4. Reprise
folder of mystery
download mp3


software
Sonic Foundry Sound Forge
Sonic Foundry Acid Pro
Sound Plant 26.1


Each student dropped one sample into each other students' folder. The result was fifteen unrelated samples. Using all of these samples, a 3-5 minute track was to be created using Sound Forge and Acid Pro based on the guidelines assigned by classmates for each other. Students could give themselves one additional sample, but no other sources were allowed. These are the restrictions I had to work with:

Primary color tone: yellow
Mood: energetic but not too happy
Type of Location: porn shop
Type of Motion: pogo Stick
Minimum Sample length: 5 seconds
Forbidden Sample: bass guitar
Forbidden Effect: flange
Required Effect: echo
Beat Per Minute: 100

The result, though not exactly the type of track you would want to listen to over and over, falls into most of the requirements. The drums beats and overarching background sound have an energetic feel. The back and forth motion between the calmer sound bed and the louder, in your face bed attempts at meeting the pogo stick requirement.

The biggest challenge to me in this track was to take so many random samples that I otherwise would most likely not use and put them together in a coherent fashion that meets requirements that I likely wouldn't work in. To aid in this process, many of the samples were combined in Sound Forge and then several version of these samples were created to produce a library of more coherent sounds that were mixed in Acid Pro. Additionally, Sound Plant software was used to mesh the samples together. It allowed for random placing and vertical layering that would otherwise be hard to create in Acid or Sound Forge.

Creating this track forced me to think differently about audio creation. I ignored some of the tendency to attempt to create a highly desirable track and instead looked to create a feeling that isn't necessarily something pretty. Perhaps it has something to do with the "porn shop" location.