MUSIC 256A: WEEK 4
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Artful Design Chp. 4: Programmability & Sound Design
Principle 4.5: Design things with a computer that would not be possible without!
One of my favorite things to do (people react on a pretty wide spectrum, ranging from confusion to “I do the same thing!”) is to use my phone Voice Memos to record moments I think are beautiful. The habit actually started with a CCRMA class — Sculpting with Sounds, Images, and Words, taught by Jaroslaw Kapuscinski. It was my first introsem fall quarter freshman year (I think it might have been my first class ever at Stanford). For my first sound project, I decided to piece together snippets of life from my dorm — ping pong balls, conversations, people playing music in their rooms, laughter. I spent so much time poring over those audio clips, constructing my own little narrative from the puzzles pieces I could pick out. I created a final audiovisual project, overlaying paintings and animations and drawings over my own “song” composed from intertwined stories during my freshman fall. Video captures moments almost too literally. The pairing of literal image and sound feels like it’s trying to create a memory for you. With audio, I’m able to remember the little snippets and voices that were important to me. There’s something more exciting about hearing a moment and being able to recreate the visuals of that moment in your head.
I feel like I’m trying to be on the same wavelength as the creator of Homebrew, and anyone who creates similar projects. I love the idea of creating narratives from little everyday moments, sounds, and images. That kind of digital collage is such an interesting and personal medium. Hopefully, later in this class, I’m able to use those ideas in my projects. I’ve never thought of these projects as something uniquely related to computers, but that first CCRMA class definitely was the first time I felt like I really was able to connect with creating digital art. I was able to get excited and lost in my work, the way that I do with physical creation.
