I found this while researching on ubuweb and found it pretty insightful. For not being a sound artist, I’ve always been fascinated with Sol Lewitt. It’s funny because I agree with many of his “Sentences on Conceptual Art,” and yet always have difficulty making conceptual work. I’ve decided I’m going to make a list of my themes and ideas and modes, in essence a list of “On me as an artist” and see what connections I can find.
A week or so ago, I said I’d blog the different audio programs I use to make my sound art, Since I now have a new computer and need to install most of them again, I thought now would be the best time to do so.
Audacity
A great open source multi-track sound editing program, nowhere near as powerful as pro tools but for something free it’s fantastic.
Hyperupic
It’s a tool for creating sounds from digital images. It was originally intended to be a musical tool for composers, but anyone can learn to use it, and it provides interesting results. This programs makes it so if you viewed the resulting audio file with a spectrum analyzer you see a distorted version of the image. Think Aphex Twin.
SPEAR
It stands for Sinusoidal Partial Editing Analysis and Resynthesis, and it’s really cool. The program breaks up sounds into it’s partials, which is represented by discrete lines in an editor window, you can move things, draw on the sound, etc. It’s really cool and the site does a way better job of explaining how it exactly works.
Soundhack
A very feature rich sound tool. It has the rather incredible feature of turning any type of file into sound. On the site it’s referred to a spectral audio processor, for macs.
These are my favorites, there are others and I’m sure I’ll discover more, I just downloaded a bunch and I’ll add reviews of those later. I’m gonna go make some noise.
First of all, Thanks Mom and Dad, for the much needed new computer. I don’t mind that it’s my next Christmas, Birthday and graduation present and then some, I’m just glad I have a brand new super fast mac.
I’m sitting in my dinning room typing on my brand new 15” MacBook Pro. I just finished installing a ton of open source programs from this site. I suggest it to new and old mac owners alike.
Wow, I’m a mac owner. I’ve wanted one ever since I used an iMac in high school. I mean I have other macs, but it feels awesome to finally have a fully functioning mac of my very own.
So, thanks again Mom and Dad.
“ARGGGG!”
My computer just died, well now it’s going on an hour since it passed. I had intended to have my blog on Conflux finished by now but the crash happened while I was working on my blog and several different homework assignments, so I lost that work. Well I didn’t loose it I’ve just lost access to it till can get my hard drive out of the old mother. Oh yeah I’m really happy I have most of the Theft and Rescue and Conflux pictures on a Thumb drive and all the rest might still be on my camera.
Before I continue I just want to restate something that all computer uses should know: ALWAYS back up your work! Sadly i didn’t! I’m lucky that my hard drive is OK but, Don’t be like me and wait to back-up, do it and do it regularly.
Ok, Let me introduce you to the late great TELETRAN 2:
She was an Inspiron 9100 a 10 pound (It had a bigger battery) power horse, and she served me well, she will me missed. More data on the Inspiron 9100 can be found here.
So yeah to make matters worse my Dad’s in Korea till the end of the week and my mother is computer illiterate so no ordering of a new computer till next week. Of course that doesn’t stop me from shopping around, and figuring out what I need so I can have a really convincing argument as to why I NEED a new mac. Oh by the way my gray box days are over, I’m switching, I’m done, vista sucks, and I need a new computer so, Apple here I come.
Noah Vawter: Ambient Addition
Ambient Addition is a portable music device that turns the noises around the listener into music, so the caucauphony of the city becomes music.
I found a link to the above from this site, which is the site to a tech radio show called Spark on CBC radio one, which I have a feeling I will be listening from now on.
Eugene’s Website, and site for the CD
Uh, well “yum, Static!” was my first reaction. I love the ideas behind this album, but without that little paragraph as an introduction It falls a little flat I feel. I can totally hear why Sam just gave it back angrily, but I listened to the whole thing and found it pretty interesting, so I took a lot of notes.
It sounds so angry at times. As I listened to track three I was thinking, this isn’t so bad, it’s listenable. I’ve realized that my work deals with aggression and quite often, grating sounds, but I strive for listenabilty. As track four continues all I can think is , “wow, this is pretty taxing.” The principles behind this album are really great, I don’t think their really dicernable just by listening to it. With my sound work I always have some idea, or ideas, or sometimes just feelings that i want to convey, and I attempt so convey that with the music not the linear notes I may write. In fact I often don’t like saying in great detail what a particular piece means in fact to me because I want the listener to find a meaning for his or her self, it’s my hope it will be close to my intention, of course. I guess it comes down to this if the listener is told what to listen for, they may not hear it then. I like works and strive to create works that can stand on there own, whole without any extraneous explanations, but this can be very difficult to accomplish. So I guess since “Sketches,..” are just that their not that bad, they suggest a relationship between technology, dance music, and organic processes. Why I say they suggest is without knowing that ahead of time, I think what most people would get from it is that it’s noisy, sounds electronic and has drum and beats in it.
A note about track 8:
I have source material that sounds like this track.
Track 14:
“AHHHHHH! This track sounds like a field of smashed computers still trying to function while burning in a forest fire.
September 6: Week 2
Artist Presentation
Research and Response: Blog
For next week: Listen to and respond to: Sketches for Biotech Research by Eugene Thacker
Research: Throbbing Gristle (aggression/industrial Music), Whitehouse, Christian Marcaly, Stockhausen
Think about what to do for thesis-brainstorm and write, etc.
Starting this week produce a sound piece each week in the vein of Cell Worship, point being to
explore and then have an EP or so worth of sound work by Late October/ early Nov.
September 13: Week 3
One on One
(off to Conflux right after that)
For Next Week: Research, what comes out of meeting
Sound art work
September 20: Week 4
Research
Sound art work
September 27: Week 5
Begin organizing and writing draft of proposal
Research
Sound art work
October 4: Week 5
Research
sound art work
October 11: Week 6
Research
Sound Art
October 18: Week 7
Sound Art
October 25: Week 8
Sound Art
November 1: Week 9
Final Written Proposal Due
including research
contextualization, influences, methodology and schedule.
November 8: Week 10
Prototyping
November 15: Week 11
Prototyping
Getting presentation organized
November 22: Week 12ish
Thanksgiving so No Class
Prototyping
Presentation organization
November 29: Week 13
Practice presentation talk
December 6: Week 14
Tech set-up/Presentation Run-Through
December 13: Week 15
Committee Review/ Final Presentations
artist statement
verbal presentation of work
revision of thesis (if necessary)
preliminary body of work