Nonmusical Objects

TCS121: Intro to Sonic Arts

October 27, 2015

Blog 4

Reading: Caleb Kelly's Sound p. 28-40, 168-176, 181-185, 194-197

Several of these composers used non-musical objects to create music. To the masses, most people would view this not as music at all, but by John Cage, music does not even need intention to be produced. As long as there is a listener to receive it, we can call the piece music. I found it fascinating and eye-opening to learn that artists such as John Cage view what most people see as "non-musical objects", to be perfectly good instruments to produce a musical piece. Other artists, such as Alison Knowles, use objects to help create a sound, such as in Knowles' Nivea Cream Piece for Oscar Williams. Knowles utilized hand cream as a musical object in the sense that she wanted to create the sound of massaging hands. So objects used by composers don't necessarily have to produce a sound as is, such as running water, but objects could help create sound effects, such as cream being rubbed into numerous hands. 

Certain instructional pieces described by some of these sound artists are quite experimental and new to me, as I have not been immersed into sonic arts until taking this class. To read about performance pieces such as George Brecht's Incidental Music where there are 5 steps to interact with the piano, but not all those steps have you actually play a "traditional" piano musical piece, intrigued me and made me feel in awe. However, as I imagined myself watching this performance live, I would be confused as to what the message as, but also intrigued to hopefully learn what the artist's intent was, with these seemingly random acts that involve a piano, but not necessarily playing "traditional" music. 

I am definitely expanding my thoughts and perspective and what sound can do and what "sound" is, and am very much intrigued by what else we can do with experimenting with sound/different processes in creating sound. 

Freeing Sense of Hearing from Hibernation

TCS121: Intro to Sonic Arts

October 12, 2015

Blog 3

Thinking about my Project 1 assignment for TCS121. And I don't have a solid grasp on what I want to do yet. Just vague pieces of audio from different places I frequent come into mind. However, how do I want them all pieced together? Do I even want them all in one sound project? Do I want to create a story that defines my life at this moment? Do I want to create a messy collage of what makes up "Isabel"? Maybe none of it needs to make sense. Maybe sounds that remind me of moments in my life, fond beautiful lovely memories elicited from certain sounds. 

All these factors to consider make me realize that I am slowly understanding the vast amount of components sound artists have to think about. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. As a visual artist/designer, it's refreshing to put my sense of vision aside, and turn on my sense of hearing to "hyperaware", bringing it out of hibernation. 

After learning how to listen, I now have to learn how to create meaning from sounds I record myself and piece together. I have some experience from putting together images and recorded video together to create a certain mood and emotion, but stripping away visuals entirely and only relying on audio to elicit a mood or sensation is new to me. However, listening to Thomas Koner’s Novaya Zemlya, which was a beautiful and haunting experience and sensation, started to influence me on my hearing skills. By thinking about the sounds and remembering the emotions and feelings I felt as I listened to this piece, I have a better idea on how to dissect a soundscape as well as have a better grasp of how certain sounds can affect or alter the tone of a piece. 

Response: Sound Map of the Hudson River - Annea Lockwood

TCS121: Intro to Sonic Arts

October 4, 2015

Blog 2

While listening to Annea Lockwood's Sound Map of the Hudson River, I was brought back to my summer adventures with one of my best friends. 

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I used my laptop to listen to this piece while I was in my bedroom. Besides listening, I was going back and forth between my room and the bathroom brushing my teeth for the first part of the sound map. Later on I was organizing myself and preparing for the week ahead by writing in my planner. In between all that, I was on social media on my phone and my laptop. Throughout the whole piece I did not stop the recording or stop listening because I wanted to hear it flow as it should be as one continuous piece. Because I was doing other things during most of the recording, my concentration was not solely focused on the piece, except for a few minutes at the end when I was just sitting and listening, trying to pick out the different elements that composed this sound map. 

While listening, I did feel a sense of nostalgia for the summer, especially for one memory when one of my best friends and I went to Garden of Eden in Santa Cruz to explore the hidden watering hole. The sounds of the water rushing in the soundmap instantly brought me back to this moment in time, which was a happy memory for me. I was able to feel the same sense of freedom, openness, and felt once again one with nature like I did back during the summer. 

This sound map is different from the ones we looked at online on Thursday because this does not have any voice over and it does not emphasize certain sounds within that space or seem like it is traveling through a space, like the audio walk example we heard. This sound map is different from that because it sounds as if the recorder was stationary, and recorded from the same fixed location near a river amongst nature and wild animals. 

It might be related to what we heard in class last Thursday to the sound map of the world. Those recordings were all snippets of soundscapes from a fixed point in that country's specific city. They did not attempt to make the listener interpret the sound differently or try to create a certain sensation or emotion. It was objectively there for listeners to hear what it sounds like in that particular region. 

Learning

TCS121: Intro to Sonic Arts

October 1, 2015

Blog 1

Audio.

Noise.

Sonics.

Silence.

Sound.

I never really focused on what I hear during my daily life. As a graphic designer and a cinephile, I have always been all about visuals. Anything else was secondary, almost nonexistent. However, as I got older, I have taken moments where I take time for myself. To take a breather, reflect, breathe. And in these moments, I do take notice of my environment with all my senses. I see the sunlight coming through the tree branches. I feel the leaves crunching underneath my feet. I smell the freshly cut grass along the path. I hear the birds chirping, leaves rustling in the wind, and the faded murmur of far off traffic. Then I return back to responsibilities and focus on other errands and tasks, putting my focus on my sense of hearing on the backburner.

Within just this first week of Introduction to Sonic Arts, I have already become an admirer for different sounds, and am fascinated by the components that make up a soundscape. I have paid attention, on a number of occasions, to my surroundings. However, I never attempted to really hone in on each individual sound component that made up that soundscape. Once I started to, wherever I went, I realized different sounds that are closer in distance are louder, while sounds farther away are softer or almost muffled. With several sounds together, creates a multilayered beautiful image of what that environment is like.

One of our exercises for class on Tuesday was going on a soundwalk. I have never done this, where my stroll was to focus only on the sounds I encountered. It was a delightful experience because I was able to take a break from sitting inside for several hours, and get some sunshine and just take in my surroundings. Because I was solely focused on hearing, it made me feel like I was in my own little world. My eyes were on the ground, watching what my feet would step on next, or go up and see the leaves rustling in the window, or right and left to hear the bikes that swooshed past me, or see what made that interesting sound just then. I was instructed to specifically listen through my feet and pay attention to rhythmic sounds. What I paid attention to then, was the different effects my feet created when I stepped on different textures. For instance, dried leaves crunching sounded much differently than on smooth stone paths or freshly cut grass. I also noticed rhythms such as when the wind would rustle through leaves, bike wheels squeaking to its own beat as one pedaled by, or the rhythms of a far off train’s whistle and whirring of air conditioners hanging out from the windows of buildings.

Silence is a fascinating concept. Some agree that silence is pure silence. Others believe that there is indeed, no such thing as silence. I myself am uncertain if there really is a pure silence. Some believe there is silence when all other sounds are silenced. Others believe silence does not actually exist, because within that “silence” there is a sound, such as a buzzing or some other subtle effect. Either way, “silence” can be an incredible effect. It allows one to focus and step back from a busy, chaotic moment.

In regards to “silence”, I am incredibly jealous of those who were able to experience anechoic chambers. I have never heard such a thing until last week, and when I heard what one can experience, I was instantly intrigued. The sounds are absorbed so well, that the decibels that are present in the air are negative. And one would be able to hear two sounds: their nervous system and the blood rushing through their veins. To be so quiet that one only is able to hear internal sounds is incredible to me. All other external sounds are literally stripped away and all you are able to focus on is yourself. To be able to do so sounds like an incredible experience.

Sound is finally taking a step forward in my life. It is slowly something that I am training myself to understand and analyze, since I have grown up to be a more visual person. However, it has been so far a new but engaging experience to focus more on the sounds of my surroundings. Who knows, maybe I’ll be better off describing certain events in my life by iconic sounds rather than key visuals.