I kept looking into other artists within the sound art world around sampling and Rory directed me towards Mariam Renzaei.
I watched this performance of hers at the Dialogues festival in 2021 where she improvises with two turntables as instruments.
I find her use of turntables and the effects to be really captivating and meditative. The experience feels almost generative and alongside the VJX effects through iPhone gives you a euphoric sensation. I can’t tell if she is using real vinyl or control vinyl that lets you perform audio from the computer and use a blank vinyl with white noise as the control surface for it. It reminds me of the artist Nik Nak who also does similar things with turntables and turntablism as her choice of performance. I could consider attempting the same? For one of my projects next year could I purchase Brazilian vinyl and perform them differently than how they are usually heard? Or purchase some control vinyl and attempt to do something similar to this with the audio on my computer?
Continuing off from the last post I’m continuing to look into other pieces of work that include sampling. This piece is titled Amateur doubles by Graham Lambkin.
Graham records a car journey through America, recording the ambience of the car, the people and conversations within it and the audio. He then cuts up and splices the audio in a music concretè type fashion to create a 39-minute runtime album that explores this area of sound arts. Reusing sounds in different contexts.
I found the drone-like sounds in his compositions and the occasional voices to be haunting. The cheap-sounding synth with strange lead compositions plays over the top and I’m not sure if I enjoy that. I think maybe without these keys playing it would be a more interesting-sounding piece. Currently, it feels like he just decided to play over it?
So in terms of reflectional elements, I think music concrete is one outlook I should consider when doing my other two pieces using musical elements and perhaps other things that incorporate within my culture? Re contextualise ordinary sounds within Brazil?
I’ve decided to do the first draft of my ideas so far on what I want to do for my main two portfolio pieces. Here is my current proposal document. I will update this next week as well.
I will refine this proposal a bit more over the next week or two. I’m also struggling to get my timeline information to fit on the table created so I’m waiting on a reply back on how to get around this issues.
Ecka sent me an email with this podcast saying that this might help my research with my whole sampling/music recontextualising project I have in mind for next year’s portfolio work.
I listened to the whole podcast which discusses the legacy of Ahmed Abdul Malik and
“his idea of strangeness in jazz and how theory around the history of the form, linking past and future. In this podcast, we hear excerpts from Edward’s talk alongside an interview with pianist Pat Thomas and saxophonist Seymour Wright who discuss the legacy of Abdul-Malik, the history of jazz and its roots in the Islamic communities of West Africa.”
I really enjoyed this podcast and the discussion of jazz as a sharing of knowledge, versions within versions. Taking others’ ideas and adding onto them. Taking others’ sounds and making them their own. Music is a way of knowledge and performing as communication. Jazz and the development within itself as sampling and sharing, the gift of free knowledge.
This does make me consider my own sampling uses, how can I show knowledge through my own work? What am I trying to convey, how am I communicating and how does it come across to the listener?
After looking through Norient for interesting articles about acoustic ecology I discovered this post that sent me to a website called soundwalkinginteractions. The website had an essay titled.
Ethical questions about working with soundscapes
By Dr Andra McCartney
Andra starts the introduction to her essay with numerous questions about what a soundscape composer or documentarian is doing when recording or using sounds once separated from the context they were recorded in. She discusses that relationships through the world are expressed through the soundscape.
“Does the maker want to reveal particular sonic aspects of the place as it is, as it used to be, as it might be? Does the composer want to create an ideal place through sound and if so, what are the characteristics of this imaginary place and what ideas and values inform this utopic creation? How does the composer treat the sounds? How prominent are the composer’s treatments in relation to the sounds originally heard in that place, and what are the characteristics of this electroacoustic ecology? What are the dominant and masked sounds in the piece and how do they interact? “
I think this brings out the true questions that can come into a designer’s head when using soundscape recordings within their work, how can we answer these questions? And if we can’t how can we be aware of these questions. At least critically consider our practice and attempt to question our own decisions.
An important point made is the idea between what is heard in the place and the recording. But I also consider Wright (2022) when speaking about the importance of what isn’t heard. I think there is an importance between what isn’t heard and what is heard.
“Do we imagine the listener is ignorant and needing enlightenment?”
I think a lot of art should consider this at times, are the points we are making painfully obvious? What different outlook are we bringing that perhaps others haven’t seen? Or if we are bringing up ideas that have previously been presented how can present a different outlook.
Andra then begins to discuss the fascination with hi-fi-like sounds that are obsessed with current field recording practice. The idea is that sound that is accurate and individual to the rest of the soundscape is a true representation, with a concentration on little circuit noise and contextual noise blocked.
They argue that perhaps we have become obsessed with the idea of purity, and then they use a quote by Emily Thompson who discusses that since sound has become a signal we have valued the idea of the signal-to-noise ratio as important. That we judge sound by the recorded notion of what one is hearing. The level and strength, the clean pre-amplification and other aspects of recordings are to be seen as the best forms of representations. That the more hi-fi a product is the better it is.
“When sounds became signals, a new criterion by which to evaluate them was established, a criterion whose origins, like the sounds themselves, were located in the new electrical technologies. Electrical systems were evaluated by measuring the strength of their signals against the inevitable encroachments of electrical noise, and this measure now became the means by which to judge all sounds. The desire for clear, controlled, signal-like sound became pervasive, and anything that interfered with this goal was now engineered out of existence.”
Andra continues to discuss the idea of the romanticised need to escape noisy life, to return to the wilderness of course for those who can afford it. That we need time away for our ears to heal from the abuse of noise pollution. And the comparisons with visuals arts to the hi-fi notion within soundscapes.
“By referring to the HiFi soundscape as an example of an ecological soundscape, are we shaping soundscape studies through a particularly northern and isolationist framework? Is this what we want?”
Andra, speaks on hi-fi systems in the 1940s-1950s when they were first produced, and they were first marketed as a way for the hi-fi enthusiast to escape the noise of the family, the kids and noise pollution. That comfort could be found with a nice HiFi system. This led the users to even eventually start purchasing vinyl records of different sorts, including the sounds of rain and thunder.
“Some hi-fiers, rather than immerse themselves in operatic or chamber music, or even rock ‘n’ roll, listen for the joy of just “hearing” sounds not likely to be found in the average living room” (Jacobs 1958, p. 33)”
There are also ideas shown that lofi soundscapes are noisy and loud ambiences but hifi soundscapes are associated with the sparse wilderness and rural locations. As well as the natural balance between both being important. There were tests done on prisoners in the 1800s in prisons where they were sonically isolated and found themselves going insane quickly. This was a pure hifi soundscape.
“Is it good signal to noise ratio that we are searching for, or a particular quality of silence that is comforting and inspiring, not oppressive and suffocating? Can we hear oppression or comfort or the space for inspiration within a particular hifi or quiet soundscape and how would we characterize that?”
Andra also makes a point about positive noisy situations such as a busy cafe in the morning with lots of chatty voices in the background. They also speak on the privilege of silence and hifi soundscapes. That even when one hosts a listening group you have to be able to drive and reach the location in the wilderness.
“access to wilderness parks is the privilege of the middle class who can afford to buy or rent cars. He notes that in some cases, roads to parks were designed with bridges so low that they excluded buses, a move which explicitly kept out those who do not have cars; while in many others there are no public buses or trains that will take people directly to parks.”
“What are the possibilities of an ecotonal sounding art? What would it mean to listen for characteristics of ecotonality in a soundscape rather than searching for single clear signals devoid of problematic noise? Instead of banishing sounds that overlap and rub up against each other, what would it mean to pay attention to how sounds overlap, to how they rub up against each other, in whatever context?”
I think this last quote really sticks out to me, how can we listen for the ever-changing soundscape and the intersections where hifi and lo-fi sounds combine and shift. The importance of a combined soundscape shows a true representation of the location. I think this is relevant in challenging my previous ideas on soundscape production and my current field recordings. I think next time I go to Stave Hill I will reflect on this essay.
SC are an arts cooperative based in London, Crete and the The Hague, working on transmission ecologies from DIY broadcasting devices to public sound and radio projects. As part of the Acoustic Commons network, we coordinate the long-form radio broadcast Reveil (2014 –), and a series of sound and ecology events (soundcamps) on Dawn Chorus day each year.
SC initiated the Creative Europe small cooperation project: Acoustic Commons (2020-22), in partnership with arts organisations in Europe and Japan. Recent projects include As if radio.. at COP26 Glasgow, Meet Me On The Radio with Hannah Kemp-Welch and the Deptford Albany, Biosphere Open Microphones (BIOM – with Leah Barclay and Biosphere Soundscapes) and PITCH, a portable auditorium being designed and built with Public Works and Michael Speers.
From a base at Stave Hill Ecological Park in Rotherhithe, SC have worked locally and (inter)nationally with 12,600 artists, 189,119 listeners and a live audience of 35,651. We do R&D and offer expertise in environmental, sound and transmission art and participatory technologies. We set up events, workshops and creative technical exchanges as part of a socially engaged practice supported by Creative Europe, ACE, HLF and local funders.
is a 24 hour live radio programme, assembled and broadcast from a temporary station at Stave Hill Ecological Park in Rotherhithe. This is also the site of the longest running soundcamp. Real time streams are supplied by contributors around the world at daybreak. The primary feed is hosted by Wave Farm in the Upper Hudson Valley, New York, and aired by our UK broadcast partners Resonance FM / Extra in London UK and a collection of FM and netradio stations.
Read an evaluative piece by Ella Finer on Reveil 2020, in the AC Library.
Soundcamp CIC is an artist cooperative with directors / members: Christine Bramwell Mort Drew Dawn Scarfe Grant Smith self-noise.net Hannah Kemp-Welch Kirsty Collander Brown Maria Papadomanolaki voice sound text Max Baraitser Smith (Code) Sam Baraitser Smith (Design) Sasha Baraitser Smith
We work closely with: Ky Lewis (Photography) Luke Saunders (Web Development) Colin Sackett – Uniformbooks Paula Baraitser (of course)
We are grateful for support and advice since early on from: Gordon Hempton
It seems that they run a number of different projects, one being actual sound camps where one camps and listens and studies the environment. As well as running the global Dawn Chorus project, where every hour they switch to a different location where dawn is commencing. Creating a 24-hour dawn chorus experience, live on Resonance FM.
I also saw another project called Pitch, where Micheal Speers created a pitch with young people in the area to explore the surroundings through lockdown and Covid19.
I’m considering contacting them, as they are also part of the team that looks after Stave Hill ecological park. I want to create a project around this park for my prototype.
After doing research into Dawn Scarfe’s Bivvy Broadcast work, I decided to do something similar but not overnight as it’s incredibly cold. I remember learning about Locus Sonus in the first year of the sound art course and the live streaming capabilities of transmitting field recordings, similar to Bivvy Broadcasts.
I decided to download the Locus Sonus streamer on my phone and then on my Imac screen record the audio of listening to my Livestream through Logic Pro X. I looked and was deciding on where to go and on Locus Sonus there was a nearby Livestream at Stave Hill Ecological Park, I remembered researching about sound camp, through Micheal Speers in the second year and the dawn chorus yearly broadcast they do. I decided to go explore that area as it is so close to my home.
I cycled to the Ecological park and began exploring and walking through. Essentially a sound walk for myself, live-streamed through my phone, and back at home, it is recorded on my iMac. I also brought with me a Zoom H5 and my Geofòn, as well as my Priezor microphone to potentially record some field recordings afterward.
As I explored the site I began to get even more interested, in the natural haven amongst the manmade cities, and the sounds of birds and other species became so prominent. As well as the battle between nature and man. I could hear planes every few minutes at huge amplitudes fighting with the sounds of the birds and other wildlife.
I walked around the ecological park and discovered many interesting things. Again amongst some walkways, it was close to businesses and lamposts that clearly leaked some electromagnetic sounds. As well as the constant hum of traffic. I decided to copy the words of Pauline Oliveros and the quote “Walk so silently that the bottoms of your feet become ears.” I was attentive to a lot of things. I then found a huge wind turbine that loomed at the top of the hill, and it was quickly becoming dark. There was an elevated wooden chair hidden amongst the trees and i decided to spend the last few minutes of my broadcast there.
After finishing my broadcast I decided to attach my Geofon, which is a seismic microphone to the base of the turbine. I was interested if the noise pollution was affecting the landscape. The large amplitude of planes flying over was so intrusive. I couldn’t imagine the damage it’s causing. I attached my Geofon and discovered this ambient type of sound this resonating pitch, almost like a singing bowl. Amplifying the sounds around me, every time a plane would fly by the sounds would become larger and slowly fade back to its continuous hum.
Geofòn attached to the base of the turbine
Turbine Resonance (Unprocessed)
Afterward, I decided to explore the electromagnetic sounds in the area. Using my Lom Priezor that I’ve handmade to explore the other sounds that the normal human ear cannot listen to. It was an interesting dynamic again, almost as if this little haven is surrounded by the undisputed dominance of man. It’s an interesting site that I want to explore more. It became very cold and dark and I needed to leave. I did see a poster about a listening group curated by SoundCamp that I hope to attend when the next one is.
I think the next step is to listen to the recordings and also do further research into this site, as well as the Soundcamp/Locus Sonus projects.
I’ve been engaging with VCV RACK modular synthesis so much over the past two weeks. I get home and find it a meditating process to follow the patch and just go with what feels right. Unlike other conventional practice of creation which requires a decision of what I’m making I find modular to be so relaxing when creating. I give my ego away and let whatever happens to happen. I’m letting go and seeing the outcome. Since this term of learning modular from the university modules and moving onto VCV RACK 2 and starting with the simple built-in modules to download the open source ones, more effects and interesting oscillators and textural modules. Sequencing and using ADSR it’s gotten so much fun. I’m finding myself accidentally making ambient/minimalistic music? Or perhaps sounds/expressions? I wouldn’t consider it music perhaps, but an expression. It’s meditative.
I’m curious to see where I can take this because I’m really enjoying it, I want to include field recordings and other bits. Maybe into my tape machine and a blend of physical and digital synths. Here are a few patches, and sounds I’ve created. I do think it’s been inspired by the research into Steve Reich and other minimalist composers. Perhaps I should do a more in-depth study into that.
For the first, called waves, I decided to use white noise to replicate the sound of a wave crashing and returning into the ocean. I used a noise generator with ADSR triggered by a random sequencer on a slow bpm. I also had one note with a delay triggered by another sequencer on the first step. I also had layered oscillators to crate a chord sound.
Patch for wavesWaves Modular
As you can hear, very ambient. But this is what came without even deciding what I wanted to create.
The next one was faster and had different sounds and a CV octave generator that uses CV to adjust the pitch. I created a simple melody and chord sounds again.
Octave shift
This next one is a favorite, it sounded very out-of-space sort of feeling. having a plucked synth running continuously with a long attack at the start of the step. Layered sounds with LFOs give a spacey feel. Love it, again they are all ambient sort of feeling. I wonder why this is my immediate reaction? Is it what I require and what makes me happy or are these the limitations of modular?
Spaced
For this next one, I downloaded a LINN drum free module and messed around with the drums.
DRUM LINN
This last one was experimenting with effects and this wormhole module I downloaded. The outcome was this.
Wormhole
I think I want to look more into this ambient sort of music, and its benefits in meditation/well-being and generative music. Perhaps explore using field recordings within it and other artists involved.
After reading the previous book on Anthropocene it seemed a bit one-sided, I’ve been following this idea of being critical within my practice, something Milo is drilling into my brain. I’ve decided to read this book and take some notes, Against the Anthropocene. I want to know what is wrong with the ideas presented in the other book. What is wrong with the ideas behind Anthropocene? Some quotes here that interested my views from the last book.
The Anthropocene has also become part of an expanding discourse in the arts, humanities, and social sciences
The idea that it’s become more prominent in discourse currently is of interest to me, I wonder why we suddenly have decided to include it in our discourse. One answer would be the effects of climate change is now more obvious than the previous and it’s taking more than science now to discuss the issues and how we can face the modern challenges of environmental damage.
The trend is present in cultural practices, art exhibitions, and catalogue publications,
The idea that art can somehow be as useful as science in bringing awareness is of interest to me, I read in another book that science has failed to really demonstrate the urgency of these issues. That the arts have a distinct difference in being more personal and an ability to emotionally convince people than science.
It remains urgent to bring these critical humanities- and arts-based resources to bear on scientific discourse in order to disrupt specialist divisions
Another point that reflects on the previous quote, the arts surprisingly do have a place in the discourse of climate change. Specialist divisions are left alone to discuss issues, and I do agree with this statement.
The activities that are discussed are hardly human at least in that generalising, species-being sense, but are in fact mostly the “activities” of corporate industry
Generalizing the activities that create climate change towards humans, but in fact, corporate actions although caused by humans are not human activities. It’s all about capitalism and creating a profit.
It is worth asking to what degree the Anthropocene itself— as a discursive formation with legal, political, cultural, and geological strands—is a function of that system, despite its scientific terminological origins (a question to which I will return later). My argument, in brief, is that Anthropocene rhetoric—joining images and texts—frequently acts as a mechanism of universalization, albeit complexly mediated and distributed among various agents, which enables the military-state-corporate apparatus to disavow responsibility for the differentiated impacts of climate change, effectively obscuring the accountability behind the mounting eco-catastrophe and inadvertently making us all complicit in it destructive project.
This did strike me deeply, how have we been convinced as a population that we are the main cause of this? Hasn’t societies’ need for more money and power, mainly the small percentage that controls 99% of the world’s financial wealth, power, and political control, be the main reason for the destruction of the earth and its biodiversity and ecological landscape? How can the people be at fault, we do not decide on what happens, only know what is the outcome.
It avoids the politicization of ecology that could otherwise lead to the practice of climate justice, which demands that the politics of equality, human rights, and historical responsibility be taken into account when addressing environmental change.
It discusses the idea that the Anthropocene discourse avoids the politics of ecology, and how can we discuss ecology and climate justice without understanding the politics of existing and living. The dominance of wealth and power and who causes the most damage, others destroying the planet while we share this existence.
Anthropocene visuality tends to reinforce the techno-utopian position that “We” have indeed mastered nature, just as we have mastered its imaging—and in fact the two, the dual colonisation of nature and representation.
I think perhaps humans have this idea of being above nature, due to our self-awareness. But also I think this is a downfall, to act like gods and think we are above nature, or that we are not part of the ecology that exists to me is stupid. And will be our downfall.
The Anthropocene places technocrats and scientists in the role of bringing about a great awakening regarding climate change and then conveniently puts those same figures in the position of being the only ones that can fix the problem—via geoengineering. Yet geoengineering projects are invented and proposed generally by large corporations, heavy industry, and well-resourced nations, and supported, not surprisingly, by the likes of Microsoft mogul and philanthropist Bill Gates.
The combination of the ones who bring us revelations and the ones that have the answers seems a bit fishy. The only way of fixing the planet is through geoengineering? To make money once again through fixing the planet and conveniently being the ones who have destroyed it as well.
While the 2014 panel “The Anthropocene: An engineered age?” Also addressed the Anthropocene’s democratic deficit, supporting the need for more inclusive debate when it comes to geoengineering—with which one can agree—it was telling that the panel was composed solely of white European and north american men of science,
Interestingly a white European and north American panel discussing inclusivity is a joke, it seems like a stunt, almost self-aware of their power and the need to keep the population dumb.
Capitalism that has created the environmental problems in the first place.
Nail on the head right here, capitalism is the cause of destruction to this level in our current societal existence.
Reflection:
I really did enjoy the book, it challenged heavily the Anthropocene discourse I have been reading for a while. It did make me consider who is writing this book? Where is the information from? It did seem a bit preachy at times but I think it did argue positively about who is to blame and the unified blame on climate change as a huge issue. Neo-liberals are causing massive issues toward the destruction of our planet. I did find I sit within the middle of both these texts. The previous one on Anthropocene does find many things that also click with me, I don’t think it’s not accurate but I find this critique to be correct. I find a middle ground to be of great importance. I’m curious how I can impact this into my work, perhaps not as a huge focus but inclusion of this discourse within it. Perhaps think about sustainability within my practice and what I’m using? What sounds am I creating, what is the point?
After doing a previous read of Environmental Sound Artists: in their own words. As well as visiting practitioners discussing bio diversity and environmental issues within their work. I felt guided towards reading this book. I wanted to understand more around the ideas of what is the Anthropocene and what makes this an issue for our planet. What has changed for our planet to convey a new epoch. Here are a few interesting quotes taken from the book.
The book starts with discussions not the creation of the term Anthropocene.
Crediting for coining the word Anthropocene is usually given to the Dutch chemist Paul Crutzen, whose other accomplishments include, quite literally, saving the world.
Paul Crutzen being the person who coined the term Anthropocene.
Whether or not geologists officially recognise Anthropocene—they are still debating whether the textbooks should be altered—the word clearly captures something essential about our time. We live in a world dominated by humans. Possibly people already began changing the atmosphere thousands of years ago, with the invention of agriculture. Quite certainly, we started to do so once we figured out how to burn coal and oil.
I agree with this idea, that humans have altered the biosphere since we created developed communities, since burning coal and creating fires and had the intelligence to have global dominance over other species.
What should we do with this knowledge? Should we scale back our influence? Can we? What do those alive today owe to future generation? What about to the millions of other species with which we share the planet?
I think one should consider what to do once they have understood information. How do you act on the information that the planet is being negatively impacted by human dominance. Do you consider changing or accepting our fate? I think this is what many sound artists face. The information presented is then changed into artworks, reflecting through sonic knowledge.
Nature can no longer be viewed in isolation from the human world.
Again this human centric ideas that we are the leaders, and that we have no need to consider other lifeforms within our planet is not what I agree with. How can we take responsibility as a species and consider with respect other lifeforms?
The whole human species is not responsible for the negative effects of global environmental change, just as not all groups are equally threatened by the ramifications of those changes.
I think this is really important, to say that we are all culprits is dangerous. Capitalism creates a scenario where the larger the company, the larger the income the more dominance one has over society. Large corporations are creating more greenhouse gasses than one individual human can in their entire lifetime. How can we challenge corporations for their environmental affect on the planet.
Arguments simmer about how old it is. The weight of the evidence suggests that the Anthropocene began in the mid-twentieth century, but some scientists argue for a much old Anthropocene, beginning with the harnessing of fire,
Considerations within where and how the Anthropocene started.
Earth is at or very close to an extinction rate of one thousand times prehuman levels, and the rate is accelerating. Repeat: accelerating.
This really does convey the exact damage we have done as a species to this planet, how close we are to global extinction, ruining the ecosystem not just for ourselves but extended lifeforms.
I want to read further into other issues facing the Anthropocene, the idea that not all scientists actually support the ideas presented and that its not accepted by all has me thinking what I’m missing on. I’ve found this book to only consider one view point and not correctly argue against the negatives of this topic.
