Acousmatic Composition – Composition 1
In my first piece ‘Xenu says’ I mostly used samples that I had recorded myself, which I then manipulated to create an effective interessting soundscape. The piece opens with a collection of tonal strikes which are recording of my ‘hang drum’. I used different effects to explore the spectrum of of the sound, such as degrade and granulation. Different vocal recordings were taken from the internet and were used to convey the meaning of my piece. I used ixiquarks to manipulate the vocal recording ‘You don’t know the history of psychiatry’, to make it sound like ‘you don’t know s**t!’. Ixiquarks was also used on different loops and synths to create the eiree hypnotic sounds which give the piece texture and and depth. Reverb tails and echo are used to draw sounds out and to create space in the piece.
In this piece I wanted to have a constant atmosphere of uncertainty. I wanted the piece to have hidden ulterior motives, so that it represents my views on Scientology. Hypnotic effects and sounds are used to represent brainwashing and a darker purpose. To create this atmosphere I made the piece unpredictable with constant crescendos and diminuendos, which made the piece the soundscape wax and wane while evolving into it’s powerful and unexpected ending at 1:44. I allowed a great deal of space between musical ideas so that the different sections of the piece could be concentrated on.
I used a lot of automation throughout the piece to give my samples character and shape. An example of this would be at 59 seconds, when the granulated vocals change into a totally different sound which leads into a tonal strike. In this instance I used the effect ‘buffer override’ to granulate the vocals. The part that follows is a drum loop that I granulated using ixiquarks. I used a rapid panning effect to create a disorientating atmosphere that sounds almost like helicopter blades rotating at varying speeds. In the ending i cut up samples I had been using throughout the piece and repeated them over and over again, with varying automation. I also added a heavily automated repeating bassline which gave the ending a dark and powerful rhythmic motion.
Overall the piece was very successful, it retains interest and purpose which exploring different sounds and ideas. The piece accurately conveys the message behind it, my views against the church of Scientology. I used 7.1 surround panning to move the piece around the 8 speaker set up we have been using in class. This allowed elements of the piece to be focused on, and gave the piece extra depth and movement.
