On Thursday May 4th I received a book in the mail on early to late impressionist paintings. My practice is focused on scoring to picture and for my assignment in element 2 I am currently planning on creating a sonic response and interpretation of an impressionist painting from the 19th century. The project would consist of gathering field recordings in environments similar to the painting, and composing a piece of music using instrumentation that conveys my perception of the image as well.

Parallel to creating a work that acts score for the piece, the composition would be organised and mixed as if it were for a film. Music mixed in with a soundscape. Nature, people, animals, and weather. I also hope to find or create instruments that feel period accurate to the original work, with a post-modern and personal interpretation imbedded into it as well.

Outside of the assignment brief I would also paint a reaction to my final composition. My first assignment for term 1 this year consisted of composing a piece that was symbolic of a self-portrait of my own mind. Following the final composition and mix I sat listening to the project while painting my interpretation of it. It felt very meditative and reflective to see how the piece spoke to me following the final work and as a part of my practice I would continue doing that with this reflective work as well.

In an effort to practice what we have been introduced to in the second block of Creative Sound Projects, I decided to sample a full symphony from Mozart and not only alter the piece itself through tape effects, but to also use this as a practice for improvisation and arrangement.

After recording the piece to tape using normal playback speed, 1.5x playback speed, and my slowing down and pausing the piece at improvised intervals, I arranged them alongside each other in a session in pro tools. I used the 1/8 inch out put on the cassette recorder to transfer the recording from the cassette to the DAW, and in protools I used automation to create volume swells and gradual panning across the tracks. Once I established an environment from the original samples, I improvised over the entire piece with an alto saxophone, a Moog Subsequent 25, and an acoustic guitar to create the illusion of three voices communicating to each other.

The piece is my first attempt to interpret sampling in my own practice. SAMPLE NO.1 (2023).