Author: Elliot Armitage-Woods

‘The Beckoning’ is my 3:29 contribution to group A’s 14 minute sound piece, as well as being a piece of sound work in it’s own right.

The collaborative project that this is a part of happened to coincide with an outside of school project that I had the pleasure of being part of. Simultaneously, I was asked to contribute to a 14 minute sound piece, as well as create a sound-scape for my close friends’ foundation project.

At the start of the process of making this piece, I toyed with the idea of making one piece for two very similar briefs. Both gave me ultimate freedom, whilst still needing a certain sound within. I feel that the piece fits the video above well, as well as being a solid entry within the group sound piece.

Most radio features voice or music, and communicates this to people wherever they are. Acoustic ecologists such as Bruce Davis have reimagined radio in a different way: as an observational tool for ‘listening in’ or invading remote, singular environments, giving an ear to things other than talk and sound organised by humans. Artist Anna Friz suggests that instead of understanding radio as a ‘container for content’ it can be used as a means to explore communications and relationships between people and (their) things. It can facilitate ‘many-to-many’ exchanges and layered ecologies of transmission.

This session, we shared live sounds of our local environments using the ‘Locus Cast’ app. I found this experience extremely thought provoking; at first, having a class listen in to the sounds that surround you, almost sitting on your shoulder, observing the environment, made me feel a sense of invasion and ultimately made me a tad uncomfortable. However, after about 2-3 minutes, the discomfort I was experiencing faded away and left me almost inviting others to put themselves in my surroundings as much as possible.

During this session with Dawn & Ed, we explored the elements and ingredients that go into the making/creation of a live piece of work for radio, dividing these into clearly differentiated elements, including: 

• (the grain of) the human voice;
• music as bed/foundation;
• the use of song and/or poetry as colour and illustration;
• speech;
• SFX;
• environmental/atmospheric sounds;
• noise;
• jump/fast cuts, editing, repetition, emphasis/meaning;
• comprehending radio itself as an environment
• and critically, the nature of listening in radio.

As well as this, we discussed what the listener expects from this sort of work, and analysed how audio elements stand and work in contrast to each other whilst also thinking about the particular mode of listening which applies in radio.

We discussed how to create sound effects, using live ‘Foley’ techniques/methods as well as certain software. Working individually, each of us created and shared a re-working of a script, adding sound effects and atmosphere of our own choice/preference e.g. an explosion; dramatic weather; a prison or forest environment; a hammer blow to the head. Once shared with the class, we each explained in detail, how we achieved the finished product, and the steps taken to create the atmosphere of our choice. We, as a class, wanted to practice inserting live SFX (analogue and digital) into the re-work so we can use them in our final broadcast work.

Over the course of two 2 hour sessions with Jose, I have learnt and explored how to process, engulf and evoke sound in a naturalistic environment.

The second walk took place on Friday the 4th of December in Leake street arches, as well as on the Southbank.

Having built up experience using field equipment with Milo, as well as independently, this walk was designed for us to explore all the possible ways of using the sound kits, as well as recording additional sound for our compositions.

The walk began in the Arches on Leake street. Using a combination of handmade contact microphones, as well as a portable audio recorder, Harvey and I managed to record a trove of sounds in the arches. Picking up on everything from buskers, to vans unloading equipment, the mics were able to capture the bustling atmosphere of Central London, all whilst remaining within one concentrated space.

Next, was the walk to, and along the Southbank. Having been greatly inspired by Hans Zimmer’s work on ‘Blade Runner 2049’ and the world that Denis Villeneuve manages to create, I was aiming for the representation of such world within my piece, and to do that, I needed rain. As of late, I have been literally obsessed with the rain, the sound it makes, the emotions that it provokes and how it can be used within an art space, especially since the rain is used in both Blade Runner films, largely to contribute to the world that the directors are attempting to create, as well as being used to provoke emotion and thought from the audience, something I was striving for within my work.

Luckily for me, it was pouring down. The journey from Leake Street to the London eye was recorded using the portable sound recorder, cut up and used within my piece, and I am extremely pleased with what the audio was able to do within the work.

Next, Harvey and I ventured down into the car park below the Southbank theatre, and using the contact mic, we were able to pick up on and record some really interesting sounds. For example, we came across a huge metal cylinder with a gate around it. When the contact mic was placed against the metal, a largely metallic, whirring sound occurred, a sound that we thought largely deserved to be recorded, and possibly used within our work.

Over the course of two 2 hour sessions with Jose, I have learnt and explored how to process, engulf and evoke sound in a naturalistic environment.

The first walk, took place on the 27th of November, in Dulwich, South East London.

Jose led us into a park, just beside the Horniman museum. There, we were split into pairs, one being given a blindfold, the other a blind man’s cane. The task was for one to lead the other (blindfolded) through the open space, provoking the blindfolded person to listen, process and map to the world around them.

At first, I found myself at a great discomfort, having one of my major senses completely closed off, and having to rely on the others in order to comprehend what was happening. After a few minutes of this, I started to subconsciously zone out, focusing just on what I was hearing, and how I was processing each new or reoccurring sound. As well as this, I found myself attempting to visually map out the open space in front of me, in accord to what I was hearing. Due to the park being a large open space, large stretches of grass with trees wide to either side, each sound was incredibly clear, whether it be birdsong, or people talking whilst walking past.

For the second part of the walk, Jose led us into a different park: Dulwich Wood.

Once again, as soon as I was blindfolded, a sudden discomfort washed over me, although this time, only lasting around 30 seconds before I was at ease with the environment.

Dulwich wood is very different to the Horniman gardens. It is a lot denser with trees looming over you in every which way, as well as the ground being a combination of branches, leaves and mud, the sound of each step being very different to what was heard at the gardens.

Visually mapping the wood was more difficult too, with barely anyone there but us, and the birdsong seeming to be further and further away with each step. The denseness of the wood and the lack of other human presence is what ultimately distorted my senses this time. I left the second part wondering if I’d actually heard anything at all.