Creative Computing - Minor Project Post 11/06/06
*Dedication to the Theme of a Fallen Cup*By David J Dowling
2 ’45
The aim of this piece is to unify the found sounds on display, in a way that is rhythmically and musically desirable. This is not always the end goal of Music Concrete, but it is the direction I have decided to push in.
As the title suggests, I have cycled the arrangement around an accidentally created rhythmic gesture. When extracting useful samples from my DAT source of raw sound, I discovered a loop containing a distinct and catchy rhythm of its own. This was, of course, a bouncing plastic cup, which I had knocked off the kitchen bench while recording water samples from the kitchen sink. This chance discovery gave me a specific direction, and defines the structure of my composition.
One of the interesting results here is the offset rhythm. By syncing other samples to a rhythm created by chance, the feel of the piece is familiar and simple, yet it would be very difficult for a traditional musician to emulate. The fact that the nature of gravity doesn’t hold true to a 4/4 time signature is what gives the piece its colour.
As for the other samples used, I have arranged them into sub groups:
- Animals: Human, Birds, and Dogs
- Percussive: Staccato-like hitting sounds
- Miscellaneous: Weird instrument, and other twisted sounds
- Moving: Running water, cars, motorcycles etc
- Deep: Low frequency sounds that provide bass
These sounds have all been used in the rhythmic context of the piece, and in such a way that is (hopefully) aesthetically and sonically pleasing.
Here it is:
'Dedication to the theme of a fallen cup'
posted by David J Dowling @ 6:05 PM
4 Comments:
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David,
Great piece. I think your results more than exceed the aims you set out in your notes. I like how the different sound objects appear to weave in and out of one another (eg. short-end of guitar strings->birds, and running water->traffic). I think the way you have given the piece a pulse without restricting it to evenly-spaced durations is very clever. The fidelity is really nice too, there are sounds from all ends of the freq spectrum, and there aren't any unwanted clicks or artefacts - such that commonly appear from the process of pitch-shifting (I assume you used a certain amount of pitch-shifting?) Good production notes too, they complement the piece perfectly.
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Thanks Martin, I have never written a piece of music with so much uncertainty as I had with this one. It's good to know it made the cut in at least one persons eyes.
There was a bit of pitch shifting used, mostly applied to the pedestrian crossing sample to vary its tonal quality, as it became a bit repetitive as a percussive sound.......
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