Compulsory (Fun) Exercise for Sound People Week One.

10:54am Tuesday, 24 July, 2007 - by Mat Wall-Smith

Hi All….

In order to get an idea of what working in digital audio means these days we need to get out and find interesting work and interesting practitioners. Below I’ll post a series of links that you should explore during this week. This should be pretty fun. I’d like you to look for local artists, events and projects in particular but don’t neglect an interesting OS project that you’d like to post about. Try not to get to stuck on music alone. If you post about an interesting music project make your next post about an artist working beyond music (but still in sound). You should use this as a chance to look for people that you could actually go out and interview (using a camera, microtrack, or mobile) people who are doing interesting work in sound. For now we’ll just do some research.

Exercise:

1) Explore these sites;

last.fm : A site that has changed the way I listen to music. The forefront of networked distribution. Search for the users; Psychosophonis and Stereopresence - You might look at their friends as well. Look at the ‘Cyclic Defrost’ Group on Last.fm (see below). Have a listen to some new music look particularly for artist working in ways you hadn’t previously encountered,

Cyclic Defrost Blog and Magazine : The best source for news on local and international sound and music.

Cycling 74 Artists : A Good Collection of interviews with artists working with Max/MSP which is the commercial brother of Pure Data that I will use sometimes in class. We have access to Max/MSP in 140 as well but Pure Data is free and open source - which is good news right??

Create Digital Music : This is a great blog that moves between reviews of audio technology and creative practice. There is a of documented works here as well as great gear. Look at this post for a playful use of loops in quicktime: sound experimentation need not be complicated or highly technical. Who the hell is Steve Reich? Can you find his work on Last.fm? On Wikipedia What did he do?

We Make Money Not Art : The best blog on the Internet? You be the judge. One of my most read blogs documenting interesting work in contemporary art - particularly as it relates to technology and media. Not specifically about sound but there is a sound category.

2) Find two (2) interesting projects/artists and post the link and brief description in the “Student Work” category. Explain why you find it interesting. Tag the post as ‘Links’ and ‘Audio’ . DO NOT POST a link to the sites already listed above try to follow the links and find new sources behind the posts. Try an work out what themes are being explored, how is sound being used as a means of expression, what technology (software/hardware) is being used and how (try searching for names you find in Google or Wikipedia for instance). Recall what I said about an emphasis on what is happening locally - try and make one of your posts about a local artist or project. Try and make one of your posts about a project or artist that works beyond music.

(2 votes, average: 4 out of 5)

 Loading ...