Week Ten

It is overwhelming to trying to complete all the work in 3 days and the quality is terrifying. Most of the recording are not done and the editing of all the tracks are not even basic. I have tried to compile all the recordings I have but haven’t been able to create a proper layering of atmosphere, right now its multiple foley sounds played together. 

Was facing difficulty in lifting anything heavy to record Elephant footstep and did try to approach someone for any trick. Was asked to try heavy leather chair seat but wasn’t possible. The easiest trick I figured out was to cover an apple with couple layers of cloth and to tie it tightly. Using this on soil of palm to make the sound was more easier, haven’t added the sounds yet.

Foot step trial
Apple for Elephant Foot steps
Figuring out the Placement of Circute recordings

Week Nine

After my shoulder being injured last week, it has been difficult to do any of the work. Mostly I’m unable to move my right shoulder and it has been physically and mentally affecting me. Though I have been trying to keep myself active and to be distracted by work I havnt been able to make any progress, maybe I should change my strategy of working next time in case of any injury by making my left arm more functional.

While trying to record the song Poovilli Poovilli, a Malayalam Onam song later recorded by K. J. Yesudas in 1975. It has been one of the staple song during the festival of Onam. The tempo of the song is apt for the clip since it is a folk song therefore a more fun tempo with slower pronunciation of the words making it easier to sing an inexperienced singer. It gave me a chance to get comfortable with my own voice after multiple tries. To make it easier I had to cut short the lyrics and mix stanza in between though I only managed to sing 3-4 stanzas. 

Lyrics:

Ee pooviliyil
Mohamponnin muthayi mattum poovayalil
Nee varu bhagam vangan

Poovili poovili ponnanamayi
Nee varu nee varu ponnanathumbi

Ee pooviliyil
Mohamponnin muthayi mattum poovayalil
Nee varu bhagam vangan

Poovili poovili ponnanamayi
Nee varu nee varu ponnanathumbi

Poo kondu moodum ponninchingathil
Pullanguzhal kattathadum chembavin padam

Poo kondu moodum ponninchingathil
Pullanguzhal kattathadum chembavin padam

Innekoyyam nalekkennal
Atham chithira chothi

Innekoyyam nalekkennal
Atham chithira chothi

Poovili poovili ponnanamayi
Nee varu nee varu ponnanathumbi

I did try other songs which are more meaningful songs which are based on Onam but has a bit more touch to the classical side. One of them was Thiruvona Pularithan by sung by Vani Jayram. This one has more rhytham related to the folk dance Thiruvathira, danced during onam and other Kerala related festivals. I couldn’t sing this because of the pronunciation of most of the words, words are more chunkier but singing and getting the ragam right for this one was easier than Poovilli. 

Another improvisation I realized was about the holding technique of microphones. While I was trying to not give strain to my shoulder, I tried to hold the mic using my left hand and multitask the process of recording using one hand. It was challenging but I was able to recognice how I shouldn’t hold the mic and most of the recording were not good to be used. 

Slight change in the connection of circuit was at times giving better results, when recorded in a dark room with maximum screen brightness. 

The picture below- working on circuit- taken previous week:

Week Eight

While trying to place the monologue together it feels like there is something missing which brings a piece of Kerala into the clip. Though I’m trying to recreate the sounds that are heard at day and night separately, the touch missing is the language. It brought me to the concept of overlaying Malayalam and English script side by side but will have to play around with the especially with stereo. 

A suggestion from Milo was to use the light sensor by exposing it to the video, this might help in the translation of pattern found in video to audio. My only concern is if it will work for the duration of night since the flashing of the brightness in even, though the visuals are more vibrant.

Trying to understand pro tools is a bit tough but it gets more frustrating when there are thousands of words to be written. At times I’m losing timing because I start to overthink and be frustrated about writing which overshadows my time to learn DAW.

By accident it was found that I could pierce through food packaging (pre-made meal) using chop sticks to make the sounds of the fircracking blast sounds after the Onam scene

The field is supposed to be quite, but it has reached a point were I can or cannot hear the details off it. I’m trying to solve it and later compress it later.

During one of the field recording I was walking in a very lonely street with my H5 connected to my headphones (wanted to record), when suddenly I heard someone wistling but couldn’t see anyone. It was one of the scariest moment I have faced, but it brought me to the realization about the pov and J-cut. Was able to understand the sound aspect of it in that moment.

Week Seven

During the extra session for Expanded studio practice, I got to know that H5 is quite versatile, and I can multipurpose it for recording foley and for the extras sounds to be recorded for the projects. An idea that popped up was if the PD doesn’t work, I can make simple oscillator circuits using different kinds of sensors (touch, light) and manipulate the sound according to visual intensity of the clip. This would be an iteration and a backup for adding electronic sound to the clip to bring a slight difference to completely natural sound-based video.

The reasoning for the importance of electronic sounds in the background because the reduction in the field of agriculture is due to the increase of importance being given to technology than to support and enhance natural sources flow. For this to be a reality  we might have to follow the rule of minimum goes a long way with the right balance. This is represented through the video of having majority of the sound being stacked with the sounds of nature and the right quantity of electronic background atmosphere sound to bring freshness and to make communication with all generation easier especially us who are raised in a technology filled era.

Week Six

As a part of trying to include an Onam song I have been trying to clear my throat using basic ragas from Carnatic music. During this I started to find more about Microtones and Carnatic music has 22 Microtones in them (sruti). These were found from antient text, Nata Shastra. It was also found that the best way to find root not (Sa) for octave is to use the instrument Thambura. Found from: https://www.sunadam.com/2016/03/14/introduction-to-shruti-the-foundational-pitch/

The process of chopping the video into bits to map the video helped me understand where all the same materials need to be used and the list of materials and methods to be found. Finds hay is next to impossible but tangled cassette tapes are extremely useful for different sound at different density according to the combination of the materials which can be added along with it.

Example:

  • Cassette tapes + bee comb shaped packing paper +stick with a tiny nail- denser moving hay grass movement, shredding and pouring of grains
  • Cassette tapes + water- clay water splashing
  • Cassette tapes- field

Most of these were successful but I have come to notice that if the gain is off the grid, its messy to work with. The field is supposed to be quite but it has reached a point were I can or cannot hear the details off it. Im trying to solve it and later compress it later.

Week Five

One of the idea was to make the background score into a electronic sound mix it along with the foley, folk song and the monologue. This option seems good but it will take the naturalist of the clip away. But at the same time can bring a freshness since the monologue is slightly leaning towards personal experience than being a documentary style video. 

The second option is to play both the actual background track and the electronic version ( lower amplitude)  at the same time 

Option three is to play both of them with a delay so it creates a texture but there is a huge chance of it feeling very alienated. 

During one of the evening booking I tried to record a bit of footstep along with Mario but unfortunately the sound output was working properly and while trying to input to DAW wasn’t easy initially. It was important to understand what all can go wrong during a recording session and to keep much more buffer time than necessary. Also started to think about alternatives to studio, especially with the shortage of slot availability. 

Final proposal:

The chosen video is the introduction of the movie, Vatsalyam. The story is based on the strained relation between A farmer brother and his freshly graduated younger layer brother. 

Since the intro is showcasing the cycle of harvesting paddy within the cycle of sunset and sunrise, the thought is to concentrate on object movement as there is a pattern of gain and fall in the intensity of the movement along with the cycle of sun. It would especially reach its peak during the folk dance. The harvest also represents the festival of Onam (the flower carpet is a part of it). 

The experimental part would be to make the sounds of Chalambu( the ornament worn o feet) and the background sound using the pattern of video using the methods from Expanded studio practice

Feedback From Tata:

Sounds like a documentary with a lot of foley

I can try combine both abstract and realistic foley for the footstep since it might be more helpful when I want to build up the intensity of the sound. (not everything needs to be synced)

Can maybe add city sounds when I want to show how it has changed, to show the contrast

Onam songs:

Thiruvona Pularithan Thirumul Kaazhcha

Poovili Poovili

Maveli Nadu Vanidum Kalam

Week Four

Week Four:

Watching We Need to talk about Kevin and then working on getting the intro scene was a moment of revelation. It helped me in understanding the process since I had missed the previous session. Getting familiar with studio is still a foreign concept but I would like to try and experiment with foley production more than in the monitoring room. Trying the sequence making in pro tool was a bit difficult and getting familiarized with the communication and coordination was easier due to prior experience and with the help of my group, who were aware and supportive with helping me with the process.

At some point I felt the syncing of the sound with the clip would be much easier with Premier pro, maybe after editing the whole sound just for syncing premier pro can be used.

Option 1

The clip selected for the main project is Aerial by Margaret Tait in 1974. While I was searching for clips which can be used for foley I was found going back to old Indian (Malayalam) movies, since they always have a vivid visual showcase of the setting of the story. This lead me to the movie, Vatsalyam(1993), the most obvious similarity was the nature but the major one I felt was that I could play around with not just what I see, I could easily make it a bit more scary or festive. I could make it Christmas based or Onam (harvest festival) based on the clip. 

Option 2

The story is about a farmer brother struggling to maintain his family while educating both of his siblings. the struggle starts to become evident when the younger brother graduates to be a barrister but his greed separates him from his family leading to the disputes in the family. 

The reason for choosing a clip from the movie is because it is one of the older Malayalam movies which represents the beauty of Kerala with the most realism. The clip chosen is from the intro of the movie where the setting and the background of the brother is shown. It also shows the 

the director of the movie was a well-known actor in the Malayalam movie industry and these are few of the movies directed by him: (https://www.malayalachalachithram.com/movieslist.php?d=1888 )

Week Two

Gaze

The absence of sound created a huge impact with the anxiety which was mile rocketing every second. It felt like the use of white space, where the racing of the motor bike made a huge impact.

I feel as if my heart is still beating after the rise. I would prefer if there was a bit more of breathing from the man whose wallet was stollen, it would have depicted a bit more of panic from him but not from the protagonist as her persona seems like a well composed woman.

Blackboards:

The story is narrated in the pov of two teachers who are trying to find pupil as they climb mountain. According to their instinct and believes they chose their path in finding their students and split to chase their faith. On their rocky way

The man who ends up with the group of kids had a significantly better storyline. The way he starts to merge their forces together when the little boy is injured is the first and the best sign shown in the movie. Also the character development of each kid including their leader, who quotes that his mum has asked him not to trust a stranger, gave in to them slowly starting to trust him.

The sound of the crowd done is much lower volume and doesn’t overwhelm the audience though visually we do know that’s it’s a tense moment. Would like to adapt that style sometime in my work

Larry Achiampong:

Both the works, Beyond the substrata and Relic 3 has a different effect on my brain but I did feel that both of them were much more inside my hear especially witht eh whispering (ASRM).

During Session:

The concentration on the hemisphere was a method which was able to help while I was searching for different spots or natural sounds using different microphones. The combination of kids playing on my left and the bus and the crowd of city on my right. These were connected by couple of planes flying right over my head connecting both right and left. Somehow this moment made a complete circle with a balanced connection

One of the most interesting one was when I was using parabolic microphone and was able to hear a crow crying from a 4-5 floored building.

The mistake made by me was that I forgot to format the SD card before I started recording. Since the card was full, I was not able to record most of them and I was a bit ignorant with checking if it was recording or not. 

Another interesting sound I captured was the sounds of the punches and kicks done by couple of guys. 

Later I tried recording in Borough Market while they were setting up shops for the upcoming busy day. I was able to record some interesting sounds such as the cracking of the ice while they were throwing it into buckets. Comparing the atmosphere during the peak time after the market has opened and while they were preparing for it, the mix of sounds were much livelier and had layers of conversations with mix of songs from different regions. Though there was a chaos of materials being placed for display and people screaming, it still had better character than when customers started to be present there.

Week Three

Week 3:

Experimenting just with the speaker and battery poles was a good start but when I started to add materials like pebbles and tangled cassette tapes, it brought more texture to the sound. While the tape and some nails gave a crisp sound, the stones helped in producing more construction like sound when combined with metal brush. The best experiment was when I gave pressure on the rim of the speaker (the rubber rim). It mellowed the sound but with the same pitch.

One of the materials tried was a metal plate, borrowed from a course mate, the screeching sound was not pleasant at all but it can be used in the future as a background with low volume and quick intervals. Will try to mimic the sound of a birds with metal plate next time.Though I tried to fix materials to a still position, especially the paper cone with the alligator clips being connected through the holes made in the cone. The slight echo was good when it was properly enclosed otherwise, need to work on it more.

Week One

A moving Image 2016 dir. Shola Amoo

Benjamin Williams also known as Big Ben, his voice and the choice of song “sometimes these south london streets remind me of” brought a difference in the flow of the storyline. He is not introduced by the song but the addition of it in the middle of the movie gave it much more impact when he dies. 

Though this is a work with intense meaning and evolution, I felt a lot of familiarities with a commercial movie, Dear Zindagi. Its was about Mental health awareness but in the form of a family entertainment by prominent Hindi film. The similarity wasn’t about the storyline or the direction. It about the choice of the emptiness and an abrupt starts of sounds thoughout the duration.   

Fatima’s letter 1992:

 It’s a short movie which has a chaos as an element in it but I found the chaos calming and was making me doze off. It might be the consistency of the 

With the tube and traffic which makes it calming and was not able to concentrate on the text. The shadows on the text were disturbing making it much more difficult to interact and attentively watch it. 

During session:

It was one of the most anxious day till date to step into a complete unkown territory. But the peace and relief I felt while trying to use a H5 and Hydrophone was a complete miracle. I was not holding/ handling the microphone properly and my hand was definitely shaky the while attempting to get the Hydrophone to be in the perfect level to hear the sound of underwater movment.