Going of the ideas we had in the lecture we all were given a task to create one part of the piece using synthesisers only. I decided to go for the middle chaotic lighting storm part as i felt i could embrace that part mostly. And it would allow me to be more experimental than the other parts. When creating the piece i was feeling a bit grumpy and stressed out and i think this enhanced the creative process.
When creating the piece i started out with a max for live instruments available on Ableton and i wanted to create a room tone or background drone sounds before creating the others.
I started using the Tree Tone synthesiser and it creates natural drone sounds based off natures architecture of trees. The arms on the trees create different resonance frequencies and on the left you can change certain parameters. I then resampled it onto another audio track as its a generator and does record the output onto its track.
I also used the wavetable synth messed around until i got a sound i felt embraced the chaos. I picked out a waveform and frequency resonance that didn’t clash with the original drone sound set as i wanted to attempt to fill out the complete frequency spectrum of the lightning part.
My effects process was also based of experimentation and trial and error. Using overdrive to dirty up the sounds and delay/ eq to mix it accordingly to my vision. A thing i found interesting was when creating the piece and the synthesisers i initially started playing chords for the piece. Which i felt was strange and not something i wanted to do. I wanted to create noise, a primordial soup sort of soundscape. No order just pure chaos.
The most funnest part was the vector fm, i really went crazy with it and added lots of fx that added towards the chaotic energy. Delays, bit crushing. Echo, redux effect.
i layered up a few vector synths and changed and pitched plus resampled to add octave automation.
this was the outcome which i felt very happy with, i’m not usually to into synthesisers but i think i’ve always used them in a musical sense but for sound design this was so much fun.
In class we discussed the idea of a metaphorical storm and how that would be created. We also spoke about the development and order of a “storm”. The composition and structure of a sound piece.
We spoke about the calm before the storm and how it should start simple, perhaps slow and setting the scene. Then to possibly change its tonality and consonance and develop into the lighting part. The chaos, the thunder the crazy eq going from loud to quiet. Filling out the frequency spectrum once it reaches the peak point and explodes. Then to decrease and reach a state of the same but different towards the ending.
I found this related a lot to my music production ideas of arrangement and structure. But the main difference being its not about music but how sound can take you on a journey and how us as sound artists are capable of creating a structured or perhaps not structured piece that has thought and reasoning behind it.
Another huge element i’m interested is cultural history. More towards all the aspects of my multi cultural ethnicity. I find at times overwhelmed and unknowing of my cultural history. I grew up in Brazil before moving to England at age nine and since moving here i’ve lost a lot of my Brazilian heritage. I love Brazilian music and decided to take out this book to learn about the albums released throughout the rise of Bossa Nova. I did an essay on the history of it last year and more importantly this book shares the covers and back story of all the important albums. It also shares the history of the socio political aspect of Brazil at the time and how it came to rise.
When looking back at last years blog posts i realised that a lot of my reflection was internal and related to mental health issues as well as how i responded to sound as a relieving healing process. I find sound itself to provide me with escapism.
I’ve read a couple paragraphs and find a lot that relates with my thought process. It starts by speaking with escapism as a more geographical thing. Escaping the harshness of the wild we used to live in. Escaping the rain, the cold weather with a warm city home. But it continues to speak about cultures as a escapism perhaps the largest one. I think this will influence my piece towards the end of the assessment hand in. I think sound can transport us and immerse ourselves more than we think. Am i able to use sound to help people with mental health.
What are the most important issues in Sound Art today for you as an artist, and as the consumer?
For myself it would be the accessibility the practice has among its culture.
What are your main influences as a Sound Artist?
For me its escapism within the art form. Music concrète as well, the abstractness towards that art form interests me heavily. I also come from a working class multi cultural background. I want to use sound to share cultures and different ways of life. Moving around a lot as a child allowed me to experience a varied sonic landscape which i want to share with other people.
What are your main influences as a presenter?
Mainly podcasts and youtube video essays. As well as radio shows, the clear talking speech they have when communicating.
What are your main influences as a writer on Sound Art?
I’m unsure at this current moment, i need to do some more reading into my area of choice and passion towards my audio document. As a writer i come from a hip hop / rap background and find vocabulary interesting. as well as sentences that flow together.
I visted an exhibition / screen filming by Onyeka Igwe called A So-Called Archive. Themes of colonialism were heavily present in this, which as a person from Brazilian/Portuguese descent i feel strange with. Seeing as the country i grew up in (Brazil) was colonised by my other half the Portuguese.
The 20 minute screening showed two locations in contrast to each other. Both being colonial archive buildings. One in Lagos, Nigeria, and the other in Bristol, United Kingdom. This contrast was shown throughout the film. Showcasing old archive buildings torn about, destroyed and full cobwebs. Decayed walls and dead animals laid around, with stacks of rusted film boxes holding hundreds of hours of archival information. The Uk has had a huge colonial history, its controlled lots of other countries and I find it interesting to see how they handle the archives of other countries when they were so eager to take over them at first but then when it came to persevering their culture and history they are absent as the buildings shown.
In contrast to things we have learnt throughout the module so far. She has a powerful statement for doing this. She is Nigerian and so has a passion to speak about this colonial past that England has tried to glorify and hide.
My existing practice as it stands currently ranges from song writing and rapping. I enjoy making musical instrumentals and slightly abstract ones as well. Mainly using hardware samplers as well as Ableton. I like to use cassette machines/multi track portastudio. Reel to Reel as well. I enjoy recording field recording for multiple uses. I engage in creating and curating DIY music shows. I release and market my own music releases on streaming and vinyl & cassette. Including artwork creation and execution. Music videos directed edited and shot by myself as well. The idea of sound recycling is something i find interesting, of reusing sounds in different contexts.
I hope to learn more about synthesisers and the parameters effectively. To process field recordings effectively. And to work as a team on a Collaboration through multi media. The last thing is mixing & mastering as this is something i’ve struggled with before.
This will take me into the sound design area of work. More collaboration using my sound art skills. Combine sound with more visual art and visual synthesisers. Potentially combine my sp404sx with a Roland p-10. ( if i can afford it)
The idea of escape cave is based off my 1st year experiences and current work. I’ve found a huge passion is escapism with sound. Recording sounds of nature & outdoor sounds without pollution. Something therapeutic about it that makes me feel at peace. The idea of the Escape Cave goes back to most peoples inner childhood. Duvet/Sofa/Blanket forts. Made us feel safe as children and as if we were in a secret location hidden away from everyone. I’m also heavily into visual arts as a collaborative aspect to go with sound. The idea i had was to shoot a short film based on landscapes around Scotland land with 16mm or super 8 film camera.
Then to add my own field recordings and audio to create a 10 minute soundscape/landscape visual/audio experience. The audio experience would be quadraphonic to create bigger immersion. I would then play the film through a projector inside the fort that would be created at the venue.
The participant would have to go inside and sit and watch the immersive experience in a safe environment away from the world for a 10 minutes.
An idea i had for a potential installation was to create a machine that gets triggered by sound volume. I’ve always been fascinated about sound pollution and how it affects us. Mentally and physically. The idea i had was to play ambient soundscapes off locations recorded and to have a sensor constantly monitoring the db/volume of the room. Once it goes past the point selected the volume would adjust to be louder than the volume in the room. I’d like to also have it adjust with the volume not just one set amount. As people come in and speak louder the sensor will increase. I had thoughts of recording nature sounds based of my experience with Sound Envelope, of woodlands. Birds and isolated soundscapes.
I decided to watch with audio first and without second.
With audio: At the beginning the ambient sound makes you feel immersed. Creating thoughts of environments that i can imagine of nature in my head. Despite the footage not always matching. The close up recording of the vocals makes it feel more emotional and attaches themes of sadness. You can hear the subtle noises of the lips moving and contact within the mouth using a close mic technique which makes it feel more personal as if someone is speaking close to you, it makes me feel a connection. As if an old friend is telling me how they are feeling. The silence makes me feel uncomfortable. Even though its not pure silence it’s a very quiet ambient noises. It allows me to concentrate on the speech which also emphasises about the loneliness aspect of the pandemic. The ambience also made the images feel real and relate to the natural ambient sounds. When speaking about people wanting to escape, and hearing nature sounds with photos that don’t match was an interesting contrast. The sounds of the ocean towards the end made me feel relaxed.
Without audio: It seems like a diary. Less effective. I focused more and felt encapsulated by the glitchy part and focused more on the videos/photos. Photos of tiredness no longer felt related to escapism but It makes me think about how hard we work. It added an element of humour with the sleeping humans and dog. Some of the scenes felt a bit cheap and random. I felt confused and trying hard to understand it and sometimes i felt nothing. Although the last shot of the plane made me feel adventurous.
Contrast: I think in this first clip the sound added much more than i thought initially. When i watched it the second time without audio i was surprised by how much the sound at least for me carried this clip. With audio the clip seemed more personal and emotional. It added depth to the photos and clips shown. It got me more immersed in specific parts that didn’t have a lot going on visually. But also when the audio played the more interesting parts that captured me visually didn’t strike me when audio was being played.
Second clip Mr Foley dir. D.A.D.D.Y 2014
I decided to watch first without audio and with after. To create a variable in the exercise.
Without: At the start I found it funny, casts on his ears seemed stupid and like it was a comedy. I was confused as what’s going on. I feel like the patient is me or from my perspective. He’s deaf. Theres bass being played? Why is the jelly moving? It started making me frustrated and that I wanted to hear what was going on. Slight anxiety and claustrophobia. Again more confusion the nurses facial expressions creep me out. I related with why he wanted to run. The Cgi effects of the sky was cheap. And the bird as well. Felt like he could hear the bird. Realised he was deaf. But it’s actually someone playing a bird noise. So he is deaf? I get it its foley art. The title makes sense. So they’re doing all the sound effects.
With: The casts are creating the sound effects of tape and once removed didnt clear up. It’s funny and aesthetically interesting. Mabye it’s all in his head what’s happening. Is he in a psych ward. Why are they copying his every action. Cool concept. surrealism. Performance felt forced and weird from. Slightly more psychotic as it goes on. The silence made me concentrate more on the sound effects. And what the band are lacking such as footsteps and what he’s doing. The sound was his ears the vinyl crackle. Lack of ambience makes you think about the sound effects more.
Contrast: I’m unsure if me listening without audio first influenced my decision but i feel like i preferred it without as only at the end i realised it was foley sounds being played. The cliff hanger took me a while to get which i think was more effective. Without sound it seemed more surreal and had elements of a thriller or horror movie. It made me feel more uncomfortable than with audio, although with audio it was more humorous. I concentrated more on the footage again without any sound effects. With sound the nurse in particular stood out as more crazy with the audio which without i didn’t really pick that up.
