February 13, 2016

8.35 am. Breakfast:

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9.00 am. I cleared the dregs of admin and email correspondence so that I could distance myself from all thought of such as I entered the sound studio for the day. I’ve had to develop a rigorous switching mechanism to prevent concerns from other departments of my professional life from seeping into the work at hand. 9.30 am. First — a trip to town for provisions.

One of my second year painting informed me that some of George Stubbs’ (1724-1806) early works were a corporate endeavour. For example, the background to his Holyhock (c.1767-70) was painted by Claude-Joseph Vernet (1714-89), while and the figures of the shepherd, girl, dog, and the flock of sheep were by François Boucher (1703-70). The phenomenon is not unusual. The Five Senses (1617-18) was painted by Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) and Jan Bruegel the Elder (1568-1625). But this practice would cause havoc in the context of student assessments. 

Back into the sound studio. I extended the trumpet passage of section 6. In my mind’s ear, I’d always conceived of the trumpets as being a chordal fanfare. The reality is a sequence of single notes played as though on different size ram horns and at various distances from the audient. Finally, I re-inserted the ‘voice of God’ passage, this time doubling the track on itself, with one version processed through a convoluted reverb and the other punched in and out in synchronisation with it:

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I learned this technique from the great Teo Macero (1925-2008), producer of many of Miles Davis’ albums during his jazz-fusion period. On the track Go Ahead John from Big Fun (1974), he applies the technique to the recording of the guitar (played by John McLaughlin) and drums:

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Finally, Moses descends the mount. Once that event is sonified, the section will be complete.

6.30 pm. Practise session 1. 7.30 pm. An evening to myself.

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