Audio Project Proposal

The concept for my next audio project involves creating a journey through some snow-covered woods, and into a frozen lake. At the end of the piece, I will try to create the impression that the person is waking up, and that the entire journey was a dream. In order to create the right ambiance, I think I'll need the following sound clips:


- someone walking through snow
- forest noises (birds chirping, wind blowing)
- maybe some music for the forest
- ice cracking
- water splashing
- bubbles
- under-water noises
- rain (to transition from the lake to consciousness)
- wind chimes
- birds

I think that I'm going to try to use the sound file I created for our first audio project for the "waking up" portion. I know that this concept sounds kind of abstract right now, but hopefully it will come together better once it's done. I'm sure there are other noises I'll think of as the project progresses, but for now I think this is a pretty good starting point.

Sound Art

I listened to the live concert by Steve Reich at UC Berkeley University Museum that was recorded on November 7, 1970. First of all, I think that the performance piece was amazing. I thought I would get bored with the repetitive music, but then I realized that rather than being monotonous, all of these pieces are extraordinarily dynamic. During Four Organs, you begin to anticipate the next steps in the rhythm by focusing in on the different layers of music being played. At first each rhythm seems separate and you can tell that there are four distinct instruments being played in the piece, but by the end they all meld together under the rhythmic beat of the maraca. Without even one of these layers, the entire piece would be vastly different. The My Name Is piece was very interesting because by looping simple sound clips, all meaning is taken away from the actual words used. After awhile you stop hearing individual words, and you just begin to hear the patterns in voice tonality used in each clip. When two "my name is" clips are superimposed onto each other, the effect is somewhat disorienting but has the same result as looping in that meaning is taken away from the individual names, and the focus is placed on how the sounds mesh together. I liked the Piano Phase piece because it was constantly changing. Two pianos begin playing in synchronization, and slowly one piano begins playing out of time. The result is that new melodies are constantly being produced, patterns of sound that are present for just a moment before being reabsorbed into a new rhythm. The final piece was Phase Patterns. This composition, along with the rest of them, seems to lull you into a trance with its repetitive yet ever-changing rhythms. Overall, I really enjoyed the live performance of Steve Reich. If I had only listened to the first five minutes of the work, I probably would have scoffed at it and wouldn't have considered it art. However, after listening to an hour of his work I can honestly say that I think the way he manipulates rhythm is truly artistic.

Use of Forms

When I first read The Use of Forms article, I was somewhat confused. The jargon used by the author was dense, and it wasn't until the example of audio mixing that I began to understand the meaning of détournement. The whole idea of utilizing a "history of sound," or any other art form for that matter, is very intriguing to me. For example, by treating previous works of art as elements to be used for future creation, old songs that have become stagnant over the years can be revitalized and incorporated into new works of art. I don't think that integrating previous works of art into a new creation is "stealing," because all art forms are inspired by something else anyway.
I have a logistical question about this art form. If détourage is seen as the most recent genre of art, then does that mean that no new elements will be introduced into the "history of sound/images/video/etc.?" Of course remixed elements can be recombined into other works of art, but are we destined not to have any new basic building blocks with which to make art?
I did a little bit of research on Ken Ishii, who is one of Japan’s most famous techno musicians. He has recorded sixteen remixed albums within the past fifteen years, and one of his most notable accomplishments was composing the music for the opening ceremonies of the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.

The WallRight Project

I searched Rhizome.org and found a link to the WallRight project.
The idea behind this project is that everybody is an artist. It makes use of public space to display art created by people all over the world. The format of the website is such that anyone can add their own art to the current web template; after some period of time, that template is physically projected onto a wall using light instead of ink or paint. I think the wall is located somewhere in Portugal, possibly at the University of Aveiro, but I'm not sure.

things

this is my first post. yes it is.