Your task in this unit is to arrange layers of sound to convey a sense of place and story. In assigning this, I have two main goals for you: (1) to learn how to capture sound and edit it using digital tools, and (2) to explore the affordances of sound as a medium, with particular attention to its ability to communicate immersive environment and narrative pacing and change. The genre of the narrative you convey is open: it could be documentary, fictional, even science-fictional. (The title you choose will help steer listeners' expectations, and thus their perceptions.)
As you start planning your composition, consider: in what place (physical, virtual, or imaginary) could you anchor your soundscape? What kinds of stories happen there, and which of them could you reasonably tell within a few minutes? How can you represent that environment sonically? What sounds are relatively stable, or sustained, and what is incidental? What structures or sequences could help a listening audience follow?
You don't need answers to all of these questions before getting started, but asking them early and returning to them often could help you get a sense of the soundscape you want to make.
For a minimum grade of B, all projects for this unit must…
- Contain at least 1 minute of original recordings by you or your classmates.
- Contain at least one sound originally recorded by you.
- Have three layers (tracks) of sound overlapping at least once in the file
- Play for 2-4 minutes
- Have something change from the beginning to the end of the piece
To target (but not guarantee) a grade above a B, the best projects for this unit may… (to be determined together on Thursday, 2019-09-12)
At each stage, unless otherwise specified, upload (push) your materials to your own copy of this assignment repository. I recommend that you save often, using meaningful commit messages; for best results, please keep your filenames clear, lowercase, and space-free (use hyphens or underscores).
date | what's due | expected files |
---|---|---|
Tues Sep 10 | Soundscape Proposal | Thinking in writing about what you'd like to do for this assignment. Turn in:
|
Thurs Sep 12 | Soundscape Preview | An early snapshot of your progress, to get the gears turning. Turn in:
|
Tues Sep 17 | Soundscape Draft | A solid attempt at a complete soundscape narrative, ideally at the target length. Turn in:
|
Sun Sep 22 | Soundscape Final Draft | Include the same five components as in the earlier draft, but updated. |
Tues Sep 24 | Soundscape Reflection | Give a sense of the work you put into your soundscape and whether it accomplishes what you wanted it to. Turn in:
|
- Fork this repository to create a new version you can control.
- This will give you an online copy, but for editing purposes you'll definitely want a local copy on your computer. Follow the cloning instructions for your operating system, making sure to put the cloned folder in a place on your computer where you can easily find it.
- Because sound files can take up a lot of space, we'll be using Git Large File Storage, an add-on service that lets you designate certain file extensions as worth tracking and storing off-site, rather than directly in your repository.
- I've already set up this folder to track various sound files this way (including .mp3, .au, and .wav), but you'll need to install the LFS service to make it work.
- Simply go to https://git-lfs.github.com, download, enter the command in step 1, and you're on your way: I've done step 2 for this repo, and there is no step 3!