David Ogborn (dktr0)
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MEDIAART 2G03: Sound Art Term Project

The sound art term project in the course is a complete, short work of sound art, that engages with many (perhaps all) of the practices explored in the course, while exploring genres/concepts/sounds of compelling personal interest. You should organize your work so that you are bringing work in progress to tutorial sessions no later than the week of Mon 23 Nov. The final version of the project is due on Avenue by 10 PM on Thu 3 Dec. You'll have the option of sharing the work in Acousmatic for the People concerts between 7-18 Dec.

Requirements

Sound sources: The project must substantially engage with at two or more of the four "sound-sourcing" practices from the course:

  • Practice #2: make high-quality close and distant perspective field recordings with a field recorder
  • Practice #3: make high-quality, low-noise voice recordings in a controlled environment
  • Practice #6: make new sounds via exploratory transformations of your own original recordings
  • Practice #7: use multiple techniques to create and record original synthesized sounds

Additional requirements: Additionally, the project must meet all of the following requirements to be accepted for credit in the course:

  • It must be at least 3 minutes in duration
  • It must be based primarily/overwhelmingly on new sounds recorded/created specifically for this project
  • It must be rendered as a WAV file, with a sample rate of 48000 Hz and a bit depth of 24 bits
  • It must have a peak sample at –0.3 dBFS (i.e. Practice #5 in the course)
  • It must be accompanied by a PDF document that details the recording/sound creation process, and which provides metacommentary on 3-5 additional creative decisions taken during the completion of the work (more about this below)
  • It must be submitted in a ZIP folder that includes both rendered WAV file and PDF/DOCX metacommentary

Note 1: You don't need to submit your working Reaper project folder as part of an initial submission of a complete work of sound art. However, you should make sure to hold on to it, as we may ask for it later if we have questions about the process of making it (the comments about doing your own work in the course outline), and if we ask you to resubmit it because it didn't meet one of the requirements you'd probably also need to go back and continue working from what you already have!

Note 2: borrowed/pre-existing sounds may be used sparingly, so long as the project is based primarily/overwhelmingly on new sounds recorded/created by you specifically for this project. Please be sure to include complete documentation of any borrowed/pre-existing sounds you use in your complete works of sound art.

Helpful Notes

Below are some further notes about particular aspects or possibilities of the project, in case they are helpful.

Field Recording

A first thing to note is that high quality stereo field recording is probably not something you can do with your phone or laptop. The Zoom H4N recorders that are available through the Media Arts equipment bank will be the way to go for most of you, as these are very available to the class and produce high quality stereo field recordings ("XY" recordings to be specific...).

For field recordings, it can be helpful to choose a place (and perhaps also a time and/or social context) at which to make field recordings, then to visit this place and make detailed written notes about the elements of the soundscape there/then, separate from the act of recording. It's a good idea to make many recordings and then later select from those that you think will work best after listening to them separate from the recording situation (eg. later, in a quiet place, taking notes).

Explore different microphone positions and distances– and don’t overlook the significant possibilities afforded by close microphone positions (to sources) in ambient situations AND/OR recordings made while (carefully) moving with the recorder. Generally speaking you will want to avoid handling noise and the effect of direct wind on the microphones.

Voice Recording

According to the course outline, the Voice requirement in the course is to "Create and submit a complete work of sound art that emphasizes low noise voice recording, no later than the last day of classes (Thu 4 Dec)."

A first thing to note here is that low noise voice recording can be made in many different environments and with many different types of equipment, sometimes including everyday devices like cell phones. However, by far and away the clearest, most low-noise, most engaging voice recordings will likely be made with specialized microphones and ultra-low-noise environments like the Surround Sound Studio in TSH-208 (available to all students registered in this course). As the semester gets underway, we'll conduct some "open studio sessions" outside of class time to orient as many people as possible to the use of this space. You are welcome to use other possibilities available to you, and in cases asked to listen very closely to the results you are getting to ensure that they are genuinely low noise recordings.

A second thing to note is that low-noise voice recordings can take many different forms. There are human and animal voices. Voices might be singing or speaking or whispering or screaming (or many other things beyond those possibilities). Projects might take the form of podcasts, radioplays, musical compositions, audiobooks, etc etc etc - anything that features low-noise voice recordings in some way! It's fine to just have a single voice/performer, but you are welcome to explore multiple/contrasting voices/performers too.

Scripts

If you are working with voice performers other than yourself (of perhaps even if it is just yourself), creating a printed script/outline can often make a big difference to conducting efficient and successful recording sessions. You may wish to consider designing contrasting voices into scripts that involve multiple voices. Note: Please be very careful with any plan that has the potential for stereotype or caricature, and consider whether the result of such a plan could be construed as demeaning, mean, dehumanizing, etc (if so, do something else, please and thank you).

Voice Performers

While you may use yourself as a voice performer, don't overlook the significant possibilities for learning and varied artistic outcomes that come from working with other people as voice performers (it also lets you concentrate on recording). If you go this route, realize that scheduling is an inherent challenge of working collaboratively with others. If you are using the Surround Sound Studio, I strongly recommend (a) attending an orienting open studio session before working with other performers, and (b) asking your performers to come 15 minutes into your booked studio session, so that you can get everything working before other people are there.

Original synthesized sounds

"Original synthesized sounds" means sounds created by you exercising direct control over numerous synthesis parameters and/or the way that synthesis elements are connected to each other. It does not mean using synthesizer presets to just play "notes" (although a work that emphasizes original synthesized sounds might ALSO include presets that are just playing notes).

Some examples of potential formats that might easily address this practice (and/or the exploratory transformations practice): acousmatic compositions ("cinema for the ear"), detailed theatrical or video sound designs (created specifically for this project), live coding performances, sound tracks for hypothetical video games, etc etc etc. There are certainly other possibilities as well! We will do ideation and composition exercises for this requirement (like the other requirements) during our full-class meetings - so be sure to attend.

Metacommentary

All submissions of a complete work of sound art require accompanying metacommentary. As specified above, these projects need to "be accompanied by a PDF document that details the recording/sound creation process, and which provides metacommentary on 3-5 additional creative decisions taken during the completion of the work".

So, create a PDF document that details the recording/sound creation process you followed. Be specific about times, locations, equipment, and choices made during recording/sound creation (e.g. synthesis or exploratory sound transformation). Then provide commentary on 3-5 additional creative decisions taken during the completion of the work. For each decision, point specifically to the time-point in your project (e.g. 2m10s) where the effect of the decision is audible to any of us. Don't submit metacommentary in formats other than the required PDF format, as they will possibly be unreadable to the people who need to read them.

Have fun!

Have fun, good luck and don't hesitate to bring up questions in our full-class meetings, in tutorials, or in office hours with me (Dr. 0)!