In todays lecture we learnt about Granular synthesis, granular synthesis is when a synthesiser or program chops audio into tiny grains and manipulates it into something new. Here are some granular experiments which I will include in my final piece, these synthy compositions are meant to represent the physical mundane of living in the city.
I like Granular synthesis as on Pigments 2 by Arturia that I used to do it, it really had a feel of something ‘other’ and outside the world of classic modular synthesis or the age-old of art of flicking through presets on a shiny retro looking VST or piece of hardware. Also it allows me to continue my sample centric production style but broaden that way of thinking into ‘synth-world’.
One subject I plan to base a lot of my project around is the ‘Akan World View’. As someone who originated from the Akan/Ashanti peoples I have been learning more and more about my cultures history and belief system that was taken away from my family after slavery, it is one of my life goals to re-instate these ways of being into my lifestyle and practice.
‘In Akan cosmology there is The Akan cosmos, like other African peoples, is divided into “two inter-penetrating and inseparable, yet distinguishable, parts”3, namely, the world of spirits and the world of human’
This will show itself in my piece as hopefully a strong divide in the piece. I want my piece to show the spiritual behind the physical, everyday nature of city life.
I’m not going to go into too much crazy detail about the project as I am writing an 800 word piece on it but I will use this blog post as a rough guide to my mind going into it.
In terms of sound design and audio quality I wanted my excerpt to have an immersive feel, something nice and reverby that really feels like it has space. In research I listened to some BBC Radiophonic works and saw myself loving the looping effects they had on their pieces, similar to the works of Steve Reich. I don’t know whether it’s my Hip-Hop background but I LOVE a good loop so because of this I decided it would be most fitting to include a loop of some sort into my piece. After deciding what loops I wanted to use ( the decision was definitely an emotionally based one, it actually had nothing to do with sound of the pieces itself, more what they meant to me) I began using effects and envelopes to manipulate them into something which brought the texture that I desired. Then I listened to the piece figured how I could incorporate it & it was done.
In this post I’m to talk about some of my favourite times on radio!
This is me and another producer/dj IZCO on Rinse FM with an artist I work with called DOCHI on mic. This set was great, me and Izco going back to back playing our productions and beats we were into at the time. This was broadcast live and there definitely was an air of pressure before it started to deliver a good set but we prepared some good tunes and made sure our mixes were tight, as my.mum says, ‘fail to prepare, prepare to fail!’
This is another set of mine with dochi again, this one was really fun, Balamii is an online radio station with plenty great DJ’s, however it does have that community feel this is made it almost more fun than Rinse FM sets as there was an added sense of freedom and fun to be had when we was in the building.
Me and my mates have a show on Balamii called CUPPA sounds, this is where we play sounds we grew up on like reggae, jazz and music from all over the world, strictly vinyl only as well. This experience is really fun simply because the vinyl element makes it feel a lot more authentic and old school and also makes it feel like I’m doing the radio tradition that my brother and my dad did (and still do) and continuing it through me, there is something to be said for the added authenticity and originality that using analogue equipment and vinyl brings to the table.
Theres something so magical about the radio experience, preparing your set the night before, getting the bus there on the day drinking your coffee & smoking you’re cig before in preparation, there’s something so cool about the whole experience.
My love for radio began very young, it was the vibration of 2Step Garage UKG rhythms impeding through my walls as I was trying to go to sleep for school in the morning as my brother babysat me as my mum was out working . The smell of weed wafting through the house from my brothers room as about 10 mates from the area stood in my brothers room entranced by the sound coming from the decks, people would take it in turns to spit a lyric and friendship and fried chicken would be shared. These sessions would often be in practice for an upcoming radio set or they would be recorded into logic, tape or cd to be copied and passed around the ends. This is how I got into radio, radio was a thing and still is something that brings together communities, its a live broadcast of feeling, creativity and artistry at its best & at its worst in my opinion it’s a means of mainstream capitalist communication to numb the minds of in car commuters with shitty political takes and rubbish middle – of – the – road – music.
This upcoming project in which we are studying is on the topic of Radiophonic music and radiophonic sound. By definition, radiophonic sound is sound effects and sound broadcasts designed for live radio broadcast. This brings a myriad of different effects and limitations which often lead to great creativity and new sounds, things we’ve never heard before from this particular sphere of art.
The time radiophonic came into mainstream view during the 60’s with the pioneering work of The BBC Radiophonic workshop with group members such as Delia Derbyshire, David Caine and John Baker working on sounds to be used as standalone radio pieces aired on live BBC Radio and sound effects used in shows like Doctor Who. Their works have inspired electronic musicians to this day. With artists from all kinds of electronic genres citing their works as influences including myself, the Doctor Who soundtracks definitely made an imprint on me as a kid.
My brother was a pirate radio DJ in the golden years of early grime and UKG the genres I grew up on and hold very close to my heart , here he talks about his experiences with pirate radio.
What was pirate radio to you and your friends growing up in the late 90’s & 2000’s?
Bro: It was like when your at school with all your friends and your all into music, it gave us a platform to showcase your skills, an opportunity to show your character, also a mad vibe cos the night before your picking your records and preparing your bars. A lot of social gratification and meeting new people, meeting people that you wouldn’t necessarily run into.
Do u remember the first time you encountered pirate radio:
Bro: My friend had a set on resist FM, in an abandoned dentist, it was a bit edgy there was a fear from radio owners that people would try and come to steal their rig. Always an air of tension, which added to the experience and vibe.
Do you think the medium of Pirate Radio brings something that todays mainstream platforms can’t bring?
Bro: Yeh, it brings that authenticity, it’s like the streets talking hearing voices that wouldn’t necessarily be heard. No A&R’s just raw voices and talent. The interaction with the public just isn’t the same now, how people would phone in for shout outs and requests. It would get people working day jobs get through their day We had tilers, builders locked in all day. It was also the start of peoples weekends you’d lock in to see where the next rave was. People would call in to even just chat about life and any problems they had or anything they was going thru.
Do you think the music scene would be the same if it wasn’t for pirate radio.
Bro: No way. It wouldn’t be the same you wouldn’t have any of the crews or the advancements of music from garage to grime etc. It made pop stars, its where it all started. So Solid are important in this as well, as a south Londoner they took that street culture started spitting on pirate and here we are today with the music that kids are listening to today.
I have a lot of respect for Alexandra and her work within film scoring, however I found this lecture quite dull. I like how she was influenced by minimalism which as a genre I don’t truly understand, as surely minimalism is more than a genre, surely it’s a way of thinking & not something that in sound culture terms is defined by a group of men making weird music in the earlyish 20th century. Just a thought. Attached is a song that I mixed for a friend of mine called IZCO released on Rinse FM’s label imprint, I’d say this song is minimalism , no ?.
Shanti Suki Osman’s view on Art and sound is one I respect highly. She sees it as communication in it’s rawest form, and an ability to communicate is a responsibility. She takes this responsibility and uses it in a way to amplify important issues that need to be raised, an example of this I her podcast which she uses to deal with an uplift women of colour. Shanti is very cool, her career started in an electro pop band with a feminist edge and her relationship with sound developed more and more after that. I think that is one of the most beautiful things about art in general, how you are never really in control of where it takes you, as much as you may think you are in control of your interests.
Lisa Busby’s music interested me a lot, on first listen the starkness and coldness of the sonic textures intrigued me and put me off at the same time. However upon hearing her speak about sound and her music, I totally got it and I understood and appreciated her angle. I appreciated her refusal to conform to norms of music and categorisation and genre. This is an idea I support HEAVILY, my personal viewpoint on this is that ‘genre’ as we know it is a tool which I believe is founded on societal division and racism. To me all I see is that genre is a way of dividing people, this is something I don’t believe in at all, segregation isn’t just physical, segregation in art can be just as detrimental. Why can’t we all share the same space?. Why is some art more highbrow than others?. Why do black people have their own categories?. Why when a black person makes rock music it is still in the urban category?. Why is classical music white?.
