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Category: Creative Sound Project E1

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Creative Sound Project E1

Sound Design Vocabulary *

Radiogenic theory

We first started looking into radiogenic theory. Milo talked about how radio was a new media in the 1920s, this was an exciting new piece of media that was different from the visual aspects of TV and Film. Radiogenic theory looks into how sound especially behaves in the radiophonic space, believing that sound can become more powerful through the medium of radio.

Radiogenic theory is important if you’re working in radiophonic sound because it encourages you to look beyond the audio that is being played but instead to look at the deeper meaning being the broadcast. Does this sound make sense with no image?

Kate Lacy (age unknown)

Kate Lacey is Professor of Media History and Theory in the School of Media, Film and Music at the University of Sussex, UK. She has published about broadcasting history. Lacy explores the the concept of “radiogenic retrospection” in which she believes that radio serves as a medium for public reflection showing radio ability to create shared conciseness (Lacey, 2023).

She published ‘Listening Republics’ in (2013) and she talks about the attention of the listener, there are good listeners and bad listeners when talking about radio. Listening isn’t just a passive act it can have implications on politics and relational practices.

All sonic arts have a visual aspect to them, with this in mind, how did radio survive?

The main aspect I’ve noticed about the enjoyment of radio is the imagination that come with listening. As in Arnheim, R. (1936) ‘Radio’ there’s talk of a how radio captures the imagination of the listener, forcing them to imagine their own story. Furthermore, radio can be played anywhere so is able to be woven into our lives when at home or outside. So it can’t be related to any other forms of media like text or visual, as it purely audio.

Bibliography

Lacey, K. (2023). Everybody’s Scrapbook: The BBC, radiogenic retrospection and the Mediatisation of Memory. Journal of radio & audio media, 30(2), pp.463–480. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/19376529.2023.2244486.

Ludwig, M. (2025). Radio; by Rudolf Arnheim, translated by Margaret Ludwig and Herbert Read – Catalogue | National Library of Australia. [online] Nla.gov.au. Available at: https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/catalog/2497755 [Accessed 14 Apr. 2025].

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Creative Sound Project E1

Rorys Workshop *

What we did

Today we had a workshop with Rory, I like his workshops because of the creative freedom he gives to us. He had a big pallet on the floor and told us to make instruments to attach to it.

I sorted by making a spring instrument, by drilling screws into pieces of wood I made a funny sounding noise. This was interesting experience because of the unusual noised that could come from just a few things.

The Zane Knight guitar

Later on in the lecture I saw that there where tuning pegs for a guitar and decided to try and make a simplistic instruments that could have pitch, we where able to drill in the pegs into the wood. After we attached it to a long string from an old guitar then turn the pegs. The gutter didn’t have a neck with frets that where long enough to play chords but we used a violin string on them to create a unique sound.

How it applied to our creative radio project

It was eye opening to see how easy it is to make an instrument and attach a compressed mic to it to create a sound. I think we want to use this in our radio project as it’s able to make drone sound effects. After the lecture we ran the contact mic the gutter strings where near and got some fascinating noises.

Instrument creation

Looking further into instrument creation I like the idea of making a guitar from scratch, it’s an inspiring project that could be implemented into my art to create something individualist.

Leo Fender (1909-1995)

There are some obvious music instrument pioneers like Leo Fender (1909-1995) who created the Fender guitar, which was revolutionary at the time as it was easier to play than the current electric guitars available to play at the time due to their short necks.

Christiana Kubisch (1948)

She made an instrument that uses headphones to convert electromagnetic sound into audio signals. Her exhibition “electrical walks” (2007) lets people walk through and hear all the hidden electrical currents coming from different things.

Its relation to radiophonic art

The main benefit of creating new instruments for radiophonic art is the possibility of not using traditional tools. The abstract nature of radiophonic art means that creating something that hanse been seen or heard of before is of great significance. Its good to reimagine what sound can be when wanting to create something new to our ears, creating musical instruments is changes the traditional channels of media.

References

France, P. (n.d.). 8 Things You Might Not Know About Leo Fender. [online] www.fender.com. Available at: https://www.fender.com/articles/behind-the-scenes/8-things-you-might-not-know-about-leo-fender.

Kubisch, C. (n.d.). Electrical Walks. [online] christina kubisch. Available at: https://christinakubisch.de/electrical-walks.

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Creative Sound Project E1

Radiophonic art case study *

Radiophonic art

Radiophonic art is an innovative form of artistic expression through the medium of radio. It’s a platform for artistic expression and contemporary arts through broadcasting and radio.

Case study: Daphne Oram “The lost world” (1965)

Daphne Oram (1925-2003) is one of the central figures for the development of British experimental music, she was also known for founding the BBC Radiophonic Workshop in 1958. She mainly used tape manipulation in her art, creating a new form of sound synthesis at the time.

The creation of “The Lost World”:

Oram’s “The Lost World” was first broadcasted in 1965 by the BBC. It was one of her earliest works to explore radio as an art form, merging narrative elements with interesting tape manipulation.

When Oram created “The lost word” (1965), when she was working at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, which was becoming a new space for experimenting with new ways to produce and broadcast contemporary sound. “The Lost World” (1965) was a sonic experiment that utilised tape loops, environmental sounds and electronic manipulation to create a narrative in a non linear way.

The impact it had

The reception it had on its original release was one of innovation, something of this magnitude had been attempted before this. Her music created and influenced electronic musicians and contemporary sound musicians. This piece expanded the idea of electronic music as an art form.

Musical techniques

Layering – By layering several natural and synthetic sounds Oram was able to portray the feeling of “The Lost World“(1965)

Tape manipulation – Oram famously used tape manipulation in her work, this was an early age of music concrete music

Conclusion

 While much of Oram’s work remained under-appreciated during her lifetime, her contributions to the world of electronic music and sound art where massive. “The Lost World” (1965) stands as an example of experimental sound design in creating immersive experiences on the radio. Today, Oram’s work continue to inspire artists exploring the world of sound art, technology, and storytelling.

References

-Grierson, M. (2015) Daphne Oram Collection, Goldsmiths, University of London. Available at: https://www.gold.ac.uk/ems/oram/ (Accessed: 16 March 2025). 

-Goldsmiths University (2017) Electronic Music Pioneer, Daphne Oram. Available at: https://www.daphneoram.org/ (Accessed: 16 March 2025). 

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Creative Sound Project E1

Sonic narrative *

The human voice

The human voices importance to radiophonic art plays a big role. The main features of the human voice in radio art are that it carries the meaning and emotional dissonance to emphasis the meaning of a script. The voice is an art form beyond written words, it can carry the rhythm of a piece or provide the art with some identity and context.

An example of an artist that uses the human voice as an art form or medium is Laurie Anderson (1947) she is seen as the queen of voice-as-art, she likes to layer spoken word over different effects and vocoders to blur the line of human and machine. her work in “United States Live” (1984) pushes this idea of playing with layers and repetition to evoke an sense of sonic theatre.

Music as a bed

Using music as a bed is a common technique used in radio phonic art to sit underneath the voice as a sonic layer to create atmosphere or as an emotional guide. Music can change the shape of the listeners emotional state, it emphasises us the listen to the voice making it an important tool for story telling.

Music can also provide the listener with context where there are no visuals, it helps the listener orient themselves into time, place and mood. An example of an artist who uses sound as a bed is Chris Watson (1953), who was one the worlds most acclaimed recording artists. His focus is on wildlife, he uses ambient and natural sounds to bed his artwork into. “Glastonbury Ocean Landscape” (2019) shows his attention to using nature sounds that he collects on his field recorder. His distinctive taste of nature bring forth a surreal landscape for the listener.

Eds Thoughts

-Bing Crosby was the only person that has an Egfar tape recorder lifted from German army, he used tape recorders to present his radio show across America abolishing time zones. he could show anyone

-The giutair could also abolish time zones because of its PORTABLILTY, you can take it anywhere on your back and record it, showing anyone anywhere, its weightlessness.

-Collapse of space, can show other people your music anywhere at anytime. ITS WEIGHTLESS

-Radio emphases liveness, with radio your dealing with duration, our programme will slot into this on going programme

-When does an event become an object? Podcasts appears as a recording, radio is more of an event that’s constantly changing that you tap into rather than seeking out something

-The flapping of the cloth as the sounds of the fire. What does the sound effect do, what can it tell us?

-An overstated sound effect shows accomatic space (non visual) we must over state as we have no gestural content. We are all blind!

-The accusmatic space is not completely a blank void is not nothing. There is an archtecual environment with sound as we percieve sound as highs and lows. We have an environment

-We engineer this experience we live in, rely on our instinct as sound designs and artists

Reflections

Reflecting on my own personal work, I realise the intimacy that the human voice carries. How do I want my listener to feel when they listen to my piece? There are ways that we can drawer the listener in, to make them feel part of the journey. Delivery of the voice is something that I want to look at, rerecording vocals in different expressions to change the way my work feels.

Voice is the embodied sound within radio, it grounds the piece in the human aspect of my work. It doesn’t matter who is saying but it will always make the artwork more human.

Looking into music as a bed, the sounds we decide to use for a piece with carry the undercurrent of emotion next to the voice. It can guide the listener in a more subtle way so we can connect the different elements together.

References

BBC (2024). Episode One: The Real World. [online] BBC Radio 1. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0025tzx [Accessed 8 Apr. 2025].

Collins, P. (2019). Chris Watson. [online] Chris Watson. Available at: https://chriswatson.net [Accessed 8 Apr. 2025].

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Creative Sound Project E1

Foley tutorial with Ed Baxter *

Tutorial

I had some time to think about what sort of sounds I wanted to explore sonically during this tutorial with Ed Baxter on foley, we hired out the foley studio in UAL and learnt the ins and outs, specifically on the process of creating noise for visual cues. Getting used to using the studio, I had a go at being the sound technician for it which was a good experience. We tried to make fire noises as a group, using only two bed sheets and some plastic wrappers. We also attempted to make the sound of someone getting hit with a hammer using a watermelon. and a blunt object.

The ‘fire noise’

We teamed up and attempted to make a synthetic fire noise using two bed sheets for the hum of the fire, different crackly plastics for the sticks burning along with other small fabrics for the randomised movement of the fire. The difficulty with this task was getting it to sound natural, as humans we try to create patterns within our day to day life so it was hard to break from that mould.

This task turned out to be a lot more challenging than originally expected, finding the right rhythm was difficult but it put things into perspective when making foley. We ended up with a some what good attempt at fire noise after a few tries. I have had technical difficulties accessing the files for this recording process currently.

The world of foley

Looking deeper into the world of foley, various artist such as Ron Geeson (1943) who has been involved in films such as Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971) and Ghost Story (1974). He’s known for his scoring of films in a unique electro grove way, incorporating motions of jazz and classical and his incredible work of foley. He work in foley was seen as a new start to cinema at the time, with his films been credited for their audio accomplishments.

 Kate Hopkins (1982) share the views on the creative tough of foley. They believe that creating foley isn’t about making the sound realistic, but actually trying to match a sound to the thought of the image, thus making the process a more individual and creative process. Kate has done Foley for many nature documentaries such as Frozen Planet (2022) and Our Planet (2019), showing the power of good foley in real time.

Looking into my own work, I want to take inspiration from people in the field. I listened to a podcast with Ruth Sulivan (1914) and it was interesting to hear her say that making sound effects is like being a composer, because you need a timeline to portray a feeling. This made me reflect on the possible creativity I have over my own sound FX.

It’s obvious now that sound effects are there to attract atmosphere, not to show reality. It’s not important to reproduce sounds not as they are heard but how they are imagined. Going into my own work I now realise that I need to think about the detail and demeanour of actor or objects to best portray synthetic sounds.

The importance of Foley in radiophonic artwork

Foley plays a huge part in the world of radiophonic art as it adds an often surreal layer of sound that can change the listener perception. The correct use of foley can shape narratives without the use of the voice, it can be an effective tool for story telling without speaking a single word, which is a powerful tool in radiophonic artwork.

References

Geeson, R. (2025). Ron Geesin – Home. [online] Rongeesin.com. Available at: https://www.rongeesin.com [Accessed 8 Apr. 2025].

Clifton Web Design (2019). Kate Hopkins – Wounded Buffalo Sound Studios. [online] Woundedbuffalo.co.uk. Available at: https://woundedbuffalo.co.uk/people/kate-hopkins/ [Accessed 8 Apr. 2025].

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Creative Sound Project E1

Creative sound project introductions *

Introduction with Ed Baxter

In this introduction lecture we went over the unit and what we would be studying. Ed talked about himself, he is the co founder of Resonance FM and Resonance Radio Extra. Resonance FM is the UK only 24/7 online digital broadcasting platform that focuses on sound art and experimental music.

Resonance Extra

https://extra.resonance.fm/about

Resonance extra focus on experimental sounds, radio art and other contemporary music forms. It’s interesting to see a platform where up and coming sound artists can showcase their work, plus it provides a hub for artists to review each other works.

Ed went on to talk about how time management is import on this course, and also good if your looking to go into radio. “Even when in a band you need all your band mates to come in on time.”

(Resonance FM)(Resonance Radio Extra)

Quotes from ED

“Gestures in performance are the guitarist sticking his tongue out when playing his riff, the drummer rocking his head back and forth when counting his cue in. We dot exactly understand these gestures as the audience.”

“Pictures are more clear on radio as one of the senses (visual) is removed, we all see something different in our individual minds eye, everyone is blind listening to the radio.”

It was informative to learn about the creativity and aesthetic quality that comes with working in radio. I took some good notes into preparing for the hand in on the assignment brief, it was interesting to hear some examples from Ed time working in radio.

Could I see myself working in radio?

Sounds in radio

  • Instruments
  • Static
  • Poetry
  • Singing
  • Phones
  • Voice overs
  • Silence
  • Animals
  • Music
  • Films
  • Books
  • Live ands

How do I as an artist making my own radio make sense of these sounds how does this speak to the internal monologue of the listener?

John Cages “Radio Music” (1957)

This piece by John Cage, pioneered radio art ay the time of its realise. He uses chance and probability in his piece with different frequencies that played on the radio. This was groundbreaking at the time as no one had attempted to try realising contemporary musical forms on the radio. This speaks to the internal dialogue of this listener in an attempted to confuse or evoke a feeling of the listener.

Group work

We need a leader of a group, we all need to agree to create a goal of a radio station show, who is a readable leader. We decided to choose Zain as a group leader, this was an interesting experience as we didn’t know who to choose.

We talked about some possibilities of what sort of work we could produce. Chance music, as seen in John Cages radio art. We want a story line, maybe chance through a script with no clear aim. I really the idea of not having a clear goal when listening to our piece, it would be nice to leave the interpretation to the listener.

We could talk about the constant information we are fed through phone, radio tv and social media but eventually stumbled upon probability and chance as the main focus of our art.

Rules of the radio

Avoid profanity on radio

Do not make personal comments on personal figures

Avoid anything you think is offensive