Semester Two, Project One
'Aural Terrains'
Unlike any of our previous projects, this particular one was not done in a single large assignment, but rather in a series of four smaller projects of about a week each. This presented a unique set of challenges centered around innovation, working under pressure and time management.
The first assignment was, admittedly, the most fun and interesting to me (as well as having the best result). It involved taking various and often mundane sounds from our environment and arranging them into a new aural experience. Our goal was to create a calm, subtle recording with an underlying sense of tension and unease. We have named this monstrosity "Song for Steve".
For the basic material we ended up using a variety of noises from around the city, often subtle ones that would be missed in the day to day rush. However, we recorded them with a twist (somewhat literally) - for each sound sample, we rotated our recording device in order to fade the sound between both speakers. This created a profound sense of motion and, when coupled with other samples moving at different rates, became very disorienting. Additionally, we furthered the sense of tension and unease by using the sound of a squeaking rope as well as a very low frequency hum from an air conditioning unit. The end result was a calm, flowing piece that made people just a little uncomfortable, without the sensation being overpowering.
The second part of the project involved a practice known as "circuit bending".
Though the final result was something was quite happy with, the method by which I came to it was a little rocky. Seeing as the idea of the project was to 'circuit bend' i.e. use simple electronic circuits such as those from a toy, and modify them to create different noises - my end result was somewhat less technological. Due to problems I had with the toy I used as a basis for my instrument, I improvised over the last day or so of the project. The result was a piezo microphone attached to the neck of a bottle, capturing the percussive nature of something that is generally seen as gentle and flowing as it is forced into a bottleneck. With my partner TJ's instrument finished, our performance ended up being somewhat of a 'call and answer' piece, much like sections of classical music. As one audience member pointed out, it was much like a battle; my instrument making these percussive 'strikes', and TJ's screaming out in pain (or possibly anger) after each offense. This end result was somewhat unexpected but I was very happy with how it turned out.
Our Performance
Unfortunately, I fell ill during the course of our third assignment and was out for too many consecutive days to produce a presentable result. However, I did come up with a few designs which I tested whilst at home. One of my favourites involved a membrane at the end of a long tube, with water inside. It created a very interesting sound but I was unable to finish it completely before the due date. Still, it was fun to experiment with some of the materials I had at home and I'd like to give it another try at some point in the future.
The final project, I must say was somewhat of a nightmare. I stand by our final design, however its execution was wrought with problems from inception to final demonstration.
After having split up from our original group of four, my partner Shams and I went to work on an extension of what we had been doing with the original idea of people's movements, and how unaware they were of the sound they were making. What we came up with was a network of piezoelectric microphones attached to the surprisingly reverberant railing on the stairs at the Audio Foundation. The microphones picked up subtle percussive movements from people walking around on the stairs and even talking (provided it was loud enough), and the signal from them was then routed to a set of speakers in a separate room. This completely removes the person from the sound they are making, and allows others to experience the pure creativity coming from someone completely unaware of what they are doing.
Unfortunately, after already having been too sick to work on a previous project, I was again unable to help present the work Shams and I had done. On the morning we were to present the piece, I came down with a migraine (the first I've ever had, and yet I've experienced around three since then) too intense to allow me to present. It would have been fine, though, had I been responsible when working in a team. I had carried much of the conceptual work on my own back up until that point (to no fault of my partner, I was simply being - for lack of a better word - a control freak), leaving Shams a little bewildered as to how she was meant to present our work. Still, I'm told that the presentation went okay despite some issues with the installation not quite working as expected.
Interestingly, I was told time and time again (especially in this final project) that the concepts we were dealing with in this project were foreign to musicians like myself and that we would not understand them as well as the others. This statement wasn't a particularly big deal, but I was very surprised to hear someone who preaches experimentation and open-mindedness to claim that an entire group of people is unable to understand something that completely encompasses what their art form is about. In this regard, it was rather satisfying to come up with a result that meets the criteria and is personally fulfilling as well.
I wouldn't say this project was, by any definition, my cup of tea. However, it did present unique challenges that helped to better my own work beyond its scope.
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