Ambisonic is a sonic format that instead of being multi-channel, like stereo or 5.1, is 360 surrounding. In ambisonics, the hearing experience can be described as 3D, placing sounds not just in front of you, but all around your body. Ambisonics are being used mainly to mirror other similar formats, like VR. To records sound in an ambisonic format you need a special type of microphone that contain multiple diaphragms, pointing to all directions. Some binaural microphones can also record 360 sounds. This type of microphones are defined by two prosthetic ears that are use to mimic the way humans listen, the purpose of these microphones is to record sound such as how humans hear them. (Picture below displays Neumann KU 100, binaural dummy head)

The format of ambisonics is going to change the way we record and play back sounds. Everyday the technology becomes more accessible and sound practitioners are using them in creative processes. An idea that occurred to me of a creative use of ambisonics, is DJ mixing but with 360 surrounding sound. The listener will experience the mixing changes in different hearing locations, giving the opportunity for the listener to interact with the music in a greater depth.

Last Friday, my group and I presented a sound installation in the entrance of the LCC campus. We did an audiovisual performance, using a wide range of electronic and industrial sounds. Our concept was deconstruction, we developed the idea by using destruction sound practices, like distortion. In the middle of the performance we had a projector that displayed a 16 minute loop video showing the shopping mall that is in-front of LCC, being demolished. The video also contain subtitles that narrated our manifesto on deconstruction .

I contributed in the performance by designing some drones and granular percussion that I manipulated live with a midi controller. The drones I design where quite interactive with the composition, I managed to do a performance that was very cohesive with what the rest of my peers where doing. Also I was triggering samples that one of my group members gave me, giving more tools to interact with.

On conclusion, I think the performance was very successful. The team collaborated in good unison and everyone was engaged with what was happening. I had a great time taking part in the performance, in the middle of it I lost my self in the noise and felt quite emotionally compelled. I think our biggest strength was the communication we had with every person of the group, it helped to solidify the final performance.

Pogłos is a Polish noise art documentary that presented different noise concerts around Silesia. The concerts had no audience, it consisted of one or two noise artist performing with powerful loudspeakers in natural stages, such as a forrest or a snowy field. The artist interacted directly with the atmosphere surrounding them, playing with the natural reverb of the place. Mainly the artist worked with hardware processors such as effect pedals or modular synthesizers to create a thick layer of electronic noises. The great appeal of this documentary is the juxtaposition of the harsh noises with the calm and beautiful nature. The artists in the documentary seek to explore the concepts of territory and how mankind expands its territory towards atmospheres like the ones portrayed, finally destroying them.

I was deeply impressed when seeing the documentary, noise music is usually hard to listen and quite unpleasant, but I felt that the music in the documentary, when being mirrored with nature, was extremely hypnotic and satisfying. This video is a clear example of how visual content can make noise music or other sound styles that have not pleasurable aesthetics, more accessible. After watching Tokyo Noise and Pogłos, I feel more compelled to noise music, but I think that a reason for this is that both documentaries have excellent visual content.

My favorite part of Pogłos is the concert where a noise artist is playing in front of an old abandoned building, at the middle of his performance the building is demolished and it falls, crumbling into pieces. This creates a huge bang that molds with the noise music. I thought the idea was incredibly creative and I will love to experience a concert similar to this one in person.

I’m currently reading the book “Composing Electronic Music, A New Aesthetic” by the electronic music composer Curtis Roads. I would say this is the most thorough and complete book when addressing electronic music, going from the medium history to its developments and most important work. Also the book goes through very technical aspects of the medium, like the physical nature of sound.

From what I have read some specific points have stranded out that gave me another perspective of how viewing sound. In the introduction of the book, Roads gives a very smart analogy of the difference between electronic music and acoustic music. He said that acoustic music is like integer numbers and that electronic music are like real numbers, meaning that electronic music follows the rules of all acoustic music, but then expands every single feature to great extents. An example of this would be how in electronic music timbre can be drastically manipulated while in acoustic music, timbre is determined by the instrument.

I found very interesting the chapter on the book called Sonic Narrative, where Roads explains the capabilities of narrative development by using electronic mediums. For example he explained that in electronic music you can symbolize thing with greater detail, by using samples or recordings of such element that is going to be symbolized and that the acoustic counterpart cannot compete agains this feature.

This book will help me as a framework of what electronic music is and what is it capable of. Mostly all my compositions are electronically made and I like more the medium that the acoustic medium. Furthermore I have listen to Roads music and I found that his way of using granulator synthesis creates really complex and interesting compositions.

Tokyo Noise (2002) is a documentary made by Swedish directors Kristian Petri, Jan Röed and Johan Söderberg. This documentary explores Tokyo through its noise and sound culture, getting different perspectives by interviewing characters that don’t necessarily revolve across the noise world, for example a psychologist or a photographer. What makes this documentary remarkable, apart from its pleasing visual aesthetic, is the wide palette of sounds used. Tokyo soundscape is successfully mixed with electronic music and intelligent sound design, giving the city a character and a narrative. At the same time the documentary explores and analyses the current social problems that torment the habitants of Tokyo, from the growth of automatization industrialization, to the intense anti-social culture.

The documentary is an eye candy to watch and it can be said the same thing about the sound. This documentary has become for me a reference of audiovisual composition, at the same time it introduced me to Japanese sound artist and I can comfortably say that I like the aesthetic of the noise music. I would like to try introducing some qualities of noise music into my compositions.

Jana Winderen is a Norwegian sound artist that works with sound of nature, specially sounds from deep underwater and frigid atmospheres . Her recordings are made using hydrophones, picking up inaudible frequencies to the human ear. Her goal is to get recordings that are hard for a human to make both psychically and aurally. Then with the recording she made create site specific installations that are exhibited across the world. Her work has becomes highly recognized and she has worked with big institutions such as the BBC.

It’s really interesting how Winderen’s work relate to the field of earthworks, using nature as her main artistic resource. I had encounter before sound pieces that deal directly with sounds of the nature, for example pieces by Bernie Krause and Francisco Lopez, but I thought that the work of Winderen was quite unique because its very specific. Also I admire how she creates her pieces to get global consciousness of the natural problems happing in the environment. It’s a very powerful and honest form of activism.

Gesang Der Jünge – is a piece by the german composer Karlheinz Stockhausen, finished in 1956. This piece is arguably one of the greatest works in experimental music, working both with concrete sounds and electronic music, its innovation is compared with few. The piece is built from different recordings and processing of a boy singing phrases of biblical texts, then the recordings are combined with a wide palette of electronic sounds created by primitive synthesizers of the age. A key characteristic of the piece is the experimental use of panning. Stockhausen wrote: “By incorporating controlled positioning of the sound sources in space, it will have been possible for the first time to demonstrate aesthetically the universal application of my serial technique” (1955). This piece also was performed live with a quadrophonic setup, where the audience could really experience the creative spacing of sounds.

The complexity of this piece doesn’t stop to astonish me. Even though the piece could not be the most pleasant thing to hear, it has a powerful emotional value. I found a blog that did a deep analysis of the piece, where I found all the information referenced. The blog outlines from the structure of the piece to the equipment used. Below is the link attached and the video of Gesang Der Jünge.

Link to the blog: http://stockhausenspace.blogspot.com/2015/01/opus-8-gesang-der-junglinge.html

I recently read the introduction for Pauline Olivero’s book Deep Listening, where she defines the concepts taken into consideration and describes superficially her arguments and ideas. A couple of things stranded out for me:

First: The difference between listening and hearing. I never thought of both concepts as a pathway of consciousness, she explains that listening requires attention from an acoustic and psychological perspective. Hearing in the other hand refers to the simple psychical means that enable to perceive a sound.

Second: The concept of Deep listening and its relationship with meditation. She argues that deep listening is the further step when perceiving and analyzing sound, she expressed it as listening to the listening. Then she discussed that listening is a form of meditation but meditation is not a form of listening. Meditations refers to the fact of putting attention to something.

Third: She gave a basic outline of how deep listening could be a change of improvement in everyday activities and society. Her expression on listening is very romantic and poetic, I fell totally compelled by it.

On conclusion, I think I do practice often deep listening. I find myself a lot perceiving my surroundings and analyzing both the psychological and acoustic nature of sound. I also overthink and re-analyze what I have concluded of such listening experiences and then tailor my skills to my sonic wants and needs. Of course I will have to read the entire book to find out her ideas and to get tips and feedback on my ways of listening.

Eraserhead is a film by the American director David Lynch, released in 1977. This surreal and kafkesque film builds through a black and white industrial aesthetic, that is somehow dream like, exposing fears and deep connotations of society. The sound design and music of the film are carefully selected to add tension and to create specific emotions, usually to attack or make the audience uncomfortable. Noise is used repetitively with music, industrial drones made from machines fill the atmosphere, blending perfectly to the colorless of the film. This gave me a new curiosity to explore noise music, specially when its used for other medium apart from film.

I found a great video essay analyzing the sound used in specific scenes of the film. The video is very precise with details and showed me things I hadn’t connected while seeing the film. Currently I’m working on the sound of a friends short film and I was inspired by Eraserhead to use mainly industrial sounds with a more modern approach than the film. I am going to record a wide range of industrial/mechanic sounds and then process them through digital effects, like granulator delays and spectral modifiers.

The Dream House – is a creative audio visual installation by the minimalist composer La Monte Young and visual artist Marian Zazeela, in 1993. The project consists as the title of suggest of a house, where neon pink lights are reflected across the walls and sound is played to fit the atmosphere. The sound of the house could be described as very evolving and hypnotic drones, with a big psychedelic connotation. The work exploits thoroughly the ideology of sound installations, the sound changes as the person perceiving it walks and explores through the house. Below is a short video of a walk through the house, its impressive how the sound drastically changes when the person moves through the rooms.

Both artist created a unique atmosphere that connects visual and sonic stimulations to create a new reality, that’s why it’s a dream house. I loved the concept of creating a synthetic reality with just sound and light and I will love to visit a similar installation.