A Sound Arts Blog

I included some parts of this interview in my audio paper. Linda Perhacs is a songwriter and musician who has an extreme case of Synesthesia. I found her story about experiencing music in a visual form to be just fascinating. I find the story to be quite gripping too – the fact she sees a wave formation of music in the sky while driving on the highway, while never experiencing anything like that before is a truly memorable story. 

Her decision to implement her sensory experiences into her music writing process inspires me.

Below is the full interview:

I was interested to learn more about audio papers and podcasts and discover the range of ways the information is typically presented to the listeners. I wasn’t sure how exactly to present my own – whether it was in a formal way, a conversational style, or if I was going to just work freely and see what style of presentation came naturally to me.

I came across “The Sound of Life Itself” on Soundcloud. I ended up listening to the whole podcast out of mere fascination, and found it quite helpful in establishing what kind style I’d like my audio paper to be. This podcast introduces field recordist, sound ecologist and musician Bernie Krause and explores the sounds of the world around us.

“Write a short instructional score for yourself, as a performer of your Audio Paper.”

I want to introduce my audience to the audio paper by first and foremost getting them familiar with the subject itself through a brief summary of what it is my audio paper will go on to explore. The introduction I present must be a pillar to my body of work and the basis of where the different segments will stem from. Giving the audience a clear and insightful understanding of what it is exactly I am going to be discussing and directing will be of the utmost importance here.

Throughout the audio paper, I feel that it’s important for me to give the audience context and broader meaning, and through the question or argument I am sharing, I want to disseminate a vast landscape of interesting ideas. I will aim for my audio paper to reach a conclusive ending and overall provide the listener with a memorable closure.

I had some assistance from some of my class mates with my foley recordings. I found that observational learning helped me to get a better understanding of the functions of some of the studio equipment. After getting the hands-on experience recording with my classmates, I now feel more confident working with the sound equipment and will look to booking the sound recording studio alone in the future.

As the majority of my chosen film scene takes place in the internal of a train, I had to do some public recordings on a London train. For the majority of the foley recordings I used my Shure SM7B microphone, but I didn’t want to bring all of my recording equipment to a public area, so I used my iPhone microphone.

I went on the train on a Sunday morning as I was certain it would be pretty empty, and to my luck I was right. I did the recording simply by leaving my phone recording sound on a seat next to me and allowed it to capture the natural ambience of the journey. After about 10 minutes I was convinced I had all the sounds I needed.

This experience impacted me in a way I didn’t expect as I found myself giving my utmost attention to tiny details of sounds that would usually go unnoticed had I not been recording.

I thought it would be useful for me to do some more research into the process of foley recording for animation films. I came across this video about the animation foley and sound design for Wall-E, directed by Andrew Stanton, and I thoroughly enjoyed observing watching the process, particularly the process of experimentation and figuring out the appropriate sound for the particular segment.

I started thinking about what drew me to the scene I chose in the first place and what it is about the film Spirited Away that captivates me. I’ve always been attracted to magic and dream-like pieces of art and I think this film showcases these kind of elements in a beautiful way. I feel that the scene I have chosen leaves a lot of space for me to be imaginative in my recording; The style of animation has an almost fantastical energy to it, and I feel that I can use this to my advantage and record my foley tracks in an inventive and insightful way.

Here are some pictures highlighting me recording the piano piece using the studio recording equipment at LCC. The music I composed was a very important part of the sound for the scene as a whole. I found the tutors at LCC to be extremely helpful and assisted me regarding any confusion I encountered.

I found this clip interesting. I’ve enjoyed learning more about film post-production techniques in sound since the module started, particularly the methods used to produce the adequate sounds.

I’ve noticed how important precision is from doing this research; the act of producing the sound in synchronicity with the clip is a skill that’s incredibly important to have as a foley artist. I also appreciate how much thought goes into the actual planning of materials to use.

I enjoyed seeing how the artists aim to immerse themselves in the scene, bringing themselves consciously into the reality of the film. It’s always fascinating to see an artist become immersed in their work, and I feel this method of production always provides the most rewarding outcome of work.

I was doing some research into the works of Hayao Miyazaki, the creator of Spirited away. As a regular consumer of art, I’m someone who enjoys getting into the mind of the artist behind the work; I enjoy discovering what drives them and what ignites inspiration inside them. I came across this short documentary style video on Miyazaki.

“It’s in everyday, ordinary scenery where I discover the extraordinary.”

One thing that enthralled me was learning that his entire creative process begins with one small image or idea. I’ve always gone about my creative work by moving through it with one small idea at a time; I enjoy connecting little parts as building blocks and watching them assemble into a finalised project, so this alone is massively influential to me.