Audio Project two – Joseph Baker

Looking back on the project as a whole, I believe we have set out to do what we had intended. While a project is never finished but merely abandoned, I believe we left the Removed installation knowing we had achieved a high quality level of work that we were all proud of.

My original aims objectives

“The objective is to create a piece of experimental audio visual art that lines up with the meaning that is conveyed through the ‘Removed’ work. With the aims including mixing real sounds with musical sounds based upon what is seen in the picture. The aim to create experimentation within composition will come about through using real sounds as a form of music.”

This objective has been achieved throughout the whole project. And while some viewers may say that our experimental audio piece may not completely line up with the meaning that was intended, we have still created a piece of experimental audio that conveys our interpretation of the photography.

The aims of using real sounds as a form of music came about through the wedding photo. The wedding bells were synced up with the sound of a sampled phone message. The result was slightly disturbing but created a product that evokes feeling.

Timeline

The original timeline had post production starting at week 10. I believe this to be quite accurate. However, one slightly inaccurate prediction was the project submission as we had an extension which resulted in an extra four days on our project. As a whole, the timeline prediction turned out to be fairly on point.

Overall, I’m extremely happy with my contribution to the project and I believe that the finished product will certainly evoke a feeling towards our use of mobile phones. Whatever that feeling happens to be, depends on the individual watching the piece.

An element of personal research that did not go into my blog originally is to be posted here:

Telemisscomunications

One major musical element that inspired me was the track ‘Telemisscomunications’, a track by Deadmau5 and Imogen Heap. It mostly consists of piano chords and Imogen heap singing a conversation of her on a phone, talking to her other half. The idea of the poem was already in motion before the music was made for it. Hence the idea of simple piano acting as background noise for the poem in our project, a similar concept found in the Deadmau5 track.

 

 

The final 2.1 session on May 5th consisted of running through the mix a few final times to spot any errors. Charlotte corrected a few volume levels but most of the mixing had been done as we went along with the project.

The final 2.1 mix sounded very professional and the groups contributions to the final mix allowed for a balanced mix.

Over the past two days I have been working on the final music piece for ‘Removed’. The idea behind it was to create a build up that would lead to the final picture. I feel that the feedback given by the team has been extremely helpful over the course of making the track, with a real attention to detail from all the team.

It felt really important to get this final piece right as it is one of the most intense sections to listen to. The result of getting this area right came from being influenced by watching a section of Koyaanisqatsi where a similar musical build up is used. I feel that the final product has really created an intense section of the project that will really make viewers think twice before using their phone in social situations.

After spending the day in the mini sound theatre and the night in the main sound theatre, I believe we’ve made great progress. As a group we are advising and giving ideas in each others areas of work within the project. I’ve found this to be useful as it helps get an idea of what the group would expect from music in particular scenes.

There is one particular scene where a love poem is read over the pictures of couples ignoring each other via their phones. I believe that the effects Charlotte has used on the vocals really create an impact.

Hugh has also been working on the use of Foley and background noise to have an impact, particularly in the second photo of the family kitchen. This has proved to add more depth to the photo which then leads into an artistic development of the photo.