My role throughout the Signal Exhibition was to be a member in the Tech Team and assist in all the technological aspects of the production of the exhibition including visual and aural fabrication. The Tech Team consisted of 3 members; Dusty, Jordan and I, and we were all delegated separate tasks in order to make the workload equal between the three of us.
As there was more visual work to be done in terms of editing peoples’ sequences together and obtaining everyone’s sequences in order to begin the editing process – the visual components of the exhibition work were distributed between Dusty and Jordan. Thus, the audio components of the work were assigned to myself. I was confident in my ability with audio work, as I had taken a Sound Design elective throughout the semester.
Initially, I began to compile notes from our Signal meetings in regards to the specifications and the requirements of the sound files that needed to be recorded, edited together, and mastered together. After speaking to Jeanie and assessing Signal, I became of aware of the 9 sound poles around the Signal building and the 18 that align themselves around the warf. The sound files, which were required to be exported in the .wav or .avi formats, would be separated into three different sections. This means that the sound poles around the warf would be separated into 3 groups of 6 poles – each 6 poles playing different components of peoples’ audio pieces.
In conjunction with obtaining notes regarding the technical specifications of the aural and visual files, I created a small and concise technical manual. This manual, which I uploaded to Google Drive contained information about the format of the files and the different methods to export the files, in order to obtain the correct format. I also included screenshots of the Signal templates that Jeanie provided and visual instructions so the other members of the exhibition had something to refer to when exporting their content.
As peoples’ audio components were split into 3 different groups of 6 sound poles, their audio obviously had to be split into sound files. After hassling and collecting peoples’ 3 separate sound files, I created a final sound project on Logic Pro X and imported the sound files into the project in 16bit .wav files. I was then able to listen to each person’s audio individually and separate them into 3 different channels in order to obtain 3 discrete sound files to play throughout the exhibition.
After listening to peoples’ audio works I shuffled them around in order to create both fluid and stark moments throughout the audio pieces – to create whimsical moments full of soft breathing and echoic sounds; and disjointed and discordant moments with sharp, piercing sounds. I decided to do this in order to parallel and reflect the overarching concept of the exhibition, ‘Obsession’ wherein a full-bodied and complete sequence had instances of each person’s concept permeate the atmosphere, creating a unique and multi-faceted experience for the audience.
The issues I faced when creating a fluid soundscape for the exhibition was the timing issues I faced between the audio and visual components of the completed sequences. As each person’s visual sequences ended up being 32 seconds long and their audio ended up being 30 seconds long – there were differing lengths of time for the aural and visual elements of the exhibition. Initially, I was worried about the professional quality of the audience’s experience as I thought there would be moments of silence amidst the visual components of the exhibition. However, after some reflection on this issue, I decided to take a creative approach loop the soundtrack. I was pleased with my decision after the instalment, as the differing times between the visual and aural qualities allowed for a different visual sequence to match with another aural sequence each time the exhibition ran through; this created a diverse and distinctive experience for the audience each time the exhibition was viewed.
After each of the channels in logic had been panned and exported as 3 separate stereo .wav files, I sent them to Robbie for mastering. As I had extra time, I assisted the other members of the Tech Team, the PR team and the RMIT exhibition instalment team in order to have everything prepared for the exhibition opening. I took on the task of adjusting the brightness and exposures of some of the sequences to improve the quality of the projections on the screens at Signal and re-edited some of the sequences into the RMIT exhibition piece that had previously been cut from the Signal exhibition due to censorship issues.
I then took on the task of exporting and burning two of the mastered audio files onto separate CD’s to play at RMIT through speakers whilst importing another mastered audio file into Premiere Pro to play alongside the video sequence to create a full-bodied soundscape for the RMIT exhibition. Additionally, I volunteered to assist the PR team in regards to the production of booklets to hand out at the exhibitions as there had been issues with printing the day prior. This consisted of meeting up with the PR team at Signal 2 hours prior to the opening of the exhibition and guillotining, aligning and binding the booklets together.
Ultimately, I was able to compile, edit and produce the soundscape for both the Signal and RMIT exhibition; assist in the creation of both the complete Signal and RMIT sequences whilst lend a hand in the production of the promotional booklets that were handed out and placed around the exhibitions.