Week 12!
This week i’ve been finalising my two compositions! I’ve spent two long sessions in the studio, and have finally bounced both pieces! After my initial problems with pop through the monitors, I’ve found that the issue has resolved itself! (if only I had tried re-starting the macs myself!)
The difficulties I have found whilst mixing in the studio space, is that the monitors are all very close together. This makes it fairly difficult to ‘visualise’ the sounds travelling- however it’s much better than mixing in stereo!!
The two pieces are extremely different in style and have taken different characters over this whole period. I have to say that my understanding of ‘acousmatic music’ has changed severely from when first starting this module. I would say that I have definitely increased my appreciation for electronic music, and has taught me techniques I hope to use in the future.
My first composition is titled; ‘Mechanical Mahem’ in which I aim to emulate sounds produced by machines, showing that technology has ‘taken over’ our culture, that it is omnipresent. I have worked at exploring rhythmical repetitions created naturally by the samples used. The original source material is of one recording I did whilst on a busy road in Cambridge. The samples I used were all produced by the traffic.
The structure of this piece can be broken down into three sections A – B – A. The sounds bleed into each other in the A section before stark contrast with the sharper sounds in the B section. A return to some of the opening sounds gives the listener a sense of continuity- and helps to shape the piece.
I’m pleased with how the overall sound of the final mix, and hope that any future listeners will understand the motivation for the piece.
In contrast, my second composition titled; Sonata for Acousmatic Violin uses natural and manipulated violin sounds which I recorded. I thought it would be an interesting concept to sequence the piece in sonata form, so grouped the sounds into thematic subjects. The development section re-introduces the same sounds however manipulating them differently, with a return to the original two groups in the recapitulation. The piece has a sustained feel, punctuated by specific colours/timbres used. I think it is an effective piece which successfully combines the ‘old’ with the ‘new.’
Overall Acousmatic Composition has been an interesting, inspiring, frustrating but enjoyable module. It has introduced me to new compositional techniques, and helped me to feel more confident with the technology used by my colleagues in the CMT department.
