Recording the wind or the sounds of a brutal murder are typical assignments in Melissa Marquis' sound design class.
Marquis, who has been teaching introductory and advanced classes in sound design for four years, also designs the sound effects for productions in Marroney Theatre, and she often gets her students to help her.
Last semester, Marquis borrowed ideas from her students to create the sounds emitted by the ghosts during the UA's production of Hamlet.
To create the wind, students had to start thinking about the quality of breathing, she said.
After breathing into bottles and exploring different types of breathing, Marquis designed a 20- to 30-minute sequence of wind to accompany the ghosts in the production.
Marquis said the sequence was designed so people would hear wind, but their subconscious would pick up something more subtle - the tortured breathing of the ghost.
Because Marquis teaches her students about the effects sounds can have on people, she is also responsible for teaching them the cardinal rules of what sounds to avoid.
Marquis remembers how in one production, sound designers used running water, which she calls a dangerous move because of the biological sensations it stimulates.
"Thirty-five to 70 (people in the audience) went to the bathroom in the middle of the first act," she said.
Beyond simply educating students about sounds and aesthetics, Marquis also acts as a mentor, preferring to spend her time one-on-one with students.
For Matt Gibney, a theatre production senior, Marquis' mentoring is invaluable.
As the only sound design major in the theatre arts department, he and Marquis are trying to build a major for other students.
Gibney said what makes Marquis unique is her support for her students.
"She's always here," he said. "If you didn't know she was working, you'd think she was squatting."
Gibney said he has also spent a significant amount of time working on sound design with Marquis. Once he spent hours trying to create the sound effects of bones breaking and belts flogging for a Cider House Rules, Part 2 fight scene.
Rather than tell him what to do, Gibney recalls how Marquis gave him the freedom to experiment.
"She let me throw out a tarp and chop up heads of lettuce," Gibney said.
With Marquis' guidance, Gibney spent his time testing out different sounds. He chopped heads of lettuce and carrot sticks in stacks, in groups and in pairs.
"She was all for experimentation," he said.
Marquis, who encourages experimentation by answering questions with questions, learned the importance of discovery when she studied sound design in college.
Also charged with the task of recreating a murder scene, Marquis spent the night in a classroom chopping up chicken parts with a meat cleaver and recording the sounds it produced.
"A custodian came to pick up the trash, and he didn't even flinch," she said.
Michelle Wagner, a theatre production senior, continues to work on sound designs with Gibney and Marquis not just because she's interested in sound design, but also because she enjoys working with Marquis.
"She has a good knack of being a friend without losing the fact that she's a professor," she said.