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Manifesto
The binary affects that sound has on the body and mind are just as vital as our visual experience with the world. I believe that emotion and feeling are the dominant drives to our engagement with art in a contemporary context. I have relied on the function of sound to reach our vulnerable state – a state most easily accessed by a psychological or outer- body experience.
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Sound Design reading: Some Sound Observations Pauline Oliveros - Kevin McCoy
McCoy indirectly describes the notions of Pauline Oliveros’ work through his own listening experience of his immediate surroundings. He first notes Oliveros’ work as “haunting electronic pieces” which is made up of analog electronics and electrical processes. Throughout this text, McCoy descriptively unpacks the ways in how to read the work by Oliveros, which allows us to flesh out ideas in sound design more coherently. From this reading, I am going to build a connection between the author’s concepts and analysis in sound design, with Pauline Oliveros’ Bye Bye Butterfly (1967). It is important to note the technological differences from the late 60’s and 2000’s as the shift of our hearing have developed over time.
McCoy’s modern language interestingly fuses with Oliveros’ classical but futuristic 1967 sound piece. In Bye Bye Butterfly, Oliveros questions the body and mind’s perception of absorbing sound and how this plays out in our behavioural response. McCoy brings in examples of his surroundings to illustrate the effects it has on him. He often revisits his past experiences and the initial feelings that erupt. The sound of a bulldozer, birds chirping and children’s voices are what occupy his current space. This mixture of sound tingles him inside as he states, “the mind opens and reveals the high pitch whine of my nervous system.” McCoy continues, “my arm receives sympathetic vibrations from the low frequencies of the bulldozer, but hearing takes place in my stomach. A jet passes over. Some of its sound moves through my jawbone and out the back of my neck.”
These connections of how sound affects the body and mind is an interesting concept because it is so often overlooked nowadays and we seem to ignore the small pleasures or observations in the way sound makes us feel. Bye Bye Butterfly is an ear opening example of how sound makes us feel. It’s moody electronic frequencies pierce and tickle the ear canal, delivering a somewhat spacey, sexual experience. Ideally, the foreplay and climax are inseparable, but there is a sort of disappointment, it’s a lousy climax. This piece starts as a psychological experience and becomes a bodily one.
The electronic tempered audio produced in Olivers’ 1967 piece are also quite disturbing. It is how I imagine a broken up and fuzzy connection between something alien. I am also reminded of my horrific experience when I first watched the 1971, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory- Tunnel of Terror scene. It has to do with all these unsettling experiences and feelings that most excite me about Oliveros’ Bye Bye Butterfly. And through McCoy’s descriptive analysis, I have been able to connect a deeper relationship between sound and body/mind.
McCoy also brings up some interesting observations of how sound opens up our catalog of experiences. To him, the rustling of the trees reminds him of the hissing of a tape. Just like Oliveros’ work reminds me of the horror in the Tunnel of Terror scene. He then reminisces about the first time he heard sound, or what he remembered hearing. It’s an interesting question that does not get asked a lot, as appose to the question of what our first spoken word was.
It is through Kevin McCoy and Pauline Oliveros that has excited my understanding of sound and how artists are able to bring up particular issues surrounding the experiences of the body and mind.
Bibliography:
McCoy, Kevin. "Http://www.mccoyspace.com/nyu/12_f/everyday_life/Pauline_Oliveros-Some_Sound_Observations.pdf." doi:10.18411/d-2016-154.
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Contextual Statement
Title: Not a Psychoacoustics Project
Format: 5 x Channel Audio
Length: 3:10 minutes
My work is a 5 channel audio install, that intends to contain or even remove the listener within a space. I have relied on the styles of artist who work with the genre of psychoacoustics, where sound is shaped, stretched, distorted and manipulated from the original source. It could be heard as an experimental piece - exploring particular qualities within an audio recording. Although more importantly, I hope the effect of a multiple channel system, can warp the viewer in to an entirely physical or subconscious space driven only by sound.
My creative process pathed a new direction in terms of how I usually approach my sound projects. Most of the making was done inside the audio software (Adobe Audition), where I relied on manipulating my sounds with the Graphic Equalizer and Notch Filter. I applied the desired effects to my audio files to create the psychological drama that is represented throughput my piece.
My artistic influences on Not a Psychoacoustics Project are related to the styles of John Chowning’s, Stria (1977) and Pauline Oliveros’, Bye Bye Butterfly (1967). Psychoacoustics is concerned with the science of sound perception and audio, although my interest deeply lies within the psychological responses associated to the genre. My influences in sound design have always resided in the psychological effects of what is interpreted through hearing. And so psychoacoustics has enabled me to deepen my understanding of the effects in sound which has helped me translate my visual engagement with art to an audible one.
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Note: Final Audio Files
Hi Rachel, my final audio files have not changed since the Mesh opening.
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End-process: Final process of bouncing/exporting each track.
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Documentation of one out five speakers. The film was effected by light leak, although I feel like it symbolises the audio frequencies from the surrounding speakers.
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Creative Sound Design Project ARDN703 - Semester One 2018
All Material submitted for this paper are above this point.
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Contextual Statement
Throughout the year, I have explored certain themes of horror and thriller and combined them into linear narratives, like a chapter novel. Although in my final piece, I decided to explore a different route and focus in a specific time or moment, to really detail an event. This was a challenge for me at first as I had approached my sound projects with a beginning middle and end, creating a visual scenario in relation to sound design. As a result of this new way of working, I found that detailing a snippet of a moment, opened up a deeper understanding of working with certain sound components, as appose to working with a whole range to fit a story.
In my new approach to sound, I still work with the themes of thriller and mystery, although not in a suspenseful or supernatural way. I became really curious about the way our senses respond to ambient sounds. One weekend, my curiosity led me to inside the old Britomart train station, that is now turned into apartments for low income workers, or immigrants. The entry, which still remains as the original building is this huge spacious, chapel-like area, which echoes the subtlest noises. It was a visually beautiful experience, and the echoed footsteps, dramatised slam of doors and the growing echoes of passing conversations really painted a wonderful environment. I recorded this space with the zoom, to later combine the atmosphere into my own piece.
I wanted my piece to spatialise this feeling of space, where the listener could be a part of this environment with me. The other elements I have included were dialogue, atmosphere, FX and music, where I assigned these elements to particular speakers, where I felt were most appropriate. I wanted to create a conversation that bounced back and forth from each speaker across the room (middle left and right speakers). Initially, the listener would stand between the conversation, as each speaker would whisper into either the left or right ear. The third voice that is introduced later in the piece, is assigned to the back speaker, where a woman’s voice appears more bold and clear, hence to assigning it to the centre speaker, which is positioned at the back, behind the listener. Music also plays from without this speaker, as I felt that it centred and tied the piece together a bit better, as it is not awkwardly playing from the left/right front speaker. The other elements in my piece constantly flows throughout each of the surrounding speakers, hopefully tying the essence of space more convincingly.
The things I struggled with within this brief, came to exporting the bounced files, and also being more critically selective with the choice if speaker I assigned the files to. I also noticed that certain recordings did not play in smoothly, as an obvious cue to when a sound recording would play, was interrupted by the background sounds, which I was unable to erase with FX. An example of this was one of the whisper recordings. A slight hissing of background traffic is noticed before any words are spoken. Either, I record in the sound studio next time, or find a very quiet place with the speaker.
The things I struggled with within this brief, came to exporting the bounced files and being critically selective with the speakers I chose to assign my sound recordings to. I also notice that some recordings in my piece did not smoothly play in, so this created an obvious error when certain sounds tuned in, for example, on of the whisper recordings. You can slightly hear the background sounds in the recording which I was unable to erase, and so every time it played, it was introduced with a a slight background hiss, with the whisper following.
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Final audio session before bouncing the tracks into files.
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Chion’s influence over my sound piece is evident in his work Requiem, as it shares similar sound elements, like voice narration, echoing and ambience. These sounds in particular, could be described as buzzing, humming, water dripping, reverbs, vocal – combining a very particular moment into one. It also creates an effect that everything and anything can happen all at once, simultaneously, confusing and disorientating the listener.
Chion has mentioned himself that the work tests the listens memory and challenges their ability to connect certain elements together. At one moment, you feel tense and hostage to a situation, and suddenly you find yourself slowly easing into a more relaxed state, unaware of the emotional shift that Chion creates through singular tones and spaced apart tones.
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In Radigue’s Kyema, I feel very hostage to a mental state of day dreaming. Radigue makes you contemplate throughout this piece, it slows down time, making you unaware of the duration of time. A deep humming drone anchors the listener in to this daydream, for us only to wake up and find ourselves listening to a slightly higher pitched drone. The shift is discreet and extremely fluid, it is hard to notice unless you were very conscious about it, although ironically, you are already consumed by the day dream.
I find this capsulating effect, really powerful and would find it really interesting to project this on to my listener. It’s like putting someone under a spell or an illusion. It’s a very effective aspect of sound, that I would hopefully try and mimic in my piece, being critical about my choice of music and FX that is.
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In reference to Chion’s Requiem, the influential dialogue over my piece also continues in La Tentation de Saint-Antoine by Michel Chion. The play of dialogue and atmosphere are very interesting ideas, which really enriches the sense of environment and time. The voice of a French woman remains stern throughout the piece, and at times a male’s voice is mixed in with comparisons to the two dialogues. The two voices create a different sense of narrative, and I think this would be important to experiment with in your own work if you decide to continue using dialogue.
This dynamic of dialogue sets up a conversation between the female and male, but the spontaneous composition of which when they are played, appear to be very random and experimental. There is no explanation to it either, there is no consistency, although I admire that in Chion’s work. It holds my attention and curiosity.
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In Stockhausen’s Oktophonie, an audience listens in spacious and dark room, to a symphonic sound piece, where eight speakers are positioned as if in the in corners of a cube. Oktophonie sustains a low and deep drone humming, creating a long durational sense of angst and uncomfort. The piece transitions through eerie screeches, crackling bursts and gentle whispers, but most frighteningly the abrupt sirens the pierce this already thrilling piece. I find myself both, falling in and out of comfort and uncomfort. I’m constantly hijacked by the sinister sound of the siren and high and low range of volume, which is a technique I could use to employ, to keep my audience tuned and aware throughout my piece.
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