Project 2: Exquisite Corpse Soundscape

Title: Chilly Hands, Warm Heart Artist Statement: For this project, I started with revisiting John Cage's "Water Walk" and being inspired by the sounds within it. Obviously, the theme of the piece is water and water related items, which I also wanted to incorporate in my project. I was hoping to take this project and the sounds given in the Google Drive folder to make something relaxing and peaceful. I searched for a lot of clips that were mostly related to water, using some shower starting sounds, toilet flushing sounds, rinsing sounds, and dripping sounds. I then took some clips that I thought would sound relaxing: the cat meowing and purring softly, the soft music clips, and the light ambiance clips. It wasn't until I tested one of my sound clips, the metal soda cans clanking together, that I realized I wanted to take it in another direction. Applying effects onto the sounds can completely change their feeling and impression. Messing with the pitch and distortion, I found that it kind of reminded me of something feeling "off". The sound originally sounds like it could probably be used if it was in a lighter, softer, and quieter tone/pitch, maybe it would make good wind chime or outside noises. After the effect is applied, it almost sounds ominous. The volume level also hypes up the intensity. I realized that this kind of sound invokes the same anxiety/stress inducing feeling for me that I would feel when I was really stressed. I realized that I could combine this idea of anxiety/stress and relaxation to describe a situation where someone adventures to a peaceful place in order to help combat their stresses. They start by rushing to get ready. I tried to convey this using sounds that sounded like they were mashed weirdly and came in at odd times while still sounding sort of good for sound composition sake. (Sometimes when I am stressed or rushing I will get ready out of my usual routine.) The noise is most prevalent here, but as the character gets outside and starts walking in the snow, they start to relax a little and beatbox to themselves. With local music playing in the background, the atmosphere starts to feel a little more comfortable. I thought the soft piano music and the sound of the cat helped me to envision a quaint and quiet local café that owned a cute pet. The page flipping sounds come from the book the character reads as he relaxes and the clanging noise gets less and less noticeable. This soundscape ended up evolving into something slightly more complex and describes a feeling that is relatable to me as well, which I appreciate more than my original idea.

Theme/Mood: a soundscape that showcases a chill, winter-y, adventure to the local café.

Parts:

1. Escaping the hustle, bustle, and ANXIETY of daily life, the rush to get ready to leave the house.

2. Adventuring outside in the snow, walking to the café, starting to relax a little bit.

3. Arrival. Finally, calm and relaxed enjoying the comfy atmosphere.

**The ringing noises that come in and out are supposed to signify the anxieties or stresses of life. The person is more stressed while they are rushing to get ready and less stressed when they finally make it to the café.

You can find the Soundcloud link here.