Sound in the form of vibrations

This week, I dedicated some time to thinking about an idea that's been forming in my head for quite a while now: the idea of sound, and how it manifests in the form of vibrations. Up until now, I've only been listening through my ears. But I remembered the reason I got into this project in the first place – feeling the vibrational rumble of loud noise around me at a concert.

Looking back at my exchange, I created a bed made out of moss in an attempt to feel more grounded to the earth. I thought, what if I translated this concept to sound instead? Using a bed, or pillow, to feel more grounded to the vibrations of sounds I hear. So that the listening experience isn't simply one-dimensional, but fully sensory. Sound isn't flat; it is constantly moving, and I wanted to express that. To convey the tactile sensations of the sound vibrations we pass through daily, in the form of a sensorial, embodied experience.

"Listening not only through the ears, but using our bodily senses as well."

I set off to create a first pillow prototype using this air packaging material and two transducers. Using two layers with the transducers attached in the middle, I played songs with audible high and low beats, in an attempt to "feel" the bumps and vibrations through the transducers. Alas, I'm not sure why it didn't work so well. The vibrations could only be felt when played at full volume. Even so, they were too subtle. I only had better results when I pressed my head directly against the pillow.

I shall try again, perhaps with a different type of sound next time.

Intimate Acoustics: More trials with gears

Following up on the previous experiment of making tiny sounds, I demo-ed a bunch of "gear" for my DC motor using duct tape and binder clips. I decided to start small with these DIY gears first, to discover what kind of sounds I can make with them.

Holding my first collective sound walk

After two rounds of personal Sound Walks, I decided it was time for a collective one. In preparation, I made a "listening kit" for each participant, consisting of a notebook, listening score, pencil, and a small bag to hold everything together. During my own walks, I realised it was troublesome to hold everything by hand while recording, so I laced everything together with a bag string for easier walking. The "data" collected would be the same as before, including but not limited to: " drawings, written thoughts, audio recordings, pictures, and clay sculptures.

I didn't change much of the content from the listening score used in my first Sound Walk. Instead, I made it smaller and hand-held, so it would be easy to hold and flip through while walking. For the notebook, I bound ten blank pages with two rings, allowing participants to flip the pages over easily for writing or drawing.

I gathered five participants from our course to take part in the Sound Walk. The group was kept small
so that things didn't get too overwhelming – a listening group that was too big wouldn't work as well.
Location-wise, our starting point was the grass patch outside Lasalle. I gave them a time of 20-30 minutes to walk; they could choose to end earlier or extend it if they wanted to.

Reflecting on it now, I probably should have gotten a buddy by my side to keep track of where each participant went to. Keeping track of each person was tough; one of them walked too fast and disappeared before I could document any photos of them. Some of them stayed within Lasalle grounds, some of them strayed further, a few a little more than others.