Conceptual Statement for all 3 Exercises

3 Project Conceptual Statement

This project is about audio and how audio can be used in different ways. When we speak about audio we always think about melody, rhythm, composing and basically music with some kind of beat to it. In this project we had to use noises to make unusual music. In other words searching for sounds that we don’t notice but those sounds live with us in the air. By using these sounds make an audio peace that will stand out from the rest of the audio sources.

In the first week we were given an exercise where we had to go around the city and record sounds that we thought that fitted our topic. Base on these recording we had to compose a musical piece. My contribution to the group in this exercise was editing the sounds and fitting each sound in appropriate places therefore as a group we can show the audience what we want them to hear. Our basic idea was to make natural sounds out of industrial noises.

Second week we learnt how to circuit bend a toy and get different sounds out of the toy. In this project my responsible was to record sounds of toys and compose a music piece that sounds different from normal sound. Basically what we did by circuit bending is that changing the frequency of the sound. Then I recorded these sounds and made a small background noise therefore when our group performs the music we have a back up track that’s plays.

The third and the final exercise we had to build our own instrument. For this exercise as a group we decided to explore our own cultures and what kind of instruments that different cultures use to convey different messages. Base on our cultures we made our own instruments. I made a drum that is similar to “thamatama”, This can produce more than 8 different bass sounds.

Audio Terrains Circuit Bending

This the track that we made for circuit bending exercise, which was the second exercise. In this audio track their are 4 different toys making different sounds. Basically we're changing the frequency of the sound therefore the audience here it differently every time.

Road Noises part 2 : Exercise 1

This is the second audio file that we made for the first exercise. In our presentation we combined part1 and part2 together and made one complete audio track. I have edited them to 2 parts because then the audience can here the clear difference between these 2 videos.

Road Noises part 1 : Exercise 1

This is the exercise that we got in the first week of this project. We had to go around the city with a recorder and record sounds that we think could be useful for our music piece. In our group we tried to make natural sounds by industrial noises. To achieve this we used fade in and fade out effects.

Performance

This is the performance that we did in the audio foundation

Performance in the Audio Foundation

These pictures are from our last performance in the Audio Foundation. We did a group performance.

As for our performance we tried to convey an idea that our group is a tribe. As you can see in the pictures that we have a lamp in the middle and we all sat around it with our intruments. The lamp represents the fire and we as a group sitting around it convey the idea of a tribal and culture. During the performance we had some technical difficulties. One of the Piezo mics started to make some noises in the middle of the performance which made the audience bit uncomfortable. otherthan than that as a group we were satified with our performance.

This the final design that I came up with for the final presentation in the audio foundation. I developed this idea from previouse weeks intrument making exercise, which I made a drum that had four different sounds coming from each tube. As a groupo we decided to bring some culture in to our performance. In our group we have people from 4 different cultures therfore we decided to research on our own culture and come up with a desing that represnt our culture and our selves. In Sri lanka this called "thamatama". I have done a similar design but added my own design to it as well. It is played by hand and more than 8 sounds can be produced by this intrument. I have used Helium ballon as the skin of the drum, Pipes as the base of the drum and pieces of wood to make a frame for the drums. 

Instrument making : Week 3

This weak we were told to make our own instruments with what we can find. We were put into groups of 4 people and each one had to make their own instrument. For this exercise i decided to make a drum therefore i started researching about drums and how to get different frequencies. I developed my idea from a simple drum where i made it from a can and a balloon. Then i used these huge tubes as drums. I cut these tubes into different shapes therefore each one will get a different sound. Then I also made a design to hold these drum tubes therefore it is easy to carry around.

Circuit Bending : Exercise 1 : Lick and Touch

We started circuit bending today. we started our experiment by breaking a small toy car and removing the speaker and the circuit inside the toy car. In order to change the frequency and the tempo of the sound that producers by the circuit we  had to lick our finger and place on top of one of the resistors in the circuit board. This changed the frequency and sometimes the speed of the sound.

Stephans Performance

Stephan Came in to our studios today. He is a musician. He plays for a rock band and in the free time

he make music from junk. This was really interesting because he use lots of equalizes to vary these sound. He changes the tempo of the sound and the frequency as well.

He also use prerecorded tapes to give more edgy sound to the music that he makes. Another interesting thing that took my attention was that Stephan doesn't record his work because every time he plays around with these instruments he always get a different sound from the speakers . This is the main reason that Stephan love doing this kind of music.

This week we are going to learn how bend circuits. As our first experiment we were told to make a small microphone that pick up sounds other than our voice. I was really excited for this because these days lots of musicians use unique sound in their music therefore I am really looked forward in to this experiment. I struggled a little bit when I tried to solder the red and white wires in to the microphone. Overall I enjoyed the hole experience and I am looking forward to circuit bending tomorrow, which we are going to remove a toy car and use the sound speaker inside it.

Construction Melody

This is the Final piece that we have after recording different sounds in the city this hole week. It was really interesting that what we can do with sounds. Our group was bit confused of what to do and what we have to achieve. Zoe explained us what she's looking for. She also said "Think about the paint not the paint brush". This message really took our attention and base on this idea we came up with our final piece