- Complete your first blog post sharing a case study of radiophonic sound art and any critical reflection upon the material introduced in class. Use this exercise to outline your intentions and what you want to gain from this project.
Radiophonic sound: The genre of radiophonic sound art, sometimes referred to as electroacoustic art or acousmatic music, focuses on the imaginative use of electrical and electromagnetic technologies for sound synthesis and modification. Which simplified with my own understanding as the technology that uses type to record sound and play with an electronic filter.
“Dripsonic” by Hugh Le Caine (1955):
Le Caine, a Canadian inventor and composer, created the “Dripsonic” installation, which used an array of amplified dripping water sources to generate complex rhythmic patterns and timbres. This pioneering work demonstrated the artistic potential of electronically amplified and processed environmental sounds.
This artwork is the most representative artwork which includes the material of innovative techniques like filtering, amplification, and spatial distribution, Le Caine sculpted the dripping sounds’ timbres, rhythms, and dynamics in real-time. The installation featured a multi-dimensional soundscape, with sounds moving and interacting within the physical space, challenging traditional listening experiences. Despite its technological manipulation, “Dripsonic” had an organic and generative quality, with environmental factors influencing the dripping patterns, adding unpredictability and depth. I have strong interest in installation artworks, where this is a huge inspiration for me and a large urge for me to experiment more upon.
- Start thinking about your own role in relation to the broadcast project and in relation to your group. What are your talents (confident speaker and actors are always useful) and particular areas of interest (musical composition, sound effects, mixdown)? Can you lead and direct a group? We swiftly need to define who exactly is in charge of each broadcast project and to assign clear roles.
In this lesson, I have chosen the members that I could collaborate with, as an artist that focuses on art and design, script and composition are my strengths. Radiophonic sound is a new area for me where this is what l need to learn from my teammates. I’m greatly interested in visuals such as drama, therefore script writing and directing is what I want to experiment with this time, I have communicated with my teammates about me taking the role of planning and writing the script. In this section, I have not taken the leading role by choice, this is due to my own time slot management, I consider people who have a better understanding with time and sound techniques will lead us into a more complete work.
Picture above: The document our team made, the ideas listed by me
I have firstly put out the idea with plotting the entire broadcast in the 70s of China. This is inspired by the history of China, where in the 70s there were very limited electronics in China that could receive information. The only method for them to do so is to listen to the radio. Thus, this plot could make a very good theme to match with the radiophonic sound we are learning about. After sharing this idea with my teammates, they approved me with the initial plotting, but we haven’t had an opportunity to discuss further yet, I first drew down some ideas that can be used as Chinese elements.