In an effort to incorporate elements into my project that we have learned and expanded on in class, I utilised MIDI, tape recording, synthesis, and live tracking in order to construct the instrumentation of my composition for element 2 of the Creative Sound Projects module.

The use of MIDI for the project was to orchestrate a collection of live string sounds to contribute to the environment of the piece. I initially planned on finding an inexpensive violin or cello and altering the pitch in post to create different instruments to play the different parts I envisioned, but I could not find any in my price range. I instead used the LUNA shape instrument library to gather the sounds I wanted, specifically live chamber strings in order to play the improvised parts. Using an Arturia key step 25 roller and sequencer I was able to use velocity and pitch control in the live tracking. The name of the result is ‘Scene from the Cottage No. 1’.

I also wrote a simple duet meant for clarinet and guitar, played and recorded live by my friend Ela Unlusoy and myself. The piece is dynamic but structured, and in order to replicate the sound of a phonograph from the very late 19th century or early 20th century I used an old cassette player and recorder to record us live, an inaccurate historical representation of what would have been in a cottage such as the one in the painting during its time. The result was saturated and slight pitched up from the original tuning, something that I found both interesting and full of character.

I also recorded an acoustic guitar track with a shore sm 57 in order to add slight dissonance and a sense of live to the structured compositions throughout the piece. This was the most direct tracking I did, it both being live, and using eq that feels standard for general acoustic guitar. I get the feeling of the presence of myself playing in the pleasant cacophony of sounds in the composition. This in turn reflects the person that might have been living in the cottage during this time. Alongside the guitar, in order to add another layer of character in the track, I recorded my Yamaha p-125a keyboard with my Sony cassette player and recorder as well. The p-125a has a great sample library that is specific to this series of piano by Yamaha, and is not a digital library. However, in order to grab a certain warmth I was looking for I recording the improvised part with on to cassette as well, using the same eq and process I sued with the guitar and clarinet duet. I needed to cut a good amount of the low end and I added some extra high end, highlighting the hiss in the tape, because it reminded of the beach, adding more character to the field recordings I am using, discussed in the previous blog post.

Finally, I wanted to expand on my perspective of synthesis and using various controls on an analog synth, so I decided to track my Moog Sub25 for this composition as well. I was very grateful to have purchased this amazing instrument used last summer, however, despite me utilising it all of the time I had a very small understanding of the depth and possibility in this instrument. After the second and third lectures in Creative Projects Element 2, on synthesis, I felt a bit more familiar with synth controls, dynamics, and meaning. I used a low drone, filled with white noise and pitch modulation in order to create and artificial nature sound. The settings I designed are highlighted in an image below.

These are images highlighting my process.

I have started to arrange the collection of field recordings and compositions I have recorded and written in order to construct the environment of my interpretation of Monet’s ‘Fisherman’s cottage on the Cliffs of Varengeville’.

I spent this past Wednesday in Greenwich park, collecting sounds that reminded me of the painting, alongside the notes I took of the initial environment before doing a sound walk. Finding groups of birds were the most inspiring, and I went to the thames to record the sound of waves and rocks against the water. The only challenge I faced was finding a sound the represented wind. It wasn’t that windy on the day I went out to record so there were no leaves or trees making any noise. However, after experimentation at home later that night I found the dragging a cloth towel over the carpet in my bedroom and recording the faint sound in stereo with a Zoom H6 created a very convincing sound that can be used as a wave on the beach or gust of wind through a group of plants.

In order to contribute music to the composition I have written two pieces, one titled ‘Scene from the Cottage No. 1’ and ‘Scene from the Cottage No. 2’. One utilises midi instrumentation in order to replicate a live string ensemble, and one is a live recording of my roommate Ela and I doing a fairly simple guitar and clarinet duet. This is supposed to represent a faint recording played on a simple phonograph in the cottage depicted in the original painting. Upon layering the compositions with the arrangement I created with the field recordings I found a new sense of depth that feels as if it were a pivotal or developmental scene in a film.

The challenge I found in mixing live environmental sounds together was the abundant low end; having recorded the birds at a high gain. In cutting the low end from all the clips I edited and arranged together, I found a certain lack of depth to the environment presented. In adding foley, the article wind I recorded with the face towel, I was able to layer in what was necessary to complete the environment I wanted to create.

In an effort to illustrate the sounds I associate to certain still images and environments I am composing a score and soundscape to reflect the environment of Claude Monet’s piece ‘Fisherman’s Cottage on the Cliffs of Varengeville’.

This is a photograph of the painting I am basing my composition on.

This past week in order to incorporate what we learned about MIDI, in Creative Sound Projects, I arranged a piece using an instrument library I have in a software called LUNA. Strings were the main instrument used in this introductory cue. I used an Arturia keystep MIDI controller to improvise the various string parts, controlling velocity and modulation qualities live when recording. It is supposed to introduce the environment of the scene, following the initial presentation of the soundscape I am going to create.

Following the initial arrangement and tracking, I exported the instrument tracks as WAV files and imported into ProTools, the main DAW I use in my practice.

I am titling this series ‘A Score for a Painting’, No. 1 being this project. My practice is currently centred around composition for image, focusing on sound design and scoring for film, however, I am attempting to incorporate this mindset into other mediums as well.

As a part of Element 2 for Creative Sound Projects I am composing a score and soundscape to reflect on Monet’s painting “Fisherman’s Cottage on the Cliffs of Varengeville”. The painting was introduced to me by my mom when I was young, and recently it was reintroduced to me when I received a book from a friend in Los Angeles on impressionists’ paintings from the late 19th century. To expand on my practice and combine mediums I am composing a sound work that is similar to the organisation and mix of a film score. Including foley, music, and environmental sounds I aim to form a physical and imaginative environment that represents the painting outside of the image. I also plan on painting a response as well based on my sonic interpretation.

In order to combine compositional elements I am currently working on around the piano I am handwriting a piece for the guitar and the clarinet for my friend and I to record live as a part of the work. Attached is what I have written so far. While it is relatively simple, working in transposing music across different instruments is a formative exercise for my practice. It is also contributing to the visual elements of my work as well. The piece’s working title is simply “Fisherman’s Cottage” however, I do plan on developing the title as well.

Here is the final mix and display of the cassette tape based sampling exercise I did around Mozarts “Symphony No. 40 in G minor”.

https://youtu.be/5zvWeJaM1lM