Month: November 2025

Having gotten my sound study to a level where I am happy to submit it, this post will provide a critical reflection on different areas in my study- those that successfully achieved what I set out to accomplish in my statement of intent, as well as those that could have been improved to bring the project to a fuller realisation.

Firstly, one of the main challenges I faced whilst making my track was the use of Ableton; this was my first time producing a finished project within the DAW, which meant that especially when starting the project, my creative process was slowed due to being unfamiliar with some technical aspects of the software. Although this definitely was a setback in the early stages, ultimately, I am happy with my choice to continue using Ableton for this project over FL Studio (the DAW I am most familiar with), as it forced me to learn and apply the new techniques I learnt in the workshops to my project rather than relying on ones that I have used before. I will definitely continue to use Ableton in future projects as I have found its non-linear elements such as session view to complement my workflow.

Beginning my project, the first thing I did was start processing some of my field recordings of the underground, creating vocal chops to use in the groove sections as well as ambience. I think that the way these were edited was successful- I preserved their original sound- keeping them recognisable and making the track’s theme of finding place in London represented by transport clear. Despite having used some foley recordings in projects prior to this, I found their implementation in this track to be much more ambitious and they make up the majority of sounds used in the composition.

A flaw in my process at the start of the project, however, was not considering the recited text aspect until later on in its development. Although I am happy with the way the recording is harmonically, it feels slightly forced in my opinion, and could confuse the track’s themes. If I were to start the project again, I would have researched texts either at the same stage or before I gathered field recordings- to allow myself to begin producing with a very clear vision of what I wanted to achieve through the use of each sound.

Another improvement I would make given more time would be to introduce more variation into the sound selection of the track, particularly with percussion. I used variations in arrangement effectively, however using a wider range of samples, as well as introducing more experimental processing to said samples would have improved the variety of sound, and brought more movement to the groove sections, making them less predictable to listen to.

As I stated at the end of my last update, my final goals to finish my sound study were to improve the mix across the whole track, focusing in particular on the sections with field recordings, vocals, and bass.

The first recording I edited was of the escalator noise, that plays alongside my vocals in 2 parts of the track. Due to the busyness of the recording environment, the recording had noise from all frequencies, which led to it obstructing the vocals and muddying the bass. During week 8’s workshop focusing on mixing, I learnt the technique of duplicating the same audio track with separate EQ filters to create layers that allow one to sculpt the sound into specific frequencies. Using this technique on my field recording, I used a high pass from 1k-10k hz on one layer to isolate the high-end ‘scratching noise’ and a filter in the mid range from 145-1k hz on the other layer to preserve some of the fuzz in that frequency range. This technique allowed my vocals to shine through in the mid-high range, and my bass and kick to have needed space in the lower mid range. This led to my vocal sections becoming clearer, and allowed its reverb and delay effects to crate the desired atmosphere.

Secondly, I wanted to focus on reducing the harshness of both the drum breaks and the arpeggiator synth. I achieved this primarily through the use of automation- which I had already used a lot within the track- however this time focusing on dipping the volume for longer sections where side-chaining wasn’t sufficient. I found this effective as, again, it gave my vocals prevalence- particularly near the end of the track. I also decided to switch the synthesiser used for the arp to a slightly less harsh combination of a square and sine wave. This, alongside some light compression, gave my track the desired sound and allowed the vocals to become a primary focus rather than being forced to the background, developing the emotional aspect of place in those segments. Listening through studio headphones, I was happy with the mix at this stage- however when played through laptop speakers I noticed that the bass lacked prevalence, and on EarPods the low end was muddying my vocals. To alleviate this problem, I added a small EQ boost to the mid range of the bass to allow its harmonics to shine through on less bass heavy speakers. I also introduced a vocal side-chain to the bass to bring them some space on EarPods with exaggerated low end.

At this stage I was happy with the mix, and I felt that the spatial processing and mixing techniques I learnt in weeks 7 and 8 helped to greatly improve the quality of the track, and allowed my personal experience of London to be properly conveyed through the sound study.

Having finished my vocal recording of ‘Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1801’ by William Wordsworth, my next steps to develop my project were to introduce the recordings into the track. This meant creating a basic arrangement of the whole song, as well as using more field recordings to complement the vocal track.

Starting with the arrangement, I knew I wanted to start the vocal with minimal noise from other tracks, taking a break from the techno / dance sections of the track and introducing atmosphere. Knowing this, I created an arrangement that reduced the groove, leaving space, then brought it back in again. This would allow me to have sections of the track for the vocal to stand out with minimal interference, as well as, later on, sections where the vocal was connected to the groove. As for a field recording to complement the vocal being introduced, I decided to use one taken from the escalators of a tube station- its combination of white noise and delicate scratching noises were a good background.

After introducing this recording, I needed to continue the track by creating a build-up back into the groove. In Jake’s week 7 workshop, we studied spatial processing, including reverb. During this session, I recorded an impulse response from a clap in the stairwell of LCC (see below), which created a lush echo effect when loaded into Hybrid Reverb on Ableton. After taking Jake’s feedback on my Work In Progress where he suggested introducing movement / variation into my kick samples using reverb and automation, I applied the effect to my kick to create an effective build-up into the next groove section of the track.

After finalising the reverb on the kick sample, I continued to finish the arrangement of the track- reintroducing the groove with variations to the patterns and instruments used. At this stage, I was happy with the structure of the melodic components of the song, but I felt that the main aspects that needed to be improved before submission were the implementation of vocals in the end part of the track, as well as the mix of the various components. The field recordings (particularly the escalator noise) were interfering with the vocal, arp, and bass, meaning I hadn’t yet achieved the clean, dreamy sound I was aiming for in regards to the mix.

This meant my final focus would be to finalise the mix by carving out space for all my instruments, as well as considering the sounds used for some layers and wether they needed adjustments.

As I stated in the last update, my next main focus for my piece was to find a text that reflected the sense of place I felt when moving to London. Initially, being inspired by other tracks that use recordings of a text, such as ‘Giorgio by Moroder’ by Daft Punk, I aimed to find an interview from someone that worked on the transport network in London. Although I still think this idea would’ve been fairly successful for the track, after some test recordings I decided that me reciting the words of someone else’s personal experience wasn’t ideal- as it did not carry the personal emotion I was trying to convey through the recording and track as a whole; recordings of me speaking someone else’s words felt unnatural.

Because of this experimentation, I decided to research poetry from London. I believe that due to its figurative language, words spoken from poetry can have a much more personal effect than other writings such as interviews. After some research online, I found a collection- ‘(1991). 100 Poems on the Underground London : Cassell’. These poems were displayed on Underground trains to an audience of commuters. My favourite of these- and the one that resonates most deeply with me is ‘Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1801’ by William Wordsworth (see below).

After deciding on the poem, I had to choose whether to have it recited by myself or someone else. I decided at first to have my friend recite it, and although they read it better than I could, ultimately I chose to recite it myself as it felt more complimentary to the themes of the project. I also decided to make the recording at home rather than in a studio environment on campus, again to emphasise its ‘rawness’. The final recording was done with a AKG perception P4 dynamic microphone in order to reduce unwanted background noise, as although I wanted the recording to feel authentic, it needed to have a level of ‘cleanliness’ in order for me to process it effectively. I added some simple vocal effects such as reverb and subtle delay to achieve the ‘dream-like’ feel I wanted to capture in the track- the reasons for I established in the last post.

I found the final recording successful- my next aims to develop the project were to find suitable recordings to compliment the vocal, as well as carving out space in the arrangement and dynamics for the vocals to sound natural within the track.

After establishing my initial goals and inspirations for my project, I started developing the beginning of my piece. Firstly, I focused on manipulating my samples from the last post so they could be used as a range of instruments and layers in the track.

Listening back through all my recordings, I decided the ‘drone’ recordings of the bus could be very effective when used as low bass layers, and another could be used as a high frequency ambient layer. By running each sample through resonators, I gave them a melodic component, and used these as the starting point to create my sound study.

Whilst doing this, I was conscious to keep in mind the sense of ‘place’ that needed to be captured through the music, which meant only choosing sounds that reflected my personal experience of moving to London. When given a melodic tone through the resonators, the ‘bland’ and ‘depressing’ drones of engine noise became ethereal. I found that this reflected my experience of the city that I held when first moving here; they picture the idealistic, dreamy version of London I experienced when I first moved here, as I was mostly focused on the past- memories from the city- and the future- possibilities to come.

At this point, the track was mostly ambience, and although I found this successful, I decided to develop the track and give it a dance style groove inspired by my past productions, as well as many of the DJs and performances I had experienced since moving. This included vocal chops, which I took from field recordings of the Underground’s speaker announcements. I combined the edited vocal with a more ambient vocal recording from the bus to create movement in the intro of the track. Some final additions in this stage of the process were a synth arp, jungle break, and bassline. Although at this point I was happy with the basics of the track, its arrangement was basic due to its length, and it lacked a recording of a voice reading a text.

My next focuses from this point were on developing the track’s arrangement by introducing more instrumental variation and field recordings, and researching for texts that resonated with my experience of London that could be recorded and added to the track.

Original Quote:

‘There cannot be ‘a’ response to the performance, only a patchwork of responses that might be stitched together to give a ‘democratic’ account of the event. But even if he, or I, were to track down attendees at the concert and quiz them on their experience, their responses would be mediated through the unreliable filter of memory. Even if it had been possible to rig machines to record the brain activity, nerve responses, heartbeat and other reactions of audience members at the time, we would still only be left with another partial account.’

Paraphrased:

In ‘Sound, Music, Affect: Theorising Sonic Experience’, Thompson explores the sonic effects of the listeners’ presence within a sound performance. Each audience member has a one-of-one unique experience of the performance due to physical and psychological factors. For example, there are measurable variations created by milliseconds of difference in the direct and reverberated sound reaching their ears, due to their physical space in a listening area. This, alongside a person’s emotional reaction to a music piece, makes it impossible for a truly accurate measurement of the effectiveness of the performance to be made when multiple listeners are present. (Biddle, I, D., Thompson, M., (2013) Sound, Music, Affect: Theorising Sonic Experience, Bloomsbury p. 77)

Bibliography:

Biddle, I, D., Thompson, M., (2013) Sound, Music, Affect: Theorising Sonic Experience, Bloomsbury p. 77

For my 2-3 Minute track required for the Audio Fundamentals assessment, I am starting by deciding how I will explore a sense of place as this is the primary focus of the track. Having recently moved from Bournemouth to London for Uni, I think it is fitting for me to try and encapsulate the emotion of moving to a new place in my recordings.

One interest I’ve had for a long time- probably due to growing up with my brother- is public transport. Trains, Buses and travel networks. When I think of London as a place, TFL always comes to mind for me, due to its distinctive and effective graphic / audio design. During my final year of sixth form, I explored the visual design elements of travel networks across the world, including TFL, RATP (Paris) and JR (Japan). Studying the graphical design of these networks led me to create my own travel network for Brighton ‘Brightline’!

Completing this project led me to explore the sound design for the Tokyo Metro, and I was interested in the work of Minoru Mukaiya, who composed the arrival melodies linked below.

Being inspired by field recordings that capture the atmosphere of public transport like this, I decided I would incorporate them into my assignment.

One of my first ideas for field recording after learning to use the Zoom H5 in Rory’s workshop was to capture the melodies and ambience of London’s transport. Over this week, using the Zoom H5, I captured the sounds of the bus, the Tube, and Waterloo station. The raw recordings are in WAV, but mp3s linked below:

At first, I was most focused on capturing the melodies and ‘jingles’ eg. the train arrivals, but after a few recordings and listening back to them all at home, I think the ambience of the train station and bus are really effective recordings that could definitely be used as a drone noise with some EQ and reverb effects. Also, the recordings of the train announcements will definitely be used in the ‘voice speaking a text’ part of the assignment.

At this stage, I am starting to use the recordings to make an ambient track with layers of ambience from recordings and instruments. I will include drum breaks that if possible, are recorded by me in the studio as well. I miss recording my drums!