For a course I recently took, Film 116: Experimentation with media, I was provided with an Olympus digital camera with which to gather footage from my adventures in the urban unknown. I really disliked this camera. I had to plan the times at which the lighting would be just perfect for the camera to function and produce a clear image. The camera did create interesting effects when I moved with it, which was the strategy I choose to capture imagery with before starting my walks. In an ideal world, I would definitely have been provided with the highest quality digital video recorder. The camera also had no sound recording function, which surprised me, but worked well with the nature of the class in that we used our own self-constructed microphones.
The software I chose to use was Final Cut Pro, arguably one of the best digital video editing programs on the market today. I taught myself final cut pro three years ago, back in junior year of high-school while filming a zombie thriller with my friends, and haven't looked back since. It's very easy software to pick up, and if effects are your thing, there are massive bins full of funky things you can do that are user-friendly. I will use Final Cut as long as it is around, as long as I stay digital. The only thing I find detrimental about the software is the vast difficulty it provides when the user is seeking a certain specific effect or process to do. Finding small things amidst the massive amount of functions that final cut can enact always proves a challenge.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Reading Response 2
I recently read an article by Aaron Ximm called "Sound, Art, Music". Ximm discusses his inability to define himself as a typified media practitioner, embracing the broad notion of "Sound-artist". I really enjoyed his dilemma, attempting to define oneself is a difficult thing to do.
Ximm discusses three of his works, Guantanamo Express, Kagbeni Variations, and Flotsam Resonance #1. Each one he uses to exemplify a different aspect of his craft. In his discussion of Guantanamo Express, he illustrates he way in which he, as a sound artist, captures music. I particularily like his final example of this. Ximm writes "...there are aspexts of arbitrary sounds and soundscapes-sound that until recently was dismissed as "noise" in the derogatory sense-that work on us at something very like the visceral level that traditional musical materials do". He then uses a second work to present the idea of sound-art, citing the example of repetition, which gives an arbitrary sound new meaning, such as that of a common melody. He presents here as well the idea of the extra-musical, and discusses the roles that sounds play in the art. Finally he uses Flotsam Resonance #1 as a base to discuss the art itself, and argues here that the art is the point at which the synthesis of music and sound-art occurs, the sounds and their context. I also enjoyed his writing at this point, explaining the creation of location, "The piece is about an object and a place but an additional artistry occurs in the moment that those things are perverted by their context".
One day I hope to understand the metaphysics behind this situation of sound-art and ambience, especially with relation to Ximm's discussion of aesthetics (the final point made above in paragraph two.)
Ximm discusses three of his works, Guantanamo Express, Kagbeni Variations, and Flotsam Resonance #1. Each one he uses to exemplify a different aspect of his craft. In his discussion of Guantanamo Express, he illustrates he way in which he, as a sound artist, captures music. I particularily like his final example of this. Ximm writes "...there are aspexts of arbitrary sounds and soundscapes-sound that until recently was dismissed as "noise" in the derogatory sense-that work on us at something very like the visceral level that traditional musical materials do". He then uses a second work to present the idea of sound-art, citing the example of repetition, which gives an arbitrary sound new meaning, such as that of a common melody. He presents here as well the idea of the extra-musical, and discusses the roles that sounds play in the art. Finally he uses Flotsam Resonance #1 as a base to discuss the art itself, and argues here that the art is the point at which the synthesis of music and sound-art occurs, the sounds and their context. I also enjoyed his writing at this point, explaining the creation of location, "The piece is about an object and a place but an additional artistry occurs in the moment that those things are perverted by their context".
One day I hope to understand the metaphysics behind this situation of sound-art and ambience, especially with relation to Ximm's discussion of aesthetics (the final point made above in paragraph two.)
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Response to wares (hard and soft)
For film 116 our lab group constructed our own microphones. The process itself wasn't all that difficult, but new things always bring with them interpretive and structural challenges, especially when they involve constructing. The microphone I build was a complete failure the first time around, luckily a TA fixed my awful soldering up for me and I was able to complete the soldering myself and end up with a functioning set of mics. Personally I would have rather bought mics or had them provided for the class. I felt we spent too much time in our lab sections building when we could have been out collecting.
I was provided with Sony HD MiniDisc recorder, and of course it was broken. The recorder didn't feel up to the task of saving the data I had collected, and, being a noob, I didn't realize it until I had already gone on a soundwalk. It wasn't that big of a deal, but I wish I had noticed it earlier.
At the end of the process I used two pieces of freeware, SonicStage and Audacity. First off, I do not recommend ever attempting to do a Film 116 project through Parallels. It's an awful Idea. Your virtual machine will crash and you will loose your work. That being said the only real complaint with the software I worked with regards SonicStages Mac compatibility. Transferring data from place to place gets to be a bit tedious.
Ten questions
1. Does the woods go any deeper?
2. Is there anything interesting in the woods?
3. Can we capture the animals that made the noises present in the previous soundlwalk?
4. How big is the biggest family?
5. What would the streets sound like if they were crowded
6. How do we capture the invisible?
7. Does a sunday sound different from a saturday?
8. Do all the houses look the same?
9. How can I define and capture the essence of the metaburbs?
10. Do bigger things sound bigger?
2. Is there anything interesting in the woods?
3. Can we capture the animals that made the noises present in the previous soundlwalk?
4. How big is the biggest family?
5. What would the streets sound like if they were crowded
6. How do we capture the invisible?
7. Does a sunday sound different from a saturday?
8. Do all the houses look the same?
9. How can I define and capture the essence of the metaburbs?
10. Do bigger things sound bigger?
Thoughts and retrospective analysis of the derive
While embarking on my first drift adventure, I came across a few stressful situations. The first soundwalk I went on was very long and uneventful. I walked around and around but there really weren't any sounds that struck me as interesting. It's very aggravating when you are searching for something interesting and nothing makes itself known to you. On my second soundwalk (a result of bad recording equipment) I was shocked to find many interesting sounds, right outside my home.
This second soundwalk took me through a relatively peaceful woods. While being unusually loud, it was somehow very quiet. It gave me time to think and wonder about the gentleness of my own backyard. This feeling manifested itself again when I came across a sprinkler during the weekly tornado siren test. This was the only time I felt at ease during the adventure.
I did however encounter a very pleasing sound while recording someone's sprinkler. The weekly saturday 11:00 tornado siren test went off unexpectedly. While recording the event, I had no idea how powerful and representational it would be once I returned to the lab and re-listened to the footage. I was also lucky enough to experience a park with no children playing, meaning I was forced to do the playing myself in order to capture the aural events of a suburban park. It amazed me how different the sounds of the swing set as its own object were from the sounds of me on the swing set. The human addition to the essence of an object creates an entirely new form, and, in this case, is representational of the objects telos.
The gentleness I mentioned earlier was without a doubt the high point of the drift recording experience, at least the experiences that fall within the action of the walk itself. Upon observing the data I heard the beauty of the sprinkler and the siren. Realizing that you have captured something aesthetically pleasing, and then realizing that the moment you captured could never be captured in the same way again is indeed a substantial reward.
This second soundwalk took me through a relatively peaceful woods. While being unusually loud, it was somehow very quiet. It gave me time to think and wonder about the gentleness of my own backyard. This feeling manifested itself again when I came across a sprinkler during the weekly tornado siren test. This was the only time I felt at ease during the adventure.
I did however encounter a very pleasing sound while recording someone's sprinkler. The weekly saturday 11:00 tornado siren test went off unexpectedly. While recording the event, I had no idea how powerful and representational it would be once I returned to the lab and re-listened to the footage. I was also lucky enough to experience a park with no children playing, meaning I was forced to do the playing myself in order to capture the aural events of a suburban park. It amazed me how different the sounds of the swing set as its own object were from the sounds of me on the swing set. The human addition to the essence of an object creates an entirely new form, and, in this case, is representational of the objects telos.
The gentleness I mentioned earlier was without a doubt the high point of the drift recording experience, at least the experiences that fall within the action of the walk itself. Upon observing the data I heard the beauty of the sprinkler and the siren. Realizing that you have captured something aesthetically pleasing, and then realizing that the moment you captured could never be captured in the same way again is indeed a substantial reward.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Reading Response
I have chosen to write a blog response on a radio show called "This American life". The guests on the show discuss the various sounds that accompany everyday life, and the musical aspects behind them. This article was very very interesting to me, I absoultely loved it. The idea that music is everywhere and all sounds can be boiled down to a mathematical experience has always intrigued me and the discussion revolved around that very thing.
The people on the show map out different things throughout the day, discussing the sounds that surround them and the chords and sounds they produce. The hums and electronic whirring that accompany appliances create chords which produce a certain emotional effect, which is why working in an office can sometimes breed contempt or sadness.
I won't even begin to understand these ideas for a very long time, but the fact that they exist makes me wonder and want to listen and discover things even more. One day I hope to learn the science and mathematics behind the systems, but for now this article has opened up my mind to just how the vast the influence of even the most simple sounds around us is.
The people on the show map out different things throughout the day, discussing the sounds that surround them and the chords and sounds they produce. The hums and electronic whirring that accompany appliances create chords which produce a certain emotional effect, which is why working in an office can sometimes breed contempt or sadness.
I won't even begin to understand these ideas for a very long time, but the fact that they exist makes me wonder and want to listen and discover things even more. One day I hope to learn the science and mathematics behind the systems, but for now this article has opened up my mind to just how the vast the influence of even the most simple sounds around us is.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
A response to a soundwalk
My lab group for film 116 recently embarked on an expidition known as a Soundwalk. I thought I'd share my thoughts with my loyal readers.
Were you able to find places and spaces where you could really listen?
I was, it was relatively easy to do, you just have to open your ears.
Was it possible to move without making a sound?
This was nearly impossible in downer woods, but we tried it as a group inside a closed area, where I was accused of breathing. Very difficult to do.
What happened when you plugged your ears, and then unplugged them?
While my ears were covered I heard mostly the "seashell" sound of the ocean that we are all familiar with. I did notice that some heavy manmade sounds were sneaking through, planes, cars in the distance on the highway, but nothing natural seemed to make it in.
In your sound log exercise, what types of sounds were you able to hear? List them.
I heard birds chirping directly above me, light breezes scraping the branches and leaves of the trees, heavy breezes scraping the branches and leaves of the trees, some sort of power tool in the distance to my right, birds making squeeking sounds to the right, cars going past on a highway behind the power tool, leaves gently landing on more leaves, branches cracking somewhere hard to place, quietly and subtly
Then we listened as we walked, and a plethora of sounds dominated my surroundings:
Shoes scraped on rocks and stomped on boardwalks, the rocks fell and rolled across eachother, the shoes cracked branches, the winds continued just as before in the trees, I had some hiccups which took over most of what I was hearing, as we walked past the tennis and basketball courts we heard laughing, screaming, balls bouncing on the court, shoes squeaking, chain link fences shaking, the sewer was emanating a deep echo and and a chorus of crickets sang loudly upward
Were you able to differentiate between sounds that had a recognizable source and those sounds you could not place?
Somewhat
Extremely close sounds? Sounds coming from very far away?
My breathing was notably loud, just as the cars in the dinstance were
Were you able to intervene in the urban landscape and create your own sounds by knocking on a resonant piece of metal, activating wind chimes, etc.?
The opportunity didn't arise
Do you feel you have a new understanding or appreciation of the sounds of our contemporary landscape/cityscape?
I've spent a lot of time in the woods, this Soundwalk didn't spark anything new or interesting for me. Hopefully that will change next time.
How do you think your soundwalk experience will affect your practice as a media artist, if at all?
This particular Soundwalk, no effect. But there's always more to come.
Were you able to find places and spaces where you could really listen?
I was, it was relatively easy to do, you just have to open your ears.
Was it possible to move without making a sound?
This was nearly impossible in downer woods, but we tried it as a group inside a closed area, where I was accused of breathing. Very difficult to do.
What happened when you plugged your ears, and then unplugged them?
While my ears were covered I heard mostly the "seashell" sound of the ocean that we are all familiar with. I did notice that some heavy manmade sounds were sneaking through, planes, cars in the distance on the highway, but nothing natural seemed to make it in.
In your sound log exercise, what types of sounds were you able to hear? List them.
I heard birds chirping directly above me, light breezes scraping the branches and leaves of the trees, heavy breezes scraping the branches and leaves of the trees, some sort of power tool in the distance to my right, birds making squeeking sounds to the right, cars going past on a highway behind the power tool, leaves gently landing on more leaves, branches cracking somewhere hard to place, quietly and subtly
Then we listened as we walked, and a plethora of sounds dominated my surroundings:
Shoes scraped on rocks and stomped on boardwalks, the rocks fell and rolled across eachother, the shoes cracked branches, the winds continued just as before in the trees, I had some hiccups which took over most of what I was hearing, as we walked past the tennis and basketball courts we heard laughing, screaming, balls bouncing on the court, shoes squeaking, chain link fences shaking, the sewer was emanating a deep echo and and a chorus of crickets sang loudly upward
Were you able to differentiate between sounds that had a recognizable source and those sounds you could not place?
Somewhat
Extremely close sounds? Sounds coming from very far away?
My breathing was notably loud, just as the cars in the dinstance were
Were you able to intervene in the urban landscape and create your own sounds by knocking on a resonant piece of metal, activating wind chimes, etc.?
The opportunity didn't arise
Do you feel you have a new understanding or appreciation of the sounds of our contemporary landscape/cityscape?
I've spent a lot of time in the woods, this Soundwalk didn't spark anything new or interesting for me. Hopefully that will change next time.
How do you think your soundwalk experience will affect your practice as a media artist, if at all?
This particular Soundwalk, no effect. But there's always more to come.
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