Memory Soundscape
a. Concept
This was the longest time I feel on the flight. I undergo severe turbulence during a flight this September from SZ to SH. Its a memory of trapping into a confined, turbulent space at thousands of meters away from the ground, it is also a feeling of uncertainty, a sense of randomness during turbulence, what will happen in the next second? Will the plane continue to drop?
At the start, I wanted to emphasize the comfort on the plane, that you can sleep and enjoy drinks. But also emphasize the scary part of the peace, that if something happens, it happens suddenly, with uncertainty and no sign.
I didn’t want the environment to be too noisy. Because in a state like this where I am so afraid of what will happen in the next second, I couldn’t focus on the surrounding. I could only hear my dizzy and nervous mind, and feeling the weightlessness when the plane falls. I make the sound of mind soft, and make the turbulence sound loud and sudden as if it is breaking the calmness.
b. Processes
After decided the memory, I made a mindmap to brainstorm the sound that appears in plane turbulence.
Then, I made a timeline that layout the emotion in the form of a graph. I annotate the time and specific sound in the time, and the main events that happen.
I experimented with many objects to make the sound effect on the plane, as well as the tinnitus, heartbeat and sound of sleeping. My main takeaway is that a sound is complicated and has many layers. I used up to 7 objects, for example, violin, oranges, microwave, umbrella, to make the sound of turbulence. I used effects like parametric EQ，reverb, adjust pitch and so on.
Example of sound creation:
A problem I faced when the recording was that I was trying to explore an abstract idea- the sound we hear when sleeping. From a figurative angle, this sound would usually be the sound of breathing. I would also like to find a sound that is dreamy, gives people a sense of emptiness and mindfulness. I tried many objects such as putting water into a glass and rub the glass(碗琴), but it failed because I didn't have the right type of bowl. I then decided to use my violin.
I use effects in AU, mainly fade-in and fade-out to make the sound more smoothly connected. I also use reverb, noise reduction. I copied and pasted a lot to make the continuation of sound more natural, I had about 60 clips of sound.
c. Conclusion
After receiving feedback, I found some areas for improvement. Firstly, from the critic group, I realize that heartbeat and sound of breathing is a cliché. If everyone is using a heartbeat, then it will bring aesthetic fatigue. In my soundscape, I use a heartbeat at first, then replace the heartbeat with a crispy sound of the violin to imply the change of my state of mind to getting more nervous.
From the critique, I got compliments on the transition of sound and my unique approach to address turbulent on the plane. Instead of having the sound of noise and chaos, I use a combination of soft and shaking sound that smoothly connects together. I will keep exploring and finding the balance in future projects.
I also receive feedback from classmates in our section and other section since I wanted to gather opinions from multiple perspectives. This feedbacks are useful since the feedback provider went through the same process with me and is able to understand the process of making soundscape. I acknowledge some of their comments and adjust my soundscape accordingly.
Here are some screenshots of feedback:
d. Image of Audition
