Project outline: This
unit will be used to form part of my final masters project. For my final
project I have decided to create a digital and analogue self-composing glitch
orchestra that will be presented as an audio/visual art installation. The
individual parts and elements of the orchestra will include the numerous glitch
experiments that I will be testing in this self-negotiated unit.
Unit Aim: To
research and experiment various audio and visual glitch techniques
Unit research
question(s): Can the selected and tested audio/visual glitch techniques
(analogue and digital) be used to form part of my final masters project (self-composing
glitch orchestra)?
This project will
be a continuation of the techniques used in the previous unit (ASU2), which
featured a reworking of the image of “The Tower of Babel” by Pieter Bruegel the
Elder into an audio/visual installation. For this piece I reworked the digital
image of the painting into code. I printed the code and drew the symbols onto a
large wooden canvas, which matched the size of the original “Tower of Babel”
painting. The code was then used again, and spell checked/auto corrected, which
resulted in certain parts of the code being replaced with words. These words
were then picked out and were translated into a video piece. The video (on a
loop) would then be projected onto the wooden canvass. Again, using the coded
version of the original image I composed a piece of music that would be used to
form the audio part of the installation. The music was composed by picking out
the following notes within the code (A,B,C,D,E,F and G). Each time the note
appeared it was added to the musical composition, which in turn created a
unique melody. All elements were intended to be brought together to form a
small-scale audio/visual installation.
During this
project I became increasing interested in the idea of re-working an original image,
sound artifact, video etc. into a completely new piece, simply by manipulating
the code. Through my code based experimenting I noticed that not only did code
manipulation result in unique results, but it also produced results that were
similar in glitch art techniques. I began to research the glitch art techniques
further and created two glitch art images via the code copy, cut and paste
technique.
I wasn’t entirely
sure how all of these techniques were going to work together, as I still didn’t
have a clear idea for this piece. Instead, I decided to move forward with the
experiments, hoping that such practices would help me to decide on the final
direction of my project. It was during the planning and collecting of the
materials for the experiments (old records, CDs, tapes, record players etc.) in
my flat that I realised that perhaps all of these techniques could work
together to create a larger audio/visual installation. The CD, record and tape
players, along with all of the records, tapes and CDs were laid out into
sections. The way that I had arranged the like formats reminded me of the way
an orchestra is set out, which led me to the idea of creating a glitch
orchestra. I knew that music would be feature heavily in my piece, but I wanted
to somehow incorporate video into the piece. As Pocock-Williams
suggests, ‘the power of music combined with the expressiveness of imagery can
result in a unique artistic experience’ (Pocock-Williams: 1992: 29). Adding
that ‘images, sounds and their impressions cannot be considered separately,
because the perception of each one is affected by the other’ (Dannenberg: 2005:
27).
I began to think
about ways I could add visual glitching to the piece. I knew that I wanted the
piece to become an audio/visual installation, so I decided to use the set up of
a traditional musical orchestra to help me put together my own version of an
audio/visual glitch orchestra.
I knew that this
project was too large for this specific unit and instead decided that this idea
would be used for my final masters project. I would then instead use this unit
to experiment with numerous glitch based audio and visual techniques that I
would then use in the final piece. This unit would allow me to fully research
multiple techniques, and to test if they would be a suitable addition to my
final installation.
In the planning
of the orchestra I began to worry about how the piece would work together, and
how the pieces would interact. Ideally, rather than all of the elements (CD
players, projects etc.) running at the same time, I would want them to randomly
turn on and off at, as if they were playing themselves. This seemed like quite
the task, and I had no idea how this could be achieved. During a phone call
with a close friend, I brought up my project idea. He suggested that a simple
solution to the randomised switching on/off of the individual elements could be
to use a combination of MaxMSP along with an Arduino card. Whilst I had little
to no knowledge or either, I decided that I would factor this into my
research/learning for my final piece.
I now had a clear
aim for this unit and put together the following plan to ensure that I was able
to fully test all of the techniques I intend to use in my final audio/visual
self composing glitch orchestra.
Project Plan:
Week 1: Initial Research
- Reading
- Research: - Orchestras (Glitch Orchestra)
- Glitch Art techniques
- Glitch records (broken
records, needle replacement etc.)
- Glitch CDs (Painted
CDs etc.)
- Tape degeneration
(audio and visual)
- Glitched video
- MaxMSP (Audio and
Jitter)
Week 2: Project Planning and Design
- Reading
- Planning - Project
- Blog
- Experiments
Week 3: Experiment 1 – Records
(part 1)
- Scratch 7” and
12” singles
- Code scratching
(from digital audio) 7” and 12” singles
- Taped discs
(part 1) 7” and 12” singles
- Taped discs
(part 2) 7” and 12” singles
- Burnt vinyl 7”
and 12” singles
Week 4: Experiment 2 - Breaking (part 2)
- Cut and paste –
1/2 7” and 12” singles
- Cut and paste –
1/3 7” and 12” singles
- Cut and paste –
1/4 7” and 12” singles
Week 5: Experiment 3 – Needle Replacement
- DIY needle (various
approaches)
Week 6: Experiment 4 – CDs
- Painted CDs
- Glued CDs
- Scratched CDs
- Code CDs
Week 7: Experiment 5 - Tapes
- Tape (cut and
splice)
- Tape
(decay/degeneration)
Week 8: Experiment 6 – Art/Images
- Glitch art
technique explored
- Data moshing
- Cover art
Week 9: Experiment 7 – Audio
- Digital audio
code manipulation (of chosen 7” and 12” singles)
- Logic Pro (Cut
and Paste)
Week 10: Experiment 8 – Video & VHS
- VHS
Degeneration
- Digital video
code manipulation
- Digital video
data moshing
Week 11: Software Experimentation - Max MSP (Audio)
- Explore the
basics of MaxMSP
- Use YouTube
tutorials
- Go through
MaxMSP online tutorials
- Attempt to
create basic audio patches
Week 12: Software Experimentation - Max MSP (Visual)
- Explore the
basics of Jitter
- Use YouTube
tutorials
- Go through
Jitter online Tutorials
- Attempt to
create a basic video patch
Week 13: Patch Creation - Audio and Visual Patch
- Create random
generating patch
- Combine audio
and video skills to create a basic Glitch generator
Week 14: Project Completion
- Final
evaluation of project
- Bibliography
- Finalise blog
- Compile all physical and digital work for hand
in
These experiments
will take place over the next 10 weeks and it will give me a chance to explore
various areas within glitch. These experiments will be documented throughout
and recorded here. I am not entirely sure what to expect from these
experiments, as I will be using a number of technique that I have never tried
before. The addition of MaxMSP will mean that I have to learn how write code
for both audio and visual. By sticking to my original research plan will help
me to plan my time effectively and will ensure that I have enough time to cover
everything I aim to achieve during this unit. Whilst this project is quite
ambitious, I think with strict planning and hard work I will be able to
complete all of the necessary experiments in order to move forward with my
final piece.
During the
preliminary glitch art tests and through my glitch research I came to realise
that the outputs of glitch are always unknown. Each time the code of an image
is changed and converted back into an image the outcome is always unknown. The
more of the code you change and manipulate the bigger then changes, but the
changes can never be predicted. The outcome is always surprising, and the
outputted image is forever changed into something completely new. I realised
that the outcome is always different. The broken records, tapes, CDs and
circuit bending techniques I had been reading about would always produce a
different output on each playback. I really liked the idea that every time a
broken record was played, the outputted sound would be different each time; as
if the record itself was creating a new piece each time it was being played. This
again reinforced my earlier idea that the individual elements of the orchestra
were in some way composing their own individual unique performances on each
playback.
I began to think
about the elements such as the CD players, records players and tape players as
more than just static players. As they along with the CDs, records and tapes
they were playing were an integral part of the outputted original composition.
I started to think of the players as the musicians of the orchestra. They were
now something to be looked at as well as something that should be listened to.
The jumping arm, the stuttering CD player and jamming tape player would not
only be used to create an audio output, they could now also form a part of the
visual element of the installation. As Pocock-Williams suggests ‘there
is a strong human need to integrate sound and image’ as the combination creates
an ‘experience that that is somehow more expressive than the sum of its parts’
(Pocock-Williams: 1992: 30). Adding that it is easier to both understand and
appreciate the music more deeply if you can somehow see the sound (Pocock-Williams:
1992: 29).
For the final
piece I intend to create an installation in which multiple audio and visual
glitch techniques can work together in both digital and analogue formats in
order to generate a completely new piece. Using MaxMSP I hope to create a patch
that will allow me to not only randomly control all of the elements of the
orchestra. In addition, I hope to gain enough programming skill that will allow
me to create complex patches that will allow me to randomly glitch and
manipulate digital audio and visual outputs in real time. This will allow the
program self compose and gain creative control over the outputted audio and
visuals.
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