I was inspired by the YouTube video I am Sitting in a Video Room for this assignment. I decided to use the built-in reverb effect in Audacity, and apply it to a recording of myself talking. This way, the original audio signal is distorted by the effects of a digital room, albeit a room that is self constructed for the distinct purpose of corrupting the signal. I used the default settings for the reverb effect. There are four iterations in the attached audio file: the first one is without any reverb, the second is with one iteration, the third with 5 iterations, and the fourth with 10 iterations. Since the reverb settings place the sound in a fairly large room, the signal decayed quite rapidly and after only ten iteration, is already incomprehensible.
Category Archives: Assignments
Pic Collage, an iOS App, Feedback
I was looking through my picture gallery of this summer, trying to choose a photograph that would not be as “normal” or predictable to the audience. I ended up with this which I could not initially recognize as one I could have taken because it looked like a desert when I have never been to one in my life.
This was actually taken at the Antelope Canyon where I could toy with my iPhone camera and filter to take photos at certain spots, that gave such illusion of being in a different environment. Without a proper frame of the surrounding rocks, I thought this was fitting to the assignment of making a signal be destroyed using a readymade system, since there is parallelism to how my original shot of the canyon already conceals some real features of the place, highlighting the “readymade” system of the nature’s erosion (and the way I chose to frame the canyon).
The readymade system I chose is called Pic Collage, an iOS App that allows the user to modify and apply filters to any picture. I applied a filter named Clyde over and over until no feature of the canyon was visible and even the desert-like features were no longer recognizable. It was fascinating how the tone and brightness of the original picture quickly faded away through the first few iterations. You can also see that this particular filter frames the picture with darker edges as they are the only remaining elements of the vanished image.
Google Translate Feedback Loop
I took the first paragraph of Graham Harman’s Essay “On the Undermining of Objects” from the Re-Press publication “The Speculative Turn: Continental Materialism and Realism” and used Google Translate to translate it from English to German and back to English repeatedly.
Original:
The phrase ‘speculative realism’ is no longer beloved by everyone it describes, and may be used less often in the future. I still find it to be an effective term, one that draws wide attention to a fairly diverse set of philosophical programmes by pointing accurately to key similarities among them. Though it is always a badge of honour for intellectuals to refuse being stamped with any sort of label, other fields of human in- novation have a much stronger sense for the value of a brand name. The brand is not merely a degenerate practice of brainwashing consumerism, but a universally rec- ognized method of conveying information while cutting through information clutter. Coining specific names for philosophical positions helps orient the intellectual public on the various available options while also encouraging untested permutations. If the decision were mine alone, not only would the name ‘speculative realism’ be retained, but a logo would be designed for projection on PowerPoint screens, accompanied by a few signature bars of smoky dubstep music. It is true that such practices would invite snide commentary about ‘philosophy reduced to marketing gimmicks’. But it would hardly matter, since attention would thereby be drawn to the works of speculative re- alism, and its reputation would stand or fall based on the inherent quality of these works, of which I am confident.
Iteration 5:
The term “speculative realism” no longer loved describe it all and can be used less frequently in the future. I think it’s still to be an effective approach, one that on a fairly diverse set of philosophical programs point attention carefully distinguishes important similarities between them. While there is a badge of honor for intellectuals with any kind of label punching is are, in other spheres of human innovations have a much stronger sense of the value of a brand have to refuse. the brand is a degenerate practice consumption for transmitting information not only brainwashed but a generally accepted method because it cut through information clutter. Imprinting helps specific name for the philosophical positions to orient the intellectual public about the various options, but also untested permutations encouraging. If the decision were alone, I would not only get the name of the “speculative realism”, but is a logo through a few bars of signature smoky provided dubstep music to PowerPoint displays would accompany for playback. It is true, would “philosophy marketing gimmicks reduced” Invite that such practices aspersions on. But it would hardly matter since the attention would be drawn here to the work of the speculative return ism and their reputation would stand or fall, I am convinced, based on the intrinsic qualities of these works.
Iteration 20:
The term “speculative realism” no longer loved her describe all and can often be used in the future less. I think it’s still to be an effective approach, one that on a fairly diverse set of philosophical programs point attention carefully distinguishes important similarities between them. therefore a much stronger sense of the value of a brand in other spheres of human innovations Although there is a badge of honor for intellectuals with any kind of label punching refuse. the brand is a degenerate practice consumption for transmitting information not only brainwashed but a generally accepted method because it cut through information clutter. Imprinting helps specific name for the philosophical positions to orient the intellectual public about the various options, but also untested permutations encouraging. If the decision were alone, I would not only get the name of the “speculative realism”, but is a logo smoky, dubstep from a few bars of music signature to PowerPoint displays would accompany for playback. It is true, would “philosophy marketing gimmicks reduced” Invite that such practices aspersions on. But it would hardly matter since the attention would be drawn here to the work of the speculative return ism and their reputation would stand or fall, I am convinced, based on the intrinsic qualities of these works.
Iteration 50:
The term “speculative realism” no longer loved her describe all and can often be used in the future less. I think it’s still to be an effective approach, one that on a fairly diverse set of philosophical programs point attention carefully distinguishes important similarities between them. therefore a much stronger sense of the value of a brand in other spheres of human innovations Although there is a badge of honor for intellectuals with any kind of label punching refuse. the brand is a degenerate practice consumption for transmitting information not only brainwashed but a generally accepted method because it cut through information clutter. Imprinting helps specific name for the philosophical positions to orient the intellectual public about the various options, but also untested permutations encouraging. If the decision were alone, I would not only get the name of the “speculative realism”, but is a logo smoky, dubstep from a few bars of music signature to PowerPoint displays would accompany for playback. It is true, would “philosophy marketing gimmicks reduced” Invite that such practices aspersions on. But it would hardly matter since the attention would be drawn here to the work of the speculative return ism and their reputation would stand or fall, I am convinced, based on the intrinsic qualities of these works.
Same exercise tried with Telegu:
Original:
The phrase ‘speculative realism’ is no longer beloved by everyone it describes, and may be used less often in the future. I still find it to be an effective term, one that draws wide attention to a fairly diverse set of philosophical programmes by pointing accurately to key similarities among them. Though it is always a badge of honour for intellectuals to refuse being stamped with any sort of label, other fields of human in- novation have a much stronger sense for the value of a brand name. The brand is not merely a degenerate practice of brainwashing consumerism, but a universally rec- ognized method of conveying information while cutting through information clutter. Coining specific names for philosophical positions helps orient the intellectual public on the various available options while also encouraging untested permutations. If the decision were mine alone, not only would the name ‘speculative realism’ be retained, but a logo would be designed for projection on PowerPoint screens, accompanied by a few signature bars of smoky dubstep music. It is true that such practices would invite snide commentary about ‘philosophy reduced to marketing gimmicks’. But it would hardly matter, since attention would thereby be drawn to the works of speculative re- alism, and its reputation would stand or fall based on the inherent quality of these works, of which I am confident.
Iteration 5:
The phrase “speculative realism” describes it, and in the future will no longer loved by all that often. I was one of the philosophical similarities, the key word is still looking at the appearance of a fairly diverse set of effective programs, panoramas’m sure. Novation other parts of the wise man in a very strong sense of the value of the label for a brand name, which is always printed with the rejection of any sort of a badge of honor. In practice only deteriorate the brand consumerism brainwashing, but cut through the clutter of information, however, is not the method of conveying information to a universally rec- ognized. Think about the different options available to promote the philosophy of permutations to the east and try to learn the names and locations. The decision is “supposed” is designed for the name, but if one of mine some dubstep music, a logo, a signature smoky bars, PowerPoint projection screen to be retained. Its reputation, the reality of such practices, and the risk of re-Alism, “reduced marketing gimmicks”, I was invited to work, stand, or on the basis of that I am convinced that there is protection. In fact, the inherent quality of philosophy, but it is rarely the subject of snide commentary.
Iteration 20:
The phrase “speculative realism” describes it, and in the future will no longer loved by all that often. Panoramas’m I, for example, the key word more accurately analyzed similarities’m Exhibition is one of the effective programs have a different philosophy. The brand name is always some sort of badge of honor, and the value of the Novation intelligent man with a very strong sense of the label has been printed and the other components. In practice only deteriorate the brand consumerism brainwashing, but cut through the clutter of information, however, is not a universally rec- ognized method of conveying information. To promote the philosophy of permutations to the east and to think about the different options available to try to learn the names and locations. The decision is “supposed” is designed for the name, but the music, a logo, a signature smoky bars, some success, PowerPoint projection screen, dubstep mine. Its reputation, the reality of such practices, and the risk of re Alism “marketing gimmicks reduced”, and I was invited to stand or on the basis of that I am convinced that there is safety. In fact, the inherent quality of philosophy, but it is rarely the subject of snide commentary.
Sitting Stretched
For this assignment, I took the eponymous line of Lucier’s “I am sitting in a room” and repeatedly processed it using a few of Audacity’s built-in features.
Originally, I had intended to simply change the tempo of the recording and add echo with each iteration, but I found that doing so led to an extremely uncomfortable beating effect as the sampling rate became perceptible. I switched to using Paulstretch, which allows for extremely long stretching without losing (subjective) quality. I also added a low-pass filter at 5000 Hz to prevent the high frequencies in the “s” sound from dominating the recording.
On each iteration, using Audacity:
Paulstretch – Stretch Factor 1.15, Time Resolution 2s
Echo – Delay Time 0.35s, Delay Factor 0.15
Low-pass filter – Cutoff Frequency 5000 Hz, Rolloff per octave 6 dB
The end result after twenty iterations (all included in the link) is a soundscape which is completely unrecognizable from the simple original message.
Autotune pedal feedback loop
Hi there,
After listening to Lucier’s I am sitting in a room, I wanted to do the same thing using this auto-tune pedal I have. I wanted to recursively playback and record a song through this pedal a few times to hear the auto-tune degradation. So I wrote a quick little python script to control my audio interface, and play and record a few times. It uses PortAudio (SoudDevice), SciPy, and NumPy. The song I chose was “Sam and Dave – Hold on, I’m coming” at around 45 seconds.
Here is a link to the youtube video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AREppyQf5uw
The auto-tune pedal I used was a TC Helicon VoiceTone Synth. They call it “Hard Tune” and not auto-tune (I think Antares has the copyright over the word auto-tune). The “Uni” setting is the classic auto-tune, turned to 10. All of the other filters aren’t active.
Here is a picture of the pedal:
The Python script then controls my audio interface, which plays the audio back, and records it. The interface I am using is a Fire Studio project, but Port Audio works with any I/O device.
Here is a picture of the signal flow: (PS, don’t mind the dust, I haven’t been around all summer)
So the audio file I uploaded is the first 7 iterations going through the pedal, then the last clip is after 50 iterations. Also, I used a -1 dB limiter, but I’m not sure how SoundCloud normalizes the audio.
Here is the audio file:
https://soundcloud.com/user-333984151/feedback
So, as you can hear, the signal degrades really quickly. It gets crunchy and distorted much quicker than I thought it was going to. I was expecting more of an auto-tune sound that slowly degrades to sine waves. I think it is because I used a full polyphonic mix, and not just a vocal track. However, I think it will eventually go to all sine waves if it iterates enough times.
Here is a picture of what the audio looked like in Pro Tools:
You can see it gets exponentially louder with every iteration until it’s being limited.
Also, if anyone wants the source code. Here it is:
import sounddevice as sd
import numpy as np
from scipy.io.wavfile import write
fs = 44100
sd.default.samplerate = fs
sd.default.channels = 2
sd.default.device = 2 #Firestudio
duration = 15 #Seconds
myarray = sd.rec(duration * fs) #first recording
sd.wait()
myrecording = sd.playrec(myarray)
sd.wait()
for i in range(7):
myrecording = sd.playrec(my recording) #Play and record at the same time
sd.wait() #Block until done
write(‘write’ + str(i) + ‘.wav’, 44100, my recording) #Write an audio file for ever iteration
write(‘output.wav’, 44100, myrecording)
Thanks for reading!
-Steven Krenn
I am recording in a room
For this Assignment I was very interested in the aspect of using the “room” as a system. (I understand that it isn’t that original but i am an architect and building my thesis around acoustics and this was really fascinating to me). I looked for the most reverberant room I could get my hands on. It turned out to be my bathroom, which has a reverberance time close to that of a concert hall. (which is why people love to sing in showers). I then recorded and re-recorded the sounds of a human voice, a guitar, a synthesizer, and a trumpet to see how the different frequencies, amplitudes, and harmonics would change within the space. The feedback loop ran for 20 cycles. After a few feedback loops, speech became unintelligible, but what was surprising was that the difference between the 3 instruments and the human voice also became unintelligible. The trumpet lasted the longest and was easiest to pick out, the guitar and human voice changed drastically within 3 feedback loops, while the synthesizer also gained more feedback, it almost seemed like a natural progression. Another interesting thing that happened was the elongation of notes due to the high reverberance time. A half second click from my laptop became 5 seconds, the small shuffling of me in the background grew to have the same amplitude as the guitar. If I were to do this project again I would want to do it in a larger room. I think the natural frequency of the reverberation was too high for my recorder on my laptop. I also want to use a better recorder than just my laptop to make sure the fan on my hard drive doesn’t interrupt my recordings. I think that is what lead to the “ssssshhhh-ing” gurgle effect of the feedback, instead of one steady stream of frequency. Here is the result to listen for yourself:
Cheers!
Kayla Quinn
Snapchat Feedback
For this assignment, I used the Snapchat app to record a video, then re-recorded it 40 times alternating between my iPhone and iPad until both the video and audio were unrecognizable. The original video was taken on the iPad, and it was of Tame Impala’s Feels Like We Only Go Backwards music video. Here’s how it turned out:
Feedback Project
I utilized a mastering process for this assignment. Firstly, I took a track I’ve been working on and did some basic mastering. This included some EQing, along with some limiting and compression.
I then exported the track as an mp3. Afterwards, I repeated the process, using the same mastering settings, 30 times. By doing so, the track would become more and more compressed each time, and the tweaks with the EQ would also become more and more prominent with each iteration.
Along with this, the sound quality would decrease due to it being exported as an mp3 repeatedly.
I am sitting in a Deep Dream
For this assignment I chose the Google Deep Dream neural network as my system. I took a selfie and fed it through the system 90 times, the above video shows a compressed time lapse accompanied by a version of “Changes” where the the pickup into the chorus was fed through a digital reverb and delay system in FL studio because I thought it was kind of funny. Also attached are the original image and the final product.
Assignment 1 – Feedback with found systems
Due Sept 7
In 1914 Marcel Duchamp produced his first “readymade” – artwork made from things he found lying around (bottles, shovels, a coat-rack, & cetera). For this assignment you are going to use a readymade system – a signal processing system that you find lying around. Your “found system” could be on the internet, in one of your classrooms, in your telephone… It could be a photocopier, an online tool that transforms text or images, a plug-in or filter in an app, a toy that transforms sounds, etc.
Like Alvin Lucier’s I am sitting in a room, you are going to use this system over and over and until your original signal is destroyed. Present each generation of the transformed signal so we can see/hear it evolve.
Your signal can be text, sounds, images, video – or something else. Win big on the “concept” section of this assignment by thinking of something we didn’t see coming.
Post your documentation on the class website along with a little description of what you did. Tag your post “Assignments” (see here for more details on posting to the site). And enter a link to your post on blackboard.