For the first sound piece Sonia and myself collaborated on, we ended up using household field recordings to create a live sound performance, with the help of a mixing board and a “Yaz” record on the song “Winter Kills”. Some of the sounds we recorded and used in our piece were water spraying on a pan, the movement of a slinky, a sampled voice, a stationary bike pedal spinning, the washing machine, pins in a cup, a hammer smashing a cup etc. We chose these specific materials because of the distinct and strange noises they made despite their household commonality. In hearing the deliberate layering of these sounds along with panning and volume manipulation, the listener can be taken on a journey as our piece transforms going from harsh to soft sounds.
When there isn’t a solid understanding of what is being heard, it forces the listener to separate an object from the noise it makes, which represents the entity/ being of the object. If anything, hearing the abstract noises of everyday items amplified can expand the listeners mind and help them to recognize how we may neglect to see the beauty in the simplest things, through all the bustle of our busy lives.
The concept for this piece was to have two sounds playing at the same time, sometimes in competition, other times not, with one being substantially louder or quieter than the other at times. The break in the middle where we used a clip from the song “Winter Kills” and warped it, was a way to add a human element into our piece and to also give the entire piece something different right in the centre just to keep the listener engaged and curious as to what will come next.
When there isn’t a solid understanding of what is being heard, it forces the listener to separate an object from the noise it makes, which represents the entity/ being of the object. If anything, hearing the abstract noises of everyday items amplified can expand the listeners mind and help them to recognize how we may neglect to see the beauty in the simplest things, through all the bustle of our busy lives.
The concept for this piece was to have two sounds playing at the same time, sometimes in competition, other times not, with one being substantially louder or quieter than the other at times. The break in the middle where we used a clip from the song “Winter Kills” and warped it, was a way to add a human element into our piece and to also give the entire piece something different right in the centre just to keep the listener engaged and curious as to what will come next.
For my second sound piece I wanted to work with overlapping sounds that either mimicked or complimented each other, but were very different at the same time, in terms of their source. In my final piece I ended up recording various tool noises from around the house, with one recording of my own voice, and used those with sampled sounds of animals and one insect. I used 5 sounds from sampled sources and 5 of my own recorded sounds to make a composition that is 2 minutes and 45 seconds long.
The first clip of my work is the sound of frogs and 2 clay pots rubbing together, overlapped; the second is a woodpecker and a nail gun; the third is cicadas and sandpaper on wood; the fourth, loon calls and my voice, and finally a mouse squeaking accompanied by an empty caulking gun sound. I decided to work with panning as well, so I edited my piece so that the tool sounds come out of one speaker (right) and the animal noises come out of the other speaker (left), separating the two. I did this for a different effect that would unify but also separate the different sounds at the same time.
I chose to work with such different sounds because I think it is quite lovely how both inanimate and living things can sound so alike and/or relate so well to each other. Naturally, these sound clips would not be paired and listened to in unison, so the overall experience of the viewer may be confusion at first, however by the end hopefully they will be able to appreciate how all the elements work together really well.
My composition takes each individual sound and takes it out of its usual context, in which it can be understood naturally, and places them back into a whole different dimension where their physical presence is removed and the sound is just a sound with no physical body. My ideas are presented overtime by the five paired sections of sounds in comparison, joined together to create one cohesive work. In terms of volume I tried to make both sounds playing at the same time of equal volume, so that no one is overpowered by the other.
For a theme, my piece can be related to the idea of man vs. nature, however more importantly it is simply about sound and how different sounds interact with each other to become more similar than they are different.
The first clip of my work is the sound of frogs and 2 clay pots rubbing together, overlapped; the second is a woodpecker and a nail gun; the third is cicadas and sandpaper on wood; the fourth, loon calls and my voice, and finally a mouse squeaking accompanied by an empty caulking gun sound. I decided to work with panning as well, so I edited my piece so that the tool sounds come out of one speaker (right) and the animal noises come out of the other speaker (left), separating the two. I did this for a different effect that would unify but also separate the different sounds at the same time.
I chose to work with such different sounds because I think it is quite lovely how both inanimate and living things can sound so alike and/or relate so well to each other. Naturally, these sound clips would not be paired and listened to in unison, so the overall experience of the viewer may be confusion at first, however by the end hopefully they will be able to appreciate how all the elements work together really well.
My composition takes each individual sound and takes it out of its usual context, in which it can be understood naturally, and places them back into a whole different dimension where their physical presence is removed and the sound is just a sound with no physical body. My ideas are presented overtime by the five paired sections of sounds in comparison, joined together to create one cohesive work. In terms of volume I tried to make both sounds playing at the same time of equal volume, so that no one is overpowered by the other.
For a theme, my piece can be related to the idea of man vs. nature, however more importantly it is simply about sound and how different sounds interact with each other to become more similar than they are different.
For our final assignment Sonia and I chose to collaborate again on a site-specific sound project that will be located on the University of Toronto Mississauga campus, at a site that we chose to record and interpret. We chose to record the sounds of an underground tunnel that connects two of the buildings at UTM. The reason we chose this tunnel/hallway was because of its unique echoes and the different sound possibilities we could get, whether it be someone dragging their feet, high heels clicking, the swish of arms in motion or people mid conversation. Also for the listener it is an interesting space to be in, and possibly uncomfortable for some just because you are enclosed in a smaller space.
To get the full atmosphere of this hallway, we recorded for long periods of time so that later on we could pick out specific sounds that were interesting and isolate them. Listening to our raw recordings, the atmosphere seems to be pretty light hearted with people talking to friends or just walking to class. It was only after we started separating singular aspects of the field recordings that the mood would change, bringing them out of context, where the amplified sound of boots clicking in the hallway getting closer and closer could provoke feelings of anxiety. In addition to the field recordings, we decided to include some clips of ominous music mixed in to evoke a mood even further.
With our finished sound piece we intentionally played off the ideas of anxiety and even fear of either being in the presence of a crowd of people or being completely alone. However, I think that every work of art is open to the interpretation of the listener and I fully encourage that level of engagement in our piece.
To get the full atmosphere of this hallway, we recorded for long periods of time so that later on we could pick out specific sounds that were interesting and isolate them. Listening to our raw recordings, the atmosphere seems to be pretty light hearted with people talking to friends or just walking to class. It was only after we started separating singular aspects of the field recordings that the mood would change, bringing them out of context, where the amplified sound of boots clicking in the hallway getting closer and closer could provoke feelings of anxiety. In addition to the field recordings, we decided to include some clips of ominous music mixed in to evoke a mood even further.
With our finished sound piece we intentionally played off the ideas of anxiety and even fear of either being in the presence of a crowd of people or being completely alone. However, I think that every work of art is open to the interpretation of the listener and I fully encourage that level of engagement in our piece.
