Sound etc.

Sound design, music production etc. Contact: [email protected]

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Why I Want Tattoos

Tattoos are art. I don’t see any argument valid enough to go against that. I think it shows huge passion to be in love with a piece of art enough to stain it into your skin, to literally wear it on your sleeve.

When I am old enough, I want tattoos. I want to make my body a canvas of my life, an expression of myself, my history, my successes, even my mistakes. Because I never want to be ashamed of who I am; I never want to forget where I have come from and where I want to go. I want to commit to my identity.

When I die, my tattoos will rot with me. The man I am will become the man I once was. I started life blank, but through my life I will pick up scars, markings and become who I am. Everything I have been will end as one. My life will not end as just a body; my life will end as a person: me.

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So yeah, I did this...

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:/

My useful post to “sorry I haven’t posted” post ratio is getting worrying so sorry but school is draining me and when it comes to writing or posting anything I go blank. I will try to do more here but if you have anything you’d like me to talk about or post, please tell me and I’ll answer some questions and suggestions.

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We Have A Right To Art.

In my eyes art is our way of creating external reality. Without art all reality, all emotions, all thoughts are internal. We experience art to survive and create who we are. We experience art individually. We experience art to make us unique. In short: Art separates us.

Therefore, do not shame someone for the art which has made them; their taste in music or clothes or tattoos or any other expression. That is what has brought them into the existence they are entitled to. If you strip them of art you will take away all which has established them as a person on earth.

Everyone deserves art. Everyone deserves to be, regardless of others understanding, real.

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What have we done to music?

A lot of people complain about the "digital age", but I've been thinking about what we've really done to music with instant streaming and downloading. Before I get into it I will state that I was only born in 1998 so I literally can't remember iTunes not existing, therefore most of what I say will not be from personal experience.

I think appreciation of music has decreased due to how instant everything is now. For example, with vinyl records or CDs you would listen through an album, maybe skip some tracks but you were more inclined to listen to the whole album. Now most people shuffle their music and if they don't like the sound of something they skip it straight away. Listeners might now be less appreciative of the music they listen to and are less focussed on the music, but more the aesthetic appeal, which in my opinion is draining an art form of what makes it art. Most of the time when I listen to music I'll listen through a full album, but when I do use shuffle, I tend to get bored easier and don't enjoy or appreciate what I'm listening to.

I feel like this has also had an impact on what the music being created actually sounds like. Now that it is much easier to skip a track artists are much more focussed on the first impression, which again links back to the emphasis now on aesthetic appeal.

But I suppose it is up to the listener whether music is about how it sounds or what it means. Is music being damaged or should we just let it change?

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My Biggest Influences As A Producer

I think as a producer it's easy to become stubborn in the view that looking up to someone means copying them and that it makes you unoriginal. But taking influences doesn't necessarily mean you artistically imitate or even take any form of physical emulation or influence. So I thought I'd give you a short list of my biggest influences as a producer. These aren't necessarily musical influences but just people I look up to.

1. Bombay Bicycle Club

Bombay Bicycle Club are one of the few reasons I have faith in music as an art form. There's so much meaningless rubbish circulating the pop music scene but BBC's music is real art. I find their music so admiring because it actually has real messages and shows real emotion which a lot of music fails to portray. In terms of musical talent, they are all amazing at what they do and really use their talent to show they thoughts and feelings of the music. For example, in an interview they mentioned that their newest album "So Long, See You Tomorrow" revolved around the idea of repetition and throughout the album in the lyrics, music and production it is so evident what they are trying to portray.

2. Skrillex

I actually admire Skrillex quite a lot. While I don't always like his music, I can't deny that he has changed the electronic music scene. He is a leader for trends and sounds which I find hard not to admire. I always try to keep my mind open to peoples ability despite taste; Skrillex is someone who I admire even if I don't like all his music. I also admire what he has achieved, not only changing a movement, but also creating a successful record label and network. He was also one of my first influences musically because he was the first producer I was actually interested in because his music it was so new to me and genuinely interested me as opposed to most electronic music I had heard at the time.

3. Flume

Flume is one of the people who I've looked up to creatively for years now. He always seems to find something new or take a style and keep the bones which hold it together but change everything else without ruining it. He always seems to have clarity in his work and his view on his music; he knows his flaws and celebrates his strengths through his work.

4. Flying Lotus

I've talked about FlyLo before on here but he's one of my biggest inspirations because of how he pushes the boundaries of modern music. There are so many rules which have fallen into place about what music should be, but he isn't afraid to step out of them resulting in a unique sound, which modern music lacks.

So yeah, those are some of the people I look up to as a producer. I think producers often don't respect their influences because they feel they don't need them if they want to be original. So who are your influences and why?

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EMC 2014: Meet the team behind the Flume phenomenon

A really great insight into what go on behind an artist, really worth a watch.

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I want one so much :'(

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Plans.

So hey. I want to change this blog a little. I want to make it more of the blog I want it to be, this means more regular posts, better posts and a wider range of subjects than specifically sound design (thats the etc.). This might include film, theatre, music, art type things (I dunno, I guess I'll just see when I start posting more). So I'll start posting more soon, tell me what you think?

[iamyoursoundtech-deactivated201]

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The use of sound in The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time

For my drama GCSE coursework I am studying the play adaptation of The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time so last week I saw it at the Gielgud Theatre in London. It was amazing in pretty much every way but I'll try to keep this focused on sound.

The play is from the perspective of Christopher, a 15 year old boy with a perception of the world altered by his autism. The play explores the effect of his autism on those around him and society's views on those who are different. Having read the book beforehand I was curious to see how perspective could be achieved in a way perfectly demonstrated in the original text by Mark Haddon. This, however, was perfectly created with the use of the set, actors, visuals and sound.

There was a dramatic contrast in the tone of the sound in each scene which created atmospheres which perfectly presented Christopher's mood.

The sounds which accompanied negative moods created discomfort. For example in one scene a police officer touches Christopher's shoulder which makes him panic. At his touch Christopher's screams are muffled by a digital screech of detuned tones, beeps and high-pitched cracks. This sound is loud and sudden which helps represent the discomfort Christopher feels and makes you feel uneasy.

However in contrast there is a scene in which Christopher is talking about space and his desire to be an astronaut. In this scene the sound is a soft forest of tones and mechanical beeps all drowned in a comfortable reverb and atmosphere. These sounds are much more relaxing and lie below the sound of Christopher much more comfortably giving the impression that he is much more comfortable living in these thoughts.

The use of sound was incredible in this play and was an amazing tool in creating perspective and mood which helped you relate to the character of Christopher and helped present the messages of the play brilliantly. The use of tones and choice of sounds along with the visuals, set and incredible acting perfectly created the world through Christopher's eyes and created moods in fascinating ways.

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Things I hate hearing.

Mostly I'm a very open person when it comes to accepting people’s, opinions and things but there are some things I can’t stand hearing. I'd love to hear your opinions on these or some things you don't like hearing. Here are some:

'Just noise' In the context of: talking about electronic music.

Of course it’s just noise! Isn't that what all music is? Why is the noise from a guitar different to the noise from a computer? Yes it may be different in source and what it sounds like but it’s still noise! And since when was noise bad?

'EDM' In the context of: any music (especially pre- “EDM movement” music).

I have a hard time explaining this because I don't completely know why I don't like hearing this. Firstly, it isn't so much the term I hate, but more of the movement. Overall in my opinion the music isn't catchy, but more repetitive and badly produced. I understand the attention it brings to electronic music but I don't like the music it attracts attention to or the name that the "EDM" fans give the electronic music scene.

'It all just sounds the same'

In the context of: talking about electronic music.

Firstly don't take this the wrong way because a lot of the music I listen to is not electronic. But, in my opinion electronic music is the least repetitive music there is because you aren't limited to the sounds of one instrument or one set of instruments. Like, surely music played by a band is more repetitive because the band plays the same instruments in every song? I'm definitely not saying that band music is repetitive and I understand that a lot of mainstream music is similar, but I think saying 'it all sounds the same' is quite a stubborn view.

'Dubstep'

In the context of: anything which isn't dubstep.

I like a lot of dubstep (mainly deep stuff) but I get pretty annoyed when people refer to any electronic music as dubstep, especially with people pretending to be experts (which is also pretty funny). The worst thing is that this happens basically every day when people come up to be at school and say things like "you make that dubstep stuff" which I can handle as I just assume they're talking about when I made dubstep, but then people say things like "I listened to your dubstep last night" and I become a mix of flattered and angry.

'Modern talking'

In the context of: the wavetable in NI Massive

I don't need an explanation for this one. Just move the WT position of Modern Talking in NI massive.

'Sounds like Skrillex/Martin Garrix/Avicii etc.'

In the context of: a track which sounds nothing like Skrillex/Martin Garrix/Avicii etc.

Similar to hearing 'dubstep' used out of context this mainly just annoys me because they're wrong. I don't know why them being wrong annoys be but it does. Maybe because they clearly think they know what they're talking about but don't.

'So they don't really do much?'

In the context of: talking about a sound designer/music producer.

This is just wrong. Not only are these jobs the most important in most things involving sound, but they're also some of the hardest jobs in any media. This is a really narrow view and raises my temperature a few degrees when I hear it.

I could go on for a few years but I'm tired. What don't you like hearing?

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I'm (hopefully) starting piano lessons next week because of the university I want to go to, but I've never successfully learnt an instrument, mainly because I get bored quite easily. I genuinely would like to learn it for a load of reasons, but am worried of getting bored. Can anyone give me some advice on learning it and keeping committed?

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So ironically, today a pianist told me my music is just pressing buttons.

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Ben Burtt on his inspiration for some of our favorite sounds in the galaxy… the hum and clash of a lightsaber.

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Wow. There are a few of these interviews floating around on YouTube. Find them, they're really interesting and inspiring.

[starwipemyass-blog]

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I have added a page to my blog titled "Who I am." which is just some information about me and how I am involved with sound and music. If you would like to know more about me or would like me to add anything feel free to ask.