Research – Page 3 – JACELYN NG

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!

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.

$wave-diffraction-2$

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! 🙂

So.. since I came into Cheryl’s class a week later than the rest , so I only got to try two types of chocolates in the dark! What a pity. But anyways, last Friday’s class started off with a good note because I had chocolate for my breakfast!

I read an article which mentioned that we should eat chocolate for breakfast! According to science, it helps us boost our brain power in the morning – really important because most of us are 90% a walking zombie in the morning. And also, the best part is, it will help in losing weight because it gives a jump start to our metabolism!!! And the reason is as simple as, a sweet treat in the morning will satisfy our sweet tooth keep us from craving carbs and sugar all day. This is what I NEED! But it’s kinda ball-sy to try this out because I gain weight really easily… so when I have the guts to try having a chocolate to kick start my morning and if I see any results, I will let you guys know hahaha.

Ok enough of all those talk. Here’s my analysis for overall experience with the two chocolates I had!

Chocolate A

This chocolate came in block form, in an aluminium foil packaging. After breaking off a part of it, the chocolate is square-ish, has a smooth texture but doesn’t feel glossy, more of a matte surface? The scent… felt really good. How do you describe a scent that makes you feel all warm and cozy? It felt like it had warm my ~~soul~~ throat, as if it’s my only source of warmth in a winter night. I was also sure that there’s a really high percentage of cocoa in it as I could smell the bitterness of the chocolate with a hint of sweetness.

Upon placing the chocolate in my mouth, I was first met with a hint of sweetness, not too sweet and was later it became the familiar bitter-sweet taste of dark chocolate (which I LOVE). However, my brain and tastebud seems to get a bit confused, and it went into sort of a “panic” state as my tastebuds seems to register… spiciness? At that time, I was like “WHAT AM I EATING, CHOCOLATE OR SPICE?” The spice really reminded me of the black chai tea. It started of with a bit of spiciness but it became even spicier as I get further into the core of the chocolate. The chocolate melts really slowly though, as it took quite awhile for it to completely dissolve in my mouth, which I found it quite common for dark chocolate, as compared to milk/white chocolate which melts a little faster.

The spiciness lingered in my mouth, with a slight bittersweet aftertaste. Overall, I had a good experience (well awesome one) as I’ve never tried a spicy chocolate before. I thought I wouldn’t like it but I ended up wanting more. I guess the closest “spicy” chocolate I had was a dark chocolate liqueur?

Chocolate B

This chocolate comes in its own individual wrapper, and after tearing it open, it’s a circular chocolate, it’s smooth – probably a glossy surface with some designs on it. I smelled it and I’m sure this has a lesser percentage of cocoa in it, and has more milk compared to Chocolate A. It smells sweet, with a hint of bitterness. After holding it in my hand for awhile, I could feel it slightly melting.

Upon placing it into my mouth, it started melting almost immediately, I tasted sweetness first, followed by a hint of bitterness in it, but the sweetness came back to my tastebuds again. Soon, the chocolate became a thick, bittersweet smooth texture. Though there’s a bittersweet taste for Chocolate B, it was sweeter than Chocolate A. I felt that the sweetness overpowered the bitterness more and from this, I could deduce there’s a lesser percentage of cocoa in it, and more milk was used in this chocolate. This chocolate melts really quickly and I wasn’t able to savour and experience the texture of it. But all I could remember was the sweetness of the chocolate, with hint of bitterness trapped in it. The bitterness and sweetness varies in intervals but in all in all, I could taste the sweetness more.

This chocolate however, left a slightly sour aftertaste with a little of bitterness and sweetness. I felt this chocolate is suitable for those who likes dark chocolate, yet do not really fancy the real bitterness of it. For me, this experience was ok as it tasted like any other chocolates I had and it wasn’t as memorable as Chocolate A.

All in all, I personally prefer Chocolate A, as I’m a dark chocolate lover myself. But maybe, the spiciness level could tone down a little hehe.

Category: Research

3D | Soundscapes I

3D | Chocolate Connoisseur