Jack Centro

SAMPLING NOTES

It’s wasn’t till after the second world war that sampling became popular coinciding with the creation of the tape recorder in Germany. (Yet another invention born from war and struggle). The whole use of tape recorders differ from modern technology now, you could only play the sound back once, then it was erased forever. 

Pierre Shaeffer got his hands on one very early on. THE GODFATHER OF SAMPLING. 

Pioneered the ideas of Music Concrete and incorporating everyday sounds into early sonic works. 

Article below: 

LISTEN: Symphonie pour un homme seul by Pierre Henri and Shaeffer

HMV: When looking at the history of the logo, the dog is sitting on a coffin ‘listening’ to ‘his masters voice’ recorded before his death.

The singer I decided to research was Al Jarreau, with focus on his song ‘Letter Perfect’ from the live album ‘Look to the Rainbow.’ I initially found this form of jazz singing quite hilarious when I first listened, however I kept going back to it due to its entrancing qualities. Once you get past the fact it sounds like complete gibberish, the fluctuations in his voice are unparalleled. 

This is called SCAT SINGING 

1) Travis Yu put forward a clip from a Cantonese opera; 

youtube.com/watch?v=fKeTJg697ys&t=295s

Waves of flute music resonates,

Clouds of tobacco smoke getting lost,

Melancholic, could not bear looking,

Timid, afraid to step forward,

Pity on the horse, pity down the horse,

Please send my parents this aria of mine,

Don’t feel sorry for me, don’t miss me.  

Cantonese is an extremely complex language, unlike English where words have a specific meaning, Cantonese words can vary in meaning due to the tone, context etc. 

2) Monica suggested; Gersang Der Junglinge by Karlheinz Stockhausen 

A sonic collage of operatic voices, childlike singing and chanting. The voices fluctuate in tenor and volume, echoing in and around the ambient whooshing effects. Lots of spatiality. 

This is an important piece within the Sound Art canon, recorded in its 50s. Reminds me of ‘The Dream’ by Delia Derbyshire.  

Another famous piece is ‘Contactor’.  

Above is my own take on a graphic score. I decided to explore the idea of graphic scores after missing Gareths lesson, to find that this could be a extremely effective tool in generating new ideas.

As of late I have struggled to come up with any creative ideas in response to the task, be it lockdown, lack of experiences, whatever, my imagination is quite dull at the moment. I decided to try my hand at a graphic score, utilising colours, visuals and textures rather than sitting in-front of my laptop, forcing the music out.

I will also note that I purposely held off from looking at other artists graphic scores. The aim to create a totally unique score only I can understand but can be interpreted in a number of ways.

Essentially my score is an abstract DAW production screen, the coloured boxes are the ‘tracks’, the grid being the sound/music and everything else is a visual reminder for myself. The score was drawn and coloured on cardboard for a range of reasons:

1. I’m lazy
2. Cardboard can be an interesting medium to use, it has pros and cons for art that always looks somewhat eye catching.
3. In relation to my groups theme of ‘Reconnecting’, cardboard is a material I used to use all the time for my art, by going back to help me create a sound piece, I’m reconnecting with a past medium.

I have also been thinking about ‘Sigil Scores’. Im not sure if this actually a practice but a note in my sonic journal about Kurt Schwitters made me think about pronunciation of words. I will explain all this in a following blog post. 🙂

1. In Southern African the Khoisan click language is a fascinating form of communication alien to Western ears. Comprising of three main forms, Khoisan language share click constants but are not linked to African Language families. The Khoe family appears to have migrated to southern Africa not long before the Bantu expansion. Ethnically, their speakers are the Khoikhoi and the San (Bushmen). Two languages of east Africa, those of the Sandawe and Hadza, originally were also classified as Khoisan, although their speakers are ethnically neither Khoikhoi nor San.
2. Pggmy tribes invented a particular way of playing an instrument. Only emitting one sound, to the play the pipe the voice and instrument must marry together. The different tones are created by the vocal chords rather than instrument itself. An instrument so unique can only really be played by the musicians of the tribes. Thoughts like this really interest me because it takes the idea of sonic identity and sound signatures to a whole new level. It’s not like you can just pick up the pipe and start practing from a book as you would with say the saxophone. The art from is built from immersion in the tribal society, learning from the elders and actually being from the tribe.
3. Having thought about the Pggmy tribes unique pipe playing, my research has led me to the Master Musicians of JouJouka. From a tiny northern village in Morocco, Joujouka music’s principal form is that of ritual. Playing for over 12 hours, the never-ending drone of the pipes send listeners and dancers into a mind altering friendly. For hundreds of years people have travelled to Joujouka for the healing effects of the music. From Harry Swords books Monolithic Undertow-In Search of Sonic Oblivion it reads ‘To this day, people seek respite or cure from mental illness in the village. Musicians are taught from early childhood and only gain master status after many years practice. flute type instrument called the Lira, double-reed raita pipes and powerful goatskin drama are the traditional instruments while vocals usually take the form of raucous call and response chants, rendered with an intensely throaty guttural delivery’.

The Society of Spectacle by Guy Debord

Written in 1967 the work of philosophy and Marxist critical theory by Guy Debord, presents the concept of the Spectacle.  A critic to society. 

-“Happiness is only fulfilled if you buy something” 

-Life is a immense culmination of ‘the spectacle’  

-Being obsessed with image and there self above all else. 

-We are all responsible for sustaining the spectacle. 

-Social media is highly selective, most people prefer to appear successful than actively going out seeking new experiences. 

4: 

The spectacle is not a collection of images; it is a social relation between people that is mediated by images. 

Essentially Debord is stating that ‘the spectacle’ is formed by our relationship with others, this relationship is overseen, dictated and informed by ‘images’ collated within society. This speaks truly in terms of social media and how we represent ourselves online. The image with intend to translate to other people usually differs from the actual truth. In the modern world we posses power to distort our own image in the eyes of the receiver.  

In order to create ‘JustCindy’ for the radio broadcast me and Raul completed a character profile. This was designed to help us during the scriptwriting process.

CHARACTER PROFILE

1. Name, Cindy Parker 

Surname and nickname: Just_Cindy 

2. Age: 24

3. Where does she/he lives: Ambiguous 

6. External Characterisation (physical + clothing, if necessary): Wears branded clothing, good looking and keeps healthy; goes to the gym a lot (She probably mentions this to the interview).

7. Internal Characterisation (psychological): Comes across as very talkative, chatty, approachable but this is a performance.

• Basic features of her/his character (necessary for the story): Very optimistic, ditzy and in some cases sarcastic.

• Secondary features: Brags a lot, driven, says ‘like’ a lot, giggles, childish way of talking, gossipy 

• Chiaroscuro/Constrast/Secrets: She’s completely fake, too honest, exaggerated wealth, daddy’s money.

• Values and Beliefs: I’m rEal, liberal, work hard play hard, religious but not in an explicit way. 

• Likes: Money, power, sex, fame, clothes, fitness, travel, nightclubbing, taking photos, dog (little dog), animals, nature, drake, party next-door, she wants to be friends with the Kardashians, boyfriends car, paparazzi 

• Aversions: Doesn’t like fake people, being betrayed, paparazzi, fake accounts, snakes 

9. Character’s Conflict: See spectacle, expression of fear, afraid of being ‘no one’ 

10. Character’s evolution related to his objective and conflict: 

• Beginning: Just answering the questions, trying to seem likeable, she is selling herself from the get go 

• Middle Stage (max. 3): Begins to reveal some truths about herself and life as an influencer. 

• End: Potential apology aspect, culmination of all things covered in the interview reaching a climax. 

Cindy has just reached the 150k follower mark on Instagram. She is on the show to talk about this new landmark for herself and sell her ‘brand’ to the audience. Cindy intends to detail her rise as a influencer, making it clear that her chosen occupation is no walk in the park. She also uses the radio show to show off and brag about certain things now that she is in a better, affluent situation. Cindy has recently returned from a 3 month holiday which she calls ‘work’, spending weeks in Dubai to take photos, review restaurants and make vlogs. Apparently the trip was also used to branch out her growing makeup line. 

Having never dipped my toes into the realm of radio or streaming, beginning with Locus Sonus proved to be a comfortable introduction. I was taken back with how easy it was to setup and within no time I was broadcasting the natural sounds of my garden. Surprisingly the sound quality from my iPhone Mic wasn’t too bad, with standard headphones my stream sounded crisp and colourful. The only problem was the wind which caused minor distortion however this was only noticeable if it was a strong gust of wind. Being a small object, rather than a large microphone I can certainly see a number of advantages from using basic equipment. One being its cheap, there would be no need in purchasing anymore equipment. Secondly the size enables me to place my phone in interesting places. Thirdly, I believe it can be seen as the ‘modern progression’ of radio; I can start streaming on the go, wherever I am and give Locus Sonus users an insight into my sonic location. 

Dr. Scarfe suggested that we try listening to a number of streams at the same time and reflect on the results. Being a DJ the idea of merging two worlds interests me. I have never considered this in terms of radio. Here are my notes from the experience. (I was listening to my own stream and one from a jungle somewhere in South East Asia.) Balancing my own stream from my bedroom window with the Canopy stream creates a conflicting landscape in my head. As my bedroom window is facing a road, the cars and trucks driving past merge with the jungle ambience. It seems as the jungle life becomes more alive as the amount of vehicles on the road increase. By listening to two separate recordings we are creating another world. The longer I listen the more accustom I become to the ambience of this ‘created’ world. 

The other night me and my brother watched the bizarre Polish art-house science fiction film; On the Silver Globe by Andrei Zulawski. Upon watching the trailer I knew this had to be something I watched, a unfinished science fiction fantasy epic banned by the government, released almost 15 years after initial production in 1988.

Based off Andrei Zulawski’s Great Uncles novel of the same name, On the Silver Globe explores the psychological, physical and reality of pro-creating on a newly found (crashed on) planet. Both director and author in their respective times of activity had become disillusioned with western science fiction literature and films, believing that the principal focus in western productions was on the marvel of technological advancement rather than putting focus on the human psyche and evolution.

Focusing on the sound and music, my ear was drawn to the moments of extreme tension and danger. Andrzej Kornski the composer utilises a range of styles and textures to great effect. For one particular scene later in the movie, Kornski generates a wealth of tension through electronic sounds. The electrical signals in this particular scene remind me of using a contact mic on the millennium bridge, the way the signals dart and bounce around at random underlines the haphazard nature of the story. Below is the scene I have been describing.

I also noticed that behind the initial soundtrack Kornski uses what sounds like reverberated white noice or atmosphere for scenes on the ‘the planet’. Combined with the bleak visuals from Zulwaski and the atmosphere composed by Kornski, the new ‘home’ for the astronauts feels completely sparse, unwelcoming and brutal.

I find On a Silver Globe links directly to my research into Destructive art and creation through destruction. Thinking back to the films historical context, Zulwaski began shooting in 1976. This was to be the largest and most expensive Polish film of all time. As we know, the Polish government forbid filming after two years and began destroying everything associated with the production. This is our destruction. Ultimately from the destruction, Zulwaski was able to ‘finish the film’ and offer a movie unlike any other I have seen. Essentially the film is unfinished and broken up with commentary from the director explaining what was supposed to happen between the recorded scenes. This is the creation. Thinking back to my comments on ‘pictures vs radio’, the same principle can be applied to the structure of this film. The audience is invited by Zulwaski to use their own imagination and create the missing scenes for themselves, using his preserved visuals as stimuli rather than concrete footage.

I believe this is why I haven’t been able to stop thinking about this film. Due to its nature, after watching we yearn for a complete version, where Zulwaski’s cinematic vision is fulfilled. On the other hand, incomplete enables us to feverishly think up our own version. Intentional or not, On the Silver Globe is a work of art that truly engages the audience and stresses the balance between creation and destruction.