Final resposes

A couple piece's that stood out to me were Duke's "Angel and Devil" piece and Dermit's "Skateboard Music." I thought Skateboard music was interesting because it was something I had tried to do earlier in the quarter with our recording projects. I found it to be very difficult to record the sounds of my skateboard without picking up tons of wind noises that dilluted the sound. Derm was succesful because he used a contact mic on the bottom of his board to eliminate the wind sounds. What was left was the sounds made by the rims spinning over a multitute of surfaces. I think it was very cool to hear what the microphone was able to pick up with his contact method.
Duke's piece stood out to be because I did not like it very much. His piece used panning to switch between two voices telling him to do "good" or "bad" things. I think from a technical standpoint, the idea was a little oversimple. When I listened to it I couldnt really think of anything that might have presented a difficulty to him to do. But the content of this piece was also a little iffy to me. I thought the parts about "the hot girl in TCS class" and referencing times he did drugs was akward to listen to. I think I wasn't alone in feeling like those parts of the dialogue were uncomfortable to listen to. I actually thought the idea behind the piece was solid but I just felt it could have been executed in a better way. Finally, I want to say I had a great time making my final project. It was very cool to listen through all of the interviews and collect the most relevant and useful soundbites. I've never done something like that before and I thought it was very pleasant. My biggest challenge was from a technical standpoint. I wanted to mix up songs and try to edit the music anywhere I could without distorting it too much. I had to watch a few tutorials and figure out the best ways to do this that wouldn't be overly complicated for me. Midway through my work I developed a theme I wanted to stick to. Once I felt I had a theme the work became easier because I knew exactly what I was trying to do with each segment. Overall I think it could have come out better than it did but I was still pretty happy with the outcome.

Revised proposal

As I’ve collected materials for my final project I’m considering that the focus of my piece will be the combination of interviews and music. I still want to keep my originally proposed structure of chronology but I don’t plan to break up my final piece into four segments for each band member. This piece is relatable to my previous projects in that the greatest difficulty has been the collection of materials to use. I think the key to success with this project is to use the right sounds so I want to be sure I collect a substantial amount of usable elements. In comparing my work to to other works we’ve experienced in class, I think the Jay-Z “Grey Album” we debated has the most relevance. I say this because most of the sounds I’m using in my project aren’t licensed to me. If I were to create something out of the Beatles music that became widely popular it would raise questions of intellectual property. 

Journal 8: Proposal

For my final project I'd like to create a musical piece that compounds several songs and interviews by The Beatles. I will edit the songs with a variety of effects and cuts to make a unique track out of Beatles elements. Ideally I'd like to organize the work in an interesting way. For example I may have a four part sequence with each part emphasizing the best work of each Beatle. I could also try to create a kind of historical narrative, starting with sounds from 1960 and ending with sounds from 1970. My biggest challenge will definitely be on the technical side. My goal is to have cuts and transitions that sound seamless to the ear and are smooth to listen to. I know for sure that I will use a lot of repetition in my piece. I think it will be interesting to try to formulate a kind of pattern or beat by repeating and looping words and sounds. My piece will also be illustrative of my subjective experience of listening to the Beatles. I will feature the songs that I like the most and not necessarily include the consensus hits.

Ryoji Ikeda

The first of Ryoji Ikeda's Test Pattern versions I watched was the installment at Ruhrtriennale. The first thing I noticed was that it was a spectacular consonance of visual and audio elements. The floor display was not only a visual spectacle for the audience but it also invited participation. It was very interesting watching how different people responded to the floor animation. The sound seemed to be very important to the vibe of the entire experience. The chaotic noises resemblant of rapid fire weapons or loud machinery fit perfectly to the seizure inducing flashing animations. The floor setting seemed like a place where people could participate and really let go. 
       The time square version was obviously different in that it was less participative, but I thought it was even more interesting. The glitchy-animated screens taking over several giant Times Square displays inspired ideas of a science fiction crisis. Being the icon that NYC is, the feeling of it being taken over by this display made me feel like the vibe was very chaotic. Chaos is the string that holds both installations together in my opinion because that vibe was consistent for me for both videos. 
       As a sound art piece these impressed with very complex noises that shifted and were rarely predictable. I loved that the noises were coupled with visual representation, I think that gave the sound a stronger presence and accentuated its vibe.

Recording session

Yesterday I recorded extra content for my first sound project. I'm trying to create a project that makes use of stereo audio and alternating sound between left and right ear. I wanted to incorporate the sounds of a bus stop into my project so I recorded sound by the school's MU. From the beeps to the loud engine noises, the recording was very solid. I also taped the recorder to the bottom of my skateboard and recorded the sounds of the wheels rotating as I coasted down a hill. I am focusing my recordings to the sounds of motion, and these two sounds turned out to sound very good when I reviewed them in audacity.

Group Recording Walk

Today we learned about lossless/lossy audio recording techniques. I was unaware that the most common sound file used for music (mp3) is actually one of the worst file formats in terms of sound quality. We use mp3's because they are compressed files, meaning these files are made to take up less space at the expense of lost data (or sound quality.) As a demonstrative exercise we compared three methods of recording sound from a group sound walk. In groups of three, each member was designated a recording method. The first was with a stereo audio recorder that captured lossless (.wav) audio. The second was a compressed method (iPhone recording) and the third was simple human memory. For the recording process, we walked as a class through the schools arboretum. The arboretum is home to many pleasant nature sounds and less human noise pollution than the rest of campus. The only real noise distraction was the sound of 20+ footsteps walking in close proximity.

When we finished our walk we uploaded our two recordings into audacity and got to listen closely to the differences in the recording. When listening to the lossless recording I could pick up so many more details than I could from the iPhone. I could actually hear certain things in the recording and recognize them as sounds I remembered from the walk. The lossy file seemed to pick up only the loudest sounds such as footsteps and vehicles.

Sound Walk Exercise

Today's sound walk exercise was something I've never done before. A sound walk is  an activity that devotes a certain amount of time to appreciating the sounds of the outdoors. For our walk, we broke up into pairs and silently shared in the experience. What was cool about this exercise is that each pair was given a unique set of directions for approaching sound. Our set of directions was to intently listen to the sounds on campus, and to follow the ones that were most alluring. This was particularly hard to do in tandem fashion because some sounds beckoned my partner Sam that did not beckon me. Without verbal communication we had to make slight gestures in order to stay together and we eventually alternated leadership. This activity was interesting because on a busy college campus sounds are constantly in motion. For example the 'wizzing' of bike tires would beckon us in a certain direction but would quickly disapear as other sounds (and other bikes) would come to the forefront of my ears. I couldn't help but be conscious of how strange I must have looked with my constant direction changes, but I thought it was funny.

What I took from the exercise was the awareness that I rarely isolate sounds when I walk on campus. Usually the wealth of sounds just gets mixed together and turned into noise in my head. With this activity I focused on individual noises and their source. I listened to my surroundings in a way I have seldom done before so I thought it was very worth while.