Today I began the separation process of rear sounds and frontal stereo sounds – making each part its own “environment”, using the number of speakers to emphasise separation and conversation. I built up the stereo atmosphere, using recorded audio of sounds from the Shilpa Gupta exhibition (the flapping airport signs), adding reverb, panning and delay as well as the GRM plugin to make the sound “rotate” and spread around the two stereo speakers.

I pictured the sounds of flying and birds and calmness further adding a high pitched piano and background pads to create a lush sound-sphere. I was surprised by how effective the front two stereo speakers were in that regard – on their own, without me even having used any rear speakers – created a big, atmospheric and full environment. Tonally, i made sure to keep all these sounds on the higher end, minimising any lows. I liked how calm this part of the piece was,

`It drew me in and even though it wasn’t something I had a clear image of before this session, I appreciated how different it was to what I was aiming to do with the rear speakers which was what I was going for overall. I was also surprised by how effective the GRM tool was. I was very hesitant to use it at first, not knowing what I was doing and only having had a basic introduction to it so far, I wasn’t used to it – “why can’t I just pan it?” i thought, before trying it out, experimenting with the different effects, and finding the spread and automated 360-degree movement the best – especially for the flapping sound as it gave it a real enigmatic and mysterious feel.

I think overall, for the frontal section of the piece, I have captured the image i was trying to portray, as well as making sure I keep to using higher-pitched sounds and instrumentation. Hopefully, as I continue with the rear sounds I can still encapsulate the atmospheric nature of the piece.

I talked to Tim for advice on what type of sounds to use and how I could incorporate film sound elements best into my piece. He recommended looking at horror sound and using percussive, dynamic and sharp sounds that would make the audience member want to “turn around”. I researched and looked into music by Wendy Carlos used in the shining. The building of tension and slow progressive nature was the inspiration I used behind the rear audio.

Although the score is full of high pitched frequencies, i specifically like the quite low atmospheric undertone used throughout. Im not sure if it was a low string note or just atmosphere, but it definitely added an anxious layer to the score, especially as it begins to rise towards the harder brass nearing the end.

I also took a look at Force Majeur, and how the film develops anxiety through environmental sound as the score, the creaking of the ski line, the hum of the escalator. I found that I they were just as effective at demonstrating tension as a string instrument would be.

After watching Force Majeure and analysing the film sound, I started to look for different ways in which I could find sounds that would create tension, suspense and atmosphere. I started to find, that much like the sounds in the film, mechanical sounds really displayed a sense of rigidity and sonorous enigma. Sounds such as trains and elevators which I recorded gave me audio to use to further create a conversational nature to the piece overall.

I found an escalator leading up to the Westfield shopping centre in Stratford, that sounded as if it was “squealing” whenever someone would step on it. I quickly decided to record it and put it in a sound library for later use. I also found that the brass on top of the piano in the performance lap created a really vibrant horror sound effect as I scraped it with my card. I also recorded air vents and underground trains, thinking about the ways in which I could use them for the Audio behind.

Using these recordings further emphasised the binary nature I was looking for, not only through specialisation but also atmospherically and texturally. Having rougher tonalities would separate the different sonic environments and allow me to explore how I can harmonise differently textures in the same piece, whilst allowing each one to speak for itself in an almost “spacial conversation”. The frontal audio containing very atmospheric, ethereal recordings and more synthesis, with the audio at the back using raw and rough sounds.

Although I did not use any of the microphones used in the lessons, I still found the recordings to be very much useable, and although I would have loved to experiment further with the H3 surround microphone ( I was unable to due to high demand as well as some breaking) It allowed me to record sounds I found whilst walking around London on the fly. I was able to learn to listen and catch sounds that I could use.

I began to experiment with the synthesisers on the workbench. I didn’t really know how to use it, but I got the gist of it after playing around with it for a while. I didn’t really have an aim in mind for a specific type of sound I wanted to create, It was mostly just experimentation.

I fiddled around with most of the LFO’s and parameters, recording everything I was doing. I had an idea of what was what from other synths I had used in the past – the sine, sawtooth and buzz waves were all familiar, as were the filters etc.

After a while of tweaking around, I got certain sounds that I liked, that fit with the “mechanical” sounds I wanted to incorporate within my piece. I found ways to get really low bass sounds, make them “wobble” and more buzzy. I also found really high pitched sounds that I could use for the stereo side.

I aim to use the recording by chopping it up and using implementing them onto different tracks and speaker channels. I think the sounds recorded could specifically be used for the frontal section of the piece, as well as adding a sense of experimental dynamism to the piece as a whole.

Visiting Shilpa’s exhibition was a really brilliant experience. As I walked in i was met with text about the exhibition being about the ‘artist’s exploration of control and resistance through restriction imposed on poets. ‘ This context helped shape the experience allowing me to understand the situation in which the art being created occurred.

By the entrance, there were two flap boards suspended from the ceiling, displaying often unsettling dialogue – the two boards being conversational created an interesting dynamic, bringing a human personification to the piece as a whole. The sound of the letters changing was also very interesting – an almost unemotional flapping.

Continuing through the exhibition you are met with various poems, each on the topic of imprisonment, finally leading up to the 100 speaker sound installation. I entered a dark room, dimly lit to a choir-like singing, the effect of both the darkroom and the choir giving me goosebumps, emphasising the power specialisation had. Spatialisation has the ability to create atmospheres and dynamics mono and stereo listening just would not be able to do.

The closeness of the steaks created a tight prison-like feel as one traversed through the maze of speakers and poems – each attached like the hearts of the poet onto each singular steak. Just being in there i felt a deep sense of awe, anxiety and a feeling I don’t know how to describe – a mixture of both comfort and discomfort that was further enhanced by the surround sound. The speaker formation was not the usual circle, but was placed in linear arrays – allowing you to move between them but also creating the constrictive atmosphere.

In my initial plan I saw that I thought I would only use 5 speakers, after multiple audio recordings as well as the range of different sounds I continued to include, I realised i would need to add some more channels for a more in depth feel. 5 channels ( 1 stereo composition and 3 rear speakers) was not enough for me to fully convey the idea I wanted to fully achieve. I also found that plug-ins such as GRM were more effective with more speaker channels.

I don’t want to limit myself creatively either so I felt having more speaker channels open, even if i did not use them specifically felt like a good idea. I know for sure i will not use any speakers directly horizontal or to the side of the listener to create a clear and direct comparative difference between the front and back.

I also did not include a graphic score of the frontal stereo composition:

above: representation of stereo speaker formation.

for a few weeks I’ve been struggling to come up with a direction for the piece as a whole but also understand that I should focus on the core concepts of the initial idea and figure out the best way to present said idea. It doesn’t seem like there are a lot of artists who have done a similar thing to me – luckily there are a lot of film techniques that emphasise rear audio so I will continue to research into them for inspiration.

As I am also specialising in sound for the screen, I will try to incorporate elements of film sound within the piece, such as techniques used by Stanley Kubrick in the shining, to create a sense of suspense and tension. I will also be using a generative art tool known as chromatic to create a film reference for the development of the piece. I have also been experimenting with the sculpture synth on Logic to create an airy atmosphere that I think will fit well with the bassy sounds on the wide channels. and create the right type of atmosphere I am looking for.

on the first watch, I was mostly trying to understand what the film was about – incredibly abstract yet so detailed, I had to sit and watch it around 3 times to fully understand what I was watching, each time gaining new information and meaning from the piece and each time gaining a far greater understanding of what she was trying to portray.

There is a sense of sonic remnants – colonial images continue to generate, despite the disintegration of their memory and their materials. Onyeka Igwe fiercely displays these former archives bare —along with their histories of hoarding, monetisation, documentation that coincide with the colonial nature of the UK and its former colonies.

Sound archives of speeches from the British empire echo hauntingly throughout the piece as much as the music and sound do. The display of the remnants of the museum of raw, vivid and real, yet surreal and enigmatic. I really liked how Onyeka did not really have to narrate much – I think having a visual element to it helps, however, the soundbites and samples of old radio painted a picture just as much as the film did.

The GRM spaces plug-in allows for the moving of sound sources through a sound field giving you the control over where you want to locate your sound and/or where you want it to travel to as well as allowing you to automate positions and trajectories.

The FB360 allows for flexible movement of the source of a sound in a 360 surround environment, I found that the azimuth allowed you to change the angle at which the sound was coming from relative to where the listener is for accurate positioning of a sound. I found this interesting for placing sounds in angles between the four standard positions (0, 90, 270, 360 degrees). The elevation allowed for the ascent and descent of a sound. This was good for placing sound “above your head” – giving me ideas to include it in my piece.

If i can include that, along with other sounds behind me or the listener I think it would be very effective in emphasising it in a unique way. I also really like the spread function, I think if I’m accentuating all the sounds behind me at once spreading them all together could create one large 270 degree atmosphere. All of these programs seem to play with the idea of placing sound in angles and allowing the user to make full use of defining sound in a specialised environment.

FMOD was also very interesting in the way in which it’s designed to create sounds for 3D/VR environments, I specifically like how different scenes and sounds can be placed together to create smaller environmental scenes within a wider atmosphere.

Leading into the podcast, I was met with an artist I was unfamiliar with and had never heard of before. The only representation I was given of Alessandro Cortini was his voice and what he had to say – making this truly undiluted sonic experience. From the very beginning, I noticed the podcast would be very informative, conversational. Being an interview, the podcast would also be very performative – the interviewer would purposefully and intentionally insert himself into the conversation, asking questions wherever necessary, creating a narrative, however, the subject had just as much control over the conversation – this wasn’t an interrogation.

The artist begins to go into detail on his work, outlining what he does and what his work is. In this sense, the subject is creating and developing the podcast, there doesn’t seem to be any bias or authoritarian input from the interviewer. The interviewer does not present his views or perspectives – rather asks questions to allow the subject to present theirs. In this way, a podcast and an audio paper seem to differentiate. I remember listening to one by Shanti Suki Osman – a visiting practitioner from last year – who presented her ideas through an amalgamation of music, interviews and dialogue really well, asking relevant questions without seeming controlling.