2 weeks ago, we were introduced to a new project – Soundscapes, sounds interesting right? It’s not the Landscape that I’m used to hearing, now it’s Soundscapes. This project reminded me of last semester’s project – Obscure Cities, as we dealt with sounds too and tried to portray our created audio in the sculpture itself. Throwback to then, I had lots of fun because it was something new that I’ve never tried before. As I’m a Visual Communication student, we’re always used to portraying meaning through visuals,  now it’s to portray sound through visuals, and in 3-Dimensional too! Say byebye to flatlays and vectors.

Anyhow, there was an in class activity and we were told to scout around our school to find a pleasant and a unpleasant sound. So of course… while getting our kopi gao siew dai, we recorded quite a number of audio!

Here are my Soundscapes. Enjoy!

Pleasant Sound: Fountain Waves

I’ve always liked how the waves and the sea sound like as it makes me feel refreshed and energised. The clear sounds of the water splashing against one another reminds me of the vast sea (closest we have is Sentosa…), it makes me feel free. Hence, the closest I can find is the fountain which is in our school, ADM. It’s not exactly relaxing and soft as I wanted it to be due to the repetitive flow of it, but it’s close enough! I tried to portray the overflowing waves and ripples caused by the fountain, therefore the flowing motion of the paper, and I scored certain areas to show the “splash” of the water. I felt that I didn’t manage to portray it as accurately as it should be, I should have cut the curves even longer! And maybe curl more of them? 

Unpleasant sound: Screeching of the Clamp

The 3D room is like my 2nd home, as I spend quite a long time there doing my projects. But what irks me the most is when someone or me accidentally release the clamp while tightening it and it makes a really LOUD screeching slam which gives me a headache! I tried to portray the screeching noise by scratching and tearing the paper itself. The lines are inconsistent, with different lengths for the ranges of the screech. I curled it into a cone (which reminds me of kachang puteh hahaha) to “amplify” the noise. As when the clamp slams down, it gives a loud and long *KNNNNNG* sound which drags and has a slight echo in the room, a new word I learn to describe this – Doppler Effect! 

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In addition, Cheryl embraced more of the festive season by sharing some chinese new year goodies with us! How awesome is that!? She brought kueh balu (my fav), pineapple tarts and fishball crackers. We had a G3 tze char session as Cheryl wanted us to experiment and hear how different items produce or affect the sounds.

 

After researching the words provided in the brief, I finally know the right term to describe some sounds that I’m hearing! It’s really interesting as I felt I’ve gain some new knowledge HAHA and I’m able to sound really “smart” when I used this certain words (im joking). But anyhow, here are some words and their meanings that caught my eye and their meanings.

Pizzicato
A playing technique that involves plucking of a string instrument

Whispering Gallery
Usually a circular, hemispherical, elliptical or ellipsoidal enclosure, often beneath a dome or a vault, in which whispers can be heard clearly in other parts of the gallery.

Diffraction
Process by which a beam of light or other system of waves is spread out as a result of passing through a narrow aperture or across an edge, typically accompanied by interference between the wave forms produced. This reminds me of the word Refraction.

Anechoic Chamber 
A room designed to completely absorb reflections of either sound or electromagnetic waves.

Pianissimo
Very soft or softly.

Kokopelli
Fertility deity, uses a humpback flute player

Thats all for now! Have a good day! 🙂