Week 2 
This week’s exercises had to do with manipulation, plus a vocal needed to be incorporated. This exercise I believed was going to be easier that last week’s but none the less the choices behind the effects are still important to explain. Overall I wanted to use a variety of different short clips to draw on different manipulation techniques for each 3 sections.
These are the sounds used:
1.	Putting keys into the ignition of a car, then slowly turning it. As this is done, when the key reaches the accessories point the radio turned on (from a previous trip) and it was a natural reaction to turn down the knob and continue to attempt to start the car.
2.	The second sound was walking up and down an old creepy set of wooden stars (it spoke for itself).
3.	Lastly was the sound of a girl being made to jump into a swimming pool in the middle of winter for the purpose of another assignment (foley work). Throughout the process she was complaining that the water was cold and this has a comical feel to it.

With all these sounds I felt that I could manipulate them to produce a clip that was going to be interesting, funny and possibly strange. The following are the theories behind the choice of effects used in each section.
1.	Large reverb which starts off 100% then sweeps to a dry sound when the radio kicks in and reveling the sound of the keys. 
2.	EQ is being manipulated here. With various sweeping Eq from Boosting glow frequencies to cutting them and then playing with the mid-range frequencies. 
3.	The dives I copied and placed on a different track and reversed them and had a reverb with a sweeping pan out to various sides on them. The vocals have had certain words beeped out (almost ducking) that are inappropriate.


SOUND AESTHETICS Week 2

Week 3
The theme for this audio master-piece was to use an audio art movement that had been discussed within class. Some of the choices were Modernism, Futurism, Dadaism and Surrealism. The surrealism movement is the one that I was to draw my influences from for this clip. Although the surrealist movement is more often considered a movement in visual arts I will attempt to add to its not-so-large audio side of the theme. 

Surrealist work can feature elements of surprise, unexpected juxtapositions and non linear ideas. As French surrealist André Breton’s quoted in his, Surrealist Manifesto, 1924; “…the real functioning of the mind. Dictation by thought, in the absence of control exercised by reason, and beyond any aesthetic or moral preoccupation” (Brenton, 1924). Therefore I need to draw upon the “freedom of the unconscious mind by drawing on critical and imaginative paths” (Ades, 2001).  It is believed that surrealism developed from Dadaism which in short terms can be described as nonsense within art which broke the many boundaries/rules of art. With all of this in mind I tried to create an audio clip which is trying to make the mind second guess what it is hearing and making an audio clip which can be perceived as more than real.


The following are the sounds used for each section:
1.	A person walking on the beach on a windy day and the sand is making a certain sound as it is walked on (sorry I cant describe it)
2.	Water boiling on a gas stove where both the water and gas can be heard. 
3.	The starting of a top-loader washing machine, then after a few seconds lifting up the lid and closing it causing a sudden stop and start of the cycle.

These are the reasons behind the decisions made; keeping in mind everything that was said earlier about surrealism.
1.	This sound was rather intriguing and is not recognizable at the beginning and may not be for some people. This sound suited Brenton’s (1924) theory of having the absence of control exercised by reason. There is a high pass filter used to get ride of the unwanted wind sound. The reverb send has been automated with a large reverb, making it surreal for the beach to sound like that. 
2.	I believe that this sound follows more along the line of “imaginative paths” (Ades, 2001). Not because it is a ground-breaking sound but because originally is comes across as the bubbling of a goo-like substance from an alien movie. It then it takes a more imaginative/creative path with manipulation. There is a gate placed on this section again being very unrealistic and only letting some sound occasionally through. The sound that is getting through is being effected by a phaser with a slow rate .
3.	When opening the washing machine, to me it comes across not as the most rebellious thing in the world but as breaking the rules for it is not meant to happen. Plus everyone is always intrigued by the first time they ever open a washing machine that is going with the question of what is going to happen? Is it going to be out of the usual? In this case, yes, I added the boiling water sound to appear when the lid is open. This also has a slight volume automation. 

References
Breton, A. n.d, ‘Vaché is surrealist in me’ Surrealist Manifesto.
Breton, A. 1924, ‘Manifesto of Surrealism’ Nord-Sud, March 1918.
Ades, D. 2001. Surrealism, The Oxford Companion to Western Art. Oxford University Press, 2001. 


SOUND AESTHETICS Week 3

Week 5
Musique concrète was always going to be a fun exercise to do. It is a form of electroacoustic music where it’s material is not restricted to the use of traditional instruments/voices and allows the use of alternated means to create sound the can be made musical. This idea was created by Pierre Schaeffer in the 1940s and came to be with the experimentation of recording technology and tape manipulation which, of course, was revolutionary at the time. Technology has since not so much changed but progressed, especially with the computer age. This made manipulation, editing, looping, recording sound and much more, so much easier and convenient.

Throughout this process I attempted to use some of the theories and techniques developed for sound manipulation as demonstrated in 1953 by Peter Gradenwitz in Paris which was the forefront of this technology at that time. Although some of these ideas did not work at the demonstration at the time the ideas have remained and been developed over time. These included aspects such as Sound transposition (tempo variation and variation in pitch), Sound looping, Filtering (eliminating certain frequencies), and sound spatialisation (panning).

To create this clip I focused on the importance of play within in the creation of music which in turn should make it a fun exercise. This notion is central to the musique concrète aesthetic (Dack 2002).

The following are the sounds that were used to create the clip:
1.	Radio in the car as the key turned to the accessories point (from a previous trip) and it was a natural reaction to turn down the knob.
2.	The clicking is a light switch (on and off)
3.	A random kid saying, “that, that’s good.”
4.	Bouncing of basketballs at a basketball court
5.	Squeaking of basketball shoes
6.	The splashing of someone diving into a swimming pool
7.	Dog bark
8.	People laughing

The following are some of the process done to the sounds to achieve a better replication of a musique concrète audio clip:
1.	Sweeping EQ
2.	Looping, reverb
3.	Some were reversed, pitch shifted, reverb, EQ (eliminate as much of the background noise as possible)
4.	Some were reversed, pitch shifted, panning automation
5.	none
6.	some were reversed, time shifting, flange effect
7.	pitch shifted, time shifting, panning automation
8.	Looping




Dack, J. 2002, ‘Technology and the Instrument’ musik netz werke - Konturen der neuen Musikkultur, p39-54. 
Gradenwitz, P. 1953, ‘Experiments in Sound’: Ten-Day Demonstration in Paris Offers the Latest in 'Musique Concrète'".  In New York Times, 9 August 1985. 
Schaeffer, P. 1967, La musique concrète. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France. 



SOUND AESTHETICS Week 5

Bodywire E2

Bodywire- Ragdoll

Bodywire- Trigger

Recorded NOV '10 in 5.1. This version is the stereo cut

School Choir song 2

School Choir- Rehab

Recorded live 22/04/12. String quartet at the QLD conservatorium practicing. Thank you for letting me walk in.

Haydn string quartet opus 20 no 4 second movement

Recorded live 22/04/12. At the QLD conservatorium a student practicing. Thank you for letting me walk in.

teasounds