Acoustic ecology. When thinking about my other audio document ideas I wasn’t too happy. It’s not that I think they’re bad as I might still go with it. I just always feel like pushing myself into learning or writing about something I’m interested in but not know a lot about. When it comes to both those subjects being Bossa Nova or Hip Hop. I have extensive knowledge about it that I don’t feel I’d be adding any substantial amount by doing research. Of course, there is always more to learn and contextualise but this particular idea I’m more interested in.
Going back to most of the blog posts from the first year and more recently in general. The idea of escapism is a huge thing. I’m interested in how sound and more importantly sound scapes affect us internally and psychologically. I’ve always wondered about the effects of noise pollution on human beings and how it affects our mental health. Huge cities like London with all our technology and industrial advances have made noise pollution at an all-time high. The true effects of noise pollution are yet to be fully understood. I also wanted to relate it to sound arts and the cannon towards what a sound artist is. I had an idea on perhaps sound designing cities the same way we would room for a studio or a film. I thought about a future career in sound arts for helping design cities so they are no longer noisy areas. This also has social issues, typically council housing is on cheap plots of land next to loud main roads. Where the more privileged people have lovely homes away from loud noise filled cities. The idea of suburban living away from the hustle and bustle.
The idea of the audio document will be about our relationship to sound and noise pollution in cities and how it affects us. Then what the role of a sound designer/artist can be to make our cities more enjoyable to live in. Perhaps permanent installations?
I finally watched We Need To Talk About Kevin after recording the ambience for the foley experiment I wanted more context towards the piece. The sound in this movie is really well done. I read the small blog post on a feminist approach to this movie and after watching it I can really tell what she meant. The dialogue is minimal, the way it carries the story is through image and sound. Not directly telling you what’s happening. The beginning has the curtains flying with a sound of a sprinkler which until the ending you would never know why it’s happening. Throughout the movie, you can hear the subtle sound of the sprinkler coming on and off. Foreshadowing the ending, the sound is playing even though the sprinkler isn’t on screen.
One of the strongest elements I felt the sound design helped was to convey the film from her point of view. In the intro scene where she is in a tomato festival and she lies down and is carried in the air, you can see she’s in a dreamlike state. The audio in the clip conveys a similar message. Throughout the movie, there are constant flashbacks between her post-life after the murdering by her son Kevin to flashbacks before. The sound design never makes you feel like your comfortable and always unsure of where you are in the story.
In some scenes, the sound design is very minimalistic. Whenever there is a dialogue that is very little the sound effects cut out. All you hear is the room abience and very close mic technique recordings to get all the subtle mouth movements. I feel this creates concentration and suspense within the viewer. As most of the movie has synths and drones to make you uneasy that as soon as there is silence you know something bad is about to happen.
I’m going to carry on the exercise and do a bit more foley on the scene from class before working on my own clip. I think the practice is going to help a lot.
My second idea was inspired by last years essay I did on the history of Bossa Nova music in Brazil. I touched more on the progress of the music genre and its influences and social-political stance. Perhaps now I can take it further into current times. I took a book out from the library that discusses more in-depth aspects of the build-up of Bossa Nova which has added more information than I previously wrote.
I’m unsure if I will be able to add anything more than I spoke last year or just be rehashing. I was thinking as well to perhaps speak on the colonialism aspect of Portugal over Brazil and the connection between Africans and their impact & integration into Brazilian culture.
Hip Hop & Escapism, How freestyling and writing lyrics can free the mind in the concrete jungle.
My first idea of the audio document was based on my personal experience with rap music. It’s also something I’m passionate about and interested in sharing. Improvisation in general is an intriguing concept. I want to find out a bit more about freestyling and the way the brain works. The idea of the audio document is to start with a short background on hip hop. Where it originated from and the main people that engage with the culture and their living conditions. Speaking socially and politically. Then to move on to the idea of escapism within using music and rapping more specifically. I have mentors that are talented freestyles that have done lectures on this subject before and I can possibly get an interview and quote them. It’s also a scene I’m part of and feel I can give it justice and have the right reasons to discuss it.
From an early age, dereck was interested in music and found istening had been at the forefront of his life. Accessibility to technology was limited. He would listen to the radio and be outside playing. His childhood was split up between three countries, Brazil Barcelona and Brighton. His upbringing has given his ears a wide range of influences and experiences in a culture that has enabled him to be more aware culturally socially and politically of his surroundings.
His work ranges from music, rapping and sound pieces. Video editing and photography. dereck believes sound and image have a powerful medium to share messages without directly explaining the meaning. From age 17 he attended a youth centre which through a youth charity called Audio Active allowed him to flourish creatively amongst mentors that encouraged safe friendly growth and experimentation. he went on to organise DIY events throughout Brighton and became at the forefront of the scene. his early work started from an underground rap project titled Umm… Random shit with producer KIANVSLIFE. The project was an accumulation of sounds recorded in a short period of time from vinyl and movies to set the soundscape of his life at the time. Then it was followed up by blue. an EP worked with Jules Chateauneuf to showcase a more easy listening experience. With soul and jazz becoming more of a forefront in this project. This was sold on cassette tape and quickly sold out to become a must needed underground tape. The most recent release is Who Sold My Soul? the second collaboration between dereck d.a.c. and KIANVSLIFE. They took a short ten-day trip to Lisbon in an Airbnb to create this music project. With samples from classic soul songs and jigsaw abstract production to deliver a deep underlying message in the current state of the music industry. Where did we lose our souls? How did forget why we started following our passions? Following the release, it received critical acclaim and had a vinyl release with artwork made by dereck d.a.c
dereck finds a deep passion for artistry and creative expression in his chosen artforms. He believes there is an unexplained spiritual connection between music sounds and culture that can give us a pure escapism experience that human beings need in our current societal structure.
An Oram Award-winning and history making storyteller in her own right, Nicole Raymond (NikNak) is devoted to developing her unique practice as a DJ & Turntablist, sound artist/composer, producer, tutor, sound engineer and radio presenter.
She is also a strong advocate for diverse representation in the music industry, especially within DJ/Turntablism culture and music production realms, and for musician wellbeing/mental health.
Based in the UK, you’ll find Nicole digging for vinyl or comic books, gigging, experimenting and sharing her music tastes to diverse audiences, delivering engaging sessions with students to develop their DJ skills, and running/curating events such as “Dub Sirens” and “Melanin”.
Nicole has also performed at festivals such as Wilderness Festival with Live Art Bistro, Handmade Festival, Chin Up Festival, We Out Here Festival, Leeds International Festival, World Island Festival, Algorave Festival, Brighton Fringe Festival with House of Verse, Leeds Digital Festival, Bradford Literature Festival, Marsden Jazz Festival and Tor Fest.
To date, she has supported DJ Format, Jon 1st, Akala, Chynna, MJ Cole, Dan Kye, Bradley Zero, Cakes Da Killa, Jungle Brown, J-Live, Grandmaster Flash (twice), SEED Ensemble, Abstract Orchestra, Madlib, Lady Leshurr, Saul Williams, King Midas Sound, LayFullStop, Children of Zeus, Awate, TY, Project Hilts, Lowkey, Moses Boyd, Necktr, Commodo, Object Blue, Bambooman, Boe&LX, Pye Corner Audio, Tommy Cash, Yves Tumor, Karnage Kills, Harleighblu, Agama and Princess Nokia.
NikNak is also a member of The Belgrave House Band and TC and the Groove Family. She has also presented on radio stations such as Demon FM, Sable Radio, Worldwide FM, Balamii Radio, BBC Radio Leeds and KMAH Radio.
Bashi
Bashi album cover
The first project I looked into was called Bashi. Bashi meaning peace in Turkish is a collection of sounds she recorded in turkey. She then went on to manipulate the project with her turntablism techniques and effects, such as echo dub and the original soundscape material. She wanted to retell her experience in Turkey through this album of ten tracks.
I listened to a few songs of the album and found the turntablism element captivating. In the song Compass, she uses scratching to introduce and cut out elements of the soundscape. The rain is falling and the scratching is almost emulating lightning. She cuts out parts of the soundscapes and reintroduces them with the scratching. I wonder how she recorded the sounds or what the process was, this will be one of the questions I’ll ask her during the lecture. Also, I wonder what program she used to edit the sounds and what the process was of creating them. How did she decide on the composition and what the meanings behind each song or piece were? Whether it was something predetermined or actualised in the process.
NikNak Live @ Crossed Wires 21 May 2021
NikNak Peforming Bashi
I watched her perform Bashi live and found the set design and performance intuitive. I thought she was going to DJ the already recorded album and just fade and balance the songs into each other. She does all the turntablism live and super accurately and really captivates you into the performance. The projections behind her as well help to grab you into the sound and immerse the listener into the world she’s created with the soundscapes. I’ve always thought of creating and using projections for performance and this has inspired me to follow up on that idea. I want to ask her about the set design and if she was involved in that and if so what the equipment was and how it’s being controlled/ran with.
NikNak | We Out Here: Online & On Air | July
NikNak We Out Here DJ set.
I listened to her DJ set on We Out Here and her song selection is incredible. She says in her bio about crate-digging a lot which is something I take part in. Her song selections ranged from soul to jazz & hip hop even some world music in there. I want to know her process of digging and finding these gems and how to curate them with the right approach. I’ve only ever DJ for one radio show my friend invited me for but it’s been an idea for a while as I crate dig a lot. I want to ask her opinion on online crate digging and how it changes and differentiates the song selection process and her thoughts on this.
Post Lecture Reflection
I found NikNak to be very much relatable. The way she spoke and presented herself made me feel comfortable and attentive to what she was saying. She began speaking about her background, from studying at leeds for undergraduate to speaking about Bashi.
She said she felt foggy just before she recorded Bashi in Turkey and was at the time facing horrible anxiety and depression and felt she needed to leave the UK. she took a short trip to Turkey and something told her to take her microphone. She recorded lots of field recordings but had no intentions of actually using them. It was more of a practice. Then returning home she decided to do a show and improvise over the recordings she’d made. Using turntablism and scratching to use her techniques over the recordings. A very much bottom up approach that even Darsha Hewitt spoke about in another lecture from last year.
She also touched on her thoughts about spaces. She spoke that at one point she was figuring out how to use spacial/surround sound systems after locating a venue that would allow her to do this. She said she’d rather use a venue that people normally go to for music or other events. As she felt a university or art gallery would bring in a specific crowd that it caters to. She wanted to use another space that was more inclusive for people.
She also spoke on some of her processes including for a piece she worked on called Voices of Black Britain. She said she didn’t have a lot of control on this piece but felt she didn’t want to go and destroy the recordings she’d been allowed to use. More that she felt she was being taught/learning from the recordings and wanted more to enhance them than take away. It resonated with her personally and beautiful she spoke.
Someone also asked the same question I was going to ask as I stated earlier on my research stage about how she choose the songs in her set. I found her set in We Out Here to be super varied and thought she did an excellent job at showcasing a very broud range of songs and genres without it sounding out of touch. She also spoke on improvisation and how she really doesn’t think or choose her songs before the sets. Unless it’s a radio or a pre recorded thing she always feels the vibe. She’ll get to the venue and see what the people want or who shes supporting on the show. And think how can I elevate or add to this specific situation and then caters through her song selection. But she says it’s never a consous decision or perhaps its more of an unconsous decision.
I found this to be really good insight into her ritual of performing. Improvisation can really have benefits in certain situations. I think her not picking all her setlist and seeing and reading the room when choosing songs can allow her to manipulate or more so adjust her song selection to the room on the fly. Sometimes when we pre decide the setlist and the outcome before we’ve even had a chance to realise what were working with can not allow us to be maluiable. Which for someone like her as she says works really well.
I also asked her my question which was about wether she thinks online crate digging or physical crate digging is better or her thoughts on it. She actually gave me a really deep insight that I never would of thought of. She started by speaking about the lockdown and how it separated us from the physical world for a while. And that shes sure online crate digging went up, with such platforms as Bandcamp pushing an artist first mentalitlty taking no fees on the first friday of every month. But she also elaberated on the fact that its also more accessible. Some people might have anxiety or don’t have a decent shop near them to go buy records and listen to new music and she thinks it really doesn’t matter.
Today in our studio praxis lecture, we got instruments and connected the cables up the mixing desk and then through into Ableton.
On the right-hand side of the performance, see foley and students brought in instruments.
Cai brought a no-input mixer and the sounds were immense for sound design. I want to try by myself no-input mixing as it seems fascinating. I didn’t bring an instrument although I should have brought my sp404sx. I was hesitant to bring it as it’s not an instrument. I do use it as an instrument but it requires sounds to work. So I was unsure of using it, but now it could have been a cool effects unit to go through in between the mixer and the interface.
We started with a jam in general and like how Dean said the instruments seemed to have taken dominance over the over things, and how they lead the improvisation. Once they started creating a rhythm or the drums came involved the other things would follow.
On the left-hand side of the performance, see foley and students brought in instruments.
Then we did a second take and this time gave every group a time to solo and then go through the others and then combine.
We discussed at the end our ideas and thoughts.
I had thoughts about improvisation in general and how it was interesting that we had set mind states about how we wanted to work, as soon as we look at these instruments or foley sounds. Our brain wants to create patterns, find a meaning or a possible thing to catch onto, perhaps a state of safety. I also felt that people’s personalities came across or at least how they were feeling when performing, as it was an abstract performance without a definitive structure we were free to do as we wished. Some people were more boisterous than others, I felt this can reflect how we are feeling that day or about performing in front of others.
I also thought back to the storm exercise, and how when creating my part of the piece. I had already started playing chords with the synthesizers I was designing. Almost as if my ritual was in place. I believe it can hold someone back from exploring new avenues when doing this. I felt similar today about the use of instruments. Indeed beautiful and fascinating how the players combined the harmonies and keys & tones. It felt again like they had predetermined ideas of how they wanted/were going to use their instruments. Joshua came out with a good point about how limiting his instrument the guitar felt once he tried taking it out of context. I felt he was correct. It is interesting how we need perspective on things and sometimes it takes us doing the unknown to acquire these.
In context to my assignment. I think this has made me want to collaborate or at least get some artists to play improvised work towards a visual piece of my choice. I want to experiment with this.
After recording our sounds we then uploaded all our recordings into our shared folder onto the google drive. We discussed how we would approach the collaboration. I decided to contrast the recordings after listening to their field recordings. We discussed how even though there was a lot of difference there was more similarities within the recordings. I found that if i blended these and created a narrative it would create a diverse soundscape.
Here is the outcome.
Same But Different
Dereck De Abreu Coelho Same But Different,
When thinking about the idea for my Sound envelope idea I looked back to our sessions discussing what the common themes were between the field recordings. For me what stood out was the similarities between both places, being Hong Kong & London. When listening back to the participants recordings I felt at times that the recordings contrasted well when combined. I decided to use different recordings from specific areas together to create a narrative. Guiding you through parks, busy streets & markets. Finishing with river and ocean recordings.
Before setting out to my field recording session i decided to write down several locations before hand to think about what i was going to record and more importantly what my sonic landscape was. I also felt like i should share specific sonic soundscapes that are different to Hong Kong. Literally a gift, like a tourist adventure in sound to share with them.
When recording after initially beginning with the locations i planned, i found myself cycling with the recorder and letting my ears lead me to the sounds i found attractive. Or had some sort of quality that made it i wanted to capture it. These were some of the outcomes.
Soho band resturant + chatter
Tube Covid Announcements
Thames boat creaking
Trafalgar square fountain
Peckham Common parakeets
Southbank river thames
East Street market walk
Piano playing by canal open window
I felt really happy with the outcome. I think the varied recordings and not all of them could fit into this blog post has built an immersive soundscape of my soundscapes.
I signed up for a collaborative project with students from hong kong called sound envelope. In our first session to discuss the idea of what sound envelope is, lead by Ryo Ikeshiro (SoundLab, School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong).
The idea of sound envelope was inspired by chinese culture. When it’s someones birthday or they’ve achieved something you offer them an envelope. Which usually has money inside. Ryo wanted to continue this gift sharing idea but for soundscapes and field recordings. London and Hong Hong which are two cities that have had a lot of history together culturally.
Our task was to record field recordings around our city of things we found were our sonic landscapes. and then create a piece to reflect/contrast the Hong Kong recordings to our own or perhaps not.
