This phase opened up a new approach to composition, using the vibration table as an acoustical compositional tool. I conducted experiments in ‘playing' the table by vibrating and dampening its surface. Presentation to the postgraduate group helped solidify my directions, installation and performance aims.
Working from the earlier (Phase 1) composition, I employed the use of a bass amp and the vibration table, to excite small objects into vibration. Recordings of this were included in the piece, adding back dynamics and immediacy of the rattling objects, which had been lost with the layers of processing I had been using.
This marked a shift from using vibrations in recordings to generating and controlling vibrations ‘in studio', and opened up the type of sounds I could use, with greater control and isolation from other noise.
I then progressed to using the table itself as a sounding device, with a range of tests around using the table surface, in vibration, to generate audio, and the way audio signals would behave when applied through the table.
I started using drones and modulated bass through the table, as a departure from bassline riddim.
This period explored all of my principal research aims:
It concluded with presentation and discussion with the postgraduate group. The overall process helped me think about the framework in which I wanted to compose. I solidified my interest in installation, with sensation, as key focus over performance. The main findings were as follows.
Use of a large vibrating source for sound – the loose MDF top of the table – offered a unique sense of control and ‘playability' of a vibration sound, where I could use my body to change the pressures across the surface, manipulating the vibration.
The use a large surface also offered a range of approaches to micing, with the sound character varying significantly depending on microphone distance and placement across the surface.
I found that vibrating surfaces were also unpredictable in terms of the sound generated. I was challenged by the way sound would quickly transition from neutral to noisy and discordant, and recognised I needed a framework for generating sound that offered a fair amount of control.
I began to understand the unique attributes of sound as reproduced through the vibration table – how upper harmonics would present with increased volume, how distortion of the electronic signal could artificially emulate the way that vibrating materials ‘distort', and what frequency range suited the floor best.
I started using drones from my bass guitar as a signal for the vibrating table. It diverted from the riddim approach, and the organic source, with good harmonic content, had a good combination of a deep drone, and high frequency content engaging the body. I also found very low frequency modulation (a shaky sort of feedback) offered something significant to sensation.
At the end of this phase I was driven to explore a greater range of vibrating materials – while the MDF was interesting in its playability, it was not very interesting timbrally.
The sensory/feedback experience playing of the table also refocused my aim to bring sensation to an audience, and hence I was preferring an installation approach over performance.
Research detail subpage: 2.1 - Low frequency sound activating spaces - the articulation of building materials through vibration