Journal
Thoughts/ Research

Author: Daniel Pakdel

Categories
Global Sonic Cultures

The Power of Silence

Sat in front of a piano and a blank piece of manuscript paper, John cage famously subjected his audience to 4 minutes and 33 seconds of silence. Widely misunderstood as a deliberate provocation or a hoax, aimed at mocking the audience, its meaning is still debated. Whatever the supposed intention, I feel this Cagean silence acts as a catalyst for its listeners to expand the mind to the fact that all sounds are music. A deeper, perhaps more meaningful approach to listening. This notion of silence reminds me of an animated film I once saw called ‘The Red Turtle’ (dir. by Hayao Miyazaki). While the film is not silent, there is zero dialogue throughout. I found myself sitting in anticipation for the moment that the protagonist would utter his first words. But the moment never came. I think it may have served as an important lesson, much like Cage’s 4’33, to abandon expectation in the face of silence, freeing up your mind to its immersivity and in turn paying it the respect it deserves. To be truthful, there is no such thing as complete and utter silence on our planet, unless fabricated by some acoustic/ technological means. Which only shows that there is always something to tune into, whether we realise it or not.

Categories
Global Sonic Cultures

When Silence Rises From Earth

Silence is powerful. This is the message I received in response to watching the short audio-visual piece ‘When Silence Rises From Earth: 4’33” (More Than Cage Imagined Mix)’ by IR : Sankara Future Dub Resurgence. Both an audio-visual global collaboration/ installation and community event, taking place in the Dub Museum located in Kampala, Uganda, it gives an insight into its indigenous resistance and provides a stage for other countries experiencing political strife. During a ritual preparation of a Djembe drum (Warming up of its skins as is traditionally done before any performance) a handful of members engage in a silent, politically charged meditation.

Poster collages, rich in colour, are seen plastered on each wall adjacent to the group’s members, providing a rich cultural context to what they stand for. Plentiful in Anarchist symbolism and quotes from philosophers and activists, we are invited visually to ponder on anti colonial resistance and are advised that the true path to fulfilment in oneself and society is via the spiritual means, as opposed to the material. This is shown through cosmological figures such as Sun Ra, ideological concepts such as ‘The Fourth World’ and ‘Siba’, meaning ‘a pious distance from power’ and quotes by revered resistance figures such as ‘Free West Papua’ and ‘No-one makes any progress on the spiritual path until they are of benefit to their fellow human beings’. These messages, not heard in the networks of global corporate media, invoke a sense of responsibility within us to be of help to our fellow man in some shape or form, and coupled with the narration of a Palestinian mother and her South American-born son instructing us to ‘please prepare the silence’ in Arabic, Spanish and English, we are shown the importance of inclusivity, in that we are all equal and deserving of the same treatment, regardless of race, class or gender.

In an immediate sense, however, this project was brought to life amidst the 2020 global pandemic, but more locally so during the Ugandan political crisis. Furthermore, many setbacks that recording studios in the global north aren’t exposed to, such as power outages, roadblocks and disconnected telecommunications only increases the sense of urgency in Sankara’s piece.

Inspired by John Cage, Sankara focused on silence as a tool to bring light to the multiplicity of ideals they stand for. The minimal sounds juxtapose the maximalist images we see on the walls, that almost demand to be seen, and consequently colour our auditory experience of the Dub Museum. This synthesis of audio and visuals give the silence that ensues an ethical imperative.

What makes this project so meaningful is the unique nature of the Dub Museum. An autonomous area, free from ‘the institutional worlds of political parties, NGOs, corporate funding, electronic music festivals, academic universities, and avant-garde art scenes.’ The location itself points towards a time where non hierarchical societies existed in pre-colonial Africa and within it contains an anti-imperialist agenda. Silence may be misunderstood, but in a place such as this it is given context, form and purpose.

I am able to liken it to my own experiences of prayer or widespread remembrance and feelings of solidarity and togetherness come to mind. In a world full of noise, the power of silence is definitely underestimated.

Categories
Creative Sound Projects Personal/ Relevant

Radio Art – Wide-band WebSDR

‘Wide-band WebSDR is a web controlled receiver located at the amateur radio club ETGD at the University of Twente’ which can be used as a tool to explore frequency bands. Using the waterfall display, that graphically illustrates the signals across a frequency range, I quickly discovered through trial and error that the varying shades of purple showed where I could tune into radio stations. It seems as if the colour coded nature of the waterfall display attaches lighter shades of purple to stronger signals.

The waterfall’s visual take on frequency ranges and all the signals across its spectrum is quite intuitive and a lot easier to navigate than having to scan across bands, as you would on a traditional radio, in my opinion. It gives us more control to locate radio stations, jumping from frequency to frequency at will. I also found switching the view from waterfall to spectrum showed stronger signals using transients in place of colours.

Exploring this system, comprised of a Mini-Whip antenna and a homebuilt SDR board has been so insightful into the form of frequency spectrum in short-wave radio.

References

What is a waterfall display (2013). What is a waterfall display? [online] Amateur Radio Stack Exchange. Available at: https://ham.stackexchange.com/questions/889/what-is-a-waterfall-display#:~:text=A%20waterfall%20display%20is%20a,or%20strength%2C%20displayed%20over%20time.&text=Pictured%20in%20the%20image%20above%20is%20a%20number%20of%20signal%20traces. [Accessed 15 Feb. 2021].

Utwente.nl. (2012). Wide-band WebSDR in Enschede, the Netherlands. [online] Available at: http://websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901/ [Accessed 15 Feb. 2021].

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Categories
Creative Sound Projects

Sonic Recursion

Given the task of finding samples/ fx and creating atmospheres/ percussion to accessorise the script written by Raul and Jack for our groups radio collaboration I decided to further expand my knowledge on soundscapes by exploring the practice of creating feedback soundscapes.

A form of sound design known as ‘sonic recursion’ introduces tonal variety to feedback sources using various modulative effects. It is driven ben randomisation making it an organic way and semi-uncontrollable way of creating sound. A very specific use of feedback by using a number of sends in any chosen daw.

I attempted this by using 3 channels. The first being the source (containing a violin sample in one case), the second being an fx return that acts as the hub around which the feedback sources pass through, and varying effects channels called the feedback sources, where the source is sent to before being routed to the fx return. Limiters were placed on all channels and one on the master buss for safety as I’d be working with feedback which can be unpredictable at times. In this instance sonic recursion was achieved by sending the signal from the feedback source to the fx return and back again (a feedback loop). Using the pedal and reverb audio effects I’ve been playing with the dry/wet signal to create the right tone for the piece by cutting and boosting certain eq’s to create a variety of responses.

Ive also discovered that using the resonator here creates new melodic tones which I find fascinating as it allows feedback to be used compositionally. In many instances of radio art I’ve found the atmospheric textures to be meticulously complimentary of the set theme. In this case, whilst exploring ‘The Society of the Spectacle’ I aim to create an eerie vibe to match the supposed bleakness of a screen-led society, to contradict the enthusiasm in our chosen speakers voice and to emphasise the implications of social media.

References

Boon, H. (2020). Sonic Recursion – Sound Based Music : WestminsterResearch. Westminster.ac.uk. [online] Available at: https://westminsterresearch.westminster.ac.uk/item/v1289/sonic-recursion-sound-based-music [Accessed 15 Feb. 2021].

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Categories
Creative Sound Projects Personal/ Relevant

Radio Art – Locus Sonus

Exploring the Locus Onus app has been an eye opening experience, giving me much insight into the process of live streaming. I was given the opportunity to create a collage of sorts by melding various streams from different locations. Using Locus Onus’ sound map I decided to overlay a Wave Farm Pond Station in New York, Sounds picked up by a mic set up in a Brazilian rainforest and the auditory environment of a Dutch Farm. The ambience that ensued was fascinating as I was able to scultpure a completely different soundscape, giving the illusion that the resulting sound piece described a completely different location. The prevailing weather patterns, flora and fauna and general environment from all three rural locations gave rise to a very different sonic context. Specifically, I felt, a soundscape of a tropical beach, wind turning to waves. A subjective observation utilising the objectivity of the respective environments.

I also found the live stream broadcasting aspect much more engaging than listening to pre-recordings as the anticipation of discovering something unexpected in real-time felt exciting and inclusive.

Using my iphone to stream sounds from my garden via the Locus Cast app I pondered on the nature of streaming my own immediate environment and felt that it was interesting to hear sounds on my stream that have a place in my memory through day to day conscious and subconscious listening. Sounds that I may be used to, but now can hear in a different perspective. This idea of hearing your immediate environment in third person made it seem somewhat ghostly and voyeuristic, as if being watched (by myself). Simultaneously being the listener and the recorder. The Geo-locater (Sound map) added to this oppressive feeling of invasiveness of privacy and issues of self perception, despite having willingly chosen to stream my surroundings. A slight delay from my iphone to the actual stream (between 4 – 8 seconds) was also intriguing as it felt as if I was hearing a version of myself that no longer existed. Travelling through time via a sonic mirror.

Categories
Creative Sound Projects Personal/ Relevant

Radio Art – Lance Dann, The Flickerman (INC) 2009

I noticed many clever auditory techniques used in Lance Dann’s, The Flickerman. Immediately, the overlapping of hushed vocals stood out to me, creating a seamless conversation that also, however, felt like a collage of words. A sense of hurriedness is apparent through this and starts the piece with an air of nervousness and secretiveness. All of this is cleverly coloured with well placed drone sounds and deep gong like drums. I also picked up on the muffledness of the backing soundscape and the stretched, pitched down background vocals once the narrator says ‘and then everything started to happen really slowly’ as the first climax starts to begin. It seems that throughout the story the actual sounds involved in the tale, whether that be birds taking off or the sound of vocals, as opposed to external unrelated sound effects or instruments, are manipulated to accompany the scripts current mood, integrating the story itself with our auditory experience.

At times it seems as if the surrounding voices feel distorted as they get louder. This brings into question the grain of the human voice and its importance in radio art. Having been given the role of interviewer in my groups sound piece this observation may be useful to implement. Taking special care in how I present/ project my voice in order to compliment its theme. Though it may be more important in the actual editing of the vocals, exploring ways in which the tone of the voices involved can be altered.

Silence too plays an important role in emphasis, but also as a marker for the direction or culmination of events. This can be heard at the end of The Flickerman’s sound effect sequence, just before what seems quite obviously to be an explosion of some sort. The silence makes it all the more potent but also gives the listener an even more accurate idea of what is being experienced, as if the world stands still for us and the characters just before the inevitable explosion.

After this weeks lecture I discovered that the ‘whooshing’ that follows the silence was achieved by reversing a sample. Further to this, at another point in the piece, the sound of birds flapping their wings seems to be drowned in reverb. These examples of manipulating the stories inherent sounds to aid in the visual imagery will make the process of curating samples for the group collaboration more specific, as I’ll be searching for sounds and effects that actually identify with the piece.

Categories
Creative Sound Projects

Radio Art – ‘Touching the Elephant’

Originally ‘based on an ancient Indian fable about a group of blind men who undergo a first time encounter with an elephant,’ an experiment was conducted in a modern day scenario and aired on BBC Radio 4 in order to recreate the tale. Listening to a transcript from this radio show I felt there were a couple of similarities between the blind participants acousmatic experience and my own sonic observation as a displaced listener.

  1. The instinctive visualisation due to a lack of image and the excitement of having to rely on hearing, giving a different sensory perception, as if experiencing something for the first time all over again.
  2. The use of imagination to create individualised interpretations of what is being heard.

Sound as a prompt for visualisation can make the resulting mental image personalised, as we draw on our own life experiences and certain stereotypes. I found this freedom to individually attach our own ideas and interpretations to sound as fairly inclusive, as one feels like less of an observer and more like an active participant in the nature of whatever is heard. The resulting experience is therefore more complex as it is cued by sound but coloured with imaginative faculty.

The term ‘all radio listeners are blind’ is a poignant way of putting the visual experience of radio art across, despite its aural form. It connects us in a way that makes us feel collectively powerless to what is being heard, but all the more powerful in the ways which we are now able to perceive it. In a psychological sense radio art and its sightless format lends an opportunity to explore our own subconscious manifestations of what we hear and why we see the things we do. A gateway into the psyche.

A BBC documentary that explores our abilities of visual perception without the use of sight

On the other end, the soundscape of ‘Touching the environment’ really sets the scene in ways that a visual medium may not. The whistling of the birds, the crackling and swooshing of the fabric, the sound of children playing in the background among much more really immerses you in a sonic environment that brings more nuanced detail than a moving image could. The combination of music, speech, sound fx, nature and even silence can all be combined in ways that can change the context of a piece entirely.

Understanding this concept of sightlessness in radio art will be key to conveying the theme in my groups collaborative radio piece correctly. Basing our piece on ‘The Society of The Spectacle’ by Guy Debord we have a clear theme surrounding social media and its implications and the curation and arrangement of samples will be paramount in aiding the induction of emotion, insight and ensuring that concept clearly enough to avoid misinterpretation.

References

“Touching the Elephant | Rockethouse Productions Ltd.” Rockethouse.co.uk, 2015, www.rockethouse.co.uk/oldsite/elephants/. Accessed 14 Feb. 2021.

Wikipedia Contributors. “Touching the Elephant (Radio Programme).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 3 Nov. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Touching_the_Elephant_(radio_programme). Accessed 14 Feb. 2021.

“‘The Pictures Are Better on Radio’: A Visual Analysis of American Radio Drama from the 1920s to the 1950s.” Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, 2018, www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01439685.2017.1332189. Accessed 14 Feb. 2021.

Categories
FIELD RECORDING

Bird Vocalisation and Wildlife Recording

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Whilst planning for my Unit 1 assessment I had the idea of creating melodies with sounds found in nature – specifically, a call and response between my sound piece and the surrounding birdsong at the Chiswick Eyot. Further research into this lead me to Bird Vocalisation. While humans may percieve bird calls as mere melodies, orthinology reveals the complexity of its nature. Longer, detailed songs are associated with territory, courtship and mating, whilst less complicated calls act as alarms or simple instructions for a flock. When incorporating these calls in my sound piece it may be interesting to think of the context they were sung in and how that could affect the theme I decide with upon deeper introspection.

In order to gain more understanding in techniques used in wildlife recording I came upon a sound recordist called Chris Watson whose work spans many programmes including, David Attenborough ‘Life’ series and the BBC series ‘Frozen Planet.’ In a short clip describing his process, he commented on how there is no equivalent of a telephoto or zoom lens for sound. Other ways in which we can amplify sound include an apparatus called a Parabolic Reflector. It effectively works as a mirror telescope for sound. upon striking its surface of its dish, sound is partially reflected. This reflection redirects the sound-waves inward creating a clearer sonic image of a distant sound source, too far away to hear with the naked ear.

References

Bloomfield, Lou. “How Does a Parabolic Microphone Work?” Howeverythingworks.org, Bloomfield Media LLC, 15 May 1997, howeverythingworks.org/1997/05/15/question-1157/. Accessed 21 Jan. 2021.

“Chris Watson.” Chriswatson.net, 2021, chriswatson.net/. Accessed 21 Jan. 2021.

“Sounds of Nature: Making a Soundtrack for Wildlife Films.” Bbc.co.uk, 2016, www.bbc.co.uk/earth/story/20160314-sounds-of-nature-for-wildlife-films. Accessed 21 Jan. 2021.

Wikipedia Contributors. “Bird Vocalization.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 20 Jan. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird_vocalization. Accessed 21 Jan. 2021.

Categories
Oscilloscopes

Visual Art Using Oscilloscopes

Following on from my research into Darsha Hewitt, I proceeded to watch her 10 part series ‘Sideman 5000 adventure.’ In episode 8 she uses a talking robot made of parts found in the trash to explain the process of synthesis. She demonstrates how sound is produced via the sideman using a y band oscillator, patching the output of the oscillator into an oscilloscope. What caught my attention was the way in which the oscilloscope allows you to visualise electronic currents and frequencies.

Combining sound and visual art in a reciprocative way using oscilloscopes is super intriguing, however “What sounds good doesn’t necessarily look good and great images mostly just make ear-deafening noises” according to sound artist Jerobeam Fenderson. Looking into his work its clear that hes developed some sort of vocabulary of sonic data that informs the image in ways that are understandable to the human eye. Some of his work even looking like literal wireframe drawings.

A quick look into Lissajous-mode oscilloscope generation shows how some of this can be done, graphing the visualisation of the sound on an X/Y plot. Watching a how to video by Jerobeam gave me further insight into how the actual shapes were made. Making a simple circle involves using the left channel for horizontal and right for vertical deflection, adding a sine and cosine wave to each one respectively. By increasing or decreasing the volume of both channels one can alter the shape of this circle. Adding a sawtooth wave to the right channel results in a spiral… and so on and so forth. As well as an idea for future sound experiments, it also seems like a great way to better understand the nature of different sound waves.

I wonder what the limitations are with this fascinating practice of running audio through an oscilloscope.


References

“This 3D Oscilloscope Drawing Music Might Make Your Brain Fall Out – CDM Create Digital Music.” CDM Create Digital Music, 10 June 2015, cdm.link/2015/06/watch-oscilloscope-draw-3d-make-amazing-music-time/. Accessed 20 Jan. 2021.

Categories
VISITING PRACTITIONERS

Darsha Hewitt

BIO

Darsha’s website boasts an interesting catalogue of DIY sound experiments with various forms of obsolete technology. Her work is interdisciplinary, spanning audio visual works, how to videos, structural installation and experimental performances with handmade machines. Sound remains as a central medium however. She uses these works to investigate into the values of our consumer based society that pays little attention to the hidden structures of past and current technologies. Materials we eventually brand as trash. It seems as if her aim is to expose consumer habit against capitalism in western culture, moving people to engage with their environment directly and personally.

I find Darsha’s approach fascinating and increasingly authentic with every experiment I look into. Unlike some of the other practitioners, I found her work self explanatory, shielded from misconceptions. Her designs carry the synonymity between consumption, society and sound, gracefully catalysing introspection into the way we live our lives without being too overt.

Her bottom up method when starting a project lent clarity to her process. Not starting on a concept but, instead letting an idea come to light through experimentation. This was intriguing as I often find a top down approach ultimately leads to superficiality in my work. One may struggle to find material that fits their initial agenda and in turn inadvertently use force or a tenuous connection to render a product meaningful. A way in which this bottom up technique is so elegantly portrayed is through her work with Old German Lawnmowers, namely the ‘DDR Rasenmaher Trolli.’

On Wikipedia, Media Archeology is described as the “insistence on the value of the obsolete and forgotten through new cultural histories.” In most of her work, Darsha explores this concept through reverse engineering. Evidence of this is shown in her research process for the aforementioned German Lawnmowers. Initially drawn to their aesthetic design she decided to take apart these defunct machines, made and used during socialist Germany in the 30s and 40s, to further inspect their design features. She dismantled the minimal looking, robust, helmet shaped cover that adorned these lawnmowers, eventually used as the central piece of her installation. Upon doing this she discovered that the apparatus had no motor in it and instead required a power drill to turn its rotor blade. When finding the user manual she found that it was often women demonstrating its uses. Further research into this showed that the company making the manuals graphic design also made political propaganda for the socialist state, where men and women were supposedly seen as equals. Other observations included notes found on the lawnmowers original packaging, stating that the boxes be returned to the state in order to be recycled and reused.

I find it crazy that this bottom up media archaeological dig reveals so much more than the anatomy of a lawnmower. Translating the context of society, when these were in use, into our present moment reveals so many flaws in how companies provide technologies and how not enough is done to educate consumers on the implication of their actions and the unsustainability of current trends.

A term she mentions in her lecture, called ‘Post-Growth Dilemma,’ outlines ‘the perception that, on a planet of finite resources, economies and populations cannot grow infinitely.’ Malthusian in nature, this statement is grounded in reality. How can we find different ways of repurposing discarded equipment in order reduce unnecessary waste. I feel though that in a way the limitations of using the allegedly unusable encourages creativity. Would we have made the same historical discoveries if it hadn’t been for planned obsolesence?

Planned obsolescence is a policy of planning or designing a product in industrial design in a way that gives it an artificially limited useful life, making it unfashionable or ‘obsolete’ after a given time, shortening the space in which it has to replaced for the benefit of capitalist economics.

In 2016 streaming and downloading music generated 194 kilograms of greenhouse gas emissions. The environmental cost of music definitely plays a big part in Darsha’s ethos and her work motivates us to pay more attention to the material infrastructure of sound.
One example in which she touches on this is her project ‘High Fidelity Wasteland 1: 100 Year Old Quicksilver cloud.’ Using a Cybertron, an old piece of technology used in industrial systems, she found it would produce electrons by heating up a puddle of mercury in the valve giving it a blue glow. She made recordings of the valve as it was heating up, using the sounds in collaboration with another artist to compose a sound piece. High pitched and eerie, it bring a sense of forebodingness when we ponder on how exactly these machines are disposed of and where does the mercury go afterwards?

From her work with rudimentary vinyl transducers using a tin can found in the garbage, electro static bells and the deconstruction of loud speakers she successfully demystifies many hidden processes, demonstrates the fetishisation of technology and exposes the immorality of capitalist culture, not only in relation to the environment but to the colonialism involved in certain extraction processes. Humans are inexorably related to the destruction and creation of the environment and I view Darsha’s work as an important starting point in the current Anthropocene to combatting consumerist culture.

References

“Darsha.” Darsha, 2021, darsha.org/about/. Accessed 19 Jan. 2021.

Valiquet, Patrick, and P Valiquet. “100% Expert!” Mastery and Equality in Darsha Hewitt’s Sideman 5000 Adventure. darsha.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/%E2%80%9C100-Expert%E2%80%9D-Mastery-and-Equality-in-Darsha-Hewitt%E2%80%99s-Sideman-5000-Adventure.pdf, 10.1007/978-3-030-39002-0_8.

Wikipedia Contributors. “Media Archaeology.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 5 Dec. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_archaeology. Accessed 19 Jan. 2021.

—. “Planned Obsolescence.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 14 Jan. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_obsolescence#:~:text=In%20economics%20and%20industrial%20design,period%20of%20time%20upon%20which. Accessed 19 Jan. 2021.

Udk-Berlin.De, 2021, www.udk-berlin.de/en/courses/sound-studies-and-sonic-arts-master-of-arts/faculty-staff/guest-faculty/darsha-hewitt/. Accessed 19 Jan. 2021.