notes and herself and their relationship with each other take on value.On the other hand, on the sea loch outside my house the yachts rest in the natural harbour - early in the morning the wind drives up the loch and howls through the masks rattling the halliards and the mainsails. The sound it makes is random and musical and full of the air it carries with it. This is my sound of the sea. This is where I will look to for the base of my exhibition soundscape. But still something is missing - something beautiful - I know I will recognise it when I hear it.
Showing posts with label soundscape. Show all posts
Showing posts with label soundscape. Show all posts
Friday, 10 October 2008
Rethinking Sound
I've been thinking a lot about the aspect of sound in the exhibition. I'm not sure that reproducing the sound of the waves crashing, or trickling, on to a beach is really what I'm after - even if I could achive it with my limited recording experience and equipment. Yes, I want to invoke the particular feelings of space and air and optimism that can be experienced near the sea but I'm not sure of the value of reproducing an atmospheric that may be better suited to a yoga studio or a reike room. I think if the sound is to be part of the exhbition it needs to bear the hallmark of art - or at least experiment. With the string sculptures almost complete, I allow my self some time to experiment - digitally manipulate the beach sounds and layer significant sound that I find around me. I stay close to home, this time, for my sound inspiration My daughter has a natural musicality - like many children she sings with nonsense words - language is abandoned and only the 
notes and herself and their relationship with each other take on value.On the other hand, on the sea loch outside my house the yachts rest in the natural harbour - early in the morning the wind drives up the loch and howls through the masks rattling the halliards and the mainsails. The sound it makes is random and musical and full of the air it carries with it. This is my sound of the sea. This is where I will look to for the base of my exhibition soundscape. But still something is missing - something beautiful - I know I will recognise it when I hear it.
notes and herself and their relationship with each other take on value.On the other hand, on the sea loch outside my house the yachts rest in the natural harbour - early in the morning the wind drives up the loch and howls through the masks rattling the halliards and the mainsails. The sound it makes is random and musical and full of the air it carries with it. This is my sound of the sea. This is where I will look to for the base of my exhibition soundscape. But still something is missing - something beautiful - I know I will recognise it when I hear it.
Friday, 3 October 2008
Sound
Working on the soundscape for the exhibition. I want to have a piece that is musical in nature but not instrument-oriented. I hope that by incorporating the sound of the sea that I can give a feeling of dimension rather than oppression to to the gallery visitor - to let them breath a little in the windowless gallery space. When confronted by the string in its new form, the spectator may need to to re-evaluate its meaning and re-align the relationship with the material. I think the sounds provided at this time may provide a key to that activity. So, I am trying to remove the oppressive dull whirring type noise that I have picked up onto my recordings of the sea. This recording was made at Port-no-Ba on Mull. I have found two ways, using audacity software to remove them. On way is by carrying out 'noise removal' which strips a particular selected noise from the track - I can select what I think is the bad sound and try to remove it . This leaves a nice tingling sound that I think is quite melodic - if just a little bit digital sounding Another technique I am exploring is to minimise the gain and restrict to only left hand sounds. This gives a dull, peaceful rhythmic sound that I thinks of as the base line. I think I'm moving in the right direction
Thursday, 11 September 2008
September - I take stock
Early September
With the figures almost ready and the beaches increasingly mean with their string, I decide to turn my focus to the other aspects of the exhibition. I want to create a sense of place, a context in which the figures and the visitors meet and understand each other. I imagine an installation rather than an exhibition. I decide to spread sand on areas of the floor space around the figures. This will cover the bases on which they stand and allow the figures to stand in sand but, more importantly, it will protect the visitor from any overcrowding of the figures. It will keep a sense of calm. Also, I will start to prepare a soundscape. Initially, I plan that the sound of the sea on the shore will form the base and that additional layers will form what could be a sound sculpture or at least the hint of a sculpture. The last thing I want to do is to take the sea shore and manipulate it. Sculpture is often about transformation – taking one thing and creating another and this is the case with the string. But I don’t want to create another thing from the sea sounds or from the sand. I think that to attempt to sculpt the sea is stupid and to sculpt the sand is silly. The sand can lie as it is. As for the soundscape, I think that I have two choices: either I record the sea and present it as is - as good a recording as I can get with my equipment - but at least honest. Or, I take elements of sound that may or may not be extracted from a recording of the sea and I transform these into something that references the sea and aims to invoke the feeling of being near the sea.
Gordon frm AnTobar emails to offer equipment for the soundscape – I will take up his offer when I spend a weekend on Mull later this month. In the meantime, I will explore the potential of soundscapes further.
With the figures almost ready and the beaches increasingly mean with their string, I decide to turn my focus to the other aspects of the exhibition. I want to create a sense of place, a context in which the figures and the visitors meet and understand each other. I imagine an installation rather than an exhibition. I decide to spread sand on areas of the floor space around the figures. This will cover the bases on which they stand and allow the figures to stand in sand but, more importantly, it will protect the visitor from any overcrowding of the figures. It will keep a sense of calm. Also, I will start to prepare a soundscape. Initially, I plan that the sound of the sea on the shore will form the base and that additional layers will form what could be a sound sculpture or at least the hint of a sculpture. The last thing I want to do is to take the sea shore and manipulate it. Sculpture is often about transformation – taking one thing and creating another and this is the case with the string. But I don’t want to create another thing from the sea sounds or from the sand. I think that to attempt to sculpt the sea is stupid and to sculpt the sand is silly. The sand can lie as it is. As for the soundscape, I think that I have two choices: either I record the sea and present it as is - as good a recording as I can get with my equipment - but at least honest. Or, I take elements of sound that may or may not be extracted from a recording of the sea and I transform these into something that references the sea and aims to invoke the feeling of being near the sea.
Gordon frm AnTobar emails to offer equipment for the soundscape – I will take up his offer when I spend a weekend on Mull later this month. In the meantime, I will explore the potential of soundscapes further.
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