Category: Second Year

Sonic Ecologies

Ecology – The word ecology makes me think of the enviroment and the ology on the end makes me presume that ecology is studying the environment.

Actual definition – the study of the relationships between living organisms.

I have been looking into the role sound plays within the psychedelic experience and the science behind the heightened awareness of sound and audio hallucinations.

I have chosen the text (Explosions in the Mind: Composing Psychedelic Sounds and Visualisations by Jonathan Weinel 2021.)

The text describes the psychedelic experience and how we can recreate sounds that emulate the psychedelic experience and phenomena such as synaesthesia. The introduction to this text briefly guides the reader through the description of the psychedelic experience. Weinel then explains his interest in the topic and how we cannot capture the video and audio of the psychedelic synaesthesia experience with modern day cameras and microphones. This made me think about the future of sound recording technologies, how in the future we may be able to record sound from inside the mind and capture the subconscious.The ethics behind this are debatable as you don’t have full control of your subconscious. A lot of psychedelic music tries very hard to recreate the sounds and feelings within the psychedelic experience this can be seen in the 60s psychedelic rock movement with artists such as Pink Floyd and The Jimi Hendrix Experience having a clear interest in replicating the experience with their live shows and studio recordings. Nowadays we have music such as binaural beats that do a good job of replicating the sound within the experience and live electronic music events that have psychedelic ritual qualities.

“There is no ‘video capture device’ for the mind’s eye”

Introduction, writing, researching

For my essay I have been doing research into sound within the psychedelic experience, from this I have also been looking into audio therapy, audio hallucinations and indigenous shamanic rituals/ceremonies. I want to delve into further research of Mazatec mushroom ceremonies and how sound played a role within them. This also could be compared to the 60s-70s psychedelic era and how drugs played a role in events such as Woodstock. Another area for research is how music can be used as a therapeutic non conventional drug that can alter the mind and change neurochemistry within the brain.There are many interesting studies at universities such as John Hopkins that have done research into these subjects and there is a lot of research for me to do for the essay.

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mendel-Kaelen/publication/327806143_Psychedelics_and_music_neuroscience_and_therapeutic_implications/links/5bac8c06299bf13e604fc67f/Psychedelics-and-music-neuroscience-and-therapeutic-implications.pdf

https://www.beautifulspace.uk/blog/psychedelic-music-therapy

Reading –

‘art, like religion, is one of the ways we digest what is happening to us, make the sense out of it that proceeds to action’ (McKibben 2005)

1992 exhibition Fragile Ecologies

Barbara C. Matilsky observed, ‘critics and curators often lumped dissimilar artists together, which resulted in a confusion of different sensibilities and tendencies that continues to this day’

‘not all environmental art is environmentally sound nor does it carry an eco- logical message’ (Matilsky 1992: 43)

Week 14 Light Experimentation

When experimenting with the video projection I came across a few errors, firstly the projection didn’t works well on furniture such as the fridge compared to plain white items like the window shutters. I think I will have to adapt the piece, I think that hanging white bed sheets warped in different ways could look good for the projection (this also adds to the themes of the piece, isolation, sleep deprivation, dream-like states). I also think that having two projectors will work betters (one short throw and one long throw) as then I would be able to cover more space with the image. I could also cut video in half vertically and spread it across 2 projectors to add more space for the image.

Week 13

Two sessions of creative practise – Over this week I have experimented with projection and seeing how the projector within the installation exhibit would work. I have also resampled and rearranged the original mix of the score into key layers which I am going to arrange into the 4 final tracks for the CD.

Proposal – For my exhibit I am going to recreate a scene from the short film ‘Ghost’ by Takashi Ito in a small room with furniture, lighting and sound. I will be re-purposing my score from last term into a 4 track CD release that will accompany the exhibit. The exhibit is going to feature found furniture such as a fridge, stove, microwave, table, chair, etc and will be walk-in and interactive. I am going to edit the score to fit the 4 tracks and then project it on-top of the furniture in the room to recreate effects seen in the film. I am going to use strobe coloured lighting that will be programmed to match the tempo and pace of the sound that will accompany it. I will use a surround 5.1 system for my piece that will have the speakers wall mounted in the corners of the room with the sub-woofer on the floor by the door.

Research around technics –

Shortwave Collective

Shortwave collective is an international feminist group using the radio spectrum as artistic material. They have done 4 projects, Constellations of Listening, Receive-Transmit-Receive, Open Wave-Receiver and Foxholes & Fencetennas. The group is very DIY and most of their projects use minimal, low-budget and accessible materials, such as “wire, razorblades, scrap cardboard and safety pins”. I think that this DIY ethos can be incorporated into my final piece and I should experiment with available household items for my piece.

John Wynne

John Wynne is a multidisciplinary artist who does work for museum, galleries, public spaces and radio. His piece 300 speakers was shown in the Saatchi Gallery and is a very inspiring piece for my gallery work, listening to the piece you can hear how The piece has made me thought about how I could incorporate multiple speakers within my piece to create a surround sonic experience

Week 12 –

space within the gallery needs to be considered / chosen.

could do physical release for gallery exhibit, cd, tape, vinyl, zine, etc.

remix/remake score I did for sound for screen, take elements and make tracks with them

experimentation with available resources – concrete, wood, furniture, vinyl, record player,

set achievable goals

micro- start to separate the tracks for the score into individual parts and set them up in a new project

meso- arrange the film and start getting the idea for what the room is going to look like – lighting, furniture arrangements, projector location.do a test with a projector and the video within my own home to see if the idea works properly. edit the video to go with the 4 tracks.

macro- burn the tracks to the CD and get the furniture into the assigned place within the exhibition. make sure that everything works together, set up sound controlled lighting.

ask for help from relevant communities/individuals. ask questions with detail.

be willing to confront failures.

Ideas – recontextualize my score for Ghost by Takashi Ito into a walk-in exhibition which will replicate a scene from the film (kitchen furniture) with a CD that can be sold. I want to make the viewer seem engaged and completely immersed within the video. Most of the furniture can be found out on the street or with the use of apps such as TrashNothing, Gumtree and OLIO.

could use red lighting like the scene above. kitchen stove, fridge, microwave with CD spinning.

Winter Break Work

For my 2 works of sound art I chose to look at Samson Young’s latest piece named Altar Music and Ryoji Ikeda’s latest piece micro | macro [pavilion]. I was inspired a lot by both of these pieces and I think that they are both very good inspiration for my installation.

Altar Music –

https://www.thismusicisfalse.com/#/altar-music/

micro | macro [pavilion] –

https://www.ryojiikeda.com/project/micro_macro/

Audio Paper Finalization

When creating the audio paper I ran in to a lot of problems. I did not like the layout of the paper as it seemed to random and sporadic, because of this I had to rewrite the script many times to make the lay-out perfect. I found myself repeating myself a lot and had to cut down on most of the text. I chose to use text-to-speech for the main body of the paper as I felt like it fit the virtual theme very well. I found it hard to get the amount of sound effects right as it was very easy to feel as if I was going too overboard with them.

Audio Paper Promotion

Are you interested in electronic music and enjoy meeting new people? Do you find it hard to muster the courage to go out by yourself clubbing? Virtual Reality is the future of going out and can be enjoyed from the comfort of your home, you can meet people from every part of the world and interact with them without having to show or reveal your identity, you can be whoever you want. This audio paper gives an insight into the underground culture of virtual reality nightlife and shows you what it’s all about.

Research into Audio Papers and Composition.

Audio papers resemble the regular essay or the academic text in that they deal with a certain topic of interest, but presented in the form of an audio production. The audio paper is an extension of the written paper through its specific use of media, a sonic awareness of aesthetics and materiality, and creative approach towards communication. The audio paper is a performative format working together with an affective and elaborate understanding of language. It is an experiment embracing intellectual arguments and creative work, papers and performances, written scholarship and sonic aesthetics.

The audio paper is never conventional, as it always incorporates an awareness of the processes of research and technological production. It not only reflects its own research question/s, but reflects the reflection itself: the process of knowledge-production, the presentation and representation of language and voice, the narrative and dramaturgy, and the aesthetics of sound.

What is an Audio Paper?

I am starting to laydown the basis for my composition and kind of know how I want it to be set out. I am going to first take the listener through a description of what happens once you join a virtual server, I am then going to explain and describe virtual reality events and why they happen/why they are needed. I am then going to use the interviews in the end to give a insight into the community.

First Hand Research

Today I attended a TUBE x Conduit event, the event was small but it was still a very good insight into the VR rave culture. TUBE and Conduit are two of the biggest promoters in the scene so this gave me a good idea of what the bigger events are like. I was at first confused about getting into the rave as there were two venues within the world and I kept going to the wrong one, so I asked for help from a fellow player who showed me how to get to the rave. The room the event was held in was a small dark room in the shape of a triangle that had lights on the walls that could be customised to your liking or turned off if you are sensitive to flashing lights. There were visuals in-front and behind of the DJ which I presume the DJ had set up before hand. The players in the event were mostly anime-esque characters that looked straight out of IMVU, they seemed like they were very engaged in the event and didn’t want to be bothered by me. The music that was played was mostly drum and bass with a bit of breakcore thrown in.

Audio Paper – Process, Recording

I chose to use the text to speech from naturalreaders.com as I liked the way that the speech sounded natural and organic and was not robot like. I was met with a pay wall when trying to export the file as an mp3 so I paid and exported it. My main goal was to cut up this text and warp it to make it sound more interesting. I would also add sound effects to the project and have a slight backing track. My idea was to make it sound as if you were in the bathroom of a virtual rave while listening, the music was not going to be loud but instead muffled and filtered. I would take music from soundcloud sets that were performed in VR.

Audio Paper Research – Discord

I was finally able to communicate with people and found using discord to communicate to them a lot more easier than doing the research inside of VRChat where I was met with a lot of negative responses towards being interviewed. The next time I interview someone I am going to ask them different questions as I don’t want to keep repeating the same ones and getting the same answers.

I contacted a user name SkpFreak who is very involved within the community and manages the VRC google spreadsheets that help players keep up to date with raves happening.

I also contacted a user named The1-Pigeon who is a mod in TUBEVR which is one of the biggest VR rave platforms and helps out with the community regularly.

They were both very helpful and friendly they gave me a very good insight into what goes on in VRChat Raves.

Audio Paper Script Work

With the world progressing further and further into the technological domain, we observe youth finding more and more ways to go out and socialize without having to leave the comfort of their homes. Virtual and Augmented Reality is the future of entertainment and allows us to socialize with people from all around the world. VRChat is one of the leading platforms bringing people together.  

In VRChat you are able to use a variety of avatars to represent yourself, the possibilities for self-representation are endless.

Within the virtual realm there are a multitude of virtual clubs, bars, venues and events that are free to attend. This has made going out clubbing easier and more accessible than ever for everyone of every age.

I have interviewed players involved within this scene on the app Discord which is how players are able to communicate with each other and be informed about raves happening.

At first I was met with a lot of weary players that wouldn’t open to up to me about their experiences within the VR rave scene, so I decided to just do the communication with text and use text to speech later down the line.

(Interviews here)

Introduction to Element 2 – Sound Installation

experiences with galleries – was taken to galleries as a child but hated it, I remember being scarred from being taken to a Damien Hirst exhibition at the Tate and being forced to view a dead cow.

what effects an installation? space layout, presentation, free space, audience, the institution of the gallery(identity), the curator,

materials I’m interested in for my installation – concrete, wood, rope, charcoal, ash, glass

ideas for the installation – could be based off the short film and score I did for element one, could use space and adapt my score and film for gallery,

Anna Friz

from vancouver,
i liked the clickyness and tape like feedback of the first track, i also enjoyed how lofi the vocals sounded, I thought it sounded like sounds you would hear in a submarine, especially the males vocals.

sound thinning out and turning thick again, listened to signal changed her approach to field recording, embodiment is important to her, experience of distance, constant desire to bridge distance more interesting to have an experience of distance, interplay between being in a space with implacement, geography and imaginary space,

fog line recordings, electro magnetic recordings, 22 hour piece, very ambient, lots of small minute details, recordings of people working overnight,

jerusalem crickets, rats, beetles, late summer early fall, beautiful bass frequencies, sounded like walking through an apocalyptic underground tunnel, reminded me of video games such as Half Life and Silient Hill, using electronics, included segments of roaming around and investigating drains and gutter systems,

Antye Greie

ryoko akama- stones, ambient texture and sonic radiowave like sounds, power plant, recorded on a boat,
sound line on the rice field 2018 – wooden sounds mixed with shouts and a constant metal hitting sound that repeats within the piece, has a rhythm but not based on grid,
zanduspension – hanging, humming let her down, heavy sounds that fit the mood of the video,
auDefenze – political, cut up news reports, various clicky digital programmed sounds, sounds of trains passing, lastesis

Adam Basanta

circularity, feedback,

used to really interest him defining sound art, doesn’t think of himself as a sound artist, interesting thing to think about( what is a sound artist) for him it’s about encounters of sound, outside of the concert hall, wide variety of comic material we can use,
uses feedback loops, percussive sounds, chords, low feedback crescendos,
when you get close to the speakers you feel the sense of danger, preventing feedback system with head between speaker and microphone, moving backwards makes feedback louder, the piece sounds beautiful and gentle and I am amazed by the piece,

small movements – electronic music that is produced entirely physically. this piece blew me away with how much is possible with feedback and how I could use it within my own works, i would’ve never thought that sound was possible with just feedback and effects, no looping and recording,

orchestra work- speakers next to performer, microphones on bow, arrangement of only love can break your heart by neil young,

listen to the room you’re in through the plastic box, you can hear voices, static

using amplification for good use, stereo repeats the phrase “i love you” while hanging to a balloon

curtain build out of 240 white earbuds, they all make sound , and sound changes depending on how far away you are from them, sounded like nature sounds which is what headphones separate us from,

microphone dragging through rocks creating a crater with sound