This is the inside of the SIAL Pod. A 16 channel audio sensory centre that emerges you in the sounds.
Month: May 2015
SIAL
25-05-15
Entering the Design Hub armed with my fellow soldier Gloria and our weapons of choice (Microphone, XLR cord, Portable Recorder and Notepads), I found myself nervous and strangely excited at the idea of interviewing Dr. Lawrence Harvey in his battleground (the SIAL Studios).
SIAL = Spatial Information Architecture Laboratory. It is a partially independent branch of RMIT that focuses its efforts on discovering the potential that spatial sound and design has on the audio, architectural, scientific and theoretical frontiers of the modern world.
Being guided down the halls of this grandiose building is an experience that can only be likened to that of walking through the Starship Enterprise. Huge concrete walls engulf your vision and dwindle and natural light that penetrates through the front door.. the walls are only interrupted by discrete corners housing futuristic designs of model buildings and ginormous doors that took the Zealander approach and were at least “3 times bigger” than the average rectangular holes in walls we are used to.
After navigating the near endless maze of corridors to get to the SIAL Studios, we finally arrived and were welcomed by a plethora of audio and sound gear that would make any audiophiles appendage stand to attention.
Being prompted by Lawrence to “pull up a seat and make {ourselves} comfortable”, both Gloria and myself unraveled our weapons and began the arduous process of setting up for the interview. After we managed to untangle the cords and route the signals, we unpacked our notebooks tentatively delivered our first blow.
Once the formalities were aside and the awkwardness of addressing a Dr. had subsided, the interview began to unfold before our very ears and conversation flowed quite naturally. Exchanging witty repartee, in-depth conversations about audio technology and the choice of Lawrence’s yoghurt (vaalia in case you were wondering), the three of us engaged in a discussion that went uninterrupted until we noticed that our time was almost up.
It was at this moment that Lawrence offered for gloria and myself to witness the gear in its full glory, as he decided to play a spatially mixed piece of audio that would engulf us in its beauty.
To say I was excited at this notion would be an understatement.
3, 2, 1….
Whooooah!!
It was an experience! A thing of sheer awesomeness!! It managed to immerse us all in its frequencies and travel around the room at will, formulating a mix of epic proportions.
The clock struck 2:00 and these little mice had to leave as Lawrence had a class to facilitate.
I urge anyone out there reading this blog to go in and see the SIAL Studios and experience the awesomeness that is Spatial Sound, for it will not be the last time that one will find me there.
– donandsherri
Short and Tall of It
winning.
(win-nig)
noun
2. Usually, winnings. something that is won, especially money.
adjective
3. that wins; successful or victorious, as in acontest: the winning team.
4. charming; engaging; pleasing: a winning child; a winning smile.
After receiving the communal email about the St. Kilda Film Festival competition and the chance of winning tickets to the opening night, my frugal senses started to tingle and I applied into the competition.
This venture ultimately proved to be a profitable one as I received confirmation back that I had won the tickets and would have the opportunity to preview the short stories.
The night was one of meeting, greeting and velvet seating as myself and my friend entered the Palais Theatre and found a good position to view the short films.
The calibre of the films that were screen was excellent, with every director managing to keep me entertained throughout their short pieces…however there were some films that stood in a league of their own.
Most notably was a local production that depicted a domesticated mother enjoying the rare time she gets to herself by preforming a dance // singing routine to a heavy song.. all the while being engulfed by the detergent leaking from the washing machine.
I can’t wait to hear which film takes out the top prize of $50,000 when the festival concludes.
– donandsherri
Keep it Class-y
Attending what I later found out, was the second last media tutorial for this semester proved to be both a fruitful and painful venture.
Having recently hi the studio to record the technology script, I was deep in editing mode during class. I had been editing out all the profanities that Bianca managed to expel during our session and trimming down all the pauses to congeal the dialogue into something that could be presented.
After showing the work-in-progress to Rachel, I managed to encounter a situation that all those who edit fear… my computer crashed… without me backing up my work. This middle finger to the face meant that the previous hours worth of work was flushed down the proverbial drain.
I did manage to calm my tits just long enough to re-edit approx %20 of what was lost before packing it up, packing it in and letting it begin.
This did prove to highlight the importance of saving ones work and also the necessity to stay calm.
– donandsherri
MAD IMAX
20-05-15
There is no better way to break through the despondency that usually comes around every hump day than settling ones self into the comfy cushioned seats of an IMAX theatre to watch the latest action thriller.
This time around it was George Miller’s latest effort: MAD MAX – FURY ROAD
The anticipation was building (as it always does) when the large blue 3D numbers come flying at you engulfing you in the sensory experience. It further gained traction as the new trailers for Bond, Jurassic Park & Star Wars occupied the 3rd largest screen in the world.
However the hype and sense of excitement that built up before the feature, soon dissipated as the film began to unravel itself. As much as I tried to connect with the film in all its over-the-top glory, I couldn’t. It might have been due to the fact that Nicholas Hoult (Skins, Warm Bodies) made his appearance so early on, or that the calibre of acting in general left much for the imagination, but I just couldn’t find resonance with the movie.
The rare enjoyable aspects of the film that I did manage to engage with appealed only to my sadistic side and my lust to see blood and violence on the big screen.
Hump day managed to regain its curvature and leave the remainder of the week back in its familiar place, a giant leap between work and freedom.
– donandsherri
♫ Sounds Of The Studio ♫
After booking out the equipment and managing to secure a studio, our group commenced the recording of our Technology dialogue.
– donandsherri
Arthur C. Clarke
Technology.
The strand of Media that our group had the blessing of being gifted.
During my research into the future of technology in the audio industry, I managed to venture further down the rabbit hole than I had initially intended and in doing so, dirtied my fluffy white tail…however I came out the other side more enlightened and with one name on my mind.
Arthur C. Clarke – Scientist, Science Writer & Futurist.
This gentleman had a very important role not only in the scientific world, but also in the popular culture world; having worked with Stanley Kubrik as a key writer in 2001: A Space Odyssey.
The part of Clarke’s life that I wanted to focus on and utilise in the depiction of Technology in audio was his 1960 televisual segment “A Vision of the Future”, where Clarke depicts not only what the future will look like, but also the meanings behind what people who predict the future are really achieving.
The reason for choosing this piece will become apparent once our artefact is complete.
– donandsherri
Charge It – Point It – Zoom It – Press It – Snap It – Work It – Quick…Erase It
Technologic.
Been gifted the theoretical framework of ‘Technology’ to base our group media artefact around, our group has gone into overdrive on conducting research about all the advances that has been made in the last century.
Dividing the advances into three distinct periods and assigning those periods to each of the group members has resulted in a breakdown of:
Patrick ~ Inception – 1960’s
Bianca ~ 1960’s – 2000’s
Gloria – 2000’s – Future of the Technology
As it stands we have yet to fully assemble all of our ideas and collate them to a point where we can start to format the artefact, however, I am hoping that today will serve as a good opportunity to finally get to the point where we can complete the final product.
For your audible pleasures:
(Music credited to Daft Punk)
– donandsherri
This is the Word of Rachel
Thats Life : 13-05-15
After submitting the practice components to Project Brief 3 several weeks ago & now firmly surprising it to the back of my mind while I focus on more pressing matters, I was surprised to receive the feedback / mark for it today.
Having received a grade of 65/100 I was both happy and unsatisfied with the result. My happiness drew from the fact that I had passed the assessment and that other people felt the portrait was palatable. My displeasure drew from the fact that I had poured so much time and effort into the artefact to only receive a grade that I was not happy with…that is not to say that it wasn’t a fair grade, for who am I (as an undergraduate student) to pass such judgment.
The comments received in conjunction with the grade proved to be the most influential part of the assessment and the part that I will draw from in future projects. I feel that Rachel gave an appropriate judgment of the piece, especially in regards to the framing of the shots, as this was one area I was unsure about.
With some reworking and reformatting of ideas, I feel that in a few projects time I will be able to produce a piece that both I and my contemporaries are happy with.
– donandsherri
∆
Triangles are my favourite shape.
On Sunday night, I had the audible and visual pleasure of attending the Alt J concert at Rod Laver Arena.
This was to mark the third time I have seen these three (formally four) guys play live and it proved to be a night of validation, reinvigoration and disappointment.
As usual the guys were on point. Every note played filled the exact space it was intended to, from the flanging guitars, layered bass lines and lead vocals…they proved again my already well founded opinion that this is one of the tightest groups that I have ever seen play live.
Having been inundated recently with a multitude of new music to listen to, Alt J fell out of regular rotation on my weekly music listenings. However, seeing them play live reinvigorated the passion and respect I have for these guys, both from a performance stand point as well as a musical one too. Being able to experiment with the obscure choice in instrumentations and vocals employed in their performances and albums, while still holding a solid fan base truly makes them one of the best groups doing the circuit in the modern era.
Acting in complete juxtaposition to my love for Alt J and their music was the venue it was held in. Rod Laver Arena is no place for music!! Its hard, industrial architecture and its total lack of personality leaves the audience feeling cold and unwelcome once the music stops and sometimes even while the music is playing. This serves as a good learning outcome in the end, as I hypothesis I will never attend another live performance at Rod laver Arena again.
– donandsherri