Acoustic Principles in Multi-Channel Installation & Performance part 2.

In this session, I workshopped production skills for binaural recording – a format I have long neglected to consider. In my ignorance, I had often disregarded binaural production as too similar to typical stereo sound to be of any creative merit, yet upon experimenting with the DearVR plugin this perspective was entirely changed.

With the faintest adjustment of a field recordings simulated location, (particularly the Y-Axis as this truly felt like a departure from the usual stereo format) I noticed that the sonic characteristics of the sound source were able to develop in incredibly unique ways, ripe for creative exploration. I began to recall my own previous works, and how I may translate them into a binaural setting – the possibilities that it provided to enhance my projects of which are already so fixated on the idea of place, time and atmosphere.

While I knew I wouldn’t pursue a binaural work for my assessment, the (frustratingly simple) revelation of the ‘power of the Y-Axis’ was something I became endeavoured to integrate into my multichannel piece.

Returning to my home studio, I had a clear sonic character firmly set in place.

Using my usual method of processed electric guitar, I created three interlocking drones – still, yet with the faintest perceivable motion, with the hope that it may gently draw and hold the listeners attention into a transient state that allows for both passive and deep listening. I ensured that during these dense drones, moments of ‘cleaner’ guitar notes would ring out – eluding to my concept of ‘ghost melodies’.

With the bed of drones establishing a sense of key and cohesion, I began to source sounds that would compliment the overall soundscape. I knew that firstly, I wanted something that would weave itself in and out of the wall of sound – alluding to an ambiguous outline of melody. Furthermore , I felt that the sound source should possess an acoustic quality ( from my experience listening to surround sound examples in class, acoustic timbre in spacialisation sounded incredibly effective) yet remain unidentifiable as to what instrument it is.

I decided to record some brief improvisations on a rain drum, I felt the drums sound existed somewhere between a bell and a chime – it was soft, droning and perfectly ambiguous.

I then processed this sound through granular synthesis, letting the notes stumble and fall into clumsy half-melodies and sporadic motifs. Within the granular software, adjustments to the rain drum’s attack, decay and pitch also transformed the instrument into a blurry, unrecognisable sound source. Having repurposed the rain drum in this way, I began running it through a cassette emulator in order to obscure the sound further, emphasising its ‘allusive’ quality by means of allowing for drop-outs and fluttering.

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