Analyzing Abstract Sounds

Katajjait on Hamma

How do these formal elements support the overall feeling of the work?
Presented within the piece are a variety of rhythms.  They are interrupted by pauses in the work.  After each pause a new rhythm is introduced.  The change in rhythm after a pause is the key factor that keeps the audience engaged.

Is there a story? If so, how do the formal qualities support, or distract us from the story?

The sound reinterprets a story of human beings in animal characteristics (much like the human/animal fight scene in the movie "Mean Girls").  The figures are chasing one another for a competition.  At each break in the piece resembles the victim hiding from the enemy as the break begins with a heavy breath which faints away.  The chase is on going until the last verse where the enemy caught the victim and laughs for their victory.

What is the spatial quality of this piece? Is there a pyramid of sound? How does space influence our interpretation of the work?
A pyramid of sounds does occur in all different rhythms.  A foreground, middle ground, and background are all included and constantly playing simultaneously for a certain span of time.  The space is not very wide but not too close together to seem cluttered.  The artist was successful in using the right amount of space to express an adrenaline feel to the piece.

Why is this work interesting to you (be specific – describe the parts that fascinate you). OR, why is it not interesting to you?
The work is so abstract that it attracts my attention.  I am fascinated by the change in tempo/pitch and rhythm.  I especially like how each sound ends with a human like voice after an abstract animal like noise. (laughs, breathing, etc.)

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Shi

How do these formal elements support the overall feeling of the work?
The piece has many flat toned periods of sound interrupted by the high pitched sounds that grab the audience's attention.

Is there a story? If so, how do the formal qualities support, or distract us from the story?
Listening to the sound clip I hear an explosion of noises.  I envision a rocket ship going out of control as the pilot is panicking to fix the problem by pushing any button possible for a safe landing.

What is the spatial quality of this piece? Is there a pyramid of sound? How does space influence our interpretation of the work?
The space between sounds does not exist.  There is no pyramid of sound as the sounds individually follow one another.

Why is this work interesting to you (be specific – describe the parts that fascinate you). OR, why is it not interesting to you?
I admire the chaos of this piece.  It forces me to listen more closely to every sound to determine what is taking place rather than a self explanatory boring sound piece.

September 25, 2008

3 Things I learned today:

1) Today in class we explored the importance of brainstorming.  We free wrote for 5 minutes about topics that interest us the most.  From these topics we narrowed them down to one topic for our research piece.  I chose dance as my topic because that has been my life time passion.

2) During class we were introduced to the approach of planning out our sound project.  Being confused and stumped, I requested for the class to discuss my topic for support and incite.  This was very helpful as I was given a variety of ideas as to how to begin my recordings.  I think I will take the approach to incorporate sounds and beats of teaching a variety of dance types.

3) During critiques today, my understanding of pitch, timber, and rhythm were expanded.  Going into my abstract project I was a little shaky on the definitions.  However, as an audio and visual learner, I was able to fully encounter the correct definition and meaning behind the particular definitions.  

Six Questions on Topic: 

1) What is your favorite place to dance?

2) What does dance sound like?

3) Why do you dance?

4) Why is dancing important to you?

5) How does it make you feel?

6) When does the dance mood strike?

Why does my topic interest me?  All my life I have been dancing.  I grew up at the same studio with the same group of girls who became my family.  My choreographers became my mentors and guardians.  Being able to dance is the icing on my life.  I was nervous, coming to college that I would not find my niche dance wise.  I tried out for the dance team but things had not worked out in my favor, although my tryout went extremely well and I made it through all cuts.  However, I did not love the atmosphere.  Enrolling my time in danceworks (a dance club at SU) I found my love and passion making my college experience complete.  I am excited to pursue my time within the club.

September 18, 2008

What I learned in class today:

1)  Today we listened to several abstract sounds of our peers.  I noticed many different ways of how to fix my own sounds and make them stronger.  Listening to Pete's sounds not only encouraged me but intimidated me to enhance and redo my own sounds.  He mastered the art of an intriguing rhythm that caught everyone's attention.

2) After being inspired by Pete, I played on Sound Studio and experienced different filters.  I favored the pitch and tempo filter, realizing I could slow down/expand or speed up/collapse various sounds.  I also enjoyed the backward tool.  After experimenting I found using the backward tool on a bell created a cool sound as if it was in Star-trek or another space movie.

3)  During critiques my peers liked how my piece contained space and they were able to travel the journey with the sound clip and were able to conclude the exterior and interior settings.  However, I understood that my pyramid of sounds were not clear.  To make it more distinct, I plan on lowering the amplitude in order for the foreground to not tune out the mid ground.  In addition, I plan to add more abstract sounds to interrupt the solid and concrete sounds.

Art of Noises

1) How do you think Russolo would feel in a world without simultaneous sound?  Explain your answer based upon what you have learned about Russolo's philosophies of sound from the article.

Russolo would go insane without simultaneous sound.  He seems to enjoy the variety of sounds layered together as he expresses how the futuristic sounds will increase.  He illustrates that machinery will expand the library of sounds; not by imitating nature, but by creating new instruments.

2) Does Russolo value "noise"?  Do you value it?  Why or Why not.

Yes, Russolo values noise, as do I.  I value sound rather than music because sound is a different approach to pleasant noise to the ear.  I am fascinated by the way one can take out one element of music (harmony, beat, or melody) and create a sound.  Abstract sound is different and ironically amusing allowing the audience to incorporate their own story behind the sound.

3) What is the role of noise in the media you enjoy (ie. games, films, radio, news, music)?

Noise is produced in all forms of media.  Even though the radio contains a lot music, noises are squeezed into the background of commercials.  Electronic games also present sounds dependent on the actions of the audience throughout the game.  For example, when a character succeeds a rewarding sound is revealed.  During films, sounds are apparent as well every time the characters preform an action as little as shutting a door or as large as blowing up a building.

http://www.ubu.com/papers/russolo.html

September 11, 2008

Three most important things I learned in class today:

1) Today we began class by experiencing our first classroom critique.  We spent a good amount of time reviewing Matt's Environmental Sound piece.  We gave him feedback on how his sounds were very repetitive.  We learned the tape rule; where the artist must remain silent during their critique or their mouths will be taped shut!  Critiques are very helpful to receive encouraging feedback to improve your pieces.  In addition, they teach everyone how to take criticism in a positive rather than negative manner.

2) Next we explored the differences between pitch, tone, rhythm, and timber.  I learned that pitch is a high note unexpectedly interrupting another group of sounds.  Tone is the repetition of one sound playing in a series of others.  Rhythm is repetition in a series of sound and timber is a sound that explains what materials are being used.  We used handcrafted instruments to make our own sounds to explain the different vocabulary.

3) I learned what three parts make up music; harmony, melody, and beat.  With all three components music is created, which is not allowed in our class.  However, if you take one component away, the music turns into abstract sounds, which we are able to produce within our projects.

September 4, 2008

30 Minutes of Listening Reflection:

Listening for thirty minutes of sounds was a complete new experience for me.  Closing my eyes gave me a new interpretation of the beauty of sounds.  Instead of hearing everything as many noises piled together, every sound became distinct.  When only focusing on sounds, they sound a lot different than when your preoccupied with other things on your mind.  Closer sounds would break the simplistic ambient sound in the background.  I enjoyed hearing the traffic begin close to myself and fade into the air within seconds.  Professor Beffel proposed an exercise where she rang a bell which magically changed our thought of sound.  It was shockingly impressive to understand that an interruption can completely trigger your train of thought.  I also learned that there is no such thing as silence.  Whether there are noises or not in the room your in, your mind is consistently producing thoughts, which generates sound.

Learning Styles Survey

1) As an active learner I can study in a group as different members take turns explaining each topic to each other.  I will retain more information if I study with others.

2) As a sensor learner if i connect the material I am learning to real life situations, I will retain more information.

3) As a visual learner I should try to look at photos, diagrams, charts, etc. to see the information visually to retain the most information as possible.

September 4, 2008

Three most important things I learned in class today:

1) In class we went on a journey to an open field where we clustered in the left corner near the road.  We were discussing sounds when Professor Beffel brought up the point that there is never silence.  There is always some sort of noise in the background whether they are voices in your head, a slight hum, or ringing in your ears.  I never had thought of silence never existing until Professor Beffel began the discussion.  It was a fascinating fact to encounter.

2)    2) During class we were introduced to audio recorders.  We were able to discover the different opportunities the recorders allowed us to use.  I learned the difference between he 120 and 90 frequency; discovering that 90 picks up less background sound waves than 120, which has a larger sound range.  The audio recorder was an interesting device that was fun and simple to use after following the tutorial.

3)    3) Professor Beffel introduced the program Sound Studio 3 to all her students.  The audio mixing program was exciting to experiment with.  After learning the basics, my group and I were able to record foreground, midground, and background sounds throughout the quad and import them into Sound Studio.  We were able to layer and mix them together to produce one sound stream.  For our first project we are assigned to make our own sound stream.  I am interested in experimenting with dorm distraction sounds.  I am very excited to begin this project!