PS011 VA - Cosecha | PublicSpacesLab

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PS011 “Cosecha” by Various Artists

Release Summary

Artists: Kieron James, QuarterBit, Collin Thomas, Mr. Bitterness, ambienteer, Mr. Hoodee, Somió and Katsumoto

Mastering: Track 7 by Pure Tone @ Pure Tone Mastering Studios, UK | Tracks 2 and 7 by PublicSpaces Sonic Environments |

Graphic Design: QuarterBit for @PublicSpaces Lab * | Final Art: Rita Monteiro |

Release Details

Project Background by Kieron James

Background

The idea was sparked from eavesdropping a late night Twitter chat between @fjfonseca and @boomtopper about data bending – something with which I was completely unfamiliar, but which immediately caught my imagination.

I began to think about other ways which might exist for creating a sound from an unconventional source and how the sound might then be manipulated into something rhythmic, melodic, musical.

As I switched off the laptop and tried to sleep, my mind raced. How could I gather random data to create a sound? Then it occurred to me that the source had been staring me in the face the whole time. Twitter.

What a fabulous and relevant way to experiment in social sound design! I already shared a network with many people who would (hopefully) be interested in contributing.

Tweet A Sound

Tweet A Sound from Andrew Spitz seemed the obvious choice for generating the sound since it allowed me to break down the parameters into discrete elements and make several requests for random contributions. What’s more, Tweet a Sound had been created to promote social sound design.

I sent out 11 requests – one for each parameter listed below – to each contributor, randomizing the order in which they were sent and added responses to a spreadsheet as they replied. I then created the #tas file below using the parameters strictly in the order that they had been received.

carrier frequency
carrier wave
wave shape
modulation index envelope
harmonicity
time
waveshape frequency
volume
waveshaper envelope
amplitude envelope
effects

The #tas string

#tas 295 988 1702 8 1337 7779 37 456 3009 532 3357 1459 1964 808 504 1986 7552 9848 88 5325 5150 7654 909 42 440 2103 22 6750 583 43 1 4091 37652 52 74 42 39 13 31 21 9974

If you’re a Mac user, download Tweet A Sound and enter the string above (including #tas) to hear the sound. Otherwise, just click the flash player below.

The Contributors

The significance of numbers submitted was often in evidence. Birthdays, anniversaries, Douglas Adams, 808s, 303s, album titles – they all featured (though I don’t think I had a 40 and with all the buzz about Akai’s imminent APC release, that was a surprise!) To me, the fact that numbers had meaning to contributors really enhances the project.

If you’re a contributor, you’ll spot some of your numbers above and you’ll notice that some you sent over aren’t included. Why? Well, I knew I had more contributors than required, and for certain parameters, only one value was needed. So data were incorporated on a first-in basis.

The contributors who kindly lent their time were:

@ambienteer @DavidMcSherry @boardyuk @mrbitterness @UBLF @auditorycanvas @fjfonseca @madebyrobot @DigitalDoyle @leeconnolly @groovecriminals @rozz3r @jaymoy @soundplusdesign @bigmanbeats @hugoverweij @sync24

The Remix Project

Kieron James made the resulting sound available for download at his website so people could play around with it. For those of you that don’t know Spanish, Cosecha means harvest and the name could not be better picked for the and for the release. We, at the Lab, were already fascinated by the concept of this (using social media to produce a sound) and took the opportunity to talk with Kieron about making, what is now, this release. There was only one rule set by Kieron to all artists interested: the only sound source that could be used was the Cosecha Random Sound.

Those that responded to this challenge tell us, in their own words, what method they used to achieve their track:

Track 2 QuarterBit – Forget about the dog! Hurt my ears! rmx

QuarterBit

The challenge was one: use nothing but the original file to make a remix. For my project QuarterBit this was, without a doubt, something very interesting: It would allow me to take a file, that was built via a data gathering process and feed it to something that is mathematical but also personal. Kieron, apart from being an amazing musical talent, is also a runner. Yes, he is one of those guys that likes to run. (Why? I have no idea. I respect it but it just looks way too stressful to me). And not only he runs but he also posts on his website about his runs.
And on those posts you have data. Raw data. It was exactly that data that I used to program my Max/Msp patches. I also used geographical data (altitude, latitude and longitude) to feed into the system.
Regarding the name for this remix, I was getting really high frequencies and I cold only assume that some of them were out of reach for the human ear but that dogs might enjoy it. The result, to me, is this extremely loud-noisy, perhaps disturbing to some, but beautiful track. Use headphones wisely. tlhIngan maH!
(* QuarterBit also used the final wav file and turned it into the picture that makes the cover for this release, using a self developed databending software)

Track 3 Collin Thomas – To a Swordsman rmx

Collin Thomas

To give you a little insight into what I did: I took the original cosecha file and cut it up into equal segments. I then “reconstructed” the segments with my Alphabet Method (for more info you can check out my website) using a Japanese poem and then processed the living hell out of it with lots of different plugs and effects.

Track 3 Mr. Bitterness – Blood Orange rmx

Mr. Bitterness

Using the source file I made 4 slices I called Burst, Drone, Ring, and Ambient.
Each of these was assigned to it’s own track, which I recorded a 16-bar loop with. On each track there is only a held note, i.e. no musical phrases, just long suspended tones.
With all but one track there is just a single “note”, one track had two notes held over the 16 bars. Everything else is accomplished by manipulating filters and resonance on the tracks and feedback on the delay.

Track 5 ambienteer – reap, eat rmx

ambienteer

For the ‘Cosecha’ project I approached the track just as I had for my ‘Eurovision Ambient’ series. Using Simpler in Ableton Live, I’d import the original file, created a few keyboard zones and set about manipulating the sample. One of the tricks I used was to zoom in to the waveform, then transpose the sample up so high, that the harmonies and artifacts become the prominent sound. I’d then amplify these strange noises.
These were then heavily processed using Reaktor 5 and Live’s internal effects (the ‘Ping/Pong’ especially). Although you may think that all sounds manipulated this way would sound similar, with patience, something special seems to emerge from each sample. The track itself is not musically complex at all, but that was not the point for me. This was all about uncovering a new method of sound creation that feels as fresh as the idea of the random sound itself. Now I look at every sound sample and think of it as a potential instrument in its own right.

Track 6 Mr. Hoodee – Open Handed Punch rmx

Mr.Hoodee

I thought the whole Cosecha project was a great idea and as I provided some of the parameter numbers to create the original sound I really fancied a crack at trying to make some kind of track from it.

I started by chopping the Cosecha sound into more manageable sized pieces then went to work with some heavy processing and filtering to shape the basic building blocks of the track – the drum sounds, some type of bass pulse for the low end and a handful evolving textures . The track originally started out as a dark, downbeat head-nodder but took an unexpected up-tempo turn that seemed to wok pretty well.

Track 7 Sómio – Naranjo de Bulnes

Sómio

Naranjo de Bulnes is my working of the Cosecha file. The track was inspired not only by the sounds generated by the random sound, but also the 2500m peak in the Picos de Europa.

After a couple of listens to Cosecha, I began to hear hard, edgy sounds and decided that mountains and the challenges they present would be my synesthesia. Pulling this piece together and referring to various photos of Naranjo de Bulnes has rekindled my interest in climbing. I might just have to pull that gear out of the attic and have at it again.
Cosecha has been a fantastic exercise in sound design – something very new to me. Having to work with only one source file to create all the elements of this track was a hugely enjoyable challenge.

Track 8 Katsumoto – Feeling Minimal rmx

Katsumoto

The process of making QuarterBit’s remix for Kieron, got me confronted with sounds that I kept aside, because they sounded interesting to me. I decided to take those sounds, treat them and put them into Ableton Live to see what happened. The first sound was what you will recognize as the bass line. Slightly panned it is a glitchy sound that has a groove to it that surprised me and made me enthusiastic enough to take other snippets of my experiments with Cosecha and make it a track of its own.
Beware! Old school glitch minimal track.

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