My final idea

When I said give up, in one my previous posts I was very tempted to give up on this concept all together, however I have kept going with it and now I will pursue this new idea. Covering already existing songs but replacing the instruments with everyday sounds. With the help of Logic and my midi keyboard I am sure that I will be able to kick it off. 

I have decided to work around pop songs, not too sure what ones yet but I believe as I work I will figure out what ones work better. I am looking for songs that have similarities so they can easily dissolve into each other and also that audience members will recognise them quite easily. 

My next post will not be happening for a while as I do just need to crack on with this! Not long left till deadline! 

Research: Smule

If I wasn't convinced already about altering my idea, this app has definitely put the nail in the coffin.

What Smule have created is an app that can create sounds from everyday noises. The app is limiting but the concept is still the same. I feel that as one of my original ideas was based on the concept, I will now put it to rest. The idea has been done and clearly not as challenging with this app and so I will push my film into a different direction.

Another progress update 14/12

So I have been working on my most recent experiment by developing the Post effects in Logic further. After a few weeks of trying I believe that I will give up with this direction. The sounds that I am creating are just too fake and is taking away what I wanted to create, a piece that involves actual sounds of the surroundings, not of a music editing programme. However here is my experiment, I kept with this idea for long enough now and it is time to focus on another direction.

This 'other direction' will all be explained in my next post! 

Progress update

Sorry, it has been a while since I have last posted, I am currently knuckling down with developing the skills I have learnt from Logic. My progress is small but the main hurdle holding me back is the lack of object noises I have at my disposal. I have many ambient 'wildtracks' but not enough interesting object noises. I have those that have come from other projects or something I have found interesting but the problem is that I have not many recordings of sounds that could fit into the the song I am trying to create. I will start to get my paperwork filled in so I can be green lit by the university and continue capturing sounds that will benefit me in this project.

Research: Sound of Noise (2010)

"A tone-deaf cop works to track down a group of guerilla percussionists whose anarchic public performances are terrorizing the city."

These 'anarchic public performances' is where I found a potential direction I could take my idea. There are four/ five main songs throughout the film. My favourite, 'Money 4 u Honey' takes part in a bank, but the use of found instruments is what I find interesting. My general direction so far is to capture sounds and manipulate in post production in order to associate them into an interesting piece of music. However in this film the 'guerilla percussionists' act as a live band and perform to an audience with no post manipulation, more like real music. 

I find that the most interesting part of this song is the use of the stamps and how there are power in number. I have made the decision that I want to be the only creator in this piece of work and therefor a live band would be near impossible. What I will experiment with is creating a piece of music and then finding what similar objects will act as the instruments. At the moment I have been using sounds that are not intentionally made for music but I am forcing it to be. Even if it is just to give me a fresh pair of ears I will try this exercise, if it doesn't work then so be it. 

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