Aural Terrains Exercise

Our first exercise to become familiar was to create our own sound art. At first our group had absolutely no idea what we were doing so we set out into the city and recorded random sounds that we thought would go well together. Our original idea was to record to types of sound. One type would be used to convey the idea of nature and the other as construction. These 2 sounds contrasted to create the idea that human construction is taking over natural environments. However as we talked more with Zoe we realized that perhaps we were going about the assignment in the wrong manner. What set me on track was Zoe's quote: "Its not about the paintbrush, its about the paint." It  made me realize that we needed to think outside the box. After roaming the streets I brought up the idea that perhaps we could go to the AUT workshop and experiment with machinery and other textures there. We experimented with many unique sounds such as nails falling to the ground, air vents and many other alternative sounds. The next day in class I was struggling to think up an idea that would fit with our original sounds. After listening to the sounds we recorded, closing my eyes and thinking, I thought up a whole new idea. It came from the sound of dropping nails and other debris to the ground. It resembled that of rain falling to the ground, gradually escalating to a downpour. I thought to myself that we could use the sounds we  recorded and assemble them in a way  so that they appeared like the natural sounds that we are so familiar with. Eg the train we recorded sounded like waves washing up onto the beach, the fan sounded like the wind blowing along the coast, and sand paper that sounded like actual sound moving  along the beach. All in all, it strikes the idea that perhaps our environment has its similarities to that of nature. Although our surroundings may look entirely different the sounds that we are exposed to on a daily basis do resemble that of natures intention.