Flash-in-the-Pan FM

Back in 1998, I was given permission to start an experimental radio show with 2 other year 12 compadres.

The program’s mission was to air new, alternative music with the occasional story about student life. I guess you could say it was a bit like Syn FM but with a localised range of the senior campus of our country school.

Wide eyed and bushy tailed we entered the studio (the school principal’s office) for our first lunchtime broadcast, we opened the show with Pantera’s Five Minutes Alone, Mr Bungle’s Squeeze Me Macaroni, and no doubt crowd favourites from Pearl Jam, Nirvana or, I dare say, Silverchair.

It was our first and last show, the wailing sounds of Dime Bag’s guitar and Mike Patton’s loud and immutable vocals were just too much for the poor sods in the halls of the tech faculty. Moments into the show, and narrowly avoiding a fist-fight, we reluctantly agreed to pull the plug on our radio dream.

Years later, it was still discussed as a ‘what could have been event’ for the  Secondary College, and as the school really didn’t boast to much other than cheating on the Naplan test, they were in need of a positive talisman. Our radio program could have been that talisman!

Though, it became the first and last form of empirical research into whether such a thing could ever work, there was debate over whether a show broadcast only to the people in our senior campus could be considered ‘radio’ at all, especially as we had only aired one episode! However, on reading Michelle Hilmes paper The New Materiality of Radio, I am going to return this flash-in-the-pan experiment back into the realms of radio as it was soundwork dammita creative, constructed aural text that employed the basic elements of speech, music and noise.

It was radio, people wanted to hear it… we just needed to turn down the volume somewhat and cater to the more easy-listening tastes of our rural brethren.

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Stay Tuned!

Now that I’ve had an in-depth one-on-one conversation with my tutor Kyla about my 4th Assignment, I am confident that I have solidified a plan, however, I’m pretty close to abandoning the lot!
My original idea is centred around ‘location’ using a geonavigation app that delivers videos, interviews, podcasts and audio tours that are about where ever it is you’re standing.  It is an app for your smartphone and it works by ascertaining where you are through GPS, so for example, if I was in St Kilda, I would click on St Kilda on a Google maps style map, and it would play a story about the area.
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As I’m sensing that this idea sucks, I am returning to the drawing board. I still want to include a strong emersive sense of location with an ‘art housey’ feel but instead of a tourist app, it will be more like a podcast about something that is quintessentially Melbourne.
Stay tuned!

Yidaki by The Yarra with Kent Morris (field)

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.

Kent and HughiePhoto 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.

Yidaki Symphony with Kent Morris

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.

Without Chickens

Birds of a Feather for Radio Eye by Kyla Brettle began with the sense that this production is set in a suburban house with hard floors, perhaps linoleum, and one of those tacky returning doors that swing shut and bounce on their frame. The Producer voice drops in to tell us more about where we are and what we’re doing… we are in the home of scheming activists planing a guerrilla style covert rescue for neglected chickens in a battery environment. The field recording was surprisingly clean with no wind noise or interference, I wondered if maybe much of the field noise had been recorded separately, like with the suspense evoking heart beat.

I began thinking about my studio piece for the 24 Folio and how I might source and create studio sounds to tell my sonic story of the Yarra location I’ve chosen… sans chickens and with yidaki (didgeridoo).

When Time Stood Still by Sharon Davis (2006), Radio National.

Sharon’s use of foley didn’t bring attention to itself, in fact, it felt seamless.

In her piece, When Time Stood Still, she looked at the psychological impacts of war and the invisible injuries that it inflicts on survivors.

The voiceovers began in a controlled studio environment, actors were then introduced to dramatically re-enact the action. To assist in relaying a sense of the era, period music was layered underneath a scratchy wireless announcement. More voice over actors were introduced albeit delivering performances that were somewhat contrived, “Declared fit of active service” [STAMP], declared the administrator in an officious tone.

The one moment that resonated most with me was the blending of the sound of the project and the steam train, it created a pleasing aural parallel that I hope to use in my own work at some stage.

Audio Organica – Introducing Nick Costello  

Short blurb… 

The proof that art will concur machine. In an interview setting, musician Nick Costello stands with just a guitar in hand poised to perform his single, Shiver, when he reveals some truths about being a Melbourne artist.

Audio Organica – Introducing Nick Costello  

After consulting with Maria, the receptionist at the Melbourne City Council, I gained verbal permission to record the Audio Organica project under The Morell Bridge in South Yarra.

In this series, I hope to explore the aural effects of this space, and in addition, any cognitive affects that it may have on performers who are forced to compete with the sounds of the ducks, seagulls, joggers, cyclists and motor vehicle traffic.

I have been inspired by Trevor Cox of The University of Salford University UK in his research into the affects of sound (1).

My first participant to perform their sounds in the space is the solo artist, Nicholas (Nick) Costello. On a Friday morning, we ventured down to the river armed with 2 studio microphones, a Rode Nt1 and a NT1000, 1 H6 Zoom recorder with a wind sock, 3 stands and a guitar in the hope to gage the affects and effects of this space. I positioned the Rode microphones wide… one left and one right, these were plugged directly into the H6 XLR inputs. Nick was singing directly into the H6 XY mic that I set to 120 degree pattern so that I could capture a wider sound. The semiacoustic guitar was plugged into the jack input of the H6, however, I wasn’t happy with the tone from the guitar’s transducer, I found it thin and lacking clarity, therefore, I applied some EQ to enhance the lower frequencies. On setting up the Rodes, I carelessly left the NT1000 leaning up against a rail where it fell and hit the ground with force, luckily, the shock mount seemed to take the brunt of the impact.

What I discovered was that, during the recording, the passers by would not ‘act naturally’ and make the noises that they would have had we not been recording, walkers and joggers seemed to consciously tiptoe past us, which for me said a lot about respect for creators, however, this somewhat skewed the results as our very presence had altered the result.

I was compelled to ask Nick to elaborate on a point while we were recording, however, I was  slightly off microphone and as a result, my question was barely audible. Being a follower of Werner Herzog’s work, I remembered that he sometimes patches in his voice later in post production in similar situations.

My question was in relation to Nick’s extracurricular activities, I asked, “Why do you do so many other things?”, it became apparent that Nick, like many creators in Melbourne, has more than just one specialist stream, he is a person of many talents. And it was this that made me wonder, is the need to embrace several disciplines a result of a growing society with a short attention span, or are we exposed to too many opportunities resulting in an inability to choose just one through indecision, do we have to move faster and work harder than our ancestors to compete with our successors, or could the facilitation of the arts be neglected by those who are meant to nurture us? Considering Nick’s remarkable performance beneath the Morell Bridge, sonically wrestling with a cacophony of distractions, I highly doubt that he has a short attention span, his cognition in the melee was was notable immutable.

___

Further influences and references:

  1. Cox, T. (21 August, 2010), Pg. 44, Past Echoes: New Scientist, London UK , Reed Elsevier.
  2. McLuhan, M. (1964), Pg.3-6 and 64-66, ‘Introduction’ and ‘Challenge and Collapse: The Nemesis of Creativity, an excerpt from Understanding Media, London and New York, McGraw-Hill
  3. McHugh, S. (2009) Hindsight – Marrying Out, Australia, ABC Radio National
  4. Carranza, R.  de la Rocha, Z, & Theodore.J, One Day As A Lion, band EP, (2008), USA, Ocean Way Recording.
  5. Till, R. (15th of November, 2014), Pg. 44, Past Notes: New Scientist, London UK, Reed Elsevier.
  6. Costello. N, (2015), Song, Shiver, Australia.

Audio Organica – The Producer

Short blurb… 

This is a didactic report on the concept behind the Audio Organica project focussing on the Morell Bridge sound space as a medium.

Audio Organica – The Producer

The idea of Audio Organica relates back to Marshall McLuhan’s notion that the age of anxiety is upon us, and the defragmentation that exists between man, compels us to participate in electric media as a part of our bodies (2). This is as true now as it was in 1964 seen in the repetition of the mechanical age’s extension of our limbs and its likeness to the digital age’s extending of our senses. Sound is one sense that has been heavily impacted by the latter — it is everywhere, and there are endless ways to harvest and capture it, however sometimes, our senses can be whitewashed by not only the ease of access to sound manipulation programs like Protools, but by the residual spill from the mechanical age heard in noise pollution.

Having fallen down the rabbit hole of digital sound, I sometimes forget what things sounded like when they were first produced — spoken, sang, or plucked. Such heightened simulacra extending so far from the original has caused a kind of anxiety in me. I have on occasion been left behind by the rapidly moving advances of software, like with the Protools 11 update, and therefore, thought I could combat this by returning sound to the Earth — however oil soaked the soil may be (1). I summoned the help from some of Melbourne’s talented multi-disciplined sound artist to express their oral and aural thoughts to the ducks, swans, fish, joggers, rowers and semitrailers.

To preface the project, I recorded my didactic style voiceover with an NT1000 microphone on Protools, and an SE reflection filter was used to reduce sonic bounce. I have looped a section of Nick’s guitar playing for the introduction and I have used an extended portion of the same song to finish. The whispers were recorded in the studio environment and duplicated on several tracks to emulate The Whispering Wall (6). To increase the overall volume and limit the peaks, I have applied a Maxim limiter to a stereo master track, much of the session has volume automation applied.

On reflection, I have been made aware of the work that must go into high-end radio productions such as Radio National, This American Life and Radio Lab, furthermore, I have learned about the importance of controlling background noise where possible — I am astounding at just how immune I have become to the sound of the city hum!

I began to wonder what this space would have been like several hundred years ago, before westerners arrived, which brought me to an idea for the next piece… I am hoping to interview the Indigenous Arts Officer for The Torch and invite him to play traditional instruments and talk in depth about the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation in the space.

_________

References and credits

  1. Cox, T. (21 August, 2010), Pg. 44, Past Echoes: New Scientist, London UK , Reed Elsevier.
  2. McLuhan, M. (1964), Pg.3-6 and 64-66, ‘Introduction’ and ‘Challenge and Collapse: The Nemesis of Creativity’ an excerpt from Understanding Media, London and New York, McGraw-Hill
  3. Till, Dr. R. (15th of November, 2014), Pg. 44, Past Notes: New Scientist, London UK , Reed Elsevier.
  4. Luis de Victoria, T. (2011), Choir, sourced from FreeSounds.org, 20110409.choir.01.wav by dobroide.
  5. Costello, N. (2015), Song: Shiver, Australia.
  6. Whispers by Juliette Hanson (2015).

IMG_6422

Returning Sound to the Soil

Having fallen down the rabbit hole of digital audio, I sometimes forget what things sounded like when they were first produced — spoken, sung, or plucked. Such heightened simulacra extending so far from the original has caused a kind of anxiety in me. I have on occasion been left behind by the rapidly moving advances of software, like with a recent Protools update, and therefore, thought I could combat this by returning sound to the Earth, however oil soaked the soil may be. I felt that I could summon some of Melbourne’s talented multi-disciplined sound artist to express their oral and aural thoughts to the ducks, swans, fish, joggers, rowers and semitrailers.

However, I could never stay mad at Protools… even at my most Bohemian!