When listening to the field recordings I noticed a contrast between people playing the environment and people allowing the environment to play themselves. Both are equally positives however I am personally drawn to the environment playing itself. The first was a contact mic strapped to a metal tube while someone banged the material to create noise. However, the second was the recording taken from the exact same place and method however the material was left alone. As humans, we feel a constant need to dominate an environment. In regards to sound, we constantly have the urge to create sound and be the composer. This is toxic in my eyes as we block out the natural sounds and attributes of our surroundings. This is a reflection upon life and how as human beings we think that taking control and being the leader of the environment is what produces the best results. From these reflections, I will no longer constantly feel the need to be the instrument – especially when it comes to recording sound. We should accept and appreciate what is around us and not feel the need to tamper with this. Sometimes being the observer hands you a better outcome than it does to be the show. You can learn from watching and listening despite the fact humans block this out every single day. Being at one with our natural resources and environment cam and will teach you more.
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Month: October 2021
Should Art be Free?
While reading Toop’s, and Parkinson’s (2020) ’Unfinished Business: A Conversation on Sound Art in the United Kingdom’ interview it posed to me whether or not art should be work or instead, an instinct. Living in the western world of capitalism surrounded by a drive to work, our society is taught to make money. It becomes our “instinct” to create funds but for an artist should their “instinct” not be to create? I want to address the issues of being an artist within western cultures and the problems faced along the way.
To live freely within the United Kingdom we are bound down to the fact you need money to live. Toop refers to the culture of sound art as “Problematic”. His reference gives strong reflection to the economy of the art world. With Art buying being the biggest tax evasion within our western economy, many could argue this only forces the problem even further. Art’s high prices and status brings only one section of society to auction – the rich! With the rich buying art and making profit avoiding by tax, this creates an issue for many artist’s. Should their art be used for making a profit? Many could argue that this economical viewpoint takes away the focus on art and beauty its self. It’s aesthetic of the piece is shadowed by the looming force of money. This brings me back to whether or not art should even be sold at all? By selling the piece it feeds the economical morality towards the business. Only a few people gain from this and the artist themselves are not always one of them.
However, without the auction, the artist would not make a living. With the westernised expectations to succeed we are continuously forced to make money. Art not only costs to buy but also costs to sell. Materials and workspaces are not free; building up a budget for what we can and can’t create. This juxtaposes the idea that art shouldn’t be sold as it doesn’t count for the fact the artist may not even be able to create in the first place. With no income many artists would be left penniless meaning they’re unable to fund their creativity. Within the interview, Toop explains how sound art used to be referred to as “Sound Work”. This supports the idea that Art should be sold as it is a career rather than a vocation. Although on the other hand, the way he refers to the world as “problematic” creates many contrasting ideas to the rest of his points. By referring to his practice as “work” this westernises his artistic process giving it a new meaning but to create money. Art should be natural and a process that is free. Using the word “work” makes it seem like toil or hardship that is forced upon us to survive. Similarly to where art creates profit, his reference supports the idea that the economical world of art is hiding its beauty and purpose.
In reflection on this, I support the argument that making art can be “hard work” however in many cases it can not always be referred to as work. It is a lifelong practice. I hope to take this with me through my creative process and use this drive to focus my purpose of the art on its meaning and beauty and never on its price.
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Pro Tools – Lesson 2
1.) Name some of the folders and files that ProTools creates as part of the session hierarchy. Where is the session file (. ptx) stored?
- Audio Files
- Clip Groups
- Session File Backups
- Bounce Files
- Video Files
- (all in session folder)
2.) What is the WaveCache.wtm file used for? What happens if the WaveCache file gets deleted or goes missing?
- Stores all waveform displays
- If it gets deleted it will create a new one next time you open ProTools
3.) Where are audio files stored in the session hierarchy?
- Saved separately inside the corresponding session’s Audio Files Folder
4.) Where are Pro Tool’s is MIDI files normally stored?
- Stored within the Pro Tools Session
5.) Which components should you turn on first when powering up a Pro Tools system? Which component should you turn on last?
- External Hard Drive first
- Computer Speakers last
6.) What type of processing does the hardware buffer size affect? What type of processing does it not affect?
- Affects it’s host – based processing capacity
- Does not affect the DSP processing
7.) What kinds of commands can be found under the ProTools View menu? How does the view menu differ from the window menu?
- How windows, tracks and track data are displayed
- View effect how windows are displayed
- Window – Hide – Arrange the entire window
8.) What kind of commands can be found under the ProTools Options menu? How does the options menu differ from the setup menu?
- Commands = select several editing, recording, monitoring, playback, and display options
- Setup menu= oppositions the involve multiple settings
9.) Which main Pro Tools window displays audio waveforms and can be used to work directly with audio, MIDI, and video files on tracks?
- The edit window
10.) Which ProTools window provides access to Pan controls and Volume faders for each track?
- The Mix Window
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Walking Blind
The other day we went on an experimental lecture through the woods; blind folded! We were visionally disconnected to the world which made us focus on our audible sensory. While writing down the sounds we experienced I learnt something fascinating about the way the mind and the ears connect…
While on the walk we were led through dangerous and unnerving routes. This heightened my nerves and made me feel extremely tense. What amazed me was that although geographically I was in the same place- my brain chose to hear another! When scared I heard different sounds and my audible visioning was panning into other sounds. My focus was survival rather than pleasure. While I was relaxed I would hear easier things such as wind and trees in juxtaposition to approaching footsteps or dog’s barking when I scared.
I decided to focus in on this and use this for my work. When blindfolded the sounds of my surroundings were automatically heightened. This began to create a whole entire emotion and feeling just through sound. I plan to blindfold my viewers when presenting my sound in order for them to experience my piece at its best. My experiences taught me that harder sounds create more feeling. This encourages me to create uneasy listening for my work; in order to get maximum emotive responses.
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What Is Sound Art?
What is Sound Art? – 05.10.21
Today we were asked to break down and form an Ontology of Sound Art. Although this practice could take years (if not forever!) to find the answer, I believe I have found a happy medium in which I can continue my creative process towards the future. Basing back on the studies shown on Sam Auinger I continued the idea that ‘Sound Art’ was creating noise into something worth listening to; in order to evoke emotion or feeling. We touched upon the basis of positionality and how it is this which shapes not only the art you create but also the art you listen and connect to; e.g. your race, culture, heritage, age, gender, religion, etc… This for me was an interesting concept as it apposed the question of what actually is sound art subjective snd objectively. Some members of the class stated that it is sound that was “intentionally made”. However once again linking back to Sam Auinger’s work on urban planning he uses traffic noises, which I am sure drivers had no intention of making art. Others in the class also stated that music is not sound art. This I disagree with entirely! To me, my subjective point of view on sound art is that any sound ever can be made into art and who is to decipher whether it fits into the category of “sound art” or “sound”. A common example used was a bird singing or other animals creating animal noises. To one that may just be sound whereas to others that can be sound art, or in some senses music! Although I agree music follows more traditional concepts such as musicality, rhythm, and melody; an array of organised sound. However, this does not mean it can not be sound art. This phrase overlaps into so many genres and I don’t believe there is one set answer. When recently watching a documentary on the making of ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ – The Beatles, it was described that during the bridge of ‘A Day In The Life’ the orchestra was told to play any random notes so long as they didn’t correspond to the person sat next to them. This reflects the idea that although it is widely known as music it is not organised and could be used as an idea or concept as sound art. This piece for me uses sound to create and evoke so much emotion and feeling which is what I believe sound art does. So can I not call it sound art yet? It uses sound as the medium to tackle someone’s feelings based on their positionality and contextual background. Similarly, Sound Art for the screen is a commonly used practice, however, does this give composers such as Hans Zimmer the right to be called a “Sound Artist” or do they just create organise music. Although one should be known as what one wants it to be known as – to me there is no differentially between the two. Sound Art is the tree and their style or genres are the branches and the leaves. I look to approach and use this theory within my future work and hope to develop a sound that creates feeling and touches someone based on the context and subjectiveness of the piece. I don’t believe in restricting any sound from the subject as “Sound Art” and hope to continue this in the most unique and creative way I possibly can. Any sound can be sound art it’s just whether or not it suits your positionality.
“Sound Art is an art that can be heard”- Tate
Sam Auinger a ‘Sonic Thinker’ meaning he basis his philosophy upon his aural experience of the world. He often focuses in on the idea of Urban Planning. I connect to the idea of this as I can appreciate his understanding for using all the sound we have around us. This was reflected in his 1998 installation piece ‘MASS MoCA’. He used the existing car sounds taken from a road bridge and built a speaker which would play the sound of live traffic and turn it into a cloud of sound. What once was known to separate the town from the museum had now become what’s known as a harmonic cathedral! I think this shows Auinger’s ambition to not only reunite society physically but also reunite lost noise and noise we become aware of. Using the sound to create such a harmonic humming reflects his views on sonic thinking and using the sound in which is around us. I hope to use this in the future by either creating sound with field recordings or existing sound. He not only uses singular sounds but also engineers them to become something enjoyable and easy to the ear; linking back to his efforts to reunite lost sound and sound we consciously hear. He closely works alongside artist Bruce Odland together becoming ‘O+A’ where they closely focus upon hearing perspective within large public spaces. Creating work such as Sonic commons bringing many foregrounds as to why and how people perceive sound within urban spaces. Making noise into conscious listening! https://vimeo.com/71463497
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