophy. To complement the intricate audio landscape without overwhelming it, the creators relied on a deliberate blend of simple animation techniques, scanned physical materials, basic digital image processing, and sparse textural footage. By allowing the imagery to remain minimal and unadorned, the visual canvas provided ample breathing room for the intricate sound design to take the lead, ultimately shaping the rhythm, pacing, and emotional character of the final edit.
The successful execution of this inaugural experiment highlights the collective talent of the Cypher team. The project was helmed by founder and creative director John Black, who also spearheaded the sound design. Original music for the piece was composed by Joris van Grunsven, while the complex audio mix, animation, and editorial work were expertly handled by Joseph Sims. Through Sonic Studies, Cypher has successfully established a compelling new framework for audio-visual exploration, proving that when sound is allowed to drive the creative process from inception, the results can open up entirely new dimensions of artistic expression.
