Final Sound Blog

From where I'm sitting on my balcony I can actually see the heatwaves radiating from the roof across the way for the first time this spring. Now that winter seems to be well behind us, to sit outside all day is all I can think of, and if I've got to get homework done, this couldn't be a more enjoyable way to go about it. The few projects I have left are wrapping themselves up and as they do the end-of-semester stresses melt away with the warm spring weather. Its funny how the sunny weather can make a person feel like that.
It's interesting how much better it is with music. Reggae for today, obviously – it reminds me of the sun. Makes this beautiful day all the more incredible. It seems to have this way of enhancing everything that we do, and there's a music to fit any scenario. Its enhancing effect could be compared to other vices, only without all of the negative repercussions that go along with them.
I'm living on a couch in the Plateau. I just moved here last weekend, and I love it. This area is the seem that fuses French and English Montreal together. Walking in the street or buying something at a depanneur, a person becomes well aware of that. The conversations are in both languages, and if someone talks to you in one language and you make a confused face at them, they'll immediately change to the other. Even if you're not bilingual (like me) everyone else is. A sound scape so vibrant and full of life, and then in two languages, such as the one that the Plateau has, is unique in North America. What's more, the plateau is a hub of creativity. It's like a petri dish of cultures where walking in the street exposes a person to a myriad of media, visual, audio and more.
To be honest, sound was my lesser choice of the production classes. I have always considered myself to be more of a visual and tactile person in terms of creative ability and so sound has always fallen to the wayside in exchange for other endeavours. It is true though, as I've learned, that an aural element, skillfully constructed and applied, can really bring a piece of visual media to new levels. Perhaps this is due to the same process in which music breathes new life into our every day experiences. In studying sound and learning about the importance of the aural element I have definitely become more aware of the spectrum of possible sound scapes in the variety of environments in which we live. In this rapidly changing society in which we live, some sound experiences which we take for granted can slip away into the past without us noticing. I was interested to learn about the practice of sound ecology as a means of preserving the sound scapes that which we forget about as we live through the decades. Unlike visual forms, aural forms exist only in the present.
My experience with the sound scapes that surround me as I move through my life have become more intimate. Where before I would process mostly my visual sensory experiences, I now consider interesting sound scapes an equally important mode of recollection and conveyance. I expect that the knowledge that I have gained in studying sound will work to improve my ability to create effective media.

An Era Forgotten? Sounding Griffintown

The ruin where the St. Ann church, the community centre of Griffintown, once stood.
Horse-drawn carriages can still be seen coming and going from the stables just down the street from the St. Ann nursery, one of the only remaining original buildings.
A broken slate remains at the ruin of the St. Ann church.
The Dow Brewery, the starting point for the Sounding Griffintown sound-walk.

I couldn't have chosen a better day to go down to Griffentown and listen to Lisa Gaisor's audio piece. The sky was clear and the temperature was easily above ten degrees – a beautiful day for early March in Montreal. As someone who has only recently moved to Montreal, I especially appreciated the opportunity to get to know a part of the city, which I had not yet even visited, with such intimacy. I packed my camera in hopes of finding some interesting urban decay or old architecture, anything that might make an interesting subject to juxtapose on Montreal's skyline. I do have to say that as school assignments go, this one was one of the most pleasant I have ever worked on. I chose to go by myself as I felt it would be easier to become immersed in what I was listening to, although part of the way through my walk I ran into a group of classmates who, like me, were taking advantage of the weather and the fact that we all had the afternoon off.

I think that I would be with a lot of my classmates when I say that my favourite part of the sound walk was the story of the plane crash at the corner of Shannon and Ottawa streets. Upon further research, I discovered that fifteen people had died in that incident right where I was standing, sixty-six years ago. No evidence remains, oddly enough, not so much as a memorial, that I could see. What exists in that spot now are small, two and three story offices and wearhouses.

I was surprised again, walking up to 1224 Ottawa street to find an active stable which, despite the industrial zoning laws, as stood as a haven from the re-development of the area all around it. I was lucky enough to spot a passing horse and carriage coming down the street next to the St. Ann nursery, one of the only remaining original buildings in the area, before slowly rattling into the driveway of the stables. After some deliberation, I thought it wouldn't be any harm to venture in and see if someone was around to talk to, but turned back when I didn't find anyone immediately in the driveway. City people are not always as friendly to strangers who wander onto their property as country people usually are. That driveway was one of the only places in the area that would still sound (and smell) as it did in the early days of Griffintown, a steady reminder of the 20^th century which is receding further into the past all the time.

Much of the soundscape of Griffintown will by now have changed drastically. What would at one time have been a community radiant with the sounds of life – children playing, church bells ringing, people interacting in all ways, the good and the bad, - has now been reduced to a much blander, dull industrial sort of feel. There are a few exceptions however, as I noticed walking through the area. Firetruck sirens can still be heard from the No. 5 fire station. The horses still occupy a space in Griffintown. The vehicles which transport the goods of contemporary society, the planes, trains and trucks, still pass through and over Griffintown. Some sounds will likely be common for many years to come, but unfortunately, the sounds which breath life into the space, making it a community, have left, and may only exist there now in Lisa Gaisor's audio piece.

Sounding Griffintown, as a historical document is a great piece. If there is that much history in that one, ten or so square block area of the city, it made me wonder just how many rich stories the rest of the city holds that the common individual knows nothing about. As pleasant of an experience walking through Griffintown on a sunny day was, one cannot escape the feelings of melancholy created by the modern space, devoid of the liviness which was once commonplace. Perhaps the most disappointing part of the walk comes at the end, to find the foundation of the St. Ann church is all that remains of what was the hub of the community. I couldn't understand why it was opted to tear down such a beautiful building. What a disservice to the history of that area! Griffintown stands out in my mind as one of the many victims of a cultural trend of modern urban society. The trend where community relations become less and less intimate as more people flood into the cities to become anonymous cogs in the wheel, where everyone's primary concern is their self. Where neighbours don't know neighbours. Where there is no sense of identity or pride in where you live. Griffintown, the foundation of its church and the few remaining buildings in the area stand as monuments to an era past.

The Sound of a Stolen Ipod

In tackling this project I first had to organize my time and figure out what sort of narrative I wanted to portray. I originally had planned on starting to record at Sir George Williams campus and working my way back to my apartment, listening intently the whole way. In doing that I found that I would be limiting myself to some fairly conventional noises; metros, busses, escalators. One thing that I quickly learned was that night time in NDG is not a setting of abundant diversity of sounds. The one plentiful source of sound after a certain hour of course, was the sound of traffic. I concluded that the best course of action would be to find a way to use traffic and footsteps, the two sounds which were readily available to me, and create a unique narrative. The third element which played a key roll in the development of my narrative, I discovered while waiting for the bus on the way home; was the sound of people listening to their personal music devices at a high volume. It is a sound which is highly characteristic of travelling by public transit, a sound which excited my creative instinct. I couldn't very well mic up a random person at a bus stop, and why would I, when the same source of sound was stowed conveniently right there in my own pocket? I played with different microphone setups and ipod volumes, first without the mic and then later in the shelter of a bus stand, with the mic, which allowed me a crisper, more isolated sound, which in the end was the one that I preferred.

I generally prefer creating coherent representations of the real world through my creative works. The idea to create a story of someone being jumped and having their ipod stolen came to me in the sort of setting where I almost expected that it could have happened to me at any given time – In my neighbourhood at 1:00 AM. My aim, from conception of the idea through to editing was to try as best as I could to convert aural information into a visual image in the mind of the listener. The sound of the ipod was instrumental in two ways: It would allow a spatial representation to the characters of the narrative, as well as provide a focus point for the action of the story. With that in mind, I then had to find or create the rest of the necessary sounds out of what was available. The footsteps would be easy, just a matter of placing the Edirol and running and walking past it. I looked around some alleyways and back streets for something soft which I could kick to mimic the dull thud of a torso, and when I couldn't find one, ended up having to resort to punching myself to replicate the “thud” noise. The final necessary element in the creation of a convincing image, was the physical pain of the victim, which required a bodily connection of some sort. The wheezing and coughing I felt was an excellent graphic element with which the listener can instantly identify. In recording all of these necessary sounds I opted to use the built-in Edirol mic as it allowed for street ambiance and higher input sensitivity than the plug-in mic.

This piece represents its surroundings not only in the pure sense of a recorded audible environment, but in the dramatic representation of what probably happens on a fairly regular basis in parts of the city like NDG. In that sense I almost think it becomes more representative in that it can communicate on more than just a denotational level. There were aspects of this project that I really enjoyed, and example being the creative necessity to fashion various mechanisms to create correct sounds. The editing process as well is a process which I enjoy, although I would still consider myself a novice with protools, it is something which I would like to improve in the future. I look forward to the next assignment when we will be less constricted with our choice of subject matter.

Vacation's Over

Here I am back at home, anticipating going to school again tomorrow for the first time in a couple of weeks. This apartment has not seen very much of me since late December, I seem to spend less and less time here every month. It's a nice little place, just so far from everything. I'll have to move out a month early in May, I'll probably have to pay the extra month's rent unless I can work something out with the land lord. Maybe that's something I should get on top of before it's too late.