Task 7 Mode Bending: Soundscape – What’s in my bag
By: Grace Ellen Reid
My comment + reflection:
I love the approach you took for this task! I had thought about recording mini “soundbytes” and making a compilation of the sounds for this task, but had trouble with the low sound resolution and white noise in my background. I also couldn’t decide how I wanted to distinguish the “borders” between the sounds so that the listener knows that it is a new object. Yours is so crisp and clean, which I really appreciate, as it creates this immersive, 3-D environment for the listener. For the full experience, I would probably recommend others to listen to your soundscape video with earphones.
I was impressed by the less apparent qualities of each item that you were able to capture with sound. It seemed like you were telling a story with these sounds, which also made me reevaluate my own sense of meaning making, since not all of your sounds were literal.
I really love how you said, “Soundscapes enable a different kind of semiotic capture. How might we hear electricity? Or the sound of fresh air to represent gum. What song do I hear when I see the wildflower journal?” This perfectly embodies the spirit of your creation!
I enjoyed the creative spin and alternate perspective that was displayed with some of the segments, especially from items that could have been easier to show with their more explicitly representative sounds. It was fun to discover them as I go, and to think about what type of object emitted the sound based on my previous knowledge of an object’s physical characteristics and abilities.
Thank you so much for sharing your insight!