Week 11

Today I recorded the final sounds for my soundscape. This included various sounds within the arcade such as people playing with the machines. I made sure to record the sound of humanity and people reacting to the games that they were playing. I also recorded sounds of the rides on the pier. I felt that most of these recordings were quite successful since they detected a lot of valuable noise. I think I will be able to layer the different recordings to make the arcade really busy and populated.



I also downloaded a sound of a door creaking to let the audience know that I was moving through different places.
http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?genre=Unclassifiable&page=1

Week 10

I recorded some more sounds in Brighton. These were much clearer than the last time I recorded.

Sound Inspiration

Part of my soundscape will be recorded in the arcade and of the rides on the pier. This will subsequently feature loud, artificial sounds.

Janet Cardiff is an artist from Candada who creates sound installations. Most of her work is done solo but she often works with her husband George Bures Miller



This piece beings very minimally with only a couple of noticeable sounds (an accordion melody and a simple beat of drums). Then an echoed sound of a rattle is introduced and then a layer of voices is added. After that, the original sounds almost completely change and start to sound more horrific; noises such as a baby crying and a man coughing can be heard. The accordion melody returns and then disappears shortly after, leaving just layers of different voices and the rattling sound. Finally a sneeze triggers the melody and a multitude of different sounds to come to together for the climatic end.

Altogether I am inspired by the way Cardiff and Miller have layer different and mainly ambiguous sounds in order to create a more artistic sound portrait. I think this is useful for my soundscape as I will be building up many layers to paint a portrait of the funfair. I could possibly even distort some of the sounds to represent my own perspective of the pier.




Cardiff's sound installation reminded me of the theme song for the television programme, 'American Horror Story: Freak Show'. It starts of with eerie noises, chimes and warping. The jewellery box kind of melody begins accompanied by the sound of drums, creaking, and heavy breathing. The sounds build up with chimes, screeching, and more voices.

Week 9

Today I went to Brighton to record some sounds for my soundscape. This included the sound of waves crashing. I had not used the correct settings on the marantz therefore some of the sounds were distorted. I also recorded some sounds within the arcade which were picked up quite clearly.

Sound Inspiration - Beach

For my soundscape I've chosen Brighton seafront as a location. Part of it will be recorded on the beach therefore I decided to research other soundscapes that are on the beach.



This begins very quietly with just the subtle sound of waves crashing. The only sound of life is from birds.
Music is faded in which I probably won't use in my soundscape unless I've recorded it in the space. As a whole the piece sounds very tranquil and relaxing.

BBC Radio

Reimagining the City: London
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03sr0wm

I listened to this radio show which was a description of Hampstead Heath in London. The presenter, Lavinia Greenlaw, spoke quite slowly and clearly which made it easy to follow what she was saying. It included the sound of the subject walking through a marshy area which subverts the typical representation that London is a busy city. This is then contrasted against the sound of traffic which suggests that the city is very diverse.
The presenter describes the weather to compensate for the fact that the viewer can not see or feel what it's like. This shows the importance of pertaining to see the senses within a podcast in order to make the listener feel fully engaged. The wind and sirens can be heard faintly in the background but are not too loud or overpowering. Moreover, piano music is used to create a sombre mood. I think that in my interview I will use a combination of ambient sounds and music.

Ramblings - East Sussex - South Downs Way: Brighton
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00sh0cm

I decided to listen to this podcast since it's near to the location I've chosen for my soundscape. I also thought I could gain some useful tips for my interview, in terms of the way the speaker delivered her information. In this podcast the presenter describes her opinions of the setting and what she can see. I didn't particularly like this podcast as she was 'rambling' and made it quite difficult to follow.

Week 7 - Interviews

This week we were introduced to the sound booths and conducted a mock interview. I asked questions about having a fear of travelling. The interviewee gave quite personal answers which would be more engaging for the audience. I edited the interview so that only his voice could be heard and not mine. In addition, I added some sound effects from the BBC Sound Fx such as a bus engine at the beginning and end. I also decided to add some background noise so that it would sound a bit more natural. I think it would have been better if this noise was a bit quieter.