Continuing the research in my previous post, we were asked to dance and move our creature’s movement! For my, it would be my anaNEMOfish (clown fish).
My movement was ‘fluid’ and it can move in any direction (except backwards). As the Nemo move and dance around the sea anemone, I imagine the movement to be circular and random in any direction. At the same time, the Nemo can swim up and down as well.
Then for my movement sketch, I drew it in random circular and wavy shapes. The light blue represents the fish swims at a certain level, then dark blue represents it swimming down (deeper) while the light green is the opposite (swim up).
Next we were required to visualise and produce our movement by sculpting mahjong paper. My paper sculptor is shaped based on the sketch. The closeness of the paper shows that the Nemo moves around quite fast. In reality, the speed is really depend on each species and size 😀
It was a surprisingly a refreshing session 😀
Thank you!
Hi!
Okay so we are supposed to create our own sound texturizer, and looking through past years references, it is indeed not gonna be an easy one :’)
THE IDEATION
At first I tried to Youtube a lot of videos for inspiration.
This video is the one that somehow inspired and motivated me the most.
My favorite instrument is actually number 8 ‘Chateau Paulie’. It was not really an instrument but a village-sized art and musical installation.
It is basically the idea of using wind to move pipes which create sounds. And people can pull some ropes to adjust the ‘fan’ creating the sound they wants.
This makes me want to create a customizable sound texturizer.
My very first idea was to use water, and using the idea of water having different pitch when having different level. However as I thought more of it, I had the idea of sound travelling through water.
After some long thought, I finally decided to use the idea of sound texturized by being reflected through long tube and cylinder. And for the source of the sound, instead of the initial idea to blow something, I decided to move things around.
THE PROCESS
A. MATERIALS
First step is to find the sound reflectors: the carton cylinder and washing machine pipe.
Both have texturizing effect, with the washing machine pipe having a more hollow and deeper effect.
Next is to find the sound creator. I decided to make use of a biscuit tin can, creating a hole on the end to connect with the cylinder.
B. CREATION
Firstly, I drilled hole in the metal tin. It was quite time-consuming as we need to drill shape holes one by one before creating
Then, I created the insert part of the sound creator by dividing them into 3 different layers.
Part 1: plastic case part to put in customisable things inside  and sound is created from friction between components and plastic
Part 2: middle part to put in chains and wire sound dragging around the metal can
Part 3: metal part to put in customisable components and the sound is created form friction between components and metal
Next, is to create the support for the cylinder and tin, they are made of boxes.
Then the next step is to connect the can tin—carton cylinder—washing machine pipe and put them on the support! YEAY
I also created ways to take out the components and allow customising them without taking out the whole thing.
TADAA the Soundtube is created!
C. INNER COMPONENTS
I want to have various type of components made of different type of materials.
Ranging from those creating louder friction sound like coins and macaroni to those creating softer friction sound like foam balls and foam pieces.
D. HOW SOUNDTUBE WORKS
The player rotate the sound creator either to rotate it in one direction or changing the direction repetitively.
When it is rotated, the components inside the sound creator will create sound out of friction. This sound will be reflected in the carton cylinder, changing it’s frequency as the sound becomes deeper and hollower. Afterwards, the sound will further reflected inside the washing machine pipe before being heard by the listener.
The rhythm and beat are adjusted by modifying the tempo of rotation.
E. HOW SOUNDTUBE SOUNDS (Precaution! Sound recorded are loud! Better lower your computer volume)
At first the plastic case was filled with water.
I expected the sound to be like when I shake the plastic case only:
However after realising that the plastic case kind of dampen the water sound and the rotation create much slower movement than shaking the plastic case (which result in less intense sound being created). The sound became like this:
As the water sound became really soft and almost unheard, I decided to use solid components as the friction sound is louder.
And here is some different experiments on sound recording of the Soundtube!
Empty components for part 1 and 3 (only part 2) – empty set
5 macaronis (part 1) and 5 staples (part 3) – initial set
5 staples (part 1) and 5 macaronis (part 3) – does switching the components create much different?
20 macaronis (part 1) and 5 staples (part 3) – does adding components increase the intensity?
5 foam balls (part 1) and a pinch of loom bands (part 3) – does using softer friction sound components really dampen the sound?
Finally, out of curiosity, I put in my phone inside the whole sound creator and set an alarm and recorded the sounds.
Alarm with no sound reflectors (no cylinder and no pipe)
Alarm with sound reflectors (both cylinder and pipe)
Conclusions:
Switching the components between part 1 and part 3 caused differences! (most likely only when it has loud friction sound component i.e. no affect when both are soft friction sound components)
Adding components increased the intensity of the sound to a certain extent only i.e. the addition of component is not proportional to the increase of intensity (most likely because the surface area is already full of components and the speed of rotation is slow)
Using soft friction sound components did not really make the sound softer and dampened (maybe because the chains and wire frictions and part 2 still contributed loud sound)
For the alarm, the sound creator only actually amplified sound inside as it is made of metal and reflects sound! And the sound reflectors make the alarm sounds heavier and more further away, it also somehow created a limitation for the pitch of the sound i.e. sound at high pitch is limited and created like ‘echo-y’ effect (the sound reflectors really changed and texturised the initial sound!)
I decided to walk over the sheltered walkway to Singapore Sports Hub (SSH). And ya it was my first time walking there from Kallang MRT. And the way was fully sheltered except when crossing the roads.
On the way, there was some restaurants on the side of the road, and I considered to went there during the day and use ‘food of Kallang’ as one of the research.
The walk continued and all I saw was the sheltered way, not many cars and pedestrians. Just like normal Singapore at night. Significance are the sheltered way and road signs.
The Road SignsOn The WayThe Sheltered Walkways
As the sheltered way finally reach Singapore Sports Hub, I reached the link way bridge to the SSH. The bridge has geometrical shapes in its architecture. I ended up taking a lot of pictures of the bridge. I didn’t thought there would be such interesting bridge. I chose the linkway bridge as my main focus. For complete photos, the slides are posted here.
View from The Linkway Bridge
Continuing the journey, I finally reached the SSH. Having not explored the place before, I didn’t know that they would have outdoor field and arena for sports (thought all indoor). As expected, there were groups of people exercising and playing games around. I intended to approach them but they seemed occupied and tired..? So ya, I decided to do the interviews on my next visit when it is not the end of the day.
Some Activities
Then I continue to explore the SSH and took some more pictures.
Some PostersOther Interesting DetailsSome Architectural Patterns
Continuing the visit, another interesting and pretty thing I found was the night view of Singapore from the rooftop of SSH 🙂
The Pretty Nightview
Then, I needed to catch the MRT and walked my way to the Stadium MRT. Taking some pictures along the way.
Some Shiny Lights
And apparently even the MRT has a lot of geometrical pattern!
Overall, it was a short yet interesting trip for me. There were some elements that I want to explore more. So far the most interesting part is the architectural pattern of the linkway bridge.
INTRODUCTION
Clown fish refer to 28 species of fish that are living around tropical coral reefs found in the warm water Indian, Pacific Oceans and the Red Sea. Here are some of them. Since the famous Disney movie Finding Nemo, the popularity of the clown fish increased and they are being breed by human. (Nemo is the Occelaris sp.) The Oceans, Reefs & Aquariums (ORA) is the leader in captive bred clownfish. Below is the pictures of the clown fish species with some addition developed by the ORA.
Clown Fish Species
KEY SENSES
1. SENSE OF SMELL
Like people, fish have noses. Water flows through holes called nares into two chambers. Each chamber contains a rose-shaped structure called a rosette. Odor molecules stick to cells on the rosette called neurons. Those neurons then shoot a quick signal to the brain. That’s how a fish detects a scent.
Upon hatching, baby clownfirsh rise up to the sea’s surface and begin the planktonic stage (floating on the sea) for about 11-12 days. Then, they will use their sense of smell to find their way home. They swim toward the scent of leaves from the islands’ trees. They also detect odors to find food, avoid predators and prepare for mating. (!!)The sense of smell worsen as the water becomes more acidic! At the current rate, clown fish might lose their ability to ‘go back home’ and avoiding predator by the end of the century!Â
2. SENSE OF HEARING
For clown fish, the ability to hear is crucial as it makes them able to detect and avoid predator-rich coral reefs during the daytime (coral reefs are home to many species that can feed on small clownfish). They do this by monitoring the sounds of animals on the reef, most of which are predators to something just a centimetre in length. (!!)Researchs show that clown fish in more acidic water showed no preference for moving away from threatening sound, while those exposed to normal levels of acidity move away from the perceived danger source. The acidity doesn’t seem to physically damage the fish’s ears, so maybe the damage is neurological, or maybe they are “stressed by the higher acidity and do not behave as they otherwise would.” This could seriously impact their survival in the long term.
BODY STRUCTURE
Clown Fish External AnatomyClown Fish Bone Structure
RANGE OF MOTION
It can freely move to any direction by moving its tail to move forward and side fins to help them steer.
Clown Fish Movement
A journal said that clown fish performed a bizarre little wiggle dance, flapping its fins while dodging and turning.
That creates fresh water circulation for the stationary anemone, allowing it to access more oxygenated water, speed up its metabolism, and grow faster. That’s also good news for the clown fish, which have more room to hide within the anemone.
SYMBIOSIS MUTUALISM WITH SEA ANEMONES
Symbiosis describes the special relationship between clown fish and sea anemones. They are the only fish that do not get stung by the tentacles of the sea anemone. Clown fish have a slimy mucus covering that protects them from the sea anemone. However, if this covering is wiped off of a clown fish, it will get stung and possibly be killed when it returns home to the anemone. The clown fish and the sea anemone help each other survive in the ocean. The clown fish, while being provided with food, cleans away fish and algae leftovers from the anemone. In addition, the sea anemones are given better water circulation because the clown fish fan their fins while swimming about.
(The video below is really good in showing the movement of different species of clown fish and different species of sea anemone, it also has part where the clown fish is trying to scare away human diver in order to protect the sea anemone)
INTERESTING FACTS
HERMAPHRODITEÂ (an organism that has reproductive organs normally associated with both male and female sexes)
In a group of clownfish, there is a strict hierarchy of dominance. The largest and most aggressive female is found at the top. Only two clownfish, a male and a female, in a group reproduce through external fertilization. The clownfish are hermaphrodites, meaning that they develop into males first, and when they mature, they become females. Also, as mentioned earlier, more than one clownfish is able to live in a sea anemone. If the female clownfish is removed from the group, such as by death, one of the largest and most dominant males would become a female. The rest of the remaining males will move up a rank on the hierarchy.
STING PROTECTION
The clown fish is also famous for it’s seeming immunity to the stings of the sea anemone. Most clown fish are found either in or around sea anemones which the clown fish inhabits both for protection from predators but also the readiness of food.
Animals, A. (n.d.). Clown Fish. Retrieved March 8, 2017, from https://a-z-animals.com/animals/clown-fish/ Hogan, T. (n.d.). Home. Retrieved March 8, 2017, from http://www.dive-the-world.com/creatures-clownfish.php Investigation. (n.d.). Retrieved March 8, 2017, from http://tolweb.org/treehouses/?treehouse_id=3390
Leader, J. (2013, March 01). Clownfish, Sea Anemone Relationship: Fish Do Wiggle Dance To Help Out Host. Retrieved March 8, 2017, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/01/clownfish-sea-anemone-wiggle-dance_n_2789711.html
Increased CO2 Causes Clownfish to Lose Sense of Smell, Swim Toward Predators. (2010, July 14). Retrieved March 8, 2017, from http://worldgreen.org/increased-co2-causes-clownfish-to-lose-sense-of-smell-swim-toward-predators/ Kwok, R. (2015, November 01). When the nose no longer knows. Retrieved March 8, 2017, from https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/when-nose-no-longer-knows
Clownfish risk going deaf. (n.d.). Retrieved March 8, 2017, from http://www.hear-it.org/clownfish-risk-going-deaf Richard, M. G. (2011, June 01). Ocean acidification makes clownfish go deaf (poor Nemo can’t hear predators anymore…). Retrieved March 8, 2017, from http://www.treehugger.com/clean-technology/ocean-acidification-makes-clownfish-go-deaf-poor-nemo-cant-hear-predators-anymore.html
Here is the the final sound texturizer: THEÂ SOUNDTUBE and its possible applications!
For PDF version:Â 002_NATASYA
I learnt to experiment a lot during this exercise! It was actually fascinating to try out different sounds 😀
I liked how it turned out to be really customizable.
An improvement I could do is to change the carton cylinder into PVC type or even metal cylinder so as to minimize the sound dampening and get a more echo-y sound. I imagined it to have an even more hollow and crisp sound. Then maybe the effect of the plug might be more obvious.
Another thing might be to change the method of creating sound by rotating to shaking the tube. Shaking might create a more intense and interesting sound instead of the plain rotation. Moreover, if I keep the idea of water inside, shaking it might allow the water sound to be heard more clearly.
Well, it was fun 😀
Will post the process and ideation real soon!
P.S. I was really scared that the texturizer will get confiscated at the airport as I bring them as hand carry, it has a lot of sharp wires and other metal elements! (I planned to do some updates at home but couldn’t find the time, sorry:( ). But good thing it didn’t get confiscated and I still have it with me now :’)
