A Walk in the Park
2021 - Stereo Fixed Media
2021 - Stereo Fixed Media
Program Note: My first investigation of a synthesized soundscape, this piece aims to create an immersive environment with narrative form with fixed media. Its creation was guided by Dr. Michael Miller who provided me with language about a listener’s relationship to sounds as the sounds move both between reality and abstraction, and spatially within the stereo field. I used a combination of field recordings and synthesized elements to create sonic material which I then manipulated spatially with volume automation, reverb, and HRTF panning via Blender’s sound source objects and sound listener object. Formally, the piece aims to put the listener in perspective of a person who moves from an urban environment, represented with realistic sounds and spatialization, to a green space which is rendered with a more nebulous and melodic soundscape.
More Information: The piece follows a narrative I had constructed about someone who lives in an apartment taking a moped ride to go walk in a park. When creating the piece, I was interested in trying to merge the sound design techniques I'd learned from dance music production with what I understood to be more of an academic pursuit. As such, I tried to make the piece move from straight-ahead representative sound design to more tonal, abstract sound design.
To accomplish this aim, the first half of the piece uses a lot of raw field recordings. Blender's HRTF panning, which makes sounds seem to swoosh by the listener's head, seemed to me to convey the sensation of reality quite well. Additionally, I sound designed the sound of the moped engine in Xfer Serum, doing my best to put as many small and nuanced modulations onto the sound to make it seem as realistic as possible. In the abstract section of the piece, I used more tonal elements like FM bells, autotuned motor-noises, and even just reverberant pad chords.
To hear A Walk in the Park, I have provided an embedded SoundCloud Link. This piece is only public on SoundCloud, but if you would like a recording please email me.