Assignment #1 Found Sound/Audio Montage/Looping Self-Portrait

Assignment #1:           Found Sound/Audio Montage/Looping Self Portrait

Sound                

a vibratory disturbance in the pressure and density of a fluid or in the elastic strain in a solid, with frequency in the approximate range between 20 and 20,000 hertz, capable of being detected by the organs of hearing  b. A disturbance of any frequency  c. The sensation stimulated in the organs of hearing by such a disturbance  d. Such sensations collectively  e. an articulation made by a vocal apparatus  f. The distinctive character of such an articulation  g. auditory material as recorded  h. meaningless noise

Loop                  

something having a roughly oval, closed or nearly closed turn or figure.  b. a closed circuit

Self Portrait       

a portrait of an artist produced or created by that artist.

Objective:

Using the free app Musaico on your iphone, or any similar looping app on the android record found sound or what are referred to as "concrete sounds" from your everyday life.  The sounds you record and present to the class will serve as an audio self-portrait – a snapshot of sound from/of your life. 

Continue to open your ears – what do you hear? Spend several hours intentionally just listening to your life – do not record anything.  Use this experience as the foundation to choose what you would like to record for the class tomorrow. Consider the form of the loop as a primary conceptual aspect of the work.  Use the loop recording and playback in a creative manner – this piece literally has no beginning our end. 

Examples:

There is so much sound in our lives that to give specific examples is almost defeating the purpose of this project.  Experiment!  Listen!  Allow your recording device to inhabit your life. Please avoid music in the familiar sense (no favorite songs, radio of media based audio in the background, ok!) - expand your ears….

In teaching students how to draw, we tell them that we are “teaching you how to see”, in this project, we are “teaching how to hear…”

You will likely need to experiment and get to know the capabilities of your smart phone to record - this will generally involve holding your device quite close to record as one would to record a voice. 

DUE Thursday September 8th!