| Photography of Decay: Volume 13

| New Experimental Audio works

Another thing I churned out recently to get back into the swing of things. I mostly used alternations of frequencies again and also looping. Check it out here!

https://nectarlips.bandcamp.com/album/woah-2k14

| Visuals Production

Along with my music I also produced a series of Visuals to complement my audio in terms of actual moving images, where I originally wanted to explore.

I first tried creating visuals for Melting Dreamscapes but It initially appeared pretty slow and out of pace with what I originally wanted. Also I didn't feel like the colours fitted for the sounds which were alot more aggressive which should have yellow/redish colours.

I tried a better method with Silent Hill which came out really good. I chose a better composition for the moving strips I collected from the wave display in my music making program. I found the waves being produced central and then expanding outwards far more successful that just moving in and out.

| Audio Production: BIT DEGRADATION

As I've mentioned before, Recently produced a new bundle of sounds generated around Decay but I wanted to comment on a few things which made me create this final collection of noise for my final major project. I've already tried letting the audio simply play as I added the images into my synthesizer. Then I added audio FX to change the sounds and start to create more of a mood like to make it sound more aggressive or slightly softer, an example of one of my more aggressive pieces would be worker bees, a very early soundtrack. After that there was then the live performance type soundtracks which I recorded whilst I manipulated sound with the phaser dials and also then rearranging the audio, working on composition, which eventually created Melting Dreamscapes. Now was the time to rework my early tracks kind of like what I did with my 2D based collage work, reusing materials, making new forms and thats what created this album.

In some respects, this is also one of my favourite albums so far next to Candy Coated Nightmares (most of these names are unconnected with the genre of the project, they just seemed to fit what I heard) mainly due to the types of sounds being produced. They're quite wacky and fun which is a pleasant change from previous audio files and has this nice contrast between the sounds being heard and what the music is suppose to represent. Its really odd to think that Decay can be seen as something fun and wacky, similar to observing bubbles as they unravel themselves and disappear into thin air.

Final Major Project Evaluation

I did not expect that my ideas would deviate so much at the start of the project but I enjoyed how my ideas my research led me to look in different ways from my initial plan.

During my Final Major Project, I delved initially into a lot of media and shape experimentation with forms I could naturally find through decay. By collecting photographic evidence of decay, I was able to create my own decay of 2D materials using physical tearing, cutting and reusing old surfaces to work on inspired by the works of EVOL. Eventually, through research into digital artists and work such as glitches and digital manipulation by David Szauder, I started to think in a more audio-visual way in which I reused my material experimentation and photography to create sound, digital artwork and moving forms related to the sounds centred around my theme of decay.

Whilst originally I planned to explore various ways I could create decay with 2D based materials, I began to record the sounds of the environment too, as either drawing lines representing sounds which I listened out for and reproduced as an alternating pattern of increasing and decreasing frequencies. This led to me using the images I have created and recorded into sound and music through a method called ‘Resynthesis’. Also through creating sound by this method of transferring image to sound, I was able to fulfil my original goals of producing animated work through capturing the movement of the digital sound waves shown in my digital audio workshop plugin called Harmor, which I rearranged through video editing to produce a moving animated form which relates to my sound work.

I feel my project started off going to plan but then worked its way into something unexpected and new which led me back to my original goal of producing animations of decay. A few revisions I did make was to not solely go for a common way of producing animation. I originally wanted to try a few traditional techniques but eventually led to making my own through experimentation with software.

Through this project I have gained more knowledge of creating music, reusing textures and shapes I find in the natural environment as a base for more creative work and discovered a variety of artists who use sound as well as art to create more interesting work.

Some problems I have discovered through this project were sometimes trying to expand on certain ideas, mostly to do the vast amount of initial starting points I was working with, due to the broadness of the word decay. It was quite difficult to pick a direction since I found qualities I enjoyed in all the work I did but eventually I found something I really enjoyed and wanted to make my sole ambition to explore. Because of this, my original timetable shifted but it did all come together comfortably.

I feel my project was successful even though I discovered a fair amount of methods which I never really considered as I was writing my plan and through my journey into the themes of decay, it sort of took its own direction and led me into realms of producing audio-visual work. I feel I did explore the multiple ways of creating decay as well as digital animated works.

Now that I have these new ways of producing work such as 2D based formats, digital visualisations and even music, I could keep on exploring and improving, involving a lot more chaotic randomness during visualisations like the nature of decay such as digital and real life recordings of decay in motion. I could further my music as either a collection of decaying sounds or more melodic compositions. I could even take the skills and processes learnt through this project and apply them to other themes or subjects in the future.

| Audio Production : ALBUM RELEASE!

Yes, Posted a new collection of music just before I end my Final Major Project (or will I). Had a bunch of fun again with this one like I always do so I hope you will too. Unsure how I've gotten 17k views on my google+ page, can't believe people have conformed to google+ but anyway, I've recently been pulling away from using traditional media and into more digital. Evidence of my transition comes from moving into Visual-Audio media forms and digital manipulation of photography and drawings and then even using them to create music whilst I turn alsorts of colourful buttons. My most recent creation is 'Bit Degradation' but I still suggest listening to my most favourite album, 'Candy Coated Nightmares'. Click on the images below!

                

 | Photography of Decay: Volume 12