Category Archives: Sonic Doing and Thinking

Radio Art and Approach: Impressionism vs Expressionism

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Impressionist art was created in the early 1860’s, this art approach was founded by Claude Monet. Impressionist artists paint nature in a realistic way, instead of using a studio and its lighting, impressionists found that they were able to capture capture natural landscapes by working in front of their subjects using natural lighting.

Impressionists rejected the “fine art” movement and rebelled against what would have been in their time the classic way of creating art and the standard subject matter. They wanted their work to reflect modernity and the world that they lived in, they specifically focused on lighting and how it could capture a moment and the use of varying colours to create a more natural definition instead of the traditional black lines. This form of art is still used by artists today and the inspiration for many of today’s works.

Expressionists art incorporates the artists image of reality with their feelings and ideas. Because of this their artwork tends to use strong brush strokes which tend to be highly textured. The use of colour can be quite intense, this is all dependent on the artists feelings and emotions at the time.

Thinking about radio art, I can imagine something such as a spoken word poem being impressionist whilst perhaps a drama piece using strong sound effects would be expressionist. I would like to experiment with both of these approaches before deciding what my stance is in regards to which I prefer.

Resonance FM

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Considering the work we create will be broadcasted on Resonance FM, I thought It’d be pretty helpful to gage an understanding of what kinds of works this radio station hosts. Self described as “the world’s first radio art station”, Resonance offers a vast range of shows unique to this station, including non-English programmes aimed at marginalised communities. Resonance strives, and proves, to be inclusive, and to me, is a gateway for knowledge on niche topics. Resonance not only entertains, but educates.

Founded in 1998 as a temporary project on the Southbank, Resonance FM gained popularity from its difference from other radio stations. Being brought back in 2002, then moved to its current location in Borough High Street in 2007, Resonance has gained its prominence through not only its “Programmer of the Year” award to Ed Baxter (programme controller) and its nomination, but also through its shows that no other station offers.

Overall, I am inspired by Resonance through its creativity and freedom of what you can broadcast. Taking this on board, I would like to take my research from my previous posts and accomodate that to Resonance’s standards for my piece.

Radio Art- What Is It?

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Though there are other forms of art that solely focus on one sense, radio art is unique in its ability to fully engage and expose the listener’s ear to a wide range of sound. We often think of the radio as something we tune into mindlessly when cooking Sunday brunch, or taking a quick drive in the car. But delving deeper into its world, I’ve come to recognise radio as an art form just as expressive as any other.

Similar to streaming music, radio is an entirely aural art form, meaning that any sounds heard are carefully curated to fit the composers’ intention. However, unlike streaming music, radio pieces are often left forgotten and undiscovered by the masses, which beautifully leaves space for it to be as experimental and narrative as possible. This promotes close, attentive listening, continuous listening.

One of the first notable radio art pieces, broadcasted on Radio Frankfurt in 1924, was Zauberei auf dem Sender: Versuch euner Rundfunkgroteske (Wizardry on the Air: Attempt at a Radio Grotesque). Hans Flesch created created this piece by fusing together elements of radio documentary, soundscape recordings, and electroacoustic music. Though this is a piece I have only read about, it interests me through it’s fusion of fiction and reality. In this piece, Flesch sets his scene in the broadcast studio, fictionalising it by using “sonic illusions” to create his story of a wizard interrupting the broadcast. This shows how radio art can go beyond boundaries, creating a listening experience like no other.

On a more modern note, we can take a look at Gregory Whitehead and his “screamscape”. Described by Whitehead himself as at times feeling like a “psycho-acoustic descent into primeval chaos”, preparation for his broadcast included weeks of receiving peoples’ screams through his “screamline” and “screamroom”, which was then monitored. What I love about Whitehead’s preparation for his broadcast is that it feels almost like a scientific investigation, which it kind of proved to be- upon monitoring the scream flow, Whitehead came to realise the sounds of the screams through the phone became distorted, with the technology not able to process such vocal power. This could be considered the first stage of creating the art, as it’s no longer the raw voices (screams) of the caller, the quality has been manipulated using technology, even if unintended.

All in all, radio art can be as imaginative as you make it, well as long as it follows radio regulations, and can have just as much as an artistic impact as a painting, song or installation. Birthed from the Futurist and Dadaist movements, there’s no wonder radio art strives to be abstract, using soundscapes, to be a part of sound art in a general sense.

i don’t like the city so i sleep instead

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This piece is made up of three stages: the city, the dreamstate, and the disorientation of waking up. 

The city growls, the city startles, the city is uncomfortable. I wanted to recreate these unpleasant sounds of the city, so I did. The “helicopter” sound at the beginning, created synthetically in Protools, was the basis for this piece, with everything being built around this unsettling yet delicate sound. To exemplify this unsettling sound, I added water sounds, which people often describe prompts them to need the toilet. Adding these water sounds is a slight experiment on my half, in my much longer research into how to force the listener into physical uncomfortability. The constant bell sound throughout this part of the piece, it’s a slight grounding, as it is distinctive amongst the other sounds, bringing the listener away from the darker uncomfortability. 

The second part of this piece is indicated by the introduction of the “white noise”, which is actually also a water sound. This is the dreamstate. When we dream, unfortunately it is not always possible to escape entirely, and oftentimes we take with us these city sounds, our current situations into our dreams. We don’t feel rested when we wake up.

Hence, when our alarms go off in the morning, we often feel disorientated. As I do not like the ending of my piece, it shows it has executed the intended effect. There is a nice rhythmic pattern creating a grounding, representing the consciousness of being awake. The bell sounds have turned away from being that grounding, and instead exemplify the disorientation, now almost replicating the iPhone alarm. The city sounds reenter, showing that even just waking up, the city always engulfs us; we cannot seek peace in the city, not even when we sleep. 

When playing this piece to my brother, he was mildly disturbed. He described it as “on beat but completely out of time”. Particularly at the ending of the piece, but even throughout, there is a sense of unsteadiness with the timing, which is representative of the disorientation I earlier explained, and also the internal imbalance of energies being in the city brings upon us. My brother also described parts of the piece as sounding like he was “being eaten”. The low growling “helicopter” sounds, and the rustling that enters at 42 seconds seemed to have a “synaesthesic” effect on him, where he physically felt like he was in danger, like he was literally being eaten. Perhaps this is indicative of the fact that the city does eat us; we become another pawn part of society, being drained by work and disharmony, only to receive nothing but a semi fulfilled life that we lose once we die.

I am hoping for the same or a similar effect on all listeners of this piece that it had on my brother. I am also hoping, however, that the listener is able to grasp onto the small grounding parts of the piece, and that somewhere in this amalgamation of uncomfortability, there is peace and happiness to be found. 

This is my reflective writing for my first sound piece I created. It was very hard to begin- thinking of a concept was very difficult, but reflecting on the sound walk, I wanted to at least imitate the un-comfortability I felt when listening to the sounds of the city.

Here is a private link to my sound piece 🙂

Creating Sonic Realities: Field Recordings and Concrete Sounds

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Ether microphones work by picking up vibrations from objects and surfaces, which are then converted to sound. This means that using an ether microphone, one is able to listen to sounds of electronic signals, radio, and even conversations. So it can be used to eavesdrop, or, on the beautiful flip side, create sound works and art in unconventional ways, ways that incorporate our everyday lives.

That’s exactly what Christina Kubisch did, with her sound work, Electrical Walks. Starting in 2003, Kubisch introduced her project to urban landscapes, presenting visitors with headphones that trace the electro-magnetic fields os the setting which they are used in. By moving and taking your personal journey, you become the director of what you perceive in this sound piece when taking part in an Electrical Walk. Here is a demonstration of what participating in an Electrical Walk would look like:

When watching this video, I question; are we subconciously intaking these unsettling frequencies and vibrations? Is that why we, particuarly those of us living within cities, feel so fatigued all the time, why our minds never stop racing?

Regardless, Kubisch’s walks prove a beautiful point; you don’t need technical ability to be involved in creating sound art 🙂

Building Contact Microphones.

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Contact microphones are a great way to record sound without picking up any air vibrations. Made using piezo discs (made of brass disc and crystal), they need direct contact with the source of sound to amplify it- or when used experimentally in certain settings, to even hear the sound at all. Contact microphones are a great way of recording acoustic instruments, such as guitar. After building my contact microphone, I used it to record my double bass, which I will go more into depth about later in this post.

By soldering, the piezo discs are attached to a TRS cable. It is very important when putting the mic together, that the connections do not touch each other. If this happens (as it did in my experience), the microphone will not work. Similarly, if the piezo disc becomes damaged, its sensitivity will be decreased, meaning that more gain will be needed to record, or it will no longer pick up sound.

Here is a visual demonstration of how to put together a contact mic:

Once I’d built my mic, I used it to record double bass. I noticed that it was very hard to pick up sound. I realised this was because the piezo disc must’ve been damaged. However, when using an impedance transformer, the “buzz” was reduced, so I was able to turn the gain up, which allowed me to pick up the sound.

Sonic Doing and Thinking 2: Sound walk.

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Sometimes, I do just shut my eyes whilst walking. It helps when I’m listening to music in headphones to visualise prettier images than our London streets. With this in mind, I was sure the sound walk would be a calming and easy experience for me. However, there is something very different about having to wear a blindfold, and partake in this experience amongst a group of people.

The first location of the sound walk was the underpass by Forest Hill station. It wasn’t a pleasant experience, as the most prominent sounds were the traffic and the train rumble. There were other uncomfortable sounds, such as squeaking gates, clanging bicycle chains, rushed footsteps and train announcements over the station tannoy. Although I still haven’t thought of a concept for the piece I will create for this unit, reflecting now, I’m linking these sounds to my thoughts on expressing the feeling of pain synaesthesia.

The next location was a small alley behind the train platform. The most prominent sound in this space was the sound of multiple messages being announced over different tannoys. I resonated with this sound. The last clear message we heard before taking off our blindfolds was “if you see something suspicious, please report it”, which although is a general TFL message that is announced all the time, as a collective, we felt as though we were the suspicious activity taking place, because of our blindfolds. To me, this highlighted the vulnerability we were all feeling not being able to see our surroundings, and is perhaps something I’d like to capture in a sound I record later.

At the third location, we split into pairs, taking turns to be blindfolded. Whilst I was guiding, I found it difficult to not speak to my partner, as they seemed very untrusting and nervous. I feel as though as a result, the experience was partially ruined for her. I’d love to ask her about this, and perhaps do another walk where we keep in complete silence to compare each experience. Whilst it was my turn to be guided, though there were pretty sounds dipping in and out of earshot (birdsong, whistling, chimes), it was very hard not to focus almost solely on the sound of footsteps, and grass being kicked. As a very rhythmic sound, I feel as though the footsteps on the grass kept me grounded throughout the walk, however it felt very loud in my head which was discomforting. In my head now, an idea is being formed about the relationship between senses of familiarity and comfort.

The final location was Sydenham Hill Wood. Again, like in Horniman Museum Gardens, I found it very difficult not to focus on the sounds of footsteps. I did find it easier to guide my partner without talking, as the longer we walked for, the longer the trust built.

Overall, I feel there were a couple of lessons to be taken away from this experience. I now believe that we as humans need to pay more attention to our surroundings, particularly nature. It is now almost instinct for us to plug in our headphones when going about our daily activities, that our minds aren’t as tuned into and perceptive of the sounds that the world itself creates. With practice, I will be able to hear the little prettier sounds, instead of mainly just my footsteps, on a soundwalk. I wonder how different this experience would be in a setting outside of London, where there are less city sounds, and on ground that isn’t as textured, so the sounds my feet make aren’t as prominent.

Sound Pieces: Annea Lockwood, Burning Piano ; Jose Macabra, Eye of the Beholder
Sound Artists: Francisco Lopez, Chris Watson

Sonic Doing and Thinking 1

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Books That will help me:
– Sonic Experience: A Guide to Everyday Sounds, Augoyard
– Practical Recording Techniques, Bartlett
– Audio Culture: Readings in Modern Music, Warner
– Background Noise: Perspectives on Sound, LaBelle
– Spaces Speak, Are You Listening?

We received our assignment brief, to create an original sound composition with a reflective writing piece, due on the 25th of November. I will need to create four internal and four external audio recordings which i can use to create my composition.

TED Talk by Pauline Oliveros: Oliveros spoke about the difference between hearing and listening, a lifelong practice that involves connecting what you hear with your ears to the mind. I loved when she spoke about recording in The Cistern, which taught her the importance of listening, and how space can influence and shape the sound. After watching this TED Talk, I am very interested in listening the the art Oliveros and the musicians alongside her created in The Cictern (Deep Listening by Lapiz Lapuzi).

In the second part of this session, Milo handed out “oblique strategy” cards, which are designed to spark inspiration when at a creative block. My card read “make a blank valuable by putting it in an exquisite frame”, which immediately helped to form ideas of how I could go about creating my composition for my assignment brief. I am going to experiment with working with just drones, and what nature sounds I can use to make it “exquisite”, and hopefully this will help me to create a concept I can express.

I learnt that the basic number system that we use around Europe is called base 10, and is inherited from Arabic culture. The other number system we use in Europe is base 2, also knows as binary. It represents numbers only in 0s and 1s. For example:
– 6 would be represented as 0110
– 7 would be represented as 0111
-5 would be represented as 0101
These would all be known as 4bit information. 5bit information would look like:
– 10 represented as 01010
– 9 represented as 01001.
A CPU (Central Processing Unit) works in binary, so this is key information to build an actual understanding of bit depth, and sample rate, which affect the quality of recordings and production.

The hardware environment is anything physical, external that we use to create sounds and music. This can include the apple “ecosystem”, interfaces, monitors, etc.
The software environment is anything we can use to create inside of the system, which is a large range of different tools for different purpose. Being introduced to the wide range of software available at UAL, I am now aware that music can be created through code (Arduino, Super Collider, Wave Agent), and that I do not need to stick to the linear constraints of Logic when using new DAWs (Ableton Live, Pro-Tools).

My main takeaway from this session was my interest in the cistern. When Pauline Oliveros spoke about its ability to shape the composition she created, it made me think; how can I create or find a space with similar abilities to the cistern? For a long while now I’ve had a creative block, but perhaps in an environment where the sound is being nurtured for me, it will be easier to start creating again. When researching into cisterns, it came as a surprise to me that their intended use is to store and catch water. With this in mind, I am going to look for settings that have an intended purpose of something that helps us as humans (like with the cistern), and see how being and recording in that environment can help me to create again.