NEXT
We researched a wide variety of ideas, but we really did not want to copy anything that
ad already been made. We wanted to create something entirely different. We all went away to do our own research where I found a video about a particular installation that I drew my inspiration from. It worked in a way that truly amazed me. Fungal Spores would fall from fungus and travel through a lazer causing a sound to play. This opened the valve to a whole range of ideas in my head.
These ideas all involved the aspect of true randomness, which completely changed the way we thought and operated in a group as all of our previous ideas were rather linear. This randomness is also a very regular aspect involved in the category of nature. It was at this stage that we decided to use keyboard hacks to create our project. We were not sure how they would be used but we knew they would be vital at a later date.
From this point we decided to focus on using water is our primary object of use throughout the project. This water could flow over the keyboard hacks creating a connection which would then feed a command into a computer to manipulate. Then we simply focused on how we could control the water flow in interesting ways, however this was the sole aspect that lead us off course in our developmental stages. We were focusing on creating a feature rather than an installation.
Stairs Rails
Pros:
-It is fitting to our theme and is what Zoe would like us to follow through with.
-Our installation would be "part" of the building
Cons:
-It is extremely hard to build as we would have to build everything at the audio foundation and make sure that the water contacts the wires and the right locations.
-We need a lot more materials and since we are using acrylic, that could potentially be very expensive.
-Another group was working on the stairs as well which complicated things.
-Wires would be extremely long and create a tangle with complications.
Independant Contruction
-Cheap
-Able to be constructed in studio
-Compact
-Less Wires
-Laptop closer to setup
- Wires are Easily controlled and wrapped around the structure.
-It would feel slightly disjointed from the building itself.
We were one of the last groups to chose a position to operate our sound installation. At the beginning we saw the starcase as a curse, however we soon realised that it was a Godsend. It gave us direction as to how we could build our creation.
It also opened our eyes as to how we could make the installation a "part of the building itself." It had to reflect the building and define its character.
The most important stage of the development was when we decided to use piping to direct the water flow. This drastically changed how we thought about designing the project as it gave us a base to work from. However, at this point in development we were unsure if this idea would work. We were torn between making an independet structure or going about using the stairs.
Evidently we decided to go with the stair rails because we felt as though that depite the cost and complicated contruction issues, it best fitted what the brief was requesting. The most important factor of the construction was that the installation communicated with the building and was not a stand-alone project.
We also played around with some electrical concepts as well to add to our installation after Zoe told us that what we were doing seemed rather tacked on. However I felt as though her advice led us further astray. Although it did bring a relation to electronics into the equation using these designs, spectators would not have picked up on it.
However, mentioning these ideas is important because it helped us on our conceptual side of the project. It brought us to the realisation that water and electricity are not so different. In fact, many teachers start off electrical studies with stating that electricity flows in a similar fasion to water.
This enabled us to relate our main idea to nature and it also gave us the idea to play
with the two concepts of water and electricity.
We decided that it would be a great idea to mix the two together. I recorded some water sounds from a drain which we would use as a sample. I then experimented with ableton live to add effects on top of the sound. By doing this, the normal sound of water was completely drowned out by the electrical distortion. This was perfect for what we wanted to portray to the audience.
Once again we came back to the idea of having multiple pipes in order to play an instrument however we were going about it the wrong way. We failed to see that having branching pipes for alternate results was pointless. It would have allowed interaction however it once again directed us away from the model we wanted to create. Not only that but it made construction even more impossible than it seemed already.
Because we wanted to know how long it would take to for the water to travel to the end of the pipe, we decided to create a prototype of the pipe going down the WT building staircase. With the full length of the pipe it took 30 seconds, because we wanted to half the pipe we divided the time in two for 2 pipes. Therefore it would take 15 seconds to get from one end to the other passing over every keyboard hack. This was vital to our development as it made us realise that we needed randomisation to extend the operation period for spectators.
We also we unsure if the keyboard hack would actually work. The question was would the water concduct the two wires as it flowed down the spirals. This proved also to be a key aspect in our presentation because we discovered that we had to add salt to the water to conduct the wires. It also gave us an aproximation of how far apart the wires must be placed for keys to be trigger.
In charge of sound design, I loaded my sampled water sounds from the drain onto ableton live. Here i worked with the group to record down all the keyboard letters that would be triggered and linked them with an effect to add to the orginal sound. I really wanted to focus on just electrical sounds because this went with our overall theme of how technology and human progression is taking over nature. The effects represened human progression while the water sound in its pure form represented nature.
The main theme revolving around our sound installation has a huge relation to the relationship between water and electricity. The two subjects are thought to oppose each other in the world around us, but in actual fact, water and electricity are intertwined together and very similar to each other in regards to their properties. It is a known fact that most teachers will compare water flow to the behavior of electricity, when describing how electricity moves and operates. Water is universally the symbol of destruction for electronics mainly because of its conductivity, however conductivity is a huge aspect in electronics and we are using this as the building blocks to our design, and the reason why we, as a group, were so infatuated with joining these two topics in unison. We wanted to use pipes that spiraled down the stairwell because we aimed our design to reflect upon the Audio Foundation as well as our own ideas. To the group, the spiraling of the pipe down into the foundation represented a decent into a world that most of us are unfamiliar with. It is a strange and experimental place where music and audio are used for much more than just entertainment, but also to explore the conversion of ones ideas into artistic expression. The regular sound of water was placed at the top of the stairs nearest to the top level but changes the further down the stairs you go, and the closer you get to the audio foundation. This relates to the building because the stairwell was a representation of a timeline of human progression.
In relation to the audio, we are trying to mix and transform natural sounds and combine it with the sounds of electronics. We start with an unchanged sound and gradually deforms it. Water is poured down the pipes triggering the keyboard hacks which each change the original sound in some way. By the time the water has reach the end of either pipe the sound that you hear is almost completely unrecognizable with the scramble of effects and distortion. This represents the idea that electronics, technology and the progression of human infrastructure is slowly drowning out what little nature we have left. We purposefully used the sound of light trickling water and not an entire stream because we wanted to emphasize and remind the audience that time is running out, and nature may only be that last trickle of water before the world is overwhelmed by our presence. The random, messy distortion and effects added the water audio was also intentional as it represents the anarchy and disheveled future we may face if we do not awaken to our destructive expansion around the world. The randomness was emphasized in the way the keyboard hacks were placed down the tubes. Droplets of water would turn effects off and on, this way, we never were able to control which effects were being combined together to generate the electronic sounds.
Our production was highly relevant to these modern times because in this day and age it is all too easy to see how we are destroying the world around us. It only takes a brief look around to see how humans have almost eradicated all forms of nature from within our cities. Rain forrests are being destroyed for resources , the Ozone layer is being depleted from pollution, and the voice of nature is going unheard. We think of ourselves as separate entities from nature but we forget that we ourselves were created by nature, and in saying that we are destroying ourselves.
From working at the audio foundation I now realise how someone can enjoy this kind of expressive art to get away from the conformist nature of music in this day and age. It seems as though variety is harder and harder to find these days. This is another reason why my project is relevant to society. Music does not usually tell a story in this representative manner.
