Soundscape – ART 353: Time-based Art

Why?

This assignment is designed to better familiarize you with recording and editing technology and methods, and to further hone your listening skills.

Brief

You will create a one- to three-minute soundscape to be listened to on headphones using collected and/or generated sounds. This soundscape should loop seamlessly, meaning that the end of the track should perfectly align with the beginning. This soundscape should take full advantage of and explore the stereo field and the frequency range. You will be required to employ at least two prompts (total) from the strategies and methodologies addressed in class: Sound Manipulation Methodologies, Richard Serra’s Verbs List, or Schmidt and Eno’s Oblique Strategies.

Build your work around a concept. Maybe your concept is documenting a particular space or event. Maybe you are interested in family history, so you collect sounds related to family voices, music, activities, and gatherings. Perhaps you want to think about creating a soundscape to accompany one of your object-based artworks—considering how that artwork might sound, or how sound might augment the experience with that artwork. Your concept may be dealing with the formal aspects of sound, so you should be pushing the sound into interesting areas. Consider where your individual interests lie, and let that guide the sounds you collect and make. Does your concept dictate that the sound will be soft, quiet, and gentle, or loud, aggressive, and dissonant, or will there be a lot of dynamics? Will the sounds be manufactured, collected, natural, or human-made?

You are also required to submit a self-evaluation along with your assignment, so leave enough time to complete the assignment and ruminate on your experience. 10% of your grade is based on your Assessment/Critique—this includes your self-assessment and participating fully in the group critique.

Submission Checklist

Make sure your file is saved in the appropriate format with the appropriate settings. Listen back to the entirety of your recording after you export it to make sure it exported correctly. Loop your audio to make sure it is looping seamlessly Be sure to submit your self evaluation with your assignment. Check that all files are in the requested formats.

Tips and Considerations

Start collecting a variety of sounds without prejudice. Edit down later.
When recording sounds, always record longer than you think you should. It is better to have too much material than not enough.
Record at a very high sample rate and bit depth since you will likely be manipulatig these sounds.
Watch your recording levels, and listen back to your recordings on headphones immediately to make sure things are captured in a way you want.
Consider the types of microphones you will want to use.
Think about how close to your subject you want to get. Maybe record at different distances to give yourself options and to hear how distance impacts the sounds.
Consider how sound changes based on environment and time—indoor, outdoor, reverberant spaces, dead spaces, daytime, nighttime, rural, urban, etc. Where will you collect and make sounds?
Be congnizant of the noises you are making—the sound of your clothes when you shift, the sound your hands make when you adjust your grip on the recording device or microphone, your sniffles, etc.
Keep your phone away from your recording gear, or better yet, turn it off or turn off cellular data, WiFi, and Bluetooth.
If recording sound indoors (ambient, voice, etc.), consider turning off your heat or air conditioning so the fan does kick on during your recording. Be mindful of other sounds that may bleed in: microwaves, planes, helicopters, traffic, roommates, and so on.

Equipment

Be mindful of the equipment you use, the requisite storage cards, and types of inputs to accommodate different microphones or devices.

Late Policy

You will lose 5 points per day (out of 100) for each 24-hour period your assignment is late. You will also lose points for not participating fully in the group critique.

Grading

Assignment grades will be based on the following:

Conceptual Concerns (40%)

Student demonstrates evidence that they understand and inventively integrate conceptual concerns. The student’s research is evident and ample given the allotted time.

Excellent: Student demonstrates conversational familiarity with the material—making interesting connections between material.
Average: Student is able to relate material, but not do much interesting with it.
Below Average: Student struggles to demonstrate a grasp of the material and shows no facility in connecting ideas or new thinking.

Execution (40%)

When selecting a thesis or POV, the student is able to succinctly and plainly build a case using good storytelling techniques.

This includes proper spelling, punctuation, sentence structure, grammar and formatting for written assignments; and annunciation, confidence and focused arguments for oral assignments.

Excellent: Student understands modes of writing and presentation including style guides and is able to nimbly employ these tools in their writing and speaking.
Average: Student makes some stylistic and formatting mistakes by ignoring provided guidance.
Below Average: Student repeatedly makes the same mistakes and ignores instructor input and suggestions.

Assessment/Critique (10%)

The student will produce a self-evaluation for each art project including the strengths and weaknesses of a given work and plans for future improvement. This will also include an accounting of time taken. The student will also be present for and participate in group critiques of projects.

Excellent: The student thoughtfully and honestly engages in the self-reflective process of critiquing their own work and efforts. The student enthusiastically engages with group critiques, seeking ways to offer constructive feedback to other students.
Average: The student performs a cursory and surface-level assessment of their work and efforts. They make neutral comments during the group critiques and do not fully engage.
Below Average: The student demonstrates an inability to honestly engage with their work as it exists in the world, and does not adequately participate in group critiques, or is absent/tardy.

Following Instructions (10%)

The student adheres to the guidelines provided for the course and the assignment. If the paper has a particular framework, the student adheres to that framework. If an assignment is to be submitted as a Word doc on Learning Suite, the student does not email the instructor a PDF.

Excellent: A detail-oriented student who takes instruction and fastidiously executes it within their work.
Average: A student who misses some details because they didn't read instructions thoroughly or take proper notes when instructions were given.
Below Average: Student ignores basic instructions and guidance given for assignments.

Learning Outcomes Addressed

Digital Art History and Practices: Students will develop a working knowledge of digital art practices, including an understanding of the theoretical implications of art in a digital age.
Skills: Students will develop the skills and resources necessary to realize a wide variety of digitally-based projects.
Project: Students will produce a body of work demonstrating a comprehension and engagement with the themes and concepts explored in class.
Development: Students will develop the skills and resources necessary to realize a wide variety of digitally-based projects.
General Practices: Students will develop a working knowledge of digital art practices, including an understanding of the theoretical implications of art in a digital age.
Production: Students will produce a body of work demonstrating a comprehension and engagement with the themes and concepts explored in class.