Posted on No Comments on History and Research

History and Research

After speaking with Emily about getting some more research, she mentioned looking through a module guide from last year Practices of Listening to see the reading list, and find some books I could look at. These included Sound by Caleb Kelly (2011), Soundscape by L and J. Sider, and D. Freeman (2003), Noise, Water, Meat by Douglas Kahn (2001) and Sonic Experience by J. F. Augoyard and H. Torgue (2005).

In Sound, Kelly speaks of drawing “attention to sound both in and around current art practice” (Kelly, 2011:13) whether that be purposely or from voices and footsteps, but many still don’t view ‘sound art’ as an established category; speaking throughout the book of the difficulties and misconceptions many people and artists have with it. “Sound is now an integral aspect of art… yet it’s presence is too often ignored” (Kelly, 2011:13) we as an audience can not close off our ears, it is a sense that never stops working, voluntarily, as sound is all around us and we hear it all, warranted or not, so why not bring both the hearing and visual together. A strategy developed from Max Neuhaus and John Cage is that of ‘Sound Walks’ which is a way to help the audience pay more attention to the sounds around them, those that they would not normally notice in every day life – drawing them in. This strategy is important to artists as many people do not realise the importance of sound, especially in this context as sound has proven to be the sense that involves art, expanding on what ‘art’ can actually be; it’s not always just about the visual. In Noise, Water, Meat a book stating that “none of the arts is entirely mute… despite their apparent silence” Kahn says “Wherever they might occur among the arts, noises – interchangeable, soundful and figurative, loud, disruptive… – and noises silenced, suppressed, sought after… always pertain to a complex of contexts… as such, they become significant.” (Kahn, 2001:20). Although Kelly sees sound art not being established as a category all in it’s own is not entirely a negative, this being because it means there is no boundaries, no restrictions or rules; sound can become a piece of art all in it’s own or be brought together with another form of art, such as my own project.

“The aim of a repeat in music, and particularly a leitmotiv or a reiterated theme, it to create a sort of anamnesia  in the listener… musical art consists precisely in the magnification of an emotional path leading to that return” (Augoyard and Torgue, 2005:23) – anamnesia is a semiotic effect, a particular sonic context causing an effect of reminiscence, which applies in soundscapes as using recordings that appear, for example, in the opening segment and then as the piece is finishing you hear that sound again and it links any emotion and understanding all together. On the topic of sounds that lead me to how others go about the process of inspiration, what comes first, and how you know what’s right. In the Book Soundscape their is an interview with visual artist, musician and director David Lynch, who when asked how he got into sound said that it was painting; he wanted to be able to hear what he was painting, such as the movement of a flower from the wind (Sider et al, 2003:49). For Lynch himself he always starts with the picture first, because that is what gives him inspiration, and then from this it becomes what he describes as “action and reaction and you start seeing the picture change, because of the sounds you put with it.” (Sider et al, 2003:49). In my project I have been having the opposite approach because in the beginning I knew the style of the audio piece I wanted to create, and then from this my imagination started to run with what the art piece could be, but even though there are clearly many different ways in which this process can happen and what comes first, he states that there really isn’t any framework for this: getting in the ‘mood’ and knowing what’s right from the order of application to the sounds included, is just a feeling personal to the creator.

After doing more research into the history of sound art and some of the different views and processes artists have/use, it’s comforting knowing that it’s evident that there is no right or wrong in this. Sound and art really have no boundaries, and it is also important to show that they have no boundaries when put together. My project is not a reflection of one or the other, but a joining of two senses.

 

References:

Kahn, D. (2001) Noise, Water, Meat. Massachusetts: First MIT Press.

Augoyard, J. F. and Torgue, H. (2005) Sonic Experience. Canada: McGill Queens Uni Press.

Kelly, C. (2011) Sound. London: Whitechapel Gallery and The MIT Press.

Sider, L., Freeman, D. and Sider, J. (2003) Soundscape: The School of Sound Lectures 1998-2001. London: Wallflower Press.

 

Posted on No Comments on Guest Lecture – Careers and Employability

Guest Lecture – Careers and Employability

This week our lecture was from Helen McCarron and Claire Butler, from the careers and employability services. They came to give us a brief introduction on working in freelance, and becoming self-employed after our time at university is over, with their aim for the end of the lecture being we are all aware of their services and the support they provide – from starting your own business to providing workshops and funding. Workshops that include business planning, sales pitching, book keeping and trademarking.

They started off by showing us some statistics, from the Creative Skillset Workforce Report 2014, two of which were that 30% of people working in creative media are freelance, and 67% in audio, sound and music. They did a short quiz with us, just to see what our knowledge was currently on things such as taxes and the dates involved in regards to paying tax, and the level of income you have to reach to pay it. From this they did mention the importance of always keeping track of all your payslips; don’t throw them away, keep them filed correctly for the year so if you ever have any problems with HR revenue, you will make life a lot easier for yourself. Also, if you get business expenses from your job, keep those receipts as well, from petrol usage to business phone usage. In regards to the pros and cons of self-employment, pros are; freedom – a flexible work schedule, you are your own boss. Variety in projects – you will never be stuck in a rut of doing the same thing day in and day out, and this way you will build an impressive, diverse portfolio. As for cons they include the main one, uncertainty – nothing will ever be guaranteed, the future isn’t set in stone. But on the flip side of this it may become hard for you to switch off, as it will constantly be like you are taking your work home with you. Not only that but the initial start up costs, and no security – being self-employed means you will never get holiday or sick pay, which may stop you from having hardly any breaks throughout the year, and battling through any illness to stay afloat.

This lecture meant nothing towards my own personal audio project, but it did start to make me think about the possibility of being self-employed; I have always seen myself moving into a company of some sort, but seeing how high the percentages are of those that end up in self-employment after university brought me to some kind of reality. It is comforting hearing the level, and widespread, of support they provide us students when coming towards the end of our degrees, and the possibilities that are out there.

 

Posted on No Comments on First Field Recording

First Field Recording

Last week I did my first field recording session, using the Marantz PDM660 recording kit. Although I still have more places to explore around the city, and trying different zoom mics, I first began with some of the sounds that most would think of straight away when asked about urban city sounds.

My first recording was, typically, a car; I live on a road that isn’t overly busy so it was easy to get a clean recording panning left to right with hardly any disturbance. After this I then wanted some train sounds, so I walked to station and managed to get a clean recording of a train starting up and pulling out of the station; even getting the steam sound, that wasn’t planned, which I now want to put into my piece. As the weather wasn’t exactly the greatest, I decided to take advantage of the rain by recording it itself, as well as footsteps walking through puddles; these can become ambient sounds trickling in the background, being layered underneath.

Although I am using sounds from around the city, I will be recording sounds that I will make purposely because I have ideas of sounds I want in my soundscape. The first recording I have included in my piece is that from water going down the drain after I ran a tap, and after putting some EQ and little bit of reverb on this it now has a sort of ‘falling stars’ effect, falling nicely into the beginning of my piece that starts off very eery and space like.

This was my first, what I myself would class as, real experience with a zoom mic, and I finished it feeling more confident in myself when it comes to field recordings. Also realising that when I was walking round with mic I was able to imagine my piece in my mind, seeing the direction I want it to go in and hearing sounds I know could work in it. From the sounds I already have recorded the next I want to use is the recording of the train, manipulating it to use it as a sort of bass rumble, building the piece up, and potentially adding some distortion to it to use it in other areas of the piece.

Posted on No Comments on Research

Research

While searching for exhibitions and online platforms that I myself could potentially get my own work for this project in to, I come across a lot of different websites – blogs of similar work and those that admire the work and exhibition events.

One of the sites that I came across is Sounds Like Noise, a website created by Jay-Dea Lopez, a sound artist who was originally trained in classical performance and production but now he “uses field recordings as a way to question the complexities of our natural and social environments”. His work has featured in not only films and radio, but festivals and galleries not just in Australia, but also overseas.  The site was originally created to “explore Australia’s northern New South Wales region through a collection of field recordings and experimental soundscapes” but it then expanded to become more general about sound and the environment. There is a page on his website titles Listening to Art whose opening paragraphs speak of the moments when one walks through a gallery and it can become too overwhelming, poorly curated, or there could be factors that allow you to become distracted, such as noise.

“What is your experience of walking through modern-day art galleries? As you pass from room to room are you fully engaged with the works on the walls or, despite all good intentions, does a sense of fatigue begin to dampen your enthusiasm?”

So he raises the observation that why is it that, for the most part, galleries usually cater for only one thing – the visual. This is where he quotes Sebastiane Hegarty who views senses as performing with each other, and not as individual, so this is potentially why we can feel so disengaged in galleries; one sense is in overdrive and the others are trying to breakthrough. The example he uses to back this is one I have previously spoken of in this blog – The National Gallery in London exhibition where numerous sound artists from all backgrounds created sound pieces to accompany pieces of art; “the sounds heard before them guided their eyes across the canvas at details often overlooked or dismissed” meaning the visual was not the only sense working, so it was not in overdrive and the sound meant there was nothing distracting the viewer/listener. Being inspired by all of this, at the bottom of the page there are soundscapes created by Lopez himself to pieces of art work by Australian print-makers (follow link at bottom for the website, and his work).

At the top of the Listening to Art page he has included a link to his other website Auditory Visions which he created for the purpose of his own project. This project was similar to The National Gallery, however he asked print-makers (that he chose based on his own interests) to create two pieces each with them having the knowledge that a piece of sound art, was going to accompany it, in response to what they have made. He does also briefly state the that the reason behind him choosing print-makers for the visual art form is “for its materiality; its richness and diversity of texture, shades, imagery and substrates, all of which can be found in the elements of sound.”

Finding this website, and project, along with my other research, shows how important both visual and sound are together; especially in art form. The sound art helps keep the viewer interested in whichever piece of art it is, helping them look deeper and pay more attention. Picking up on the little things.

References:

https://auditoryvisions.org/

https://soundslikenoise.org/

Posted on No Comments on Guest Lecture – Lol Hammond

Guest Lecture – Lol Hammond

Lol Hammond is a musician, producer, DJ, and legendary music supervisor. But before making his name as a music supervisor he started in the electronic music scene in 1991, through the sound system spiral tribe – a group of DJs that organised free parties/raves and festivals. He also created Drum Club, along with fellow Londoner Charlie Hall, an electronic music duo who released a few albums, remixed others and also had their own work remixed.

Now though he is a music supervisor and has been since 2001, now working for Vertigo Films. He began his talk with a showreel of some of the films he has worked on which include the critically acclaimed The Football Factory, as well as The Sweeney and Dirty Sanchez: The Movie. Only briefly talking about Vertigo Films, he says they are now branching out into TV; they are doing the new Sky show Britannia, which has a much bigger budget than any other (including Game of Thrones). When talking about the roles of being a music supervisor, he began with one of the most obvious points; that he has to source all of the music that goes into the film – whether this be existing tracks or getting in composers. But before this the film will get cut down to an ‘assembly’ and he will be sent the film to watch through, then he will sit down with the director to decide where music is wanted/needed. However from this he explained that with some directors the process can become a bit ‘political’, this being because a lot of directors are very head-strong and they know what they want, but this doesn’t necessarily mean they know what is best for the film. It’s not their area of expertise. Lol will recommend a handful of composers if they are needed and he made the point that sometimes it’s a good idea to let the director think some things are their idea, all about “mind games”. On the topic of artists, he briefly spoke about licensing – the recording and mastered piece is owned by the artist or record label, and the composition is owned by the publisher. Making sure you work within the budget given to you, no matter how big or small, is important; use it wisely, learn to haggle if need be, or you might be as lucky as he was when working on The Firm where all artists agreed on having the same, equal amount. Lol did mention however that if you can speak to the artists directly it could make a massive difference, because the artists’ managers will always go for the biggest price – starting off at that. For example Coldplay usually charge £250k for their music to be used, but he went to them directly and showed them the film The Escapist and they loved it that much they themselves lowered the price. A lot of artists don’t focus on the money like their managers; if they enjoy something why wouldn’t they want their name to be apart of it. Also, the answer to the question “when you have the licensing to a track does that mean you can do anything to it?” is usually no. You can ask but you usually can not cut it up.

It is possible for a bad soundtrack to actually ruin a film, with the music chosen not really fitting into what is happening visually; ruining moments, making the viewer think the films going in a different direction than what it actually is etc. but Lol says that some expect the music to have the ability to actually save a film, which could be possible to an extent, but it’s worth remembering that the music is being added to what has already been visually made and edited; if a film has a bad narrative it will be hard for anything to save it. He says he still very much loves films – although understands why some people in this job role can fall out of love with them – and his DJ past/skills help a lot with having a very wide ranged knowledge of music. Something that is so essential in being a top music supervisor and standing out. But it isn’t all about just the music, being in his role. Knowing how to manage people is very important – you need to know how to adapt to any situation and be able to control numerous people and different factors, this including the director; being forceful in your expert opinion but being wary of not wanting to annoy them and step on their toes. All of this includes being able to handle not only deadlines, but also knock-backs. Not everyone is going to agree with your opinion in every single choice of music, or which composer is brought in – although he did tell us that, ironically, if a composer is pushed on him that he didn’t even want to work on the project and they aren’t that great, it all falls back on him. But that is just another thing you need to be able to handle. Ending the talk he stated that some films “are a dream” and others “are bonkers, which included a story he told us about one director that actually sneaked into the studio during the nights when everyone was gone, and was creating his own edits. Another example of difficult directors and situations.

 

Overall, although nothing that was spoken about really helped with my own personal audio project, I did really enjoy the talk as he was very engaging and I always like to hear from industry professionals; how they got to their roles, what they enjoy, and their own personal experiences. This being because becoming more aware of the actual business factors in the music industry – from film to recording studios – is something I am really keen to learn more about for the future.