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SAD005 – Cistern Crash 1:30 3.46MB
Recording storms is one of the most obvious things to do with a portable audio recorder – I’ve recorded plenty with my Edirol R-09. Listening back to a 30 minute recording that I’d made of an incredibly loud downpour outside my bathroom window, I noticed a section in the middle where the rain stops, and one can hear the sound of a cistern, then a loud thunderclap. It’s that moment that I’ve selected for today’s sound. A cistern? Well yes, I had just used the toilet. Cisterns can make amazing sounds – people should listen to them more closely.
Cistern Crash is best heard on headphones.
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SAD004 – Collapso 4:07 9.9MB 120BPM
Numerology is a program that should be much better known. Imagine Ableton Live in which the emphasis on audio looping is replaced by step sequencing and generative composition. I love its extensive modulation and randomisation options which encourage experimentation.
Collapso is a minimal, ever-changing rhythm. It’s made of just a kick, hi-hat, and the ‘SynthTom’ patch on the LinPlug Free Alpha synth plugin. The tom has a short melodic sequence in Mixolydian mode, but the parameters of the sequence, including note probability and octave, are being continually modulated – you can see it running in the screenshot above. The hi-hats also have some randomisation, while the relatively simple kick helps give it momentum, emphasising the syncopation and bounciness of the tom.
I could listen to this do its thing all day, but should probably try to turn it into a finished track, with a few more sounds.
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SAD003 – Ode to Tropical Skiing 1:32 1.8MB
This is a text-to-speech rendering of John Forbes‘ wonderful poem, Ode to Tropical Skiing, which I understand was John Watermann’s favourite poem. I made this as an intro to a performance at a lovely night called ‘Warm Words, Music and Dirigibles‘, as I knew that the audience would be appreciative. That’s the only time I’ve used it, so I think it’s OK to include here.
To make it, I used a program called Vox Machina and one of the built-in Mac voices (‘Alex’) and did a lot of tweaking of punctuation to modify the rhythm and cadence. I’m not entirely happy with the result, though, so I’d love to get some suggestions of better speech synthesis tools.
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SAD002 – Fuck Right Off 0:24 963Kb
Some of my earliest sound experiments involved grabbing bits of dialogue, music and sound effects from television using my trusty VHS recorder and creating collages of these sounds via pause button cassette edits on a ‘ghetto blaster’.
For the first few years of Wake Up and Listen, Adrian Bertram and I would each prepare a cassette full of such collages for every broadcast. We called these our ’samples’. Even after we bought actual samplers, we still kept making cassette collages for a few more years, as they had a unique sound.
SAD002 is the sort of ’sample’ that could well have been on one of those old collages. It’s a grab from the 1999 Trailer Park Boys film, in which the character of Patrick Lewis (played by Patrick Roach, who went on to play Randy in the TV series) makes a strong statement about his lifestyle. A good ’sample’ is texturally interesting and has an element of surprise. This has those.
Instead of a simple VHS to cassette dub, the process of making this file involved noting the timecode of the desired sample using Google Docs, importing the audio from the entire video file using Wave Editor, selecting the sample, then exporting it.
Btw, I’ve decided to change the format of these sounds to 320k MP3s as a compromise between quality and accessibility.
After my performance at Don’t Look Gallery in October, in which I remixed a bunch of older works, I felt that it was time to focus on making new sounds for a while. I decided to make a sound a day, but soon got busy and fell out of the routine. I mentioned this to Nat Bates when we caught up recently and it turned out that he’d had a similar idea. He suggested that we should each make and share a sound a day. He’s already started.
So for at least the next few weeks I will be uploading a new sound here every day. Which begs the question, what do I mean by a ’sound’? Generally they will be the sorts of sounds that go into my recordings and performances, such as field recordings, synths and media samples, sometimes heavily processed. I hope to share some technical and aesthetic ideas along the way. You’re welcome to use these sounds – please share the results.
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SAD001 – Splinter Loop 1:31 3.7MB 84BPM 32 Bars
These days when performing with the Splinter Orchestra, I use my Korg MS-20 Synthesizer, with a number of accessories, including an iPhone, a Korg mini-KP Kaoss Pad, and an Edirol R-09 recorder. You can see my setup in the photo above. The Edirol is used to pick up sounds from the group and use them as triggers or modulation sources for the synth. A by-product of this is that I have many hours of recordings of Splinter Orchestra performances and rehearsals.
SAD001 is made from a brief moment of a Splinter Orchestra recording session at the ABC in September. It’s just the shuffle and thud of instruments as microphones were being set up and levels checked. I used Wave Editor to select the sound, then Ableton Live to warp the events into a rhythmic loop. Both the ‘Beats’ and ‘Re-pitch’ Warp Modes in Live gave pleasing results, so I made a clip of each version, then sequenced them randomly, using Follow Actions. Some compression was applied to fatten it up, along with EQ to reduce hiss and rumble.
By the way, the Splinter Orchestra will be performing this Monday at the NOW now festival program launch at Serial Space.
Douglas Kahn, noted academic and theorist, will be speaking at the Museum of Contemporary Art this Thursday 19th November from 6.30 – 8.00pm.
Bookings are essential, to reserve your place please email the MCA or call the number listed below.
The November Art Monthly Australia ‘Arts of Sound’ edition guest edited by Douglas Kahn, which also includes a DVD of works by Australian artists, will be on sale at a special one-off lecture event price of $8 each or 2 for $15.
Also listen to Douglas Kahn on ‘New Music Up Late’ with Julian Day (prerecorded) this Saturday night (14th) on ABC Radio National 10:30pm to 12:30pm. The show will be available online for four weeks.
I contributed a review of Severed Heads’ Adenoids box set to the current issue of Art Monthly Australia. Tom Ellard has written a response. If I have time I may write something about that here, but I’ll probably just discuss it with him over a beer.
Students from my Audio Workshop class at UTS will be taking over the airwaves at 2SER tonight and tomorrow night to present their live radiophonic features:
Dead Air
Wherever we are, what we hear is mostly noise. When we ignore it, it disturbs us; when we listen to it, we find it fascinating…
So if silence is the absence of sound, then what is the sound of silence?????
Tune your radio into 107.3fm (2SER) on the 26th, October at 9.00pm to find out.
Produced by:
Emily McDaniel
Kimberley Bulliman
Cristina Sebastian
Min Tack Cho
Rosi Tuck
Fei Fei Jian
Sydney Underground: An Aural Odyssey
A radio documentary produced by UTS Audio Workshop. Sydney Underground explores the sociological, historical, and transitory nature of Sydney’s underground tunnel systems through sound. Come on an Aural Odyssey featuring musical compositions inspired and constructed by sounds from within the tunnels. Interviews and ambient soundscapes created from audio captured from the tunnels of Sydney provide an interesting auditory perspective of familiar terrain. A Live audio feed from inside the Chalmers Street pedestrian tunnel at Central railway will be manipulated and blended using granular sound treatment. The Documentary will be performed live at the Bon Marche Theatre at UTS and transmitted live on 2SER (107.5) on Oct 27th at 9pm.
Be sure to tune in on Oct 27th at 9pm on 2SER 107.3
WIRED O P E N DAY on 31st October 2009 is your opportunity to GET WIRED in the great outdoors of The WIRED Lab.
WIRED O P E N DAY gives the general public the first opportunity to interact with the ‘wires’ and witness its vast array of creative applications.
Performing at WIRED O P E N DAY will be the original wire maestro Alan LAMB and his core crew of collaborators Dave NOYZE, Garry BRADBURY, Oren AMBARCHI and Robin FOX. Each artist will be presenting unique ruminations of the ‘wires’ sonic capacities. Dave NOYZE and Alan LAMB will perform live mixes of this dynamic instrument; Garry BRADBURY provides a live mix in the pitch of ‘B’ (also the pitch of Bees in chorus!) for a ‘great bow’ acoustic performance by Alan LAMB; Oren AMBARCHI treats the wires like a giant guitar and amplifier; and Robin FOX utilises wire sounds to control a laser beam across the surface of water.
Commencing in the late afternoon audiences will be bussed from Cootamundra to The WIRED Lab site for a multi-sensory experience of site and sound. From sunset to nightfall audiences will experience the immense dynamic range and capacity of a musical instrument spanning hundreds of metres across the landscape. Affectionately called “… nature’s microphone” by WIRED Lab curator Sarah LAST, the ‘wires’ and the WIRED O P E N DAY program expands many horizons, and will radically shift paradigms of art, music and space.
The WIRED Lab is a collaborative arts project uniquely located in the rural landscape of South West NSW. In 2007 The WIRED Lab was established to create a site for artists, scientists and audiences to expand upon æolian traditions, environmental sonification, ‘wire’ music and research originally developed by Alan Lamb. Since its inception many Australian and international artists have visited The WIRED Lab, their research continues, and October 31st is the first of many future open days.
MEDIA: For print resolution images and to arrange interviews please contact WIRED O P E N DAY Curator Sarah Last on (02) 69 436 222 or 0414 22 66 23.
TICKETS ETC…
Available online from StickyTickets HERE.
BOOKING MUST BE MADE by 11am FRIDAY 30th October to reserve your place. PLEASE NOTE: The WIRED Lab is also a working farm and audience numbers are strictly limited.
WHEN: Saturday 31st October 2009. Busses leaving 5.30pm sharp and returning by 10.00pm
WHERE: Busses depart Cootamundra Post Office, Wallendoon Street for The WIRED Lab.
COST: $10 children (under 16), $15 concession (seniors, students etc), $20 adults
Price includes bus fare and entry to The WIRED Lab site. TICKETS AVAILABLE HERE.
ATTIRE: Covered shoes must be worn, you will be in a paddock with long grasses & rocks etc. At nightfall the temperature can drop so bring something warm.
MEALS: available on site at an additional cost
Supper will be available at WIRED O P E N DAY courtesy of the Cootamundra Creative Arts and Cultural Centre (CCACC), all proceeds to the CCACC building fund.
Drinks, tea and coffee will be available on site. No food, drink or animals to be bought on premises.
ACCOMMODATION: Many Hotels in Cootamundra are offering discounts for WIRED O P E N DAY punters for a full listing visit HERE.
WIRED LAB: http://wiredlab.ning.com/
The WIRED Lab gratefully acknowledges in-kind and financial assistance from :
* The Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body
* Arts NSW, The NSW Government Department of the Arts, Sport and Recreation
Cootamundra Creative Arts and Cultural Centre
* Decode Media
* Cootamundra Shire Council
* Eastern Riverina Arts Program
* The Riverina Co-op
* Noyzelab
* Retrovox
* Charles Sturt University Winery
This event is being organised by Chris Caines and the Centre for Media Arts Innovation. I’ll be there!
Golden Live – A performance night for the Golden Eyes Festival
8pm Tuesday the 20th of October 2009. Bon Marche Studio. UTS
The bi-annual Golden Eyes Festival of Media Arts has been held at UTS for over 20 years. This year it will also include a performance night showcasing the very active AV performance scene among undergrads, postgrads and staff at UTS. Three groups of performers will be presenting on the night in the wonderful purpose built Bon Marche Studio at UTS with 9.1 sound and high resolution digital cinema projection. Performers will be: Emily McDaniel & Emma Ramsay, Roger Mills & Neil Jenkins as well as Nick Wishart & Miguel Valenzuela.
Entry to the Bon Marche Studio is on Harris St, Ultimo on the ground floor of UTS Building three. http://www.uts.edu.au/about/mapsdirections/citymap.html
8pm Tuesday the 20th of October – The event is Free. Duration approx 80 mins.
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Emily McDaniel is an Aboriginal artist, curator and educator from the Wiradjuri Nation. Her work traverses performance, new media, film and sound installation. This year she has begun curating and coordinating Refraction, a UTS Media Arts performance night that encourages the next wave of artists to get amongst it. She is currently completing her BA in Media Arts and Production.
Emma Ramsay works across many platforms of art including sound, video and installation. She is a founding director of Sydney based ARI Quarterbred, that promotes cross disciplinary practice and developmental support for emerging artists. She is currently completing a Masters in Media Arts and Production.
Emma and Emily have been collaborating for over a year and have recently exhibited and performed at Electrofringe. Their practice tries to achieve a good feeling through sonic spirituality, by fusing installation with performance and lo-fi with hi-fi. Although they can be placed under the umbrella of new media, sometimes, they just like to leave the brolly at home. Golden Live will see the two of them collaborate with stunning visuals and epic sounds to create a cockle warming sound that will make the little hairs on your spine stand on end.
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Idea of South – Roger Mills & Neil Jenkins
Exploring ontological notions of southernness, Idea of South is a three part radiophonic composition combining live networked terrestrial radio and Internet streaming. It is a musical sound journey integrating spoken word, live processed trumpet, violin and location recordings contributed by sound artists and phonographers throughout the southern hemisphere. It was originally broadcast simultaneously over Radio 2SER, FBi Radio and Shoutcast stream in June 2009, and will be performed for Golden Live as a six channel mix with a live visuals by artist Neil Jenkins.
Performers are: Roger Mills – Trumpet, Hogi Tsai – Violin, Bernie Maier – Spoken word, Visual Mix – Neil Jenkins.
Roger Mills is a composer, sound artist and writer whose practice focuses on networked collaborations, internet performance and radio. He has worked internationally as a composer & sound designer, and is editor of the online sound art magazine and net label Furthernoise.org. Roger is currently an HDR student at UTS, researching improvisation in remote online collaborations and founder of the Ethernet Orchestra.
http://www.eartrumpet.org
http://ethernetorchestra.netpraxis.net
http://www.furthernoise.org
Neil Jenkins is an artist whose practice is heavily engaged with
electronic media and the Internet. He creates highly interactive works
that often require a live internet connection and the participation of
its audience to function and exist.
http://www.devoid.co.uk
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Alphabet Soup, is a new audio/visual performance by Nick Wishart + Miguel Valenzuela
Using a hacked Speak n Spell and other circuit bent alphabet toys, animations,a cube, some code and an asprin, Nick & Miguel will attempt to reassemble language into a sonic & visual feast.
Think R2D2 on acid!
Texas Instruments released the Speak n Spell toy in the late 70’s and are now the holy grail for circuit benders. Containing one of the 1st commercially available speech chips, these wonderful toys can be retro fitted with a MIDI input kit allowing the phonetic sounds to be triggered by keyboards and sequencers.
Nick Wishart – Working in music, sound and multimedia his main area of artistic practice is in the development of Physical Interactive Systems. Combining his skills in electronics, tactiles, MIDI, interactive devices, audio production and circuit bending techniques, Nick creates interactive multi-media installations and circuit bent instruments that form the basis of the all toy band Toydeath.
www.toydeath.com
www.cell.org.au
Miguel Valenzuela has been making video art since 1996. He has exhibited at Artist Run Spaces such as Mekanarky studios and Newman Lane Gallery, as well as in various public spaces around Sydney. He is currently researching multidimensional interactive video/sound art and its associative dimensions with regard to social norms, laws, formalities and their relative elasticity.
http://fmgrande.blogspot.com/2009/02/film-art.html
I’ll be performing selections from some forthcoming solo releases on Alias Frequencies at this event.
WHAT: Random Acts of Elevator Music + Shannon O’Neill
WHEN: Friday October 9, 7.30pm
WHERE: Don’t Look Gallery
419 New Canterbury Rd
Dulwich Hill (426/428 bus)
COST: $10
CONTACT: Nicholas Bates, Master Management
0403 920 908, nicholas.bates@gmail.com
OR Don’t Look Gallery 0401 152 434, dontlookgallery@gmail.com
Random Acts of Elevator Music at Don’t Look Gallery
Making their first business trip from Melbourne, Random Acts of Elevator Music perform at the experimental new media art space Don’t Look Gallery, 419 New Canterbury Rd, Dulwich Hill, on Friday the 9th of October at 7.30pm. The show incorporates the acclaimed Random Acts of Elevator Powerpoint display, featuring highlights from office life and rare elevator footage, along with their trademark soothing tones, melodies and oscillations. Joining them for a rare solo live set is Sydney sound artist Shannon O’Neill.
Random Acts of Elevator Music is the latest project from City Frequencies, a collaboration between Matt Adair and Nick Wilson, who work together on sound projects within the metropolitan environment.
The original City Frequencies installation was a live surround-sound audiovisual performance held at the Melbourne Town Hall for the 2000 Next Wave Festival, utilising the sounds and sights of the Melbourne CBD as source material. In 2004 City Frequencies recorded the conversations of Fitzroy café-goers at Kent Street Cafe, using the tapes to create the Café Voyeur installation.
Shannon O’Neill is a Sydney sound and media artist. As well as making sound and music under his own name and as Time Being, he has been a member of several groups including Wake Up and Listen and The Splinter Orchestra. Shannon has been a director of the Electrofringe and Sydney Liquid Architecture festivals, and is the founder and director of Alias Frequencies, an organisation that promotes and publishes music and media art.
For further information visit: www.akm.net.au/cityfreqs
www.twitter.com/cityfreqs
Or contact: Nicholas Bates
Master Management
0403 920 908
nicholas.bates@gmail.com
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