Monday, May 29, 2006
Over the weekend I had some time to edit poems and organize the images that will appear in the database. Today I re-drafted the Word files and now have 14 new poems—pretty much finished—which is very gratifying, and it is a luxury to be able to remove one from the final tally (as I’m planning to include only 13 pieces). Amy has been a helpful reader/listener, offering edits, comments, and other direct input (i.e., cultural elements she thinks should not be left out of the thematic works). As far as the pictures go, I came up with 15 “keepers,” and today Sau Bin took a look at them and helped me purge a couple—not because they were bad images, but because there was nothing distinctively Malaysian about them. Now what I’ve got to do this week is come up with the requisite number of sound files (I’m a few files short at the moment), and then the prototype can be built. I’m presuming that once the database piece is made the contents can be altered, but I want the beta version to be as strong as it possibly can.
After the editing, selecting, etc., and a fine nasi kandar lunch, I had a wonderful two hour session in the audio lab. I was joined by Lydia, who was a spirited collaborator. First, she played a delightful Malaysian National anthem in which the sounds of a loud toad are used as the notes of the song, which we recorded. Then we loaded the lines of the “Multimedia University” poem into the sampler, and recorded two different versions (one with 10 keys, each with four lines attached, then one with 40 keys one line attached to each). On both of these pieces, both she and I spontaneously (i.e., unrehearsed) improvised fingerings on the keyboard, and I am very pleased by what we managed to record. It was our first session together and it went very smoothly. The other piece I made (with much help from Ajoi, the engineer, who cleaned up the field recording, made the loops, and applied the filters) involves a rattling ceiling fan from our homestay room in Penang. The sound of the fan had a distinct percussive element to it, captured by the minidisk and dilated by the software manipulation so it sounds like a bunch of Moroccan street musicians polyrhythmically playing metal cups. I’m almost certain that all of these pieces will be aired during the June MMU performance.
I’ve been gathering feedback on the eBook design and contents, and am now considering a couple of last minute replacements to the contents. One thing I’ve included that I think will be removed is the video file of a TV interview that Wilton Azevedo and I did in Brazil three summers ago—it is a .wmv file (causing problems for Mac users) and not a piece of art per se, so think I will put in something else—perhaps something Eric C. and I did in Bangkok; also, 3 different versions of the same poem (“SP,” also 2003) are included, and I’m considering putting in something more recent. This is something I’ll work out in the morning, so I can finally get the thing “in the can” and to the manufacturer sometime this week. The other activity of the week, in addition to making a few more field recordings, is a trip to Kuala Lumpur’s computer audiophile store, where I plan to pick up a sampling keyboard and external soundcard (and, if all goes well, some software) so I can do some of these audio shenanigans at home too… already thinking of things to do to get me through next winter…
After the editing, selecting, etc., and a fine nasi kandar lunch, I had a wonderful two hour session in the audio lab. I was joined by Lydia, who was a spirited collaborator. First, she played a delightful Malaysian National anthem in which the sounds of a loud toad are used as the notes of the song, which we recorded. Then we loaded the lines of the “Multimedia University” poem into the sampler, and recorded two different versions (one with 10 keys, each with four lines attached, then one with 40 keys one line attached to each). On both of these pieces, both she and I spontaneously (i.e., unrehearsed) improvised fingerings on the keyboard, and I am very pleased by what we managed to record. It was our first session together and it went very smoothly. The other piece I made (with much help from Ajoi, the engineer, who cleaned up the field recording, made the loops, and applied the filters) involves a rattling ceiling fan from our homestay room in Penang. The sound of the fan had a distinct percussive element to it, captured by the minidisk and dilated by the software manipulation so it sounds like a bunch of Moroccan street musicians polyrhythmically playing metal cups. I’m almost certain that all of these pieces will be aired during the June MMU performance.
I’ve been gathering feedback on the eBook design and contents, and am now considering a couple of last minute replacements to the contents. One thing I’ve included that I think will be removed is the video file of a TV interview that Wilton Azevedo and I did in Brazil three summers ago—it is a .wmv file (causing problems for Mac users) and not a piece of art per se, so think I will put in something else—perhaps something Eric C. and I did in Bangkok; also, 3 different versions of the same poem (“SP,” also 2003) are included, and I’m considering putting in something more recent. This is something I’ll work out in the morning, so I can finally get the thing “in the can” and to the manufacturer sometime this week. The other activity of the week, in addition to making a few more field recordings, is a trip to Kuala Lumpur’s computer audiophile store, where I plan to pick up a sampling keyboard and external soundcard (and, if all goes well, some software) so I can do some of these audio shenanigans at home too… already thinking of things to do to get me through next winter…
# posted by chris funkhouser @ 6:02 AM 
