works inspired by 99 Ways to Tell a Story: Exercises in Style

This was a final project for my sound design course... six separate renditions of the same minute's worth of dialogue. 

My project was inspired by my dear friend Matt Madden's 2005 comic "99 Ways to Tell a Story: Exercises In Style" and before that Raymond Queneau's 1947 book "Exercices de Style". Check them out!!!

The dialogue is a mash-up of multiple, random eavesdropped conversation fragments overheard while making my way around NYC. So no... it is NOT necessarily a linear narrative!!! (Disclaimer: I am still editing several sections, so this is a work-in-progress)

Thanks to everyone for all the help!!!!!

So you can follow the bouncing ball:

- Oh. You.
- Yeah.
- I’ll take it that you’re not real hot on this.
- It’s just sand and a coral seahorse sticker.
- I was like “I’ve got nothing to lose, so…”
- It’s too loud. It’s too colorful.
- But it means so much to me.
- Wait, did you see that?
- See what?
- Oh my god, oh my god. I can prove it. It's really happening.
- You’re lying, right?
- You know, can you please just be quiet?
- Why can't I....why. Why? Why can't I bring it up?
- Because you would lose that argument.
- Apparently, I cannot share my opinion without being looked down upon.
- I just pull the trigger when they tell me to.
- I’m outta here.
- Well, this isn’t about you. I make the toys man! 

Exercises in Style (as a radio drama)

Objective: Re-telling a very short and simple story -- an anecdote really, an everyday slice of life -- utilizing sound. This track is to be constructed in any manner: with field recordings, music, effects, dialog, or a mix thereof. The story for re-telling is this single-page comic strip by Matt Madden:

http://goo.gl/6P7eL

Method: I didn't want to stray too far from the tangible nature of the strip itself, so I took some time converting each strip of panels to sound files using Audiopaint (http://www.nicolasfournel.com/audiopaint.htm). Each of these sound files were further manipulated in order to create a series of overlapping drones within Ableton Live. The tracks were themselves heavily effected and various field recordings were added. I was looking for the narrative to represent a journey towards confusion.

More on Matt Madden and his book 99 Ways to Tell a Story at: 

http://mattmadden.com/
http://exercisesinstyle.com/

More on the Disquiet Junto at: http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto

Mute Voices, Panels of Sound [disquiet0014-oumupo]

Based on a single-page comic by Matt Madden. Music by Broken Hours. Produced and Mixed by Splice Finders. Submitted under the kind auspices of Disquiet Junto. Disquiet Junto is a special and important project to which I am grateful to be able to contribute.

This is my second piece in Disquiet Junto. This piece was realized between 11AM and 5PM PST 4/7/12. 

It is a subjective interpretation of Madden's comic, using various, re-processed recordings and midi, and is by turns formalist, impressionist and abstract.

More on Matt Madden and his book 99 Ways to Tell a Story at:

http://mattmadden.com/

http://exercisesinstyle.com/ 

More on the Disquiet Junto at:

http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto
 

Unconscious [disquiet0014-oumupo]

Disquiet Junto 0014: Sonic Narrative

Subject: This project, the 14th in the weekly Disquiet Junto series, is about sonic narrative.

Instructions: You will re-tell a very short and simple story -- an anecdote really, an everyday slice of life -- utilizing sound. It will take the form of a single audio file uploaded to your Soundcloud account. You will construct this track in any manner you choose: with field recordings, music, effects, dialog, or a mix thereof. The story you will be re-telling is this single-page comic strip by Matt Madden: http://goo.gl/6P7eL

In the process of re-telling the story through sound, you may interpret it in any way you choose. You can do it as straight narrative, or do an abstract rendition, or retell it from another point of view, or contribute a score as if it were a movie, or a record series of foley cues. The choice is yours.

# # # # # # # #

My own exercise was a collage of sounds telling the story. I tried to keep it very simple.

Thanks to all characters.

In order of appearance:

My own (very old) drone
anton__keyboard-typing: http://www.freesound.org/people/Anton/sounds/137/
digifishmusic__fridge-stereo: http://www.freesound.org/people/digifishmusic/sounds/23023/
corsica-s__foosteps-sneakers: http://www.freesound.org/people/Corsica_S/sounds/44664/
acclivity__smallcarriageclockticking: http://www.freesound.org/people/acclivity/sounds/30608
digifishmusic__grandfather-clock-digifish: http://www.freesound.org/people/digifishmusic/sounds/32937/
acclivity__cuckooclock6dp: http://www.freesound.org/people/acclivity/sounds/31533/
wim__grandfather-s-clock: http://www.freesound.org/people/WIM/sounds/18037/
anton__fridge-21s-drone: http://www.freesound.org/people/Anton/sounds/139/

Artwork: rework of cell from http://www.artbabe.com/exercises/images/exercises/04-subjective.gif

# # # # # # # #

More on Matt Madden and his book 99 Ways to Tell a Story at:
http://mattmadden.com/
http://exercisesinstyle.com/

More on the Disquiet Junto at http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto

Elst Pizarro - A View from the Fridge [disquiet0014-oumupo]

Hello - This is my first contribution to this great group. I really like the idea of the group. Hope you gonna like the track. 

This is mostly an analogue reel-to-reel work with a bit of guitar sounds. 
I tried to show the stages of the story using a reel-to-reel technique - especially at the end of the track when the guy realises that didn't know what he was looking for - the tape was slowed down by a hand pressure... 

http://www.artbabe.com/exercises/images/exercises/01-template.gif

_____________________________________________________________________

More on Matt Madden and his book 99 Ways to Tell a Story at:

http://mattmadden.com/
http://exercisesinstyle.com/

More on the Disquiet Junto at:

Disquiet Junto/ http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto

Grzegorz Bojanek - It's Quarter Past One [disquiet0014-oumupo]

Some source material taken from a radio show that is in the public domain,  "My Favorite Husband":

http://archive.org/details/MyFavoriteHusband

More on Matt Madden and his book 99 Ways to Tell a Story at:

http://mattmadden.com/
http://exercisesinstyle.com/

More on the Disquiet Junto at: 

http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto

Lost in static / lost in time [disquiet0014-oumupo]

I really wasn't sure what to do for the Junto assignment this week... after a lot of thinking and looking up Matt Madden, I saw a <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w-epBpmwIk4/Tzq0a-A1kbI/AAAAAAAAGEk/9fsldNsZ1ug/s1600/matt-1.jpg">photo on his blog</a>, reading and sipping a martini.  And then the idea of doing a 50s lounge style track might be a good soundtrack for <a href="http://www.artbabe.com/exercises/images/exercises/01-template.gif">the comic</a>.

I quite like the melody here, and will probably use it again in the future with a longer (and more flushed out) piece.

And it's 99 seconds, with a special appearance by naotko's <a href="http://soundcloud.com/naotko/abstractedly-disquiet0014">"Abstractedly"</a>.  Cha cha cha!

More on Matt Madden and his book 99 Ways to Tell a Story at:

http://mattmadden.com/
http://exercisesinstyle.com/

More on the Disquiet Junto at:

<a href="http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto">Disquiet Junto/</a>

Lee Rosevere - Milo's Afternoon Snack [disquiet0014-oumupo]

This track is part of the Disquiet Junto project. From the group's FAQ: "...The Disquiet Junto is a group based on Soundcloud.com where musicians respond to regularly scheduled, fast-turnaround assignments to compose, record, and share new music. The idea is to use restraints as a springboard for creativity..."

For this assignment, we were to create a track interpreting a single-page comic by Matt Madden.  I created 8 loops, one for each panel of the comic.  Along with several other Junto members, I decided to make my composition 99 seconds long in conjunction with the 99 comic renditions in Madden's book.  More below:

Background: Matt Madden's single-page comic is the template for a book he created titled 99 Ways to Tell a Story: Exercises in Style. In the book, Madden told that same story 99 different ways, each in a different comic-book style. For example, he told it as a superhero comic, he told it as a manga, he told it as experienced from upstairs, and he told it as if it were overheard at a bar. Madden did this in homage to the French writer Raymond Queneau's own Exercises in Style, which is a key text of the literary movement known as Oulipo. Oulipo approaches the act of writing with intentional constraints, and the movement's approach to creativity was a strong influence on the development of the Disquiet Junto. Oubapo is the name of the comics version of Oulipo. What we're up to is the musical version: Oumupo

More on Matt Madden and his book 99 Ways to Tell a Story at: 
 

http://mattmadden.com/
 
http://exercisesinstyle.com/


More on the Disquiet Junto at:
 
<a href="http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Disquiet Junto</a>

One Fifteen (disquiet0014-oumupo)

My track submission for disquiet #14.

More on Matt Madden and his book 99 Ways to Tell a Story at:

http://mattmadden.com/
http://exercisesinstyle.com/

More on the Disquiet Junto at:

http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto

"Timelapse" - [disquiet0014-oumupo]

This is a track for the Disquiet Junto. 

All sounds, samples, beats and rhythms were cutup and programmed by hand. Full details below.

The first minute is a straightforward sonic re-telling of the comic strip mentioned below, and the rest of the track is a kind of journey into the mind of the character in the comic strip, before, during and after he opens the fridge.

If that sounds confusing, read on to make some sense of it...

The assignment for this week was as follows:

"You will re-tell a very short and simple story utilizing sound. It will take the form of a single audio file uploaded to your Soundcloud account. You will construct this track in any manner you choose: with field recordings, music, effects, dialog, or a mix thereof. The story you will be re-telling is this single-page comic strip by Matt Madden:

http://www.artbabe.com/exercises/images/exercises/01-template.gif

"(Matt Madden's single-page comic is the template for a book he created titled 99 Ways to Tell a Story: Exercises in Style. In the book, Madden told that same story 99 different ways, each in a different comic-book style.)

"In the process of re-telling the story through sound, you may interpret it in any way you choose. You can do it as straight narrative, or do an abstract rendition, or retell it from another point of view, or contribute a score as if it were a movie, or a record series of foley cues. The choice is yours."

--

I decided to create, as close as possible, a sonic version of the comic strip, and then to adapt and morph the sounds into something musical, as a way of exploring the sounds and the comic strip itself (along with some of its 99 variations).

I already had a few recent field recordings that could be used - contact mic recordings of door handles, a wooden bed, and a chair being scraped. I recorded a few more pieces with contact mics: my fridge door opening and closing, bottles in the fridge, and my laptop being turned on and off, as well as some typing with the keys. I also recorded my two daughters drawing, using the onboard mic on my Zoom H4n. I recorded the sound of their pencils and pens fairly closely.

However, these recordings were not enough, so I also used elements from all of the following samples on Freesound:

Shoe Slide and Scuffle.aif by ftpalad -- http://www.freesound.org/people/ftpalad/sounds/119931/
shuffling_in_tennis_shoes_on_carpet.wav by daboy291 -- http://www.freesound.org/people/daboy291/sounds/138063/
watch_alarm.aif by Corsica_S -- http://www.freesound.org/people/Corsica_S/sounds/18632/
Tschenuhr.mp3 by Bidone -- http://www.freesound.org/people/Bidone/sounds/66376/
Uhr.wav by Bidone -- http://www.freesound.org/people/Bidone/sounds/65796/
Geology Pinecone and Bars.wav by Razzvio -- http://www.freesound.org/people/Razzvio/sounds/78995/
HorrorStaircase.wav by treyc -- http://www.freesound.org/people/treyc/sounds/123915/
congélateur craquements.wav by darkunst -- http://www.freesound.org/people/darkunst/sounds/84350/
8_fridge_eggbox.mp3 by harri -- http://www.freesound.org/people/harri/sounds/8888/
11_fridge_margtub_3.mp3 by harri -- http://www.freesound.org/people/harri/sounds/8856/
3_fridge_search.mp3 by harri -- http://www.freesound.org/people/harri/sounds/8883/
fridge01.wav by bigD -- http://www.freesound.org/people/bigD/sounds/49540/
4_fridge_beer.mp3 by harri -- http://www.freesound.org/people/harri/sounds/8884/
fridge_back.wav by Cambra -- http://www.freesound.org/people/Cambra/sounds/102690/
1_fridge_open.mp3 by harri -- http://www.freesound.org/people/harri/sounds/8865/
opening_fridge.aiff by KlankOntwerp -- http://www.freesound.org/people/KlankOntwerp/sounds/106489/
FridgeHum.wav by timdrussell -- http://www.freesound.org/people/timdrussell/sounds/51836/
old fridge.wav by Marec -- http://www.freesound.org/people/Marec/sounds/22683/
opening_fridge_door.wav by tschapajew -- http://www.freesound.org/people/tschapajew/sounds/103544/
generator_room.wav by j1987 -- http://www.freesound.org/people/j1987/sounds/73025/
R09_0005B.wav by andysm -- http://www.freesound.org/people/andysm/sounds/76580/
fridge open and close with hum.WAV by uwesoundboiz -- http://www.freesound.org/people/uwesoundboiz/sounds/60393/
refrigerator01.wav by fonogeno -- http://www.freesound.org/people/fonogeno/sounds/17638/


No, really, I actually used something from ALL of the above sounds. I downloaded a few more that I ended up not using...

I then recorded myself speaking the text from the comic strip. 

I also liked two of the other pages that are viewable on the website:
http://www.artbabe.com/exercises/images/exercise/85-difftext.gif
http://www.artbabe.com/exercises/images/exercises/20-thirtypanels.gif

So I also recorded the dialogue from the first one (difftext.gif), and was inspired by elements of the second one (thirtypanels.gif).

I cut up all the samples in Audacity, and passed the vocals to a Roland SP555 sampler, and the foley-type noises to a Korg Electribe SX1. I modified my voice using the effects on the SP555, and resampled the vocal snippets on the Electribe. 

On the Electribe, I arranged all the sounds into a one minute direct interpretation of the comic strip, and then followed that with a kind of percussive meltdown of all the noises and sounds.

Once the track was assembled, I played it back in full, twice, through a Korg KP3 Kaoss pad, using a 'tape delay' effect, which I played live. I recorded a 'dry' track direct from the Electribe, and combined the 3 tracks in Ardour (digital audio workstation).

Ugh. Then I wrote all this up for reference and went to bed. Probably spent too much time on this - I reckon it took up a full day from beginning to end (about 20 hours). AND it wasn't what I intended to do - I wanted a much slower piece that evolved more over time. Might re-work it one day, in some fashion...

The image for this track I adapted in GIMP from Matt Madden's original image, as linked to above. The morphed thumbs in the middle remind me, happily, of a Foetus (JG Thirlwell) album cover.

More on Matt Madden and his book 99 Ways to Tell a Story at:

http://mattmadden.com/
http://exercisesinstyle.com/

More on the Disquiet Junto at:

http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto

Oumupo [disquiet0014-oumupo]

More on Matt Madden and his book 99 Ways to Tell a Story at: 

http://mattmadden.com/ 
http://exercisesinstyle.com/ 

More on the Disquiet Junto at: 

Disquiet Junto/ 


Why Am I Here?   [disquiet0014-oumupo]

My interpretation of Matt's work is one of the juxtoposition of the sense of time being both escaped and in escapement. 

By not using my own field recordings, I feel like a bit of a cheat with this week's Junto. Using Freesound.org was the only way I was going to be able to participate.
My trusty ZoomH4n was not to hand :(

More on Matt Madden and his book 99 Ways to Tell a Story at:

http://mattmadden.com/
http://exercisesinstyle.com/

More on the Disquiet Junto at:

http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto

Samples used...

http://www.freesound.org/people/WIM/sounds/18037/
http://www.freesound.org/people/digifishmusic/sounds/32937/
http://www.freesound.org/people/acclivity/sounds/30608/
http://www.freesound.org/people/andriala/sounds/16651/
http://www.freesound.org/people/fabe/sounds/3128/
http://www.freesound.org/people/Tomlija/sounds/75372/
http://www.freesound.org/people/avventura2046/sounds/147387/
http://www.freesound.org/people/alp1254/sounds/52622/

Thanks to the providers of the above recordings and snippets.


escapement-disquiet0014-oumupo

Disquiet Junto 0014: Sonic Narrative
 

Subject: This project, the 14th in the weekly Disquiet Junto series, is about sonic narrative. 
 

Instructions: You will re-tell a very short and simple story -- an anecdote really, an everyday slice of life -- utilizing sound. It will take the form of a single audio file uploaded to your Soundcloud account. You will construct this track in any manner you choose: with field recordings, music, effects, dialog, or a mix thereof. The story you will be re-telling is this single-page comic strip by Matt Madden:
 

http://goo.gl/6P7eL 
 

In the process of re-telling the story through sound, you may interpret it in any way you choose. You can do it as straight narrative, or do an abstract rendition, or retell it from another point of view, or contribute a score as if it were a movie, or a record series of foley cues. The choice is yours.
 

Background: Matt Madden's single-page comic is the template for a book he created titled 99 Ways to Tell a Story: Exercises in Style. In the book, Madden told that same story 99 different ways, each in a different comic-book style. For example, he told it as a superhero comic, he told it as a manga, he told it as experienced from upstairs, and he told it as if it were overheard at a bar. Madden did this in homage to the French writer Raymond Queneau's own Exercises in Style, which is a key text of the literary movement known as Oulipo. Oulipo approaches the act of writing with intentional constraints, and the movement's approach to creativity was a strong influence on the development of the Disquiet Junto. Oubapo is the name of the comics version of Oulipo. What we're up to is the musical version: Oumupo
 

Length: Please keep your piece to between two and seven minutes in length.
 

Title/Tag: When adding your track to the Disquiet Junto group on Soundcloud.com, please include the term "disquiet0014-oumupo” in the title of your track, and as a tag for your track.
 

Download: As always, you don’t have to set your track for download, but it would be preferable.
 

Linking: When you post your track, please include this information:
 

More on Matt Madden and his book 99 Ways to Tell a Story at: 
 

http://mattmadden.com/
 
http://exercisesinstyle.com/
 

More on the Disquiet Junto at:
http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/info

what the hell was i looking for anyway [disquiet0014-oumupo]

My first contribution to the Disquiet project, all done in one single day (busy Bank Holiday weekend).

Maybe a bit too repetetive. Should have given myself more time, but there we go.

Lazy Day (disquiet0014-oumupo)

This is something I created for the latest Disquiet Junto project. The assignment involves creating a sonic narrative for a comic created by Matt Madden. We had a lot of freedom to do whatever we wanted – straight narrative or abstract rendition.
 
The piece 1:15 am is constructed of a coil recording of my laptop, drones and tones, and a field recording of my refridgerator at the end. I also used the mac speech feature to record the dialog, but ended up granulating and delaying the sound, which you will hear midway through. My goal was to express the strange feeling of 1:15 am, especially when you’ve lost track of time.
 
More on Matt Madden and his book 99 Ways to Tell a Story at:
http://mattmadden.com
http://exercisesinstyle.com
 
More on the Disquiet Junto at:
http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto

1:15 am [disquiet0014-oumupo]

Assignment: re-tell a single-page comic strip by Matt Madden:
http://goo.gl/6P7eL

Background (via Marc Weidenbaum from disquiet.com): "Matt Madden's single-page comic is the template for a book he created titled 99 Ways to Tell a Story: Exercises in Style. In the book, Madden told that same story 99 different ways, each in a different comic-book style. For example, he told it as a superhero comic, he told it as a manga, he told it as experienced from upstairs, and he told it as if it were overheard at a bar. Madden did this in homage to the French writer Raymond Queneau's own Exercises in Style, which is a key text of the literary movement known as Oulipo. Oulipo approaches the act of writing with intentional constraints, and the movement's approach to creativity was a strong influence on the development of the Disquiet Junto. Oubapo is the name of the comics version of Oulipo. What we're up to is the musical version: Oumupo."

I chose to abstract the adventure in a structured pop song, and feel this maybe takes wide liberties w/the assignment (and the nature of the disquiet junto, in a way). Fwiw, think of it as track 8 off the soundtrack of the comic's film adaptation. 

To mirror Mssr. Madden's work, this track has 8 lyric sections and runs at 99 BPM (approximately - I don't keep time as well as a computer).

Time to make up your mind
Time will never fall behind
Time to make up your mind and close the door

She draws you in, black and white
In a studio in the sky
She draws you eight times ninety-nine…

Frames in time
And you will never escape that night
Until you make up your mind
And close the door 

Should’ve paid off those bills
Should’ve laid off all those pills
Should’ve written one more word 
Before you put your machine to sleep

What the hell were you looking for
When you opened up that door?
What the hell were you looking for
If not time?

It’s just like Jack once said
Bittersweet life is at best
It’s just like King Jack once said

You're framed in time
And you’ll never escape that night
If you’re drawn in black and white
Yeah, you’re framed in time
And you’ll never escape that night
Until you make up your mind
And close the door 

Time to make up your mind
Time will never fall behind
Time to make up your mind and close the door

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
More on Matt Madden and his book 99 Ways to Tell a Story at:
http://mattmadden.com/
http://exercisesinstyle.com/

More on the Disquiet Junto at:
http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto

Jack Kirby's 99th Dream [disquiet0014-oumupo]

What is there left to do?
Can't we do something new?
I found my old guitar,
I'll tune it up and play for you.

Join my mailing list for occasional news and updates: http://eepurl.com/dhWgP1