Experimentation of Objects

Introduction to Workshop Tools

After spending time getting to know our objects we were now able to start exploring the possibilities of a range of new sounds that our objects could potentially make by manipulating them through the use of a range of tools (cutting and joining) to extend their potential.

Tim larking the workshop technician refreshed my memory and showed us how to use a range of tools that could be helpful in furthering my noise-maker. The only tool from the workshop which I used was the cordless drill to drill a selection of random holes in the sides and bottom of my plastic bottle.

Other tools used:
-craft knife
-scissors
-shoe lace
-rubber band

To get us started we were set a list of things to do to our objects to get us used to the idea that our objects could quite possibly be looking vastly different by the time we have a justified noise-maker.

List:
-make a hole
-cut something in half
-stick something back together
-tie something together

Cut in half and stuck back together by threading / tying a shoelace through sides

.

Holes on front and bottom of bottle.

I then went onto drilling more holes into the sides of the plastic bottle and with a large needle started to thread a thick embroidery thread, at random through the holes so I ended up with a loose web of diagonally tangled threads. I also unravelled one half of the lantern so I was left with a think, sturdy cardboard string, which i wrapped and tied around the top of the bottle to create another element in which I could pluck. And lastly I wrapped rubber bands around the base of the bottle as another thing to pluck.

String through bottle - unravelled lantern - unravelled lantern wrapped around bottle top

As the string through the bottle (left photo) is also partly on the out side of the bottle, I found that I was able to produce a more interesting sound by plucking these outer strings rather than passing objects such as pegs, safety pins, a zip and other objects down through the centre of the bottle, bouncing off the strings. I also unravelled the tape-measure and threaded it through the centre bottom hole of the bottle, through the thread and out the top, the sound activated from this was not quite how I expected it as I thought it would bounce around more. Therefore that is the reason I added the unravelled lantern and in the photo below you can see I have started to add rubber bands as a new element.

I found that when plucking the thread of my noise-maker from the outside that it sounded like popping pop corn, as many people also told me.

I really enjoyed the end of this class for the day. As what I thought was going to be a sharing of what we had done to manipulate our objects, turned into a performance of the whole class. We split into two groups one for loud noise-makers and one for quite noise-makers (including mine). And were asked to play them to rhythm of Happy Birthday.

Recording of the layers of sound heard during class:
studio-class-layered-sounds