Analog Binary

This week the Disquiet Junto focused on the binary code aspect of the project number:

Record the audio of three objects in your home or workplace that have on/off switches. Capture the unique sound of them being turned on and off. For each of the switches, record several seconds of this on/off action so you can create loops of a steady pace. Then create an original piece of music that employs phase shifts — that is, in which the tiny distinctions between loops create noticeable patterning as time progresses. You can use some light processing, but the sense of "switch-ness" of the source audio should never be lost.

That last bit about "switch-ness" was a sticking point for me. Uusally I like to make sounds soupy so I can mangle them but the short transients of the switches pointed to a different approach.

It occurred to me that the switches would sound best if I recorded them with different microphones but time wasn't going to allow me to get too carried away. This weekend I had a couple of events, including the launch of Reimagining the Murrumbidgee. So I used my Nikon SLR with a Rode VideoMic to record the sounds with a view to editing together a video.

I cheated in using four switches across six tracks in Ableton Live. I recorded eight switches, mostly at work but a couple in my garage too. One in The Roxy theatre was mounted on metal, which gave a bigger resonance. Another was old and had a nice zing sound from a spring I think.

Once in Live the process was to find short interesting loops, where the transient didn't peak too much. I experimented with using Beatrepeat but switched (haha) to Audio Damage's Bigseq2 gating and filtering effect. A couple of busses were used, both with tape delay-syle effects. Loops were pitched, mostly down -- the bass part about two octaves.