Monthly Archives: September 2015

COMM2625 MEDIA 2 – Field Production 11th of September 2015
Daniel Bowden
s3521907

SITE LINK: http://s3521907.wix.com/audioorganica#!yidaki-by-the-yarra/vdi3u

‘Yidaki’ is the traditional name for the didgeridoo, it has a unique sound quality that becomes amplified when played in the ‘sweet-spot’ under the arch of the Morell Bridge.

Kent Morris, who is playing the yidaki in this production, is a Songwriter, Producer, Musician and CEO of The Torch in Victoria.

Kent is also a proud descendent of the Barkindji people of the Darling River in New South Wales and here in this piece, we are able to understand the Morell space, not only in an aural context but in a cultural and spiritual one too.

Yidaki by the Yarra with Kent Morris

This work consists of recordings made on a short trip to the Morell Bridge in South Yarra with Songwriter, Producer and The Torch CEO, Kent Morris. It features Kent’s yidaki (didgeridoo) playing performed and recorded at the location by the river.

The piece is introduced with a brief phone conversation inviting Kent to be apart of the project and eventually, an informal interview inside Kent’s kombi that uncovers the challenges of Kent’s work as a producer. This in-car conversation is included in order to provide the listener with Kent’s background which I’m hoping will enrich the experience of listening to his playing.

In the background can be heard a CD of Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu’s album Rrakala. This reinforces Kent’s own indigenous heritage and the fact that the location, Birrarung, is important to Aboriginal people, hence my decision to record a traditional instrument such as the yidaki there.

Another important reason for recording the yidaki in this space, is that its sound quality highlights the echoes and the organic delay effect caused by the bridge’s parabolic underside of smooth curved bricks. The clap sticks served to further elaborate the effect of the bridge on the sound quality as well as heightening the piece’s cultural context.

The recording equipment that I used included an H6 Zoom recorder with a 120 degree axis X/Y mic plus two phantom powered Rode studio condenser upright microphones. To achieve the maximum left/right pan width, I had to separate the two condenser mics approximately 4 metres apart, and positioned to the edges of the balustrade above. The Zoom mic and recorder remained central to the span of the bridge, between the condenser mics and at speaking height to produce a symmetrical

sound split. The sounds that were closer to the space, like the yidaki and the voice, were primarily picked up by the Zoom and anything beyond the space, like the traffic and the pedestrians, were picked up by the condenser mics. Much of the session was spent readjusting the microphones’ positions, so that I could achieve the best possible example of the sound space.

The time of the recording session took place after 10pm due to Kent’s daytime commitments and it was serendipitous that we were confined to recording late because the freeway was quieter and so too was the normally busy bike path that runs through the space.

My interest in natural acoustics came from Trevor Cox’s article Past Echoes (2010) that was cited on Radio National’s Radiotonic edition entitled Volume Without Sparks by Timothy Nicastri (2015). Had I had more time, I may have produced further acoustic experiments where I explore how different curved surfaces affect the sound of different instruments. Having sadly not achieved all that I wanted to due to time restraints, I have again been made aware of the time management that must go into all Radio’s New Wave projects.

Photo by Andrew Englisch (2014).

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References;

• Cox, T, (21 August, 2010), Pg. 44, Past Echoes: New Scientist, London UK , Reed Elsevier.
• Gurrumul Yunupingu, G, (2011), [CD], Rrakala, NT Australia, Skinnyfish Music.
• Nicastri, T, (17th of April, 2015), Volume Without Sparks – Radiotonic, Radio National, Australia.

COMM2625 MEDIA 2 – Studio Production 11th of September 2015
Daniel Bowden
s3521907

Have you ever wondered what would happen if the yidaki (didgeridoo) had a sonic duel with the soundscape of the city at 131 beats per minute in a 4/4 time signature? Hit PLAY to find out!!

Yidaki Symphony with Kent Morris – CEO of The Torch

This work incorporates the recording of Kent’s yidaki (the traditional name didgeridoo) and clap- sticks recorded on location with a host of other sound textures that were audible at the site of The Morell Bridge. The piece is a representation of how sounds have built up over time at this location, using a push-pull motion that has been influenced by Felix Blume’s oeuvre, most notably in his piece Les Gritos de Mexico (2014).

Yidaki Symphony is about the location of the Morell Bridge. In the field recording, Kent has commented that Birrarung, which is the traditional name of this area, has changed for the worst — yet ultimately, it still holds spiritual power. This piece is entitled Yidaki Symphony, which is a somewhat tongue-in-cheek name that reflects the fact that, in this day and age, the sounds of the city have become those of the traditional corroboree.

The piece represents a tug of war between cultures, new and old, and is structured according to a loose chronological timeline running in reverse from; the city’s overdevelopment, western invasion, people, wildlife and then the river.

It begins with an electrical buzz that pans from left to right which signals industrial development. Although it goes against the chronology of the story, after consulting with my peers, I needed to a) begin the piece less abruptly and b) have something that will grab the listeners intention so to engage them further.

The footsteps are an important feature as they symbolise aboriginal culture striving to readjust to find their place during the insurgence of western domination. The footsteps meander to one side and are then followed with sounds of industry until eventually, they are forced to run. However, as the yidaki pulls focus, as the piece draws to a close, it is to remind us of the continued Aboriginal presence throughout western development.

The bridge itself is the centre of the story of how that part of the river, Birrarung, has changed since colonisation, resonating both aurally and culturally.

The sounds of the clock, jet, birds, traffic, truck, sirens thunder, footsteps, wind, river, pick axe and electricity have been sourced from freesounds.org, Favourite Australian Bird Song CD and my own foley produced in the studio. Kent’s playing of the yidaki was recorded live at Morell Bridge with a Zoom H6 recorder and two Rode condenser microphones, they were treated in postproduction to extend their decay in certain phrases. To heighten the rhythmic element of the piece, I have placed all audio files on a 4/4 time signature grid set to a tempo of 131 BPM.

I’ve always sort honesty and conviction in art, Radio’s New Wave has extended from reporting to just that… art. In order to frame a text in Radio’s New Wave, according to Radiolab’s Jad Abumrad, sounds such as music, foley and the warping of the original are often called upon to sustain an emotive audience. However, a fine balance must be struck when producing nonfiction artefacts, because, such sonic affectations run the risk of being distracting and annoying. They may have an adverse affect to the truth if not used sparingly.

The figure above is the studio in preparation and below, is a look at the packed-to-the-gills Protools session.

_____________ References;

• Adumrad, J R. Krulwich (2007) [PODCAST] Making Radio Lab, RadioLab, WNYC.
• Blume, F. (2014), [PODCAST], Les Gritos de Mexico, France, ArteRadio.
• Skeoch, A & Koschak, S (2001) Favourite Australian Bird Song – Castlemaine Victoria,Listening Earth.
• ACM International Conference on Multimedia (2013), [DATABASE] Freesound TechnicalDemo, Proceedings of the 21st ACM international conference on Multimedia, ACM.