Point Douglas: Discovery - Tree Branches make contact with Fences

As I was walking through Point Douglas I began to notice and hear that same thing over and over. Which was the simple contact and noise that is produced when a branch brushes against a fence. From this I decided to further explore Point Douglas and find the street with the most varieties and quantity of fences.

Point Douglas: Site visit #1/#2

Exploration in finding sounds, textures and textures that produce sound when rubbed together.

Point Douglas: Site

Installation:

For the white wall I created a serious of recording devises that I have worked with through out the term. In essence it shows the process of how sound has been recorded and heard in the early stages. By using a three track system I was able to create up and down movement that would allow phonograph, tone arm and magnetic tape recorder head to move across their designated material. In addition to the up and down movement I incorporated left and right movement as well. By taking apart a typewriter and extracting sensors form the tab and shift keys I was able to produce this left and right movement. So as the three tracks moved up and down they would also move in a left and right.



In the first track were the phonographs, which I constructed out of metal. The top phonograph was used to pick up the sounds of the room as well as the noises produced from the tone arm and the tape recorder. As it moved up and down it would also move in a left and right motion etching the recordings onto the wax background. At the same time of the recording the second and smaller phonograph would then pass over these etchings and amplify the etchings which could be heard by placing ones ear to the horn.



In the second track there is a tone arm that I removed from a record player. In essence the tone arm is the same as a phonograph just the electronic version. As the tone arm moved up and down the tone arm would pick up the scratches I made in the piece of vinyl I constructed producing loud scratching noises that could be heard through the speakers I wired the tone arm too. Both the phonograph and the tape recorder could then pick up the loud scratching noises.



In the third track there was a tape recorder head that I extracted from a tape recorder. I also extracted the microphone from the tape recorder, so that it could pick up the noises of the phonographs and tone arm. As the magnetic tape head moved up and down it would also move in a left right motion and record the sounds on to the magnetic tape background. In theory I will be able to remove the magnetic tape strips form the background and splice them together and hear a recording of my installation.

Installation Description

- To construct a piece of plastic 8” by 5’ that is etched and embedded with record imprints.
- This piece of plastic will be attached to the wall of the installation and to a track that will move in a vertical motion therefore causing the plastic to move slowly up and down the wall.
- In conjunction to this vertical movement the phonographs attached to the typewriters will move horizontally.
- Sensors from the typewriter will be placed either within the installation or room and whenever activated will cause the phonograph to move left or right.
- Record player tone arms will also be placed beside the plastic and move in a circular motion.
- The goal is that by having the plastic be etched and embedded with record imprints, when the phonograph and tone arm pass over it sound will be amplified (both will have microphones for listening).
- Even though they will be playing the etchings they will also be recording too as the needles from both will etch the plastic as well.
- Therefore the plastic becomes a devise for recording and playing sounds and a continues loop as it is always being played and etched on to.

Crit Notes:

- refine idea and develop further
- has to go beyond just recording sound
- can it be looped?
- components can be pulled apart
- inscribe sound onto the wall
- level of craft necessary fro the sake of precision
- phonograph is constantly recording and playing back
- could you record and play wall surfaces?


Troubleshooting/Precision

I have reconstructed some of my phonograph in the hopes of recording the human voice. In order to get it to function at a much higher quality I reconstructed the horn out of metal flashing and reinforced the tuna can and needle with extra support. The cylinder was also reworked by adding to new ends to the piece of plumbing tube in order to make sure both sides were both moving in perfect unison. Lastly the supports for the threaded rod that spins the cylinder were fastened more securely to the stand. In doing these upgrades I was hoping that the phonograph would perform at a higher quality. However unfortunately I was still unable to record the human voice but I am able to amplify and pick up textures on surfaces using the phonograph, which in itself is very interesting to me, and I hope to incorporate this phenomenon into my installation.

Project To Date:

Installation Description:
For the wall I am planning to have a serious of microphones places through out the piece. These microphones in turn would pick up the sounds or “voices” of each students contribution. Attached to each of the microphones would be a speaker that would allow each sound to be projected directly into the horn of the phonograph. In order to prevent confusion the microphones and speakers would have a relay allowing only one objects “voice” to be recorded at a time. Once the sound passes through the horn of the phonograph the vibrations would cause the needle at the end to move accordingly causing it to “draw” or inscribe the “voice” onto a piece of aluminum foil. The aluminum foil would be a continuous feed allowing for sound to be recorded through out the duration of the installation. The idea being that once the installation is complete one could essentially rewind the aluminum foil and play back the recording.




This Week:
My work has currently focused on the construction of my phonograph. After rethinking the cylinder and replacing it with some plumbing tube I was on my way to try recording. Over the last couple of days I have tried numerous times to record the human voice however much to my dismay I have been unable to do so ☹. Thomas Edison was one smart dude. However I plan to continue troubleshooting and hopefully I will have some success.




Problems:
- There is too much noise being produced when the needle inscribes into the aluminum foil.
- Is the cylinder moving evenly?
- Is the needle to big/sharp? Cause it tends to rip the aluminum foil.
- Am I moving the cylinder fast enough during recording and playback? Or at the same rate?

Resolution:
Troubleshoot all problems noted above. However if I am still unable to get my phonograph to work I might be forced to purchase the kit off the Internet or try Plan B.

Plan B:
I would keep the serious of microphones and speakers with the relays as previously noted but instead of projecting the sounds into the horn of the phonograph I would place a piece of Plexiglas over the speakers. Attached to this Plexiglas would be a thin vertical piece of steel, which in turn would have a second horizontal piece of steel, attached to it and from that would be a pen. Once the sound passes from the speakers the vibrations would cause the piece of Plexiglas to vibrate. The vibrations would travel up the vertical piece of steel continue to the second piece of steel and then on to the pen. When the pen vibrates it would cause it to “draw” or inscribe the “voice” onto a piece of paper. The paper would be a continuous feed allowing for sound to be recorded through out the duration of the installation. In essence I would be taking the essential components of the phonograph idea and I would still be able to record the vibrations of the sounds through creating a simple version of a seismograph.




Main Questions:
- Should I go ahead and continue to troubleshoot?
- When do I stop troubleshooting?
- What if by Monday I can’t get it to play back?
- Should I order the kit off the Internet as a backup?
- Should I just adapt it and go with Plan B?.............I don’t want to run out of time

The Human Ear:

Within the human ear there are three basic parts the outer, middle and inner ear. The outer ear is where sound is collected and channeled to the middle ear. The middle ear serves to transform the energy of a sound wave into the internal vibrations that are read by the bone structure of the ear. The inner ear serves to transform the energy of the compressed wave within the inner ear fluid and turn them into nerve impulses, which can be transmitted to the brain.



Sound Waves:

Are a series of compression waves the move through out the air and are created by the vibration of an object. Waves are detected when they cause and object to vibrate. A good example of this would be the human ear as noted above. Sound waves show amplitude, velocity, wavelength and frequency.

Phonograph: