nORA vITALI
Glasgow School of Art
REFLECTIVE JOURNALS AND PROJECTS
BDes SOUND OF THE MOVING IMAGE
YEAR 4
windchime
spatial sound installation
I had difficulty deciding how to present this project, and I actually started working on it less than ten days before the deadline. I always wanted to have a more artistic approach to all of my work. I found it very creative, and those procedures create a strong motivation. That doesn't mean that I don't enjoy the technology behind it. We talked with a friend who happens to be a musicologist, and he told me about the directional loudspeakers. He explained how they work and how by experimenting with different frequencies, moving objects from a distance is possible. Like magic :-P Since I didn't know of those loudspeakers' existence, this new information made me start thinking what an awesome idea would be in a room, hide some of those loudspeakers, and move the objects through the process of frequencies that will be scattered throughout the room.
So, I started searching for information about them. After I realised how expensive they are, the next thought was if I was able to make them myself.
It really fascinates me the process of making any constructions, and I love experimenting with stuff that I don't know very well. This kind of practice probably comes from my very young age when I watched many family members deal with construction and repairs.
From my older brother who was trying to repair a broken toy to my uncles who were builders, and I watched them many times do some small constructions in our house. But the person who inspired me the most was my favourite aunt, Sofia, a multi-talented person. I grew up watching her make everything with her own hands and always with an artistic approach, even to the smallest object.
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So, having this habit of making everything by myself, I started searching for videos and information regarding directional loudspeakers.
These are two of them
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hD5FPVSsV0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQOabMOMGoE
I already had many electronics parts that needed, I ordered some more, and I thought to try.
Somewhere in the middle of this attempt, I realised that I need more time than I have at my disposal, and I wasn't sure that I could eventually succeed. But I really want to come back and work on this project in the future.
I had to start from the beginning, and I had no idea what I would do. The idea of Spatial audio excites me a lot, how technological innovations managed to reproduce human hearing, and the first time I experienced the audible result was in college on a binaural recording.
Every crisis gives birth to new opportunities, and this is an opportunity for me to obtain the binaural headphones/microphones I always wanted since college. So, Roland CS-10EM Binaural Microphones/Earphones were added to the hardware that I can use on my project.
A soundscape was my next thought. The place that I live offers nice sound walks, a combination of nature and a small city. I have my zoom recorder my binaural microphones. I was ready. However, I wanted fervently to do some more—my own touch in the project.
I start searching for inspiration. A sound sculpture that could install in nature and its sounds could mix with the ambient and also in an exhibition room on its own.
So, I found an amazing artist call Zimoun. I have seen his work before, but I had not given it due importance.
https://www.yatzer.com/zimoun-the-magician-of-spatial-sound-installatioHe refers to as " honest materials " without out pre-recording sounds a composed of simple materials like cardboard boxes, wooden dowels, and cotton balls; he refers to as “honest materials”. He creates large installations that move from chaos to order and backwards.
He succinctly describes: “In my installation work what you hear is what you see, and what you see is what you hear. -In my work, I do not try to transport specific associations but rather to create atmospheric spaces and states that invite us to observe, think, and reflect on various levels”.
His work immediately caught my attention mostly because he has a similar approach to mine. I love using every day and cheap materials and combined them with small but powerful electronic elements.
He was exactly the inspiration that I was needed.
Of course, I could not miss the amazing Susan Philipsz.
Susan Philipsz uses recordings, mainly of her own singing voice and projects this sound into space. She mostly inspired me because she focuses on how sound can activate memory and emotions.
https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/susan-philipsz-war-damaged-musical-instruments/philipsz-introduction
She uses recordings, mainly of her own singing voice and projects this sound into space. She mostly inspired me because she focuses on how sound can activate memory and emotions. Her work helped me find my theme through my own teenage memories when I was a high school student(and shortly after) in Greece. When the weather started to warm up a lot (in the middle of spring), we started the beaches' excursions. Sometimes after school, but always during the weekends, after an hour or two on the bus, we spend the whole afternoon close to the sea. Some were reading books, and others were playing games, and sometimes we made windchimes from wooden sticks, small rocks or shells. I used to have many of them hanging from the ceiling in my room.
So, I aim to create a sound sculpture that can sound like the one from my teenage years' windchime.
I began organising my thoughts and examining all the equipment to use my sculpture's shape and the theme.
Also, I would like to create a sculpture with cheap and everyday materials, as I always do. As Zimoun do and as Dada artists use to do. The final result came step by step. Being a DIY maniac, since I remember myself, it was relatively easy to find materials because I like to collect different kinds of materials like cardboard and fabric.
Due to lock down and the pandemic, long walks became part of our routine. At Callendar park, I found the wood pieces needed in one of those walks. It was like they had been carved out of the water, and they were very similar to those we found on the beach.
I also had kept some wooden boars from a piece of old furniture—rope, nails, tools, and wood. I had everything I needed to make a big windchime.
I made a wooden open-frame cube with a net on the top on which I hung the wood pieces. I placed them so that they create a spherical shape inside the cube. The construction will allow an individual listener to get inside the cube and experience the sound from all angles and space.
However, the wooden pieces were enough to create a round shape but not a spherical one. The preparation process was time-consuming because the wood had to collect and dehydrate in the oven for several hours to produce an excellent dull sound.
Nevertheless, it wasn't a big problem at the moment. I can come back and add more pieces after the deadline.
The next step was to create a motion. I needed a device that could move the hanging woods and hit each other produced sound. As a big fan of Raspberries Pi and having used them in a couple of my older projects, all the paths drove there. With the help of an illusion cord, servos devise, and a Raspberry Pi HAT that manipulates the servos, I managed to create a wind movement.
Please, read below the contextual statement for more information.
presentation
Music: Manos Hatzidakis - The Waltz of Lost Dreams
Video editing: Adobe Premiere Rush (mobile edition)
Audio editing: Pro tools
Pro Tools Session
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