Week 10: Introduction. What do we mean by radio art?
Preparation Task;
Consider what differentiates the radio listening experience from television and on-line objects, film, video, games, podcasts, etc? Put bluntly, how does radio work? And what kinds of things do you think you could do with and in this medium? Jot down some ideas.
Radio I believe has a strong intimate quality. You’re listening to a person talk, typically either on their own or in a group with no more than 1-3 other people. With this you listen to a curated selection of of sound pieces that have been chosen by the host, who also expresses themselves though the transition from piece to piece.
Television on the other hand is curated by a business of people with little to no dialogue between programmes. The same goes for film, video, and games. They are presented to you by the medium that you view them from, this is often lacks personality and warmth.
Radio differs from visual media as the radio programme is a whole piece, with many forms of expression within it. The viewer takes in the entirety of the listening with an emphasis on the tracks played, or on the host’s dialog, depending on the hosts intention.
When it comes to podcasts; they may be streamed live or recorded prior to listening (with the addition of edits and processing). Podcasts and Radio programmes differ in that podcasts are more focussed on the dialogue; storytelling or conversation whereas radio incites less concentration from the listener, focussing on assisting you whilst you go about your own day.
Radio can be powerful, to have a set agenda broadcast to an audience in real-time, it holds a vulnerability. What is live to an audience is also unchangeable.
Activity:
Turn on a radio, surf the dial, listen, think, take notes. Focus on such elements as liveness, repetition, serendipity, the fugitive nature of the sound, where radio seems to be located.
I do not have a physical radio with me which is unfortunate because I would like to document the sound of changing stations. I find joy in the skill it sometimes takes to accurately position a dial in order to find a clear audio response. The same goes for the sounds that occur between stations; the hiss of static and the muffled sounds of music or conversation that happen when slightly out of range of a station. Sometimes the crossing over of stations, where two stations can be heard at the same time, often with the layering of static sounds.
Instead I have access to the app “BBC Sounds”. I selected “radio cymru” first and a song sung in welsh was heard playing. I switch to “radio cymru 2” though there is no difference in the song. Between the selection there is simply a break of sudden silence as the next station loads. As the host Geraint Lloyd talks I notice the difference in texture of his words compared to English words; The rolled “r”s and “ch”, “ll” and “dd” sounds and a nasal quality to his voice. He tells the audience to text and call in, repeating the phone number multiple times and references the tracks by artist and song title before and after each track is played. He holds a casually up-beat attitude and when talking to a lady who has rang in. They joke with each other and he allows her time to talk fully, inciting banter. The quality of the sound coming from the lady who has rang the station caught my attention as there is such a stark contrast between the clarity of her voice compared to Geraint Lloyd’s. It’s interesting as you can clearly understand her, yet it is such a low quality. I found myself preferring to hear her talk than Geraint as the clarity of his voice was somewhat overbearing.
– Reference; (BBC, 2021, BBC Sounds, Online Radio, Viewed 22nd January 2021, <https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds>).
I think about infamy of the audio adaptations of H. G. Wells’ Novel “The War of the Worlds” (1897) and subsequently about the power of concept albums such as the “Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of The Worlds” (1978) and other albums such as Jon and Vangelis’ “The Friends of Mr. Cairo” (1981). The idea of telling a story through music and dialogue which so clearly paints a picture in the minds of the listener is thrilling to me. I have felt genuine fear and serene joy from listening to these albums when I was little and to this day certain songs from it will still strike me. I think that these albums have so much more creative value than the typical songs being created now. As for subjecting them in a radio listening experience, I think that the personal quality of radio broadcast would be greatly intensified. They have a quality of either enthralling the listener or repulsing them.
The connection you can find within broadcasting a radio station, is often a personal exchange between the host and the audience; through sound and speech. Requests, calls, texts or emails are invited and responded to by the host who then finds a common interest within the music being played.
– Reference; (H. G. Wells, 1897, The War of the Worlds, Viewed 14th February 2021, <https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-War-of-the-Worlds-novel-by-Wells>).
– Reference; (Jeff Wayne, 1978, Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version Of The War Of The Worlds, Album, Viewed 14th February 2021, <https://www.discogs.com/Jeff-Wayne-Versión-Musical-De-Jeff-Wayne-La-Guerra-De-Los-Mundos-versión-en-español/master/71524>).
– Reference; (Jon And Vangelis, 1981, The Friends of Mr. Cairo, Album, Viewed 14th February 2021, <https://www.discogs.com/Jon-And-Vangelis-The-Friends-Of-Mr-Cairo/master/19731>).
Follow-up Task;
Consider the assertion by Bonie M Miller and others: “The pictures are better on radio”. Do you agree?
Radio has a greater sense of experiencing something personally, much like reading a book. You are not forced to experience the media in a particularly refined way so the mind often works harder to build a more in-depth and personalised view of what’s being presented. This being said it can also depend on whether the viewer is choosing to listened in a passive way or an active way. Should the listener be listening passively then the radio’s role of assisting it’s viewers as they go about their own lives is present, though, if the listener is actively listening to the broadcast then the detail and direction of expression can be utilised more greatly. This then relies on the host’s agenda: Whether the piece is to be left for the listener to create their own meaning and experience, or, whether the listener is to better understand a more specific expression or viewpoint.
– It is dependant on the intention of the author and the compliance of the audience.
Notes from class;
“Art is anything you can get away with” – Marshall McLuhan
Dr. Ed Baxter quoted this in our class giving reference to Marshall McLuhan and I think it is true, being that art is an example of someone’s expression and good art in my opinion is that which provokes it’s audience. I searched the quote along with Marshall McLuhan and found this quote from Time.com:
“But his most fascinating idea is that television is a “cool, low-intensity” medium that projects a fuzzy image, compared with “hot” print and film. This means that the TV image demands the viewer’s involvement by requiring him to complete the picture himself through his own imagination. Hence, there is no need for television to project an orderly or “linear” progression of a story; the viewer takes care of that himself. In other words, TV’s first principle is that form counts more than content.”
– Reference; (Unknown writer, Friday 13th October 1967, Time.com, Programming: Getting the Message, Article, Viewed on 14th February 2021, <http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,837382,00.html>).
I think the quotation above relates well to our project as it analyses the way we perceive media. I think that radio and sound can utilise both examples mentioned. It could have a direct way of expressing a story or idea such as giving explicit narration and dialogue or on the other hand, expressing less directly and allowing the listener to piece together what’s going on through music or expressive sound effects.
Week 11: Sonic narrative and sound effects
Preparation Task;
Read: Thomas De Quincey, 1823: “On the knocking on the gate in Macbeth”, London Magazine. http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/macbeth/knockingatgate.html What to look for in this now 200 year old text? It provides a key moment in our understanding of sound effects, a Romanticist critique of a simple but effective theatrical sound event through which, De Quincey suggests, “time must be annihilated; relation to things without abolished.” How do we distort, telescope, stretch or abolish time through sound? How do we access a sense of deep interiority, and create a psychological object through radio?
Time. In the essay above it speaks about the sense accompanied by realising situations, following audio cues, such as in the setting of a funeral or the dramatic fainting of a lady. I think that if you give such a focus and draw a listener into such a specific moment in a scene, that time would become meaningless or rather the attention of the listener could become so distracted by the scene that it takes them out of their real-time activity.
I think shaping the listeners sense of time and gripping their sense of attention could be attained by the way that sound develops through such time. The way Thomas De Quincey talks about the silence of a funeral setting with a heightened attention on the very quiet sounds -becoming such loud sounds- draws in the listener and slows their perception of time.
I think that psychological objects could be created quite easily through the use of dialogue within radio. Similarly to the way repetition can hold and manipulate a listener’s sense of interest, you can also key in factors such as the speed of speech, paired with the volume of intensity. If you can get someone to follow your words so closely, you can really get them to feel anything that you feel. So the control of vocal projection can be a very useful tool. This is the same when balancing external sounds. I believe that if you can know how to control the dynamics of sound, you can inject any expression into the audience.
– Reference; (Thomas De Quincey, 1785-1859, On the Knocking on the Gate in Macbeth, Essay, Viewed on 14th February 2021, <http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/macbeth/knockingatgate.html>).
Activity:
“Flickerman” – How do you think the whooshing sound that comes before the explosion is achieved?
We were told that it was a gun fire sound that had been reversed though I’d thought when first hearing it that it could be the sound of friction on a type of nylon material such as scratching a waterproof coat, though, I came to realise that this was not accurate enough. This sound used has more depth and difference in texture from start to finish. The effect of scratching nylon could possibly be made more similar to the reversed gunfire sound if you were to move the mic closer to the fabric as the instant of impact draws nearer. I think even then it would lack a lot of low frequency harmonics that the gunfire has, instead having a thinner texture.
Notes from class;
Week 11 19th Jan 2021
“Flickerman” exercise:
– Sine wave/White Noise
– Sounds like distorted bird noises. Reminds me of aliens.
– Guitars – Electric Guitar played with a bow
– Explosion noises
– We got down ideas of what we want to convey on the radio.
– Vlad showed some of his work to our group and mentioned a VST Plugin called Manipulator. I downloaded this VST to use in my own work as I liked how it sounded.
– I want to use single tones for my radio piece. I want to gage a reaction of people listening to a single tone or shifting tones. Need to make it clever with a concept.
Definition of words mentioned in our weeks classes (12th – 14th January 2021)
“super impose” – “place or lay (one thing) over another, typically so that both are still evident.”
“Bombastic” – “high-sounding but with little meaning; inflated.”
Definitions by “Oxford Languages”
Week 12: Exchanging live mobile feeds
Preparation Task;
Part 1: Register for a personal Locus Sonus streaming account. Note: authorisation can take more than 48hrs. Name the stream after the intended streaming location (rather than your name).
http://locusonus.org/soundmap/dev/admin/join/
Once the account has been authorised, you can edit the advanced settings here:
http://locusonus.org/soundmap/admin/
Part 2: Download a streaming app for your phone and test it works with the Locus Sonus account.
Locuscast http://locusonus.org/locustream/#phone
Coolmic http://coolmic.net/
I set my stream up with the name “lravierjwb”.
I’ve set up the broadcaster for the stream in my university bathroom and I have listened from my bedroom. My laptop already makes noise from it’s fans so when played through that it produces more hissing sounds like static. I just made a noise to be picked up by the mic and I’d estimate that there’s about an eight second delay on the stream.
Stream 1 far away: Le-Rove – NIOLON
Stream 2 close by: Ravenglass – The Estuary
The stream from Le-Rove gives percussive clicks and knocks though they are slight. I have turned the volume down on The Estuary in order to balance them.
It is almost like the wind from the The Estuary is a part of the Le-Rove stream and if I had known nothing other than the sound, I would think this to be the case. The Le-Rove stream sounds like it is set in a tank of water with a reverberation similar to a large plastic tank. – On the map it is situated on the front of a port for boats. –
The Estuary has a lot of wind and that is mostly the only thing you hear. I did however notice the sounds of sea birds, which could have come from any one of these places. Creeks and knocks sounding like metal come from my monitors also which I assume is from Le-Rove but given that The Estuary already has so much movement in it, it is possible that it has come from there.
Notes from class;
“Maryanne Amacher”
“Sound flower”/”Loopback” – Capturing sound
“BUTT” Broadcast using this tool
Follow Up Task;
Evaluate how useful these tools are for your project and explore alternative streaming options listed in the technical resources padlet.
I think that these streaming tools are incredibly valuable, however, due to current government rule and our inability to meet with one another we made a consecutive decision to create a pre-recorded piece, utilising the idea of “as-live” in our deliverance.
I must note also that since our class I have been running into 404 errors when trying to listen to my stream so further research is needed in order to get past this.
Week 13: Group practice
Preparation Task;
Ensure you have completed at least 3 of the 5 blog posts required for this module. We will review your blogs together in class.
Follow Up Task;
Check the Learning Outcomes for this Unit Assignment. Review the Assessment Criteria. Be ready for the hand in on Monday, 15th February
Reading “Radio” by Rudolf Arnheim, translated by Margret Ludwig and Herbert Read. Faber & Faber Ltd. 24 Russell Square London.
“aural art can present dramatic events far more exclusively than visual art.” – Page 23
This talks about how sound so often is coherent with movement and physical expression. I do agree and believe that there is more to document after experiencing art through sound as the depth of happening is more greatly perceived by us. It is the thing I find most interesting when I have listened to and dissected the layers of a sound composition, though I have always seemed to prefer thinking of the effects of synthesized sounds on our cognition. When thinking this I have to differentiate these synthetic sounds from concrete sounds with regards to the quotation above. I think that synthesized sound is more often perceived in the same way as visual art; as it is, in the instant it is experienced.
Concrete sounds however project the same depth perceived when recording them, making the listener understand their meaning and expression throughout listening.
“the concept of a timeless representation of sound is meaningless.” – Page 24
I think this could be untrue given a different perspective. It’s referring to any one example of sound and how sound is in need of progressive time in order to be experienced.
I questioned this when creating my 3.3 recurring ideology piece, wondering whether time was the only thing able to give finite contrast.
How is it that our ears are able to detect audio at all if sound in a single frame of time is inaudible?
Time should be measured not in seconds but rather using the speed of the electricity used to create and transfer information in our brains. What is it that differentiates electricity from waves such as light and sound?
– Reference; (Rudolf Arnheim, et al., 1936, Radio, Book, Pages 0-24, Viewed 6th February 2021, <https://monoskop.org/images/c/c7/Arnheim_Rudolf_Radio.pdf>).
Notes from class;
2nd Feb 2021
Talking about what makes the quality/presence of voice for radio:
– Direct address
– Placement of voice in a space, placement of voice around a mic
Environmental Sound
– In a radio drama the environment is what puts you into the shoes of the characters.
Sound Effects
– Using an effect to set the scene or express a particular mood
Music
– Co-presence, time-presence, should there be a particular theme to the programme, is the music appropriate?
Definition of words mentioned in our weeks class (2nd Feb 2021)
Resonance FM, Radiogenic, Underscore
Plan for the Friday broadcast with consideration to the time/day
Locus Sonus
– Mix pre-recorded piece
– Leave blank space to fill with live performance?
“In a band; You only make great music if you hate the other people in it.” – Dr. Ed Baxter
“The detail that you put into your work is lost in this type of work.” – Dr. Ed Baxter referring to the busy quality of our collaborative piece draft.
Notes from group call with Group D;
Abdurehim Heyit
– Balagma
Hugo Ball
“Camus; myth of sisyphus“
Negativeland
Week 14: Rehearsals
Preparation Task;
Keep listening to the radio. Find a station or programme that you like and describe what appeals to you about it. Think about how it has been made. Can you bring some of these qualities or techniques into your group project.
Follow Up Task;
Bring your production to a professional standard. Record at least one “dry run” of your group’s 14 minute piece. This file can be used as the “group Composition” element of the Unit Assignment, and a back up incase of any technical issues with the final broadcast.
Week 15: Hand in and public presentation
Preparation Task;
Ensure you know exactly what your role is and how you will fill it.
Follow Up Task;
Reflect on your own work and that of your fellow students. What worked? What surprised you? Bored you? If you did the project again, what would you do differently?