Experimenting with Sound (take 2)

For a while now I have been experimenting with discovering the basics of creating a song with sounds. For this project I am using a mix between Adobe Audition and Logic Pro. I decided to put a few of the sounds I have into Logic and see what I could create with them.

So, I started this experiment by using various plugins available on Logic. First of all I used Vocal transformer and Pitch shift to see if I could shift a certain sounds pitch to another. The first experiment was not a success. I didn't concentrate on volume, nor on sound quality.

However it was a success (in terms on creating different

notes! This encouraged me to try a harder experiment 

but this time creating a basic beat and melody

Here is the start and end of my second experiment. I started off using the pitch shifter to create different notes in order to create a melody. It worked. By changing the Semi Tones and varying the mix (the strength of the plugin) I was able to create 4 very different pitches of the same sound.

For the Kettle sound whistle sound the only way to create it (with a kettle) is to have the water boiling. However, I did not want this and so EQ allowed me to eradicate the boiling water.

Lastly I used I slight bit of reverb to give certain sounds some character and more instrumental effect. 

The sort-of finished experiment. The ending sounds abrupt and very dysfunctional as I realised that I was losing the purpose of the experiment and started playing around with time and more complex beats. But the confidence and knowledge I have gained from doing these experiments has helped me greatly. Depending on what route I take, the associations sound piece or the musical sound piece(most probable), either way these basic effects will be needed.   

Potential Idea

I have decided to make this it as if it were a journey to work. A saturday job, on top of the characters education. While the majority take the weekend off, many students have to work. This film will reflect through sounds, and sounds alone, how the emotions are carried across the day. 

Here is the basic plan for the film. I have other location to explore but it may be a bit to much in a short space of time. I have already gathered wild tracks of a few of these location, but the hard part of creating the music to accompany the scene and create the emotion is still to come. 

Scene One

·      Meditation music plays in the background

·      An unknown person will be waking up to start the day

·      The alarm clock wakes the character and shifts the music t something more upbeat

·      The unknown will then travel downstairs to perform all morning rituals. Brushing teeth, eating breakfast, making coffee, etc etc

Scene Two

·      The unknown will then travel to work.

·      He will drive

·      He will pass busy members of the public

·      He will pass all the joys of the town center

Scene Three

·      The unknown is at his job in a supermarket

·      The machines beep, the customers talk

Scene Four

·      The unknown will leave his job

·      He will walk to the park

·      He will take out some food and eat.

·      He will relax

John Smith - Associations

Today I had a tutorial with one of the tutors and shared with them all the research and experiments I had to show. The feedback I received was extremely helpful, I can now take my idea in different directions and research a lot more into different concepts.

John Smith's Associations is where I started my new research.
"The film Sets language against itself by using the ambiguities inherent in the English language. Images from magazines and color supplements accompany a voiceover reading from the book Word Associations and Linguistic Theory by academic linguistic Herbert H. Clark. Combining a wry sense of humor with word/visual games and puns, Smith explores the boundaries of cinematic montage by combining elements together and against each other in order to destroy and create multiple meanings at the same time." 
The reason why my tutor told me to look at the work of John Smith is that if language can be manipulated and used to create different meaning and associations and so can sound.



Ben Burtt took sound to a next level when creating the sound effects for Star Wars. Science fiction create things that have not been invented and Ben Burtt created sounds that did not exist. He believed that the sounds he created would associate to weapons and other items invented in the world of Star Wars. If they were not listened to with the accompanying imagery, would we still believe they were laser guns or lightsabers? Probably not.

'Shattering chicken carcasses with baseball bats, cracking walnuts inside them, smacking around slabs of meat with pigs' feet, and then processing them... We've done it all, and as a result of this project our 'punch' library has become quite extensive. - Ren Klyce, Fight Club (Sound Designer) 
In order to create a realistic sound it is not always necessary for the sound to be literal. In order to enhance a sound then it is often beneficial to use a different sound and through the use of association we believe it. 

The way this could relate to my film is if I were to try and associate sounds with imagery. Potentially I could try and trick audiences, like John Smith's film the ambiguity of the sound would not matter as long as the imagery could associate in some way.

Experimenting with Sound

So now I am heading in some kind of direction I have been looking through my own catalogue of sounds and seeing what I can create with my current library. After experimenting with a few sounds to create an opening or a beat I decided that I needed a few different sounds (possibly ones from my research) to create a catchy beat.

The first sounds I decided to mix with are mostly from my atmosphere tracks. Wind, wildlife, and a few from my foley tracks, Sticks and footsteps. The beat I created was not catchy in the slightest, it kind of annoys me the more I listen to it. I have decided to scrap this piece and start off scratch. I want listeners to enjoy the piece, and if I don't, neither will they.

The second piece I experimented with using effects such as reverb and EQ. The raw audio you hear is that of a electric car window and an outside piping system. Once again I dislike this as it does not create a catchy song. I want audiences to be entertained.

I will continue with my experiments and research but I do feel that I am heading it the right direction.

Research: YouTube

Sorry about the lack of  activity, Fact into Fiction has been taking up most of my time.As I now have a vague idea of what I want to do I have decided to look at existing films that are similar to my proposal.



I decided to look onto YouTube and see what possible sounds people have already used to create a song, the results were quite disappointing.  The first video I stumbled across was this. Everyday Sounds created by YouTuber tiitsay. The film shows exactly what I wish to create, however I feel that the execution of this piece could have been better. The beat at the beginning seems promising but I slowly became disengaged and that is not what I want for my audiences.

The second video I stumbled took a different spin on things, although they used regular noises to create a melody they created a bass line through a very obvious bass instrument, not the wire they are supposedly plucking. The idea is interesting but it also seems like an easy way out, depending on their intentions, but for myself if was to take on this idea it would defeat the purpose of my film.

Finally, the last video I decided to look at was similar to the first but it had, in my opinion, was slightly better. It made a clearer attempt of making an enjoyable song that people would listen to. I want my film/ song to be upbeat, something that people may find catchy.






To conclude this post I must say that although these pieces of work are not up to the standard I wish my final film to be but I can and will take certain elements/ sounds and experiment with them to see if they fit into my film.