– This week will be dedicated to studio time for work on your final project and anything else relating to the Sound Art final. Please come to class prepared with whatever materials you need to work. I’ll be available for any feedback or consultation.
– Remember, Project 4 is due next week. Please arrive promptly so we can begin the critiques at the top of class. We’ll have a lot to get through so we’ll need to begin on time.
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– Check out “Silent Sound” by Ian and Jane Forsythe. An excellent “silent” sound installation that taps into the potential of music and subliminals to to communicate emotively, employing the audience’s mind, imagination and beliefs as a site for the work.
– Project 3 is due next class. I MUST receive your work no later than Sunday November 3, 2024 at midnight. Work submitted after the deadline risks not being included.
– Please be sure to convert your final .wav to a 320kbps mp3 file. If you’re not sure how to do this with the Apple music app, use the simple online audio format converter.
– I will send out a download link by Tuesday evening for all the soundwalks. They’ll be formatted like an album so it will be easy to transfer to your mobile device. Be sure the device you’re using has a full charge for class and remember to have your headphones or earbuds for the walks.
Below is the order of walks based on location:
November 6, 2024 Emaline – Gateway to light rail station. Steve – Fitz to Brown Center. Ellie P. – Bottom of Brown to top of Brown. Cat – Outside Bunting to basement of Brown. Joyin – Brown 206 to top of Brown. Sherry – Fox to light rail tracks outside Dolphin St. Hexiang – Fitz to Main bldg.
November 13, 2024 Jackson – Main to Station. Colin – Howard St. Bridge (outside Brown) across and back. Ellie B. – Lyric garage to Mosher parking lot. Michelle – Street opposite to 1515 to cross street before light rail. Mason – Gateway to Mosher parking lot (underpass area). Minseok – Gateway to Dolphin. Melissa – John St. (behind Main) to Brevard St.
-If you missed or want a refresher on last week’s lecture about Ambisonics and binaural audio, you can download my slide deck as a PDF from the downloads page.
-Today I’ll be conducting a contact microphone building workshop during the first half of class. These microphones are used often by sound artists and experimental musicians as they sense audio vibrations through contact with solid objects as opposed to traditional microphones which pick up airborne vibrations. Please be sure to arrive on time so we can begin promptly 🙂
-If you’re interested in building more contact mics for yourself later, below are some Amazon links for parts. IA has a soldering work bench with irons, helping hands, fume extractors etc., on the 2nd floor of Dolphin you can use. Just ask me first 🙂
– This week I’ll be talking about Ambisonics, binaural audio and ways to record in both formats. – You’ll also have studio time this week to begin planning and recording for your sound walks. Please come prepared to work during the second half of class. – If you’re using the H3-VR to record, you’ll need the Ambisonics Player app to easily convert your Ambisonics files to binaural. You can also play, trim, re-orientate and export your audio. Free for PC or Mac. DOWNLOAD HERE
HOMEWORK: Continue to work on Project 3. – – – – Check out the video below for even more info on binaural audio and a few recording tools you can use.
– A behind the scenes look at how the Soundwalk Collective collaborated with John Perry Barlow and the blog Detour to create their Soundwalk through San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood.
Listen: Five examples of site specific soundwalks by: Janek Schaefer, Scanner, John Wynne, Kaffe Matthews, Salome Voegelin and Mike Marshal. Available in downloads.
Examples of Musicians using Ambisonic Recording. – Pink Floyd, “The Final Cut” Harvest/E.M.I, (1982). – Roger Waters, “The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking” (1984). – Psychic TV, “Dreams Less Sweet“, Some Bizarre (1983).
–Project Two is due today. Please come to class ready to critique your work.
HOMEWORK: Breathe. Relax…. Listen 🙂 – – – – – – – – –Below: Check out Night Walk for Edinburgh. Another immersive, mobile sound and video installation by sound artists Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller.
Night Walk for Edinburgh – 2019
Soundwalks have become increasingly more common in pop culture. Pioneered by acoustic ecologist R.Murray Schafer in the 70’s, a soundwalk can take on many shapes and forms but is generally considered a site specific activity anchored to a particular location.
PROJECT 2 – DUE NEXT WEEK. Please be sure to send me your graphic score and audio file by next Tuesday, October 1st at midnight. Send the final file via WeTransfer or Google Drive.
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Check out Anis Haron’s generative sound-based installation Audio Palimpsest.
Below is John Cage’s sound work Aria (Fontana Mix) composed through chance operations.
Coming up. We’ll be talking about the work of sound artist Janet Cardiff. Check out the video about her installation The Forty Part Motet below.
-This week we will get caught up on the reading and listening assignments and discuss the The Aesthetics of Noise plus the two listenings for this week. Please come to class ready to share your thoughts.
-This week, I will be covering looping, pitch shifting, time stretching, creating transitions and exporting your final mix. I’ve also made additional Audition tutorials (under the tutorial tab) covering these concepts. If you need a review after class, these cover everything we went over.
-There will be studio time in class this week for you to work on your project.
HOMEWORK: -Continue to work on Project Two. Due in two weeks. Please follow the prompts at the bottom of the Project 2 description page for submitting your project. – – – – –
– BALTIMOREHIGH ZERO FESTIVAL –THIS WEEKEND
The High Zero Festival brings together 22 core musicians, but also involves a much larger subculture of musicians in Baltimore and on the East Coast. Unlike many related festivals, High Zero is not narrow in terms of sensibility or subculture, but rather widely inclusive of all the different types of experimental music-making in the moment. The fact that half of the festival’s core participants are from Baltimore speaks to the depth of Baltimore’s experimental music subculture, which in recent years has grown to be one of the richest cities in the country for experimental art.
Student admission at the door with your MICA ID is $10
HOMEWORK: • I’ve made some basic tutorial videos for Adobe Audition reviewing the basics we’ve covered in class. Available now under the tutorials tab. • Listen: Lou Reed – Metal Machine Music • Listen: Throbbing Gristle – Third Mind Movements • Continue to work on Project 2. Due in 2 weeks.
