Experimental Sound Design- Research
Experimental
/ɪkˌspɛrɪˈmɛnt(ə)l,ɛkˌspɛrɪˈmɛnt(ə)l/
adjective
(of art or an artistic technique) involving a radically new and innovative style.
Examples of films that use interesting sound design:
'Eraserhead' - David Lynch
Eraserhead is a 1977 American experimental body horror film written, produced and directed by David Lynch. Lynch also played a significant part in the films' sound design.
"The sound, picture and ideas have to marry"- David Lynch.
This was Lynch's first feature film, with its 'never seen before' and rather uniquely disturbing take on sound. This went onto inspire a generation of musicians and opened up unconventional conversation in the world of sound. Its sound designer, Alan Spet, worked alongside Lynch to create a sound that had never before been heard in cinema. Their combination of low, eerie, rumbling bass frequencies, invasive industrial noise, and ghostly echoes of pop music's past made this possibly one of Lynch's most ambitious sound scapes. The low rumbling frequencies allow the soundtrack to seem inescapable because the noise is so invasive. It compliments the images and also pulls the audience to watch further because this sound is so ambitious and different. It's uncomfortable to listen to as the film is uncomfortable to watch but that just makes for an even more immersive experience that hadn't yet been present in cinema. This film is good research for the painting that i have chosen to create a sound scape from because of its industrial nature and hellish, intrusive nature. Lynch has created a world just through the soundtrack. Putting the film to one side for a moment, listening to the soundtrack with no images to compliment it still transports you to a different place. It's unlike anything you've heard before so it immediately conjures up images in your head of what it could be referring to.
This was Lynch's first feature film, with its 'never seen before' and rather uniquely disturbing take on sound. This went onto inspire a generation of musicians and opened up unconventional conversation in the world of sound. Its sound designer, Alan Spet, worked alongside Lynch to create a sound that had never before been heard in cinema. Their combination of low, eerie, rumbling bass frequencies, invasive industrial noise, and ghostly echoes of pop music's past made this possibly one of Lynch's most ambitious sound scapes. The low rumbling frequencies allow the soundtrack to seem inescapable because the noise is so invasive. It compliments the images and also pulls the audience to watch further because this sound is so ambitious and different. It's uncomfortable to listen to as the film is uncomfortable to watch but that just makes for an even more immersive experience that hadn't yet been present in cinema. This film is good research for the painting that i have chosen to create a sound scape from because of its industrial nature and hellish, intrusive nature. Lynch has created a world just through the soundtrack. Putting the film to one side for a moment, listening to the soundtrack with no images to compliment it still transports you to a different place. It's unlike anything you've heard before so it immediately conjures up images in your head of what it could be referring to.
Pieter Bruegel The Elder
'Dulle Griet' (Mad Meg) (1561)
'Dulle Griet' is a figure of Flemish Folklore and is the subject of a 1563 oil-on-panel by Renaissance artist, Pieter Bruegel The Elder (as shown above). I have chosen to base my sound design project on this particular painting because i feel like it holds an extensive depth of sound, like that of Eraser head. The colour palette is dark and dissonant- clashes of deep reds and angry blues. I also feel like the perspective used in this image could conjure up some inspiration for unique sounds. The scale of the people and objects in this image creates a busy and stressed atmosphere, but you find comfort in the glowing of the sky. This painting is rather sinister as, the closer you look, the more you uncover. Like the creature in the hillside, for example. It becomes clear that this is the centre of all the chaos, so i think it would be fitting to have a main, recurring motif carried through the sound piece i design. The creature is very prominent in the painting so i will need to find a very distinctive and intrusive sound that i could centre the main piece around. This can be the basis of the structure of this sound piece.
This is one of the main sections of the painting that caught my eye. It took me a while to find this creature as it's hidden in the hillside in amongst all of the chaos. However, once you see this monster, it's difficult to lose him again. He's a very prominent element of the image and he just evokes utter terror. It's the beady eyes, flared nostrils and gaping mouth that really make him stand out. Also, the fact that he's a part of the landscape makes it look like he has power over the entire narrative, as he's therefore connected to everything you see in the photograph. So, I feel like there needs to be a motif that runs through the entirety of the sound piece that states that his presence is inescapable.
A Motif is a dominant/recurring idea in an artistic work. You find particularly dominant motifs in film soundtracks as they usually link to characters. They could imply the entrance of a character into a scene, the death of a character or simply just act as a general theme for them. The monster in this painting (Dulle Griet/Mad Meg) is the protagonist and every protagonist needs a theme. The question is what kind of sound i generate for him. I could either take an obvious obnoxious approach and make the sounds clashy, disruptive and loud or, i could generate a voice for the creature and manipulate sounds to emote screams, for example.
Another part of the painting that stood out to me was the one shown above. Not only do i love how chaotic and turbulent everything is, I also love the amount of different creatures we encounter while looking at the image. The creatures climbing up the ropes look mischievous and seem to be some odd cross between a monkey and a bird.
Musicians that manipulate sounds
The Beatles 'Revolver'- 'Tomorrow Never Knows'.
Automated Bird Sounds
Reverse loop
Distorted sounds/manipulated- not what they seem
John Cage- Prepared Piano
Distorted sounds/manipulated- not what they seem
John Cage- Prepared Piano
Placing objects within a piano to create percussive sound e.g- nails, vibrators, magnets...
Pink Floyd 'Echoes'
Intricate guitar riffs.
Drops/pulses at the intro sounding like a submarine radar.
11:00- We are introduced to odd mechanical sounds.
Distorted sirens.
White noise.
Distorted wailing.
Pink Floyd 'Echoes'
Intricate guitar riffs.
Drops/pulses at the intro sounding like a submarine radar.
11:00- We are introduced to odd mechanical sounds.
Distorted sirens.
White noise.
Distorted wailing.
The colour red is very dominant in this painting so i decided to actually see if there was a definition for it:
Red smells like a desert wind, dry and dusty. Red feels hot to the touch, near burning in some cases, resting on the precipice of comfort and pain. Red sounds loud and sudden, a screech or a bang out of nowhere, leaving you surprised.
This definition describes Pieter Bruegel's painting almost perfectly. Dry, Dusty, Burning, Pain, Loud, Sudden, Screech, Bang. All of these words are ones to focus on for the kind of sounds i need to record for this soundscape.
This definition describes Pieter Bruegel's painting almost perfectly. Dry, Dusty, Burning, Pain, Loud, Sudden, Screech, Bang. All of these words are ones to focus on for the kind of sounds i need to record for this soundscape.
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