Learning Goals 3 min
By the end of this lesson you will be able to:
- Assemble background, rhythm and one-off sounds into one layered soundscape.
- Check the whole project resets its sound state on every run.
- Save the finished soundscape as an
.sb3file ready to play to somebody.
Warm-Up 7 min
You have every sound block Level 1 offers. Today is about arranging them so the result is a place rather than a demonstration.
Quick-fire puzzle
Amirah’s soundscape is perfect the first time and almost inaudible the second. Her fading sprite’s script starts like this. What is missing?
when flag clicked
start sound [Chatter v]
repeat (8)
change volume by (-10)
wait (0.2) seconds
end
Reveal the answer
Nothing sets the volume back up. The fade leaves that sprite near zero, and there it stays for every run afterwards.
Volume is the fifth kind of state that sticks. Position, size, visibility, backdrop, and now volume and pitch — a finished project pins all of them.
Project brief — building a soundscape 15 min
A convincing soundscape is not a collection of good sounds. It is three kinds of sound doing three different jobs, at three different volumes, and the arrangement matters more than the individual noises.
The three layers
| Layer | What it does | Which blocks | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|
| Background | Continuous hum. Never stops, never draws attention. | forever + play sound [Meow v] until done | 25–40% |
| Rhythm | Something regular — a bell, a call, footsteps. | Loop with a wait (1) seconds inside | 40–60% |
| Foreground | One-off events the listener actually notices. | start sound [Meow v] | 80–100% |
The sound state that sticks
Two things survive between runs, and both bite. Volume, which a fade will leave near zero. And pitch, which stacks up every time a change block runs without a clear before it.
Every sprite that touches either needs both reset blocks at the top: set volume to (100) % and clear sound effects.
The stop-sign test, for sound
The same test you used in Lesson 34 applies here. Stop the project halfway through a fade and restart it. If the second run is quieter than the first, a reset is missing somewhere.
Listen with your eyes shut
This is the honest test of a soundscape. Close your eyes, play it, and ask whether you could describe the place. If all you can hear is a list of sound effects, the layering is not doing its job.
Why this is a project lesson
You are not learning a block today. You are learning that arrangement — which sound plays how loudly, how often, and underneath what — matters more than the sounds themselves.
Guided Build — the finished market 15 min
We build the three layers in order, from the quietest upward, listening after each.
Step 1 — Lay the background
On the sprite furthest back, build the continuous hum. Nothing else yet — listen to this alone first.
when flag clicked
set volume to (30) %
clear sound effects
forever
play sound [Chatter v] until done
end
Step 2 — Add the rhythm on top
On the middle sprite, build a loop with a gap in it — something regular the ear can count.
when flag clicked
set volume to (50) %
clear sound effects
forever
play sound [Bell Toll v] until done
wait (3) seconds
end
Step 3 — Listen to the two together
Stop and start it. Two layers should already sound like somewhere. If the bell drowns the hum, or the hum drowns the bell, adjust the volumes rather than the sounds.
Step 4 — Add the foreground
On the nearest sprite, put your own recording at full volume with gaps between.
when flag clicked
set volume to (100) %
clear sound effects
wait (2) seconds
start sound [Murah v]
wait (5) seconds
start sound [Murah v]
Step 5 — Run the whole thing for a minute
Leave it. A soundscape that works for ten seconds and grates after forty is not finished. Listen for the moment the background repeat becomes noticeable.
Step 6 — Run the stop-sign test
Stop it mid-run and click the flag again. Every layer should come back at its proper volume. If anything is quieter, that sprite is missing a set-volume.
Step 7 — Add one thing that only happens once
A soundscape gains enormously from a single event that does not repeat — something dropped, a door, one shout. It gives the listener a moment to anchor to.
Step 8 — Close your eyes and describe it
Play it through with your eyes shut and say out loud what you can hear. If the description is “a busy market with someone calling out”, it is working. If it is “a bell, some chatter and a recording”, the layering needs more separation.
What changed: your project stopped being a set of sounds and became somewhere a listener could stand.
The full assembled scripts (your reference)
when flag clicked
set volume to (30) %
forever
play sound [Chatter v] until done
end
when flag clicked
set volume to (100) %
clear sound effects
wait (2) seconds
start sound [Murah v]
Try It Yourself — polish the soundscape 12 min
Goal: Flatten every layer to the same volume, listen, then put them back. Hear what layering actually does.
when flag clicked
set volume to (100) %
forever
play sound [Chatter v] until done
end
Think: at 100% the background stops being background and starts fighting everything else. The sounds did not change — only their relationship did.
Goal: Add a sound that happens exactly once, several seconds in, so the listener has something to anchor to.
when flag clicked
set volume to (90) %
wait (6) seconds
start sound [Bell Toll v]
Think: no loop at all. A sound that happens once is the easiest script in the project and often the most memorable moment in it.
Mini-mission: the arrival. Build a moment where somebody walks into the market — approaching from a distance, getting louder and larger, then greeting someone.
It works if: a listener with eyes shut can tell somebody is approaching before they speak, and the arrival works identically on a second run. Keep each stack under 8 blocks.
Think: three things have to change together as the sprite approaches. Which change block handles each, and what must be reset at the top?
Mini-Challenge — eyes shut 5 min
“Describe the place”
Play your soundscape to a classmate with their eyes closed and ask them to describe where they are. Then fix whatever they got wrong.
It works if:
- Your listener says something like “a market” or “a busy street” without prompting.
- They can name at least two separate things they heard.
- They can say which sounded nearest.
- You change at least one thing based on what they said.
Reveal what usually goes wrong (teacher)
The commonest answer is “I heard some sounds”, which means the layers are all at similar volumes. The fix is almost never a different sound — it is pushing the background down to 30% and the foreground up to 100%.
The second commonest is a listener who cannot tell what is near, which usually means every sprite is the same size as well as the same volume.
Recap 2 min
A soundscape is three layers doing three jobs: a quiet constant background, a rhythm in the middle, and loud one-off events on top. The arrangement matters more than the individual sounds — flatten the volumes and the whole thing collapses. Volume and pitch both stick between runs, so every sprite that changes them resets them at the top. And the honest test is a listener with their eyes shut.
- Layering
- Several sounds at different volumes, creating foreground and background.
- Background layer
- A quiet continuous loop that never draws attention to itself.
- One-off event
- A sound that happens once. Gives a listener something to anchor to.
- Sound state
- Volume and pitch effects. Both survive between runs and both need resetting.
Homework 1 min
The listening test. Play your finished soundscape to two people and compare what they say.
- Play it to somebody with their eyes shut and write down their description word for word.
- Ask which sound was nearest and which was furthest.
- Do the same with a second listener.
- Change one thing based on what they told you, and note what you changed.
when flag clicked
set volume to (30) %
forever
play sound [Chatter v] until done
end
Bring back next class:
- Both descriptions and the change you made.
- Your answer to: “Did both listeners agree about which sound was nearest? If not, what does that tell you about your volumes?”
Heads up for next class: SCR-L01-40 starts the last arc of Level 1. Your projects are about to gain a memory.