Interpretation: Robot Sound-Scape Escape
WHAT IS A SOUNDSCAPE
Activity
Walk around school recording with voice memo (Mobile Phone)
Homework Activity
Record Soundscapes in your home or in your local area. What does it sound like down by the beach? What does it sound like at the Old Quarter? Can you use this to create a mood or atmosphere in a film or song?
Video examples of soundscapes and compositions inspired by soundscapes.
Above: Leah Barclay travels the world listening to the sounds of different natural environments. She uses some high tech microphones to capture amazing sounds and these are used in many incredible ways. Sometimes her work is used in Film, sometimes in Research, and sometimes in Artistic installations. Click on the pictures above to go to her website and listen!
Left: In 2010 NASA released a number of recordings from within the atmosphere of different planets and moons in our atmosphere. In 2016 David Crowden and Gabriel Thurond teamed up to collaborate by immitating some of the recordings to create a new composition. The effect of the human voice singing with overtone vowel sounds in a male falsetto helps to create an etherial sound. The voice was recorded 3 times (multi-tracking), singing different parts that clash and move in pitch to get a 'spacey' effect. The trumpet is also multi tracked twice with a harmon mute and a cup mute. On top of this the poem 'Stranded in Paradise' is sung in high male falsetto register. The words of the poem give rise to a feeling of isolation and highlight how small we are in the wider universe, while also capturing an intimacy of the human condition which we all know.
Biophony
Sounds of birds and animals
Geophony
Sounds of wind and water
Anthrophony
Sounds of vehicles and machines
Emotion
Sounds that make you happy, stressed, or excited
Mixing your sounds
Use Sound Trap or Garage Band.
Importing and editing your recording:
1. Email the file to yourself - this saves the file on the internet and reduces the risk of it getting lost.
2. Import the audio file to Garage Band or Sound Trap. You can usually drag and drop.
Demo Video: Open in Email and import to Garage Band
Demo Editing: Cut, Resize and Loop
Teacher perambulate and visit individuals with assistance and check for success.
Demo: Panning, EQ, Volume
Demo: Structure
Demo: Crossfading, Fade in, Fade Out
Mix with some beats or sing or play instruments with your soundscape to create something new.
Check out how Michael Jackson uses SoundScapes in his hit music video Thriller (1982).
Binary Form
As you start mixing, you might come up with two different ideas. This is great!!
Developing these two ideas and keeping them both in your music is called Binary Form.
You might like one of the ideas so much, that you want to return to it - so that the music is a bit like a sandwich. Idea A is followed by Idea B, and then you return and do idea A again.
When you do this, it is called Ternary Form!!
Ternary Form
Sometimes, composers come up with a third great idea and they want to include that too!!
This is when you can start making more complicated music!
Indeterminacy
Sometimes you may have all the ideas in the world, and you may know exactly what you want, but that might include someone else using their imagination to interpret your musical composition.
In indeterminacy, the composer provides a number of instructions, but the performer needs to interpret these and every single time this music is performed, it will be done differently - because it is indeterminate.
The final countdown to the Robot Soundscape Escape
In the next part of this project you will select at least 6 x 10-second clips from your composition.
Code an EV3 Robot to play your sounds when the Colour Sensor, Proximity Sensor, or Touch sensor is triggered.
You will create a 'Pen' for the robots - use at least 6 coloured tables turned on their side.
Putting your Music onto a Robot
Lego Brick Robot or Makey Makey
How to make custom sounds on Makey Makey using Scratch
Task 1. Transfer your Audio file to Lego Brick or makey makey
Task 2. Practice Building Robot/or Makey Makey
Building and Coding your Robot
Task 1. Practice triggering the music and driving around.
Task 2. Make adjustments to the Lego Pen, Triggers and recording.
Teacher Preparation:
Book LEGO EV3/Makey Makey
Interactive Soundscape with Lighting
We have 10 EV3 Lego Mindstorms at TH School. Your teacher will book them out, but you can also ask for access through ICT and STEM. Mr Otis should be able to assist you if you want to practice.
Please download the Coding Software below - it is what you will need to use to tell your Robot how to drive and when to play your music and how to play your music.
EV3 Robots
First things first: You need to build your robot. Watch this video as an example.
Then we need to teach the robot how to play our sound.
Reflective Journal and Portfolio
Annotate your Photos, Video, Audio Files, and voice memo Diary Accounts.
Discuss the musical devices being used in their composition and how their robot or makey makey is interacting with their classmates as part of the installation.
Consider the ways that the audience might interpret your robot music and think about how you can get different responses from audience members. (what can you do to make your audience Laugh? Cry? Jump? Sigh?
Comment on how many times they returned to their Garage band mixes and their Robot Program several times to finess.
Presentation
Practice and experiment, and present to each other.
Make a video of their installation and present their class project to an audience.
