Audio projects.

Lockgroove Feedback
6:21
2005

This project was an attempt to interpret the components and process of my reiterative photocoper pieces as a sound recording. I began by trying to find a "blank" piece of analog media that repeats at a regular and observable interval. I used a record with a lock groove with no audio information. The dust and scratches in the record are the only sound-generating content. Then, I set up a pair of speakers on the same tabletop as the turntable, and had the sound of the record play through those speakers. By increasing the volume of the speakers, I was able to generate feedback by causing the speakers to pass vibration through the tabletop to the needle. As the record repeated the lock groove, I manipulated the basic sound-adjustments on my stereo receiver (volume, treble, bass) in order to "play" the feedback. I was able to produce a variety of tones and textures using this simple method.


Ice, melting.
25:23
2006

This piece is a recording of the sounds made by melting ice, as picked up through a contact microphone. I have heard of this idea several times in the past, as an interesting use for a contact mic and also as a way to generate sound for digital processing or for audio performances. I was asked to substitute for a friend's digital audio class for an evening, and planned a lecture and project using contact mics. I was searching for a recording of ice melting to use in my lecture and demonstration, but was unable to find any on the internet. It took me a few attempts to get the setup fine-tuned, but I was able to make a fairly clean recording of my own.

The microphone was frozen into a block of ice, and then that ice chunk was set into a dish inside a bowl of warm water to encourage the melting process. The entire melting process was accomplished in around a half-hour from start to finish. The recording posted here was manipulated first using the analog pre-amp mixer through which the microphone was routed, and later using a software equalizer, both for the purpose of rendering the melting sounds more distinct. Aside from this adjustment, the recording has not been sped up or manipulated, and is presented as a literal reproduction of the sound events taking place during the melting of an ice block.