So far I knew Rory and Ecka only as UAL technicians and perceived them as someone above us, ordinary students. Therefore it was incredible opportunity to get to know them from artistic point t of view, get a grasp of their creative works and story behind, which was very deep.
As much as I loved Rory’s works, I must admit that Ecka’s story took my whole attention and would like to primarily focus on Ecka in this post. First of all, I loved that no matter what she is doing, she is keeping classical approach to it. It is not unusual as Ecka is coming from classical music background, which is cello. We could listen to Ecka’s first vinyl album and honestly I loves how it was a mixture of cello playing and random recordings, which gave this hint of distinction from classical music. However even Ecka’s cello performance on her album was very much original and cannot be disclosed in borders of simple classical note. Another piece that we could see and hear was Ecka’s egg flutes, which sound, even though limited, is very soothing and beautiful. And last but not least, part that stayed in my mind for the longest was Ecka’s journey with fragrances, candles and sound perfumes. I think name “sound perfume” itself is very original and I perosnally never came across it or heard anyone else doing it. It is fascinating and very much inspiring how Ecka found a way to combine her pandemic job, making candles and fragrances, with her primary occupation. She proved to me that there are many ways to work with sound in a lot of direct areas and no matter what happens to us in life we can always find a way to connect to what we love doing. When working for “Aequill” Ecka realized 3 sound perfumes: “SOUND 1”, “SOUND 2” and “SOUND 3”.
“SOUND 1” is a Green Tea perfume and here is what Ecka wrote about it:
Spring rain sounds softly Inside the steam is rising A sip of green tea
Listening to spring rain fall softly on a window pane, hazey green tea brings serenity and comfort.
This scent envelopes the wearer like a gentle spring rain. Fresh juniper floating above a soft heart of honeysuckle and cardamom, anchored to earthy grasslands of vetiver.
“SOUND 2” is mimosa fragrance, which is combination of floral scents with subtle smell of mimosa and here is what Ecka wrote:
Bright summer’s morning Flowers exploding in song Three birds flying high
Above our heads in the mimosa tree, birds sing songs of summertime. With our feet on the ground we laugh and gossip joyously, dazzled by glimmers of the morning sun.
A bright and uplifting fragrance bursting with sicilian citrus and mimosa, dappled by cool shadows of white flowers and amber.
“SOUND 3”, which is my personal favorite, is mix of citrus scent and wood tones and here is what Ecka wrote:
Silently watching Seducing from a distance A mountain, the moon
The strong silent type hides in plain sight. Choosing not to speak they are eavesdroppers leaving scent trails distant and magnetic.
A fragrance of polarity encompassing soft citrus, rose wood, and an exuberant oozing of myrrh and precious woods. Clean yet seductive
This week we were joined with students from BA Immersive to showcase, in our groups, progress of our projects. At the moment we are working on scene 3, which is happening inside the tunnel. We got couple advices from tutors regarding improving our project such as adding heaviness to player’s experience related to human emotions progress. For instance when we crash and land on the unknown planet, player could be hearing ringing in their hears or quickened heartbeat, so we are planning on recording this sounds and adding them to scene 2. Another point that was made, was possibility that player won’t follow “guide starfish” or will lose it. To prevent that “guide starfish” will have multiple stops and will move on only after player touches it and in case player won’t follow our designed plan there will be “voice guide” telling player what should be done like “follow me” coming from the “guide starfish”. Last aspect that we need to correct is sound of footsteps on the planet. As we planned at first that planet will be rocky and quite idle so the footsteps that we have recorded are sound of walking on rocks. As our project progressed Doris and Miranda decided to make unknown planet more lively and inhabited with load of mystical plants and grass growing everywhere. Therefore we have to record sound of walking on the grass and create sounds for mystical plants.
Scene 2 starts with the player waking up inside the cockpit after a crash landing on an unknown planet. Spaceship cannot be launched and therefore we are forced to leave it and look for help on the planet. In order to open the cockpit’s door, the player is forced to solve the musical puzzle. When succeed, we can open the door and exit the spaceship. Sound of opening and closing the cockpit door, I have designed. As the planet is quite big, Doris has created a “floating starfish guide”, who shows us the right path to reach our next destination. I have designed 2 sounds for it. In the background, a player can hear the ambient sound/ white noise, which I have designed as well. Following the “floating starfish guide”, we reach a system of tunnels. I have designed some magickal ambient sounds for tunnels, however, I don’t know yet if they will be used and which out of the 3 submitted. Our work has stopped here.
Audrey Chen started her musical career using a cello, then a voice, and since 2003 she delved deeply into her version of narrative and non-linear storytelling, using her voice in an unconventional way and occasionally analog electronics. For nearly two decades, her predominant focus has been her solo work with the cello, voice, and electronics, but she has more recently, in the last four years, begun to shift back towards the exploration of the voice as a primary instrument. Aside from her solo concerts, Chen performs currently in duo with Phil Minton; as BEAM SPLITTER with trombonist Henrik Munkeby Nørstebø; as MOPCUT with Lukas Koenig and Julien Desprez; as HISS & VISCERA with modular synth player Richard Scott; as a trio in SEN RYO NO with modular synth players Tara Transitory and Nguyen Baly; in duo with electronic music artist Kaffe Matthews; as AFTERBURNER for voice/live electronics/light with Doron Sadja; and as VOICE/PROCESS for voice/live digital process with Mexican sound artist Hugo Esquinca. Notable past collaborators include German conceptual artist John Bock and abstract turntablist Maria Chavez. First of all, I was fascinated by how incredible sounds you can achieve using just voice without adding any effect. Sometimes I even thought a particular sound has to be modulated but there Audrey was performing live in front of everyone. Another aspect, that surprised me, was that any other time high-pitched sounds would put me on edge, however when Audrey made them, I found them highly relaxing. I love Audrey’s connection to the microphone and her point of seeing it as another instrument and not an obstacle or just part of the background. Julien Cowley from The Wire says: “Audrey Chen has created an uncompromising and idiosyncratic music, tightly disciplined yet acoustically wild and heavy with implication. Her ultra-verbal vocalising, often reminiscent of the visceral and emotionally charged sound poetry of François Dufréne or Henri Chopin, exposes physiological aspects of utterance that are concealed within standardised articulation and day to day speech. Fleshy, breath-driven and flecked with spittle, Chen’s voice emanates not just from her mouth but from an ensemble of upper body surfaces, channels, passages, and cavities.”
During today’s class with Ingrid, we started a very interesting and I would say existential discussion. In the first part of the class, while seeing the presentation on VR, its prime rules that need to be preserved, and its future, we approached Zenka’s ted talk on “Will virtual and augmented reality move us into the knowledge era?”. I have mixed feelings about what was said and because of m own opinion on that question, I have decided to develop this topic on my blog. It is quite a bold statement first to assume that VR is going to be element that will move us to the “knowldge era” and secondly it sounds to me like all the knowledge gathered through centuries is disregarded. Honestly, I am quite pessimistic about putting our personal life into virtual reality and basically giving up on our real life and world. Maybe it is so, because my biggest fear, just like presented in the movie by Alex Proyas called: “I, Robot”, is robots will take control over humans and makes us prisoners of our own life. Of course, it doesn’t need to be robots, just like in the movie, but simply technology taking control over us which is happening already. However, right now, in my opinion, it is within safe limits because laptops, phones, cameras, and VR sets for games proved to be very useful and handy in day-to-day life. But the problem is that hunger for more will never stop and the biggest problem of humanity is that we never learn a lesson from history and history likes to repeat itself. It starts with creating games in VR and will end with living our virtual life instead of a real one. We will stop caring for other people and maintaining any social skills. Life will be unbearable and people will choose to live a simpler life in VR than working on one on earth. Another very important aspect that was brought up during our discussion was that we will get so involved in creating a new world that we won’t care and put enough attention into maintaining and saving planet Earth. It won’t be a priority anymore as first of all while maintaining the planet and life that is not perfect, and secondly, even if the planet will be destroyed we have an alternative world created in VR. Of course, VR has positive sides as allowing physically disabled people to live life to the fullest with a body that works perfectly fine in the virtual world. Broadening our knowledge and developing new ways of learning when it comes to medical subjects for instance. But it is important to be moderate and not give up on our real life for sake of a virtual one.
Lately, I am very interested in the cohesion between sound arts and the human body. In my essay for Contemporary Issues in Sound Arts module, I would like to expand on the way sound influence speech, listening, and human brain activity. I was always fascinated by how the human brain works and the depths we didn’t discover yet, especially in the context of multi-personal disorders. When one of the people created by our brain can speak fluently in a language we have never learned or generate personalities and characters we have never had, which is giving life to a completely new person inside our body. Nevertheless, I have never thought about combining the source of my interest with the field of my studies. Therefore I have decided to dedicate the current essay topic to dissolve around those two specifications. I will vocalize the therapeutic and harmful effects of sound, how it affects our body on mental and physical levels, the philosophical meaning of sound, and how our brain interprets it. I aim to investigate the art of sound not solely as commonly known music but also as silence and noise and reach the deepest nooks of the meaning of sound and its effect on the human body.
I would like to start with research on the existential level. I divide my work into disruptive and undisruptive sounds but what are “noise” and “silence”? Christoph Cox in his article called “Sound Art and the Sonic Unconscious” disclose the nature of those two terms and their inseparable meaning in the universe. According to Cox noise is:
“…is the ground of our perception, absolutely uninterrupted, it is our perennial sustenance, the element of the software of all our logic… Background noise may well be the ground of our being.”
He contradicts the common statement that ” noise” is a secondary phenomenon and something disruptive. In reality, is necessary to distinguish signals from background noise, which allows us to notice and focus on what is important to us. Noise is not some linear accumulation of signals. Rather, noise is the set of sonic forces that are capable of entering into differential relations with one another in such a way that they surpass the threshold of audibility and become signals. John Cage was calling for a shift from music to background noise. “Wherever we are, what we hear is mostly noise…When we ignore it, it disturbs us. When we listen to it, we find it fascinating” he wrote in 1937. Noise is no longer merely one sound among many, a sound that we do not want to hear or cannot hear. It is the ground and the condition of possibility for every significant sound, as that from which all speech, music, and signal emerge. On the other hand, Cage equated ‘noise’ with ‘silence’; by the same token, he rejected the conventional conception of ‘silence’ as the absence of sound. His most famous piece “4’33” open our eyes to what silence’ is in his opinion, which we can perceive more or less such as the shuffling of feet, wind, rain, and the muttering of the audience but he also draws our attention to what remains out of earshot: the global field and flow of noise, which we perceive only obscurely. Christoph Cox says:
“Silence is the sound of the mill or waterfall, the perceptual back- ground that we no longer hear. But it is also the sound of the seashore, whose roar registers the inaudible intensive forces that produce it, a noumenal essence that we grasp without distinctly hearing it.”
Silence and noise despite being completely different are inseparable and essential for each other to be distinguished and noticed. Noise is not the only term for something disruptive and interfering, as well as silence, is not just an absence of sound. What’s more, they can have a deep and everlasting impact on the human body and mind. Therefore in the next paragraph, I will focus on the physical and mental effects sound has on us.
In everyday life situations, humans receive complex sounds which contribute to the way one perceives reality. Studies show an interconnection between the physics and psychology of hearing. Blowing of the wind, sea waves, and birds singing are more than audible sounds. They can interact with the emotions and mood of a human being and create feelings. Sound contributes to communication and conveys information with semantic and emotional elements.
In week 19, during our class with Matthias Kispert, we explored the topic of the anthropology of sound and covered terms such as acosutemology, sensory ethnography, autoethnography, baile funk, and funkification. Start with a discussion on anthropology, its meaning, and problematic behavior in this field, which is studying human culture in remote corners of the world as an attraction for developed, especially white, civilizations and losing the feeling that investigated is a human being and not object. There are differences in the way dynamics in social fields and sound are divided. Both of them can be interpreted in 4 different directions, which are: OBJECTIVE, SUBJECTIVE, ABSTRACT, and CONCRETE. However, differences occur between them, which I presented in the sketch below.
“Sensory ethnography involves ‘a focus on questions of perception, place, knowing, memory, and imagination. […] We aim to come closer to understanding how other people experience, remember and imagine. […] This approach recognises the emplaced ethnographer as her- or himself part of a social, sensory and material environment and acknowledges the political and ideological agendas and power relations integral to the contexts and circumstances of ethnographic processes.” Sarah Pink explains sensory ethnography
“An anthropology of sound […] can take many shapes: it can attach […] to one specific situation of listening and sounding as its experiential, situated, and corporeal core […] and follow it through thick descriptions in the tradition of autoethnography. […] It can also take one established or rare concept of sound culture” Holger Schulze explains anthropology of sound
“Acoustemology conjoins ‘acoustics’ and ‘epistemology’ to theorize sound as a way of knowing. In doing so it inquires into what is knowable, and how it becomes known, through sounding and listening.” Steven Feld explains acoustemology
“Autoethnography emerged in response to concerns about colonialism, the need to recognize social difference and identity politics, an insistence on respecting research participants, and an acknowledgment of different ways of learning about culture.” Adams, Holman Jones and Ellis on autoethnography
BAILE FUNK was born in Brazil as expanded the sonic space of the favela into the formal city.
Funk’s vibrational force as it resonates throughout the juxtaposed built environment of Rio has an affective quality, in other words it influences both the mood of faveladosenjoying the baile—experiencing the joy and pleasure of the bass- driven live experience—and that of the formal city that complains about the noise.
In week 5, we had work in progress critique. Every group has over 15 min to present the progress of collaboration, both visual and aural experience. As part of our presentation, we have shown our group’s PowerPoint presentation, which illustrates our concept, what is going to happen in sequences, sketches made by Doris and Miranda, and a timetable with some of the deadlines we imposed on ourselves to keep track of our progress and get work done. We also listed sound effects, soundscapes we will need, samples of sounds we had made so far, and lastly pictures of how our set looks like so far. Lastly, people had the opportunity to experience our set in VR. We got in overall really good feedback. We were praised for our organized work, clearly marked sounds we need for a specific scene, and for our pattern of collecting sounds for future use in our collaboration work. We were advised to explore foleys that have been made for sci-fi movies like the soundtrack for a movie called “Gravity” and an interesting showcase of building up the action with silence. Other example of work, which can be helpful for our concept and our development, was Hideo Kojima’s sound production for games.
link to my group’s google drive with notes, sound pieces and everything regarding our project: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/1/folders/1QRM76sfQt5Rt6udV-hqpxlG5K9cplSoh
sketch of first scene from 3rd person perspectivesketch of first scene from player’s perspective
Topic of our collaboration project is: ”Space Quest”. The set will be placed in the space and our main theme is going to be SPACESHIP CRASH. Everything that player will experience it is going to be in first person
PLOT’S SUMMARY: player wakes up inside the cockpit in the space. Because of one designed route, which won’t be visible to the player, participant will crash into an unknown planet in front of. On the planet, because of problems with restarting the spaceship, player will be forced to leave the spaceship and look out for any help. It will be followed by the discovery of the cave and entrance to tunnel inside it.
The first scenewill start with the player “waking up” inside the cockpit already in outer space. An unknown planet will be visible in front of the spaceship. Because of the possibility that the player will get lost in the space and not get to the second scene, Doris and Miranda have designed invisible walls which will give only one option/path available to follow. It’s ending and the only option will be crashing on the unknown planet in front of it. It will be followed by the player’s blackout and multiple sounds of explosions. The end of the first scene.
The second scene will start with the player “waking up” on an unknown planet. It will be impossible to start the spaceship and the player will be forced to leave the cockpit and look out for help outside. Biometric hand scanning will be needed to open the door. As well as solving musical puzzles, which will be simple melodies in separate parts that have to be arranged in the correct order. After leaving the cockpit, the player again will be walking on an invisible designated route, which will be followed by the discovery of the cave and entrance. The end of the second scene.
The third scene is very vague for the moment as it’s only in planning and everything can change. However, right now the concept is that the cave’s entrance will be leading to a tunnel, which will split into 3 possible paths.
a) safe path
b) dangerous path
c) dead end
What is gonna be in a specific path is not decided yet and the rest will be continued.
“Sound Art and the Sonic Unconscious” article by Christoph Cox
Christoph Cox in his article argues that sound art plays a crucial role in revealing its nature and conception of sound as a continuous, and anonymous process to which human emotions contributes. He also expands on Wilhelm Leibniz’s conception of the perceptual unconscious. Starting with the explanation of the term “sound arts” and bringing the opinions of artists, curators, and critics such as Max Neuhaus who question the nature and viability of the practice. Cox shares some light on Leibniz’s theory by proposing that this sonic flux is composed of two dimensions: a virtual dimension that he terms ‘noise’ and an actual dimension that consists of contractions of this virtual continuum: for example, music and speech. In his opinion noise might be the background of human beings, as it never ceases; it is limitless, continuous, unending, and unchanging. On the other hand, contradicts the common opinion as if noise is something derivative, which disturbs, or interrupts an initial state of calm. “If we accept Leibniz’s argument, we hear each of these sound waves – past and present – but we hear them confusedly. Indeed, like the man who lives near a watermill, this sound remains background to us and constitutes what we call ‘silence’. Only the singularity of a signal – speech or music, for example – stands out against this background, contracts it, and renders sound clear and noticeable.” To sum up, the 20th century was a period in the history of sonic experimentation and the liberation of sound as part of everything that surrounds us like silence, ambiance, and not only in terms of so-called music. Before any theoretical and practical information on sound, I would like to start with research on the existential level. I divide my work into disruptive and undisruptive sounds but what really is “noise” and “silence”? Christoph Cox brings sound as a term beyond the dimension we know and understand. I enjoy that he quotes other researchers on this topic and explores the idea in a precise manner. In addition, Cox develops the study carefully and in sequence, which allows the reader to keep track of what they are reading. My only concern is that this article is not created for people without scientific background or interest in the terms Christoph is bringing, which makes his work quite distant. I would change the way the topic is evolved so it’s more understandable for people outside of the scientific circle.
2. “Psychophysiology and psychoacoustics of music: Perception of complex sound in normal subjects and psychiatric patients” article created by Annals of General Hospital Psychiatry
In everyday life situations, humans receive complex sounds which contribute to the way one perceives reality. Studies show an interconnection between the physics and psychology of hearing. Psychics of simple sounds are divided into frequency, amplitude, and phase. On the other hand, psychoacoustics has its own distinct elements of pitch, intensity, and timbre. In order to understand music perception and the way it influences human beings, different studies have been carried out involving the types of music, the emotional experience, psychosomatic and physiological changes, and psychoacoustical characteristics of music. Studies show increased heart rates as a result of stimulating music and decreased heart rates associated with sedative music. Especially Techno-music seems to produce a significant increase in heart rate, systolic blood pressure, and stress-related hormones. 50 normal-hearing people with no special interest in music were studied in order to examine emotional experience due to music exposure. Results show differences in emotional experience between women and men, with women experiencing more tension in music, and between different age groups, with older people being more attracted to music than younger ones. What’s more, studies proved that psychiatric patients experience music in a different way according to their sickness. Schizophrenic and obsessive-compulsive patients are more attracted to music, whereas depressive and anxiety neurotics are less sensitive to sound. For my research, I want to include examples of the physical and mental effects sound has on the human body. The study designed by Annals of General Hospital examines perfectly the way sound influence people on the physical level and provide quite thorough results on blood pressure, heart rate, and stress-related hormones. What’s more, also shows the difference in perception of sound among people with various mental illnesses. In my opinion, this research could be carried out on a bigger number of subjects so the results can be even more accurate and diverse. What’s more, studies included only normal-hearing people and I think it would be an interesting point of view to see how sound affects those who have hearing problems. Would it still affect them in the same way as healthy receivers and if not what would be different?
3. “How does the brain interpret sound?” article on hear-it.org
The tiny hair cells in the inner ear send electrical signals to the auditory nerve which is connected to the auditory center of the brain, which translates impulses from the ear into sounds that we know and understand. However, the brain loses the ability to process sound. Another study carried out by the University of Colorado Boulder found that the brain adjusts to hearing loss, even if the issue is only mild. Researchers used scanners to study the brain of people with hearing issuesand discovered that shortly after they began to lose their hearing, their other senses began to play a more prominent role. What’s more, the brain eliminates unnecessary sounds in the background, as well as turns up the volume of our own speech, and plays a significant role in hearing sounds that come from inside your body, rather than from an outside source described as ringing in the ears. A research team has been able to eliminate tinnitus in a group of rats by stimulating a nerve in the neck and playing a variety of sound tones over a period of time. In summary, it is the brain that receives impulses and translates them into sounds we know. Therefore plays a crucial role in the way everyday sounds affect us and our body. I want to gather diverse literature to wider my research and try to expand on my chosen theme in the most thorough way possible. I liked how this article expand on how sound is processed in our brains and how the information is received in case of hearing problems or hearing loss. This is the only work that resolves around sound in such a theoretical way and I think that it’s very important to include in my essay various ways of looking at sound in a medical way. Not only results after hearing sound but also the process of transforming it into information our body reads. The biggest problem I find in this essay is the lack of information and insufficient medical information. This was the reason I had to support statistics, included in this article, with details gathered from different works to have a bigger picture and better understanding.
4. Book called “Ocean of Sound: Ambient sound and radical listening in the age of communication” written by David Toop
I have decided to not use this work as a literature example in my essay. The reason is a fact that after a thorough examination, I don’t find this particular book very relevant to the topic of my work as it resolves more around music scene and its progress in the 20th century instead of how sound affects our body and mind.
5. “A synthesis of health benefits of natural sounds and their distribution in national parks” article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Spending time in nature is already well established as beneficial to your health, particularly good for mental health issues and general well-being. Recently a new study published in an article by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has shown that the sounds of nature can be just as good for alleviating stress, improving mood, decreasing pain, and nurturing positive emotions. The researchers listened to sound recordings taken from 221 locations in 68 United States (US) national parks, including water noises, bird calls, and wind, with some of the recordings even containing human noise. The research showed different sounds had different benefits – water sounds improved positive emotions and health outcomes, while bird sounds alleviated stress and annoyance. It was explained that the reason for this result is the fact that a natural acoustic environment indicates a sense of safety, or an ordered world without danger, which allows control over mental states. What’s more, it was confirmed by Lead author Rachel Buxton from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, who said “getting the full sensory experience of being in nature, which includes listening to the natural sounds, allows us to mentally recuperate knowing that we’re in a safe environment.” This research was a key inspiration for including in my work the importance of natural sounds as a positive impact of living in a world full of sounds. The significance of the sounds of water, wind, and singing birds in our health on a daily basis. The only criticism I developed for this specific article was related to an unspecified number of people who took part in the research. Therefore it is hard to decide whether a study is accurate enough, as a small number of subjects cannot gather diverse and precise results.
6. “What are the effects of noise pollution?” article published by Medical News Today
Medical News Today’s website published an article about the health effects of noise pollution. Expands on causes and health side effects, often the long term of noise. First of all the reader is explained what “noise pollution” is and it is the spread of unwanted sounds into the environment. Noise is an inseparable part of daily life whether coming from nature or the effect of human activity such as vehicle traffic. Overlooking noise pollution is a common problem. In 2018, the review called “Noise Pollution and Human Health” proved that compared to air, water, and light contamination, noise pollution is an underreported factor. PubMed Central states: “The brain is always monitoring sounds for signs of danger, even during sleep. As a result, frequent or loud noise can trigger anxiety or stress. With continued exposure to noise pollution, a person’s sensitivity to stress increases.” What’s more environmental noise can be the cause of sleep disturbance such as difficulty falling asleep, inability to stay asleep, or waking up too early. Sounds can also reduce the depth and quality of sleep, altering the amount of rapid eye movement sleep. This can impact a person’s mood and ability to concentrate. I chose this article as my main literature background supporting the topic of the negative impact of sound on the human body and mind. I was convinced by the medical approach and the direct state of physical and mental side effects. On top of that, the article was divided meticulously into two separate sections each devoted to different matters such as how to reduce noise, the impact of noise pollution on adults and children, and helpline references. As critically as I am trying to look at this work, I cannot find anything I would change. The whole text is very neat and clean, divided into smaller sections, clearly named, and dedicated to a specific range of information regarding noise pollution. It is providing scientifically well-built text with medical references that is easy to understand for everyone.
