This exquisite corpse soundscape project allowed me to express an emotion through everyday sounds that would otherwise not be considered music. Thanks to John Cage’s revolutionary take on experimental music, we were able to look at his examples and create something of our own in what would be considered “his style”.
“I’m kind of alone” was aimed to be a direct portrayal of loneliness, isolation, and a sort of forlornness. I attempted this by choosing one sound as a background (plastic bag) for monotony, and then layering a female singing voice periodically. The voice was sweet to me, however I didn’t want to have the whole song play continuously. I broke it apart into bits that fade in and out to allow for gaps of monotonous noise. This monotonous noise was meant to give the feeling that something is missing --which in this case, human interaction and closeness to people during this pandemic is what is missing. The “climax” happens towards the end, where the sounds give off into electronic dings and alerts from a Zoom call, and voices on the phone. The piece then goes into a Seinfeld dialogue before fading out to a close. The intention behind these voices was to depict a typical quarantine situation, where the only sounds we often have around us are notification rings and voices on a speaker (I used Audition's effects to exaggerate the phone call sound). The inspiration behind this piece came from a very real feeling of my own --not being able to meet with the people I am close to confined to technology for the means of human interaction. Despite some challenges I faced with the Audition software and a fairly steep learning curve, I hope my message was able to come through the track.
critique notes
Piece 1 - VANCE
1. This piece felt like a trip, the sounds come off as space-y and intergalactic in a way, which really fit the mood of other-wordly travel.
2. A little more repetition of the same elements would have been intriguing, but that is just an addition, everything was done very well.
Piece 2 - ALLIE
1. The sounds all come together in a very real way, like someone going about their daily life, especially with the drinking sounds and the toilet flushing and water faucet.
2. The sounds felt really real, it would be cool to have a larger build up!
Piece 2 - LAURYN
1. The addition of speech --the Gettysburg Address specifically, --really made the piece powerful and cohesive, as well as making a statement.
2. Everything worked well, maybe adding effects to the voice would have worked well too.
Piece 3 - ZACH
1. The sudden sounds, screams and doors plus the baby sounds really made it sound like it came right out of a horror movie.
2. This was very well done, effects could have maybe diversified the sounds?
Piece 4 - CONNOR
1. The piece felt very ambient-like and peaceful, and the addition of sudden sounds kept it interesting.
2. Also a bigger build up would have maybe added more drive towards the middle.
Piece 5 - LEAH
1. The sudden shifts between loud settings and quiet ones make it feel like the listener was moving from one scene to another, which made a cool effect.
2. Possible adjustments in volume maybe to help balance out a little more.
Piece 6 - SYDNEY
1. The use of all the different effects which really made for a really unique, imaginative and kind of multi-dimensional piece.
2. Also possible adjustments in volume to even out (however I see the volume was intended and does in fact add to the “trip”!)
Piece 7 - BEN
1. I especially enjoyed the rhythmic elements in this piece, and the soft music playing over it was nicely juxtaposed.
2. Maybe adding slight variations to the repeating rhythm motif to keep it different!