Sonic Art & Sound Design- P16 pptx

p75 QC Preflight Point Job no : 76098 Title : The Fundamentals Of Sonic Art Client : AVA Scn : #150 Size : 200w230hmm Co : M3 C0 All To SpotCoagl p75 2nd p75 2nd STUDIO OR LABORATORY?. 7

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Job no : 76098 Title : The Fundamentals Of Sonic Art Client : AVA

Scn : #150 Size : 200(w)230(h)mm Co : M3 C0 (All To Spot)(Coagl)

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STUDIO OR LABORATORY?

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input signal

direct signal

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delayed signal fed back to input

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Left: Simple delay system

Sound enters, is stored and then played out after a variable interval.

Left: Delay system with feedback

Sound enters, is stored and then played out after a variable interval Part of this delayed sound

is returned to the input to be delayed again.

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persuaded to feed back3– however, the conventional view is that it is something

to be avoided!

Feedback can be used to dramatic effect

as a creative process and the work of Jimi Hendrix provides one of the most

outstanding examples.4It has been said that Hendrix did not simply play his guitar but also his amplifiers and speakers – what we would nowadays call a M‘hyper-instrument’.The core principle of his sound was simple: the guitar string is plucked and vibrates and this is turned into an electrical signal The amplifier boosts this signal and the loudspeaker replays it Normally, the vibration slowly dies away but, if amplified enough, the vibration from the loudspeaker will cause the string to vibrate in sympathy Below a certain level, the sound will still die away (although more slowly – giving rise to what guitarists term ‘sustain’) but beyond that, the vibration will build up as the feedback process takes hold This will dramatically alter harmonic content and hence the overall sound, providing the

Above: Jimi Hendrix

Jimi Hendrix’s playing shows some of

the most outstanding examples of the

creative and dramatic use of feedback

processes.

Photo © Kim Gottlieb-Walker, all rights

reserved, <www.lenswoman.com>.

PROCESS AND PRACTICE

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3 See for example, Steve Reich’s work Pendulum Music (1968).This work is part installation and part performance

in concept and has a microphone suspended above a loudspeaker (or loudspeakers) to which it is connected via an amplifier Feedback is created

by this system but is modulated by the swinging of the microphone, until the microphone/pendulum comes to a stop and a single continuous tone remains.

4 Hendrix did not invent feedback as

a technique – the first example I heard was on The Beatles’ 1964 recording I Feel Fine in which the first note is struck with the instrument volume relatively low This is then turned up quickly, creating a sudden dramatic snarl of feedback after which it reverts

to normal as the song takes over It is hard to imagine how dramatic an impact this unexpected sound had upon the record-buying public, many of whom regarded it as a fault that had been carelessly overlooked, rather than

a genuine sonic experiment.

player with a whole new range of tonal

possibilities

The uses of iteration are not limited to

sustain and tonal enrichment: it can also

provide both rhythm and structure and

this has been exploited by a number of

artists Early tape works by Steve Reich

(see pp.32–33) used the repetition of

pre-recorded material to create complex

shifting interactions and this same

complexity of structure and texture

became a signature part of performances

and recordings by Terry Riley Riley uses

delays and repeats as part of his

compositional process, allowing him to

play a new musical part against one

played previously but still cycling through

the delayed feedback structure of his

system This originally used tape recorders

but, in later works, digital units

Another notable exponent is British

guitarist Robert Fripp, who used Riley’s

basic ideas to create his own system,

‘Frippertronics’ Originally this used two

tape recorders to provide the delay This

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A hyperinstrument is one that is made up of a number of components which, acting together, form

a whole that is greater than the sum of the individual parts, but which nonetheless acts as if it

is a single instrument (albeit one with exceptional qualities) Thus the guitar is normally thought of as

a single instrument but Hendrix and others combined its inherent qualities with the volume and tonal modification of loudspeakers and the electronic impact of amplifiers to create a feedback-based system This was essentially a single instrument, which, despite consisting of a number of independent parts was under the control of a single performer and was played as a whole, rather than having those parts each controlled separately.

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delay was, however, far longer than that

achieved by exploiting the gap between

record and play heads Frippertronics

increased the delay by running a single

reel of tape from one machine (which

would record the sound) through to a

second machine that would play it back

The distance between the machines

determined the delay and this rate of

repetition determined the overall structure

of the piece Once again, later forms of

the system abandoned tape delay for the

more reliable and flexible technology of

digital electronics

A consistent collaborator with Fripp has

been producer Brian Eno, who is generally

synthesiser with digital recall system graphic equaliser echo unit

record

delay return

delay line

tape recorders

combined monitor output

playback

output stored

on master tape

credited with ‘inventing’ ambient music and creating some of its early works such

uses a technique very similar to that adopted by Riley and Fripp

These are examples of how iteration and feedback can be used to create fascinating and complex sonic structures It is, of course, possible to go further and to cascade processing units together Here we enter hazardous but exciting territory: the outcome is almost wholly unpredictable

so there is a need to record everything, since the interdependence of the components is so complex as to make reproducible results impossible This is a

PROCESS AND PRACTICE

fascinating area to explore and indeed

it is perfectly possible to create extraordinary results using only the noise inherent in the electronics of the system as the source.5

There is no requirement for expensive and complex equipment Large studio processors are immensely powerful and flexible but equally interesting results can be achieved with simpler and cheaper units Whichever approach one takes, this

is an exceptionally rich source for sonic experimentation

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Left: Brian Eno’s ‘Discreet Music’

The sound generated by the

synthesiser (controlled in turn by

a digital sequencer) is processed

through a graphic equaliser and

then subject delays and iterations

from the two tape recorders.

4th

Above: Boss DD-3 guitar pedal

A simple but versatile digital sound processor capable of a useful range of time-based effects.

Image courtesy of Roland Boss UK Ltd.

5 See the work of David Lee Myers

<www.pulsewidth.com> and his

‘Feedback Workstations’ or that of

Toshimaru Nakamura

<www.japanimprov.com/tnakamura>

whose work involves connecting the

output of a mixer directly back to its

input These two approaches produce

entirely opposite results: Myers’

system creates a high degree of

complexity whereas the approach

taken by Nakamura tends to reduce

the final sound to a very simple

form indeed.

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