https://soundcloud.com/jgbbeats/jkarri-mariana-demo
I just made this beat in response to the film WATA which I think I’m going to re-score for my specialisation project. The chords and drums have the feeling I felt when I watched it, I can’t explain it just is what it is!. I think I will use parts of it for the indoor section of the scene I want to score.
I recently watched the film Zola, and was immediately entranced and amazed by the utterly incredible Mica Levi score, her use of minimal synth lines and out of this world sonics and also things that sound like they came out of an 80s video game is incredible, this score sounds DIY but in the best way possible, it’s expansive and rich at times and at times it is ludicrously bare, but to me this just adds to the great appeal of this score and this movie. This is really something I wish to indulge in in my specialisation piece for sure.
In todays session we did an exercise showed to us by Milo, that he learnt from berber culture in North Africa. This was immediately interesting to me as cultures from this part of the world intrigue me a lot, and this part of the world is somewhere I’d really love to travel one day. This analysis of the experience of hearing a sound like clapping in a spatial environment is very intriguing as it helps me learn and realise the way in which modulating a certain sounds amplitude, EQ or spectral balance can change how I as a human think and interpret and sound I hear at any given moment. This is especially intriguing for me as in project which is based around water I will have to find the nuances of filtering and how I can manifest emotion from the listener with changes in EQ.
Also It revealed to me how much was humans respond to the sound of the collision of skin as a sonic texture and also just how versatile our hands are as instruments,
A beautiful & intriguing journey in visual & sonic personification of Colonial evil.
In this mysterious 20 minute audiovisual experience, Igwe explores the colonial imprisonment of it’s hostages culture & history through the now derelict spaces they where once kept in. Igwe depicts these spaces as groaning and rumbling dusty spaces to reflect their once tiresome and evil duty of hiding the truth & pushing colonial propaganda for the good of the ‘Commonwealth’ . This is further depicted with stark images of these spaces, shown as cold grey lifeless spaces, holding not much but a few remains of old tape and writings lifted from the conquest of the British Empire. This is further exaggerated with sounds like reverse whistling sounds, to me this was one of my favourite elements of this piece, whistling to me connotes the concept of loitering, waiting around without a purpose, much like the remains of these defunct places, purposeless and irrelevant in there once so twisted prideful history. I think the reverse whistling sounds reflect that beautifully. Also the tense, almost horror film-like sounds and ambiences help to exaggerate the sinister past & purpose that these spaces/archives once represented. Almost like a graveyard or any sort of space that once lived, ghosts or demons. I think this intense spiritualisation of a space, especially when a space represents something evil, is very powerful as it helps to really put across the artists feelings towards the subject at hand, in this case colonialism.
The excerpts lifted from ‘Common Wealth FM’ was also very clever as the concept of using a radio archive as a big portion of the sound pallete of the piece in this instance reflects and parallels the visual depiction of these physical archives of what once was the so called ‘common wealth’. The words chosen and the repetition of certain phrases was brilliant as I believe it reflects a lot the tactics chosen by colonial evil to confuse the public, drilling into the heads of the masses certain ideology and propaganda, thickening the veil over the eyes of the masses.
Overall I found this showing a very inspiring and refreshing representation of the evils of empire, I enjoyed it as although it had a clear standpoint on colonialism it reflecting in a very observing way, showing more than telling. Excellent piece
This lecture was good but it didn’t spark my interest as much as others did although some good points where made. I liked the quote on refusal “refusal is the everyday practice of saying no to the structures that consign us to death” I thought this was very poignant as it made me evaluate the everyday infastructures and institutions that we are made to conform with from birth without having a choice. Also, acceptance of societal norms without consciousness, this is something I have been thinking a lot recently and it aligns with my meditation practice of mindfulness and the act of trying to be mindful about the things that I consume and the things I take for granted. Also being a creative there is a lot of pressures that we must act a certain way or have a certain way we deliver our art. Maddisons views on aesthetics and ways of delivering art to the public raised these thoughts in my head and made me think of new more unconventional ways to release my art into the world.
This lecture was interesting to me as it was one from a man who’s specialism lies in instrumentalism, a virtuoso in the oud it was interesting to see how he relates his experiences playing quite a ‘niche’ instrument in the western world and where he stands as an academic. His words on ethnomusicology where very poignant and he said a lot of things I can take into account of in my ethnographic studies and writing. Also it was very interesting to see how he re purposed western music for use in with the oud and working with oud ensembles
This was a great lecture, I am a big fan of the ‘Make techno black again’ movement, and his cause that he fights for is one that is very key. He details the origins of house and musical movements out of Detroit back to the days of slavery and how the ramifications of that pain and suffering and genocide are still felt to this day but on the contrary he shows how the resilience of black people have assured that they have a voice to this day and how even against all odds the black community are still managing to strive to a better future. His book ‘Assembling a Black Counter Culture’ is something I am definitely going to buy as I think it is. essential reading as a POC person in music.\
I enjoyed this lecture as I liked her individual approach to live performance I like the blend of sound art with traditional instruments and how she blends abstract concepts and very strange technological approaches with nice tangible pieces. I also love her use of vocal sampling and how she manipulates her voice and combines it with synthesis to create worlds of sound which are extremely interesting to me as a listener. Her live set ups though were the most interesting, I loved her laptop band and the sounds they created .
I absolutely loved this lecture, it was more so interesting for me as a human being and a member of the African diaspora than as a sound artist, but I believe it is just as important to gain knowledge from people who speak on issues that concern you and people in your family as a matter of human necessity and as a matter of inspiration and fuel to my spirit as a creative. I loved how she linked our tribal polyrhythmic culture to the sound of Afro-Diasporic music to this day, this is key to me as I wish to expand upon this point within my Essay. I loved how she linked the problems in the afro community today as a political one with deep roots in genocide and slavery. Big up Janine! Very special lecture
Todays lecture was very interesting, I am a big fan of Korg synthesisers, having a few of my own. It was very enriching to get an insight of Korg from the point of view of someone who actually works within the business itself. I liked how he spoke about trying to make his products as user friendly and as widely easy to use as possible, I thought this was interesting as you often think of synthesisers as nerdy products that you think are made by nerds for nerds.