HOW CAN WE CREATE AURAL SPACES IN XR WHEN WE HAVE ONLY A LIMITED CONSCIOUSNESS OF HOW SOUND PRODUCES SPACE IN EVERYDAY LIFE?
WHAT ARE THE CONCEPTS TO EXPERIENCE AND VERBALISE EXISTING AURAL ARCHITECTURES?
TASKs for Tuesday 15.11.22
Research Subject:
Spatio-Temporal Phenomena in Artificial Environments
I. Walking in pairs with blindfolds
(10 minutes)
°Follow your ears while your partner is taking care of you.
°"See" where your ears are taking you.
°Concentrate entirely on aural spatiality.
(after 10 minutes)
°Stop at a challenging spot and
°observe and analyse the scene exactly (basic mood, atmospheres, features, relationships, dependencies).
°Try humming the pitches of individual sounds.
°When you take off the blindfolds, try to observe with your eyes what you have just experienced with your ears.
(no time limitation)
°Take down notes
°Change roles with your partner (same timing)
meet up with the others at [...]
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II. Focusing on Sound Objects
(Preparatory exercise for composing or performing a sound scene)
°Search for a sound scene consisting of 3 sound objects (e.g. water pipe, fridge, birdsong)
°Concentrate 10 seconds on the first element, then jump to the next, concentrate again 10 seconds and so on.
(2-5 minutes)
°Then start sliding your attention between them.
°Do not concentrate on one element for more than 3 seconds.
(2 minutes)
Then go on to…
III. SOUND SCENE TOPOGRAPHY
°Find yourself another sound scene in a public space.
°Observe and analyse the sound scene exactly (basic mood, atmospheres, features, relationships, dependencies).
°Try humming the pitches of individual sounds.
°Name at least five audible sounds or sound sources of your sound scene.
°Identify their volume/presence with a value from 1 to 10.
(Mixing desk paradigm)
°Which sounds are in the foreground?
°Which sounds are in the background?
°Is there a "key sound"?
°Which sounds are natural?
°Take down notes
the perceptual “something” is always in the middle of something else, it always forms part of a field’
(Merleau-Ponty 1962: 4).
next step:
COMPOSING/PERFORMING A SOUND SCENE
°Give your sound scene a title (like to a picture or a composition you made).
°Take all participants to this spot and present your results.
(5 minutes listening, followed by explanations including your 1-10 evaluations)
OR
°Create your own sound scene in which you stage sounds in public space
(mobile phone, bicycle bell, voice, etc.).
°Give your sound scene a title (like to a picture or a composition you made)
°Take all participants to this spot and present your results.
(5 minutes listening, followed by explanations including your 1-10 evaluations)
Aural
“parallels visual, refers exclusively to the human experience of a sonic process”. (Salter/Blesser 2006)
Aural Architecture
“properties of a space that can be experienced by listening“
"An aural architect, acting as both an artist and a social engineer, is therefore someone who selects specific aural attributes of a space based on what is desirable in a particular cultural framework." (Salter/Blesser 2006)
