Assignment:

Create a cassette (Dolby C, Type II/IV) which contains a short (maximum10 second) sound clip (source material) followed by two seconds of blank tape followed by a one to two minute composition exercise based entirely on musique concrèt style manipulations of the original source material.

Format/Presentation:

The completed project will consist of a cassette recorded with the following:
 

Project will start on Side 1 immediately after the leader. Use a type II or IV cassette with Dolby "C". Label the box and the cassette with your name and the project number.

Procedures:

Record a sound or series of sounds using the microphone in the studio and/or from CD. Using editing, reversal, mixing etc. manipulate either portions of and/or the entire segment(s) or sound object(s). Create a one to two minute monophonic musique concrèt piece. Sound objects which are entirely pre-recorded music are not permitted. Hint: The trick is to find a sound object which has a wide range of timbres or will provide a rich palette from which to choose sounds or to choose a few short objects with diverse character. Do not use electroacoustic pieces or sounds which have been previously processed as source segment(s) please.

Marking:

Based on presentation, good recording levels, lack of distortion, wit, and quality of sounds. This is not meant to be a major work but rather an exercise in experimenting with these techniques. This project could be completed in 4-6 hours.

Hints:

(1) Voice is a very rich sound source. Spoken text has consonants (noise-like elements, percussive sounds) and vowels (pitched, melodic). (2) Think in layers: perhaps a loop as background with other material as additional layers. Work with the intrinsic qualities of the sound itself: What is its envelope? Are there high frequency components or partials which might be brought out by transposing the sound down an octave or two? Is there an internal rhythm to the sound? (3) Spend more time finding the sound source/sound object(s).