SADs | a Sound A Day

Moved onto Stage 2; compiling the sounds into pieces - see PAWs page

today's sound ...

20111031 carnival 2
sample of the guitar from Chuck Berry's Rock and Roll Music manipulated and performed on the ASR10.
093 carnival 2

yesterdays' sounds ...

ROCKreation of the World
Coming back to my long term project - a recreation of Bernard Parmegiani's 1984 album La Création du Monde (The Creation of the World) using samples from iconic rock tracks ...(Each of the following sounds is a recreation of a specific 'sound object' from Bernard Parmegiani's 1984 album La Création du Monde (The Creation of the World) using samples from iconic rock tracks. I am working sequentially, subjectively identifying 'sound objects' within Parmegiani's work based upon both how it seems to have been made AND how I might remake it. Therefore, if I can hear the 'same sound' being used and/or if I think I can recreate the sound by repeating and/or varying the 'same sample', then I may determine several sonic events over an extended period of time to be repetitions or variations of a single 'sound object' (which is a deviation from Schaeffer's strict definition of a sound object). I am using quotation marks here to indicate that I am referring to self determined definitions i.e. when I say 'sound object' I am loosely referring to Schaeffer's definition, but with my own amendments. Similarly 'same sound' and 'same sample' are my own subjective definitions of what constitutes a single sound and what is a single sample... Parmegiani's album is actually broken into three movements: Lumière noire (Black light) (tracks 1-3), Métamorphoses du vide (Vacuum metamorphosis) (tracks 4-6) and Signes de vie (Signs of life) (tracks 7-12). And sounds reoccur in the different tracks, sometimes in new forms etc etc.

Track 11 Expression 2 (Expression 2) 7:15
The first half of this track is a collection of easily identifiable sound objects. The second half gets difficult with another complex drone ...

20111030 cave voices
sample of the DJ intro to the Ramones' Rock and Roll Radio manipulated and performed on the ASR10.
092 cave voices

20111029 carnival 1
sample of the guitar from Chuck Berry's Rock and Roll Music manipulated and performed on the ASR10.
091 carnival 1

20100316 night owl
sample of the vocal from the Velvet Underground's Rock and Roll, manipulated and performed on the ASR10.
090 Night owl

20100315 night insects
sample of The Ramones' Rock and Roll Radio, manipulated, layered and performed on the ASR10. You might find the reference hard to hear as it is quite low level (see below).
089 Night insects

20100314 night factory
sample of The Ramones' Rock and Roll Radio, manipulated, layered and performed on the ASR10. You might find the reference hard to hear as it is quite low level (see below).
088 Night factory

20100313 night birds
sample of The Ramones' Rock and Roll Radio, manipulated, layered and performed on the ASR10. You might find the reference hard to hear as it is quite low level (see below).
087 Night birds

20100312 jug wind
sample of Gary Glitter's Rock And Roll Part II, manipulated, layered and performed on the ASR10. The sample includes drums that become extraneous when compared to the reference (see below).
086 Jug wind

20100311 telephone voice
sample of The Ramones' Rock and Roll Radio, manipulated, layered and performed on the ASR10.
085 Telephone voice

20100310 voice 1
sample of The Ramones' Rock and Roll Radio, manipulated, layered and performed on the ASR10.
084 Voice 1

20100309 martian lid
sample of AC/DC's Rock n Roll Ain't Noise Pollution, manipulated and performed on ASR10.
083 Martian lid

Track 10 Expression 1 (Expression 1) 3:17
I'm taking a slightly different approach with this track: the drone elements that make up a significant part of the track I am going to replicate using sounds I have already come up with (during the earlier 'play' phase of the project). In particular 'expression drone 2' is more a replication of a general effect that I have identified in the Parmegiani track, rather than a faithful recreation of the sound...

20100308 flam
sample of the handclaps from Queen's We Will Rock You, manipulated, layered and performed on ASR10. Not really happy with this one. I have failed to replicate the whipping quality of the reference (see below).
082 Flam

20100307 shout
sample of Bill Haley singing the word 'Rock' from Rock Around The Clock, performed on the ASR10. The reference (see below) is a compile of some of the various occurrences of the sound in the Parmegiani track in reverse i.e. the first ones you can hear, on their own, are at the end of the track, the next ones precede them and so on.
081 Shout

20100306 golf
sample of the snare from 'Rock' from Rock Around The Clock, manipulated and performed on the ASR10 combined with a sample of the handclaps from Queen's We Will Rock You. The reference (see below) is a compile of some of the various occurrences of the sound in the Parmegiani track.
080 Golf

20100305 expression drone 2
sample of The Pixies' Rock Music, manipulated, layered and performed on ASR10. This was a sound I had come up with in an earlier 'play' phase of the project. It features 4 stereo layers of the same sample but each behaving differently. I can manipulate live the volumes relationships between the layers and it even includes a pressure modulation i.e. pressing harder on a key raises the volume of one of the layers
079 Expression drone 2

20100304 expression drone 1
sample of AC/DC's For Those About To Rock (We Salute You), manipulated, looped and performed on the ASR10. (Yes, the reference snippet below is the same as yesterday but this time I am focusing on the lower layer)
078 Expression drone 1

20100303 surface sizzle
sample of The Ramones' Rock and Roll Radio, manipulated, looped and performed on the ASR10. As you can hear in the reference (see below) this is just the 'surface' sound ...
077 Surface sizzle

Track 9 Polyphonie (Polyphony) 6:15
As mentioned in the description of '20100222 swelling drone' this track begins with a drone, or rather layers of drones. Identifying sound objects is difficult ...

20100302 frog
sample of Bill Haley shouting "Rock!" from Bill Haley and the Comets' Rock Around The Clock, manipulated and performed on the ASR10. You may find it difficult to hear the specific part I am referring to in the Parmegiani track (see below) amongst all the activity ...
076 Frog

20100301 spitting 1
sample of AC/DC's Rock n Roll Ain't Noise Pollution, manipulated and performed on the ASR10. You may find it difficult to hear the different parts in the reference (see below) but today's sound is just 1 of 3 parts I think ...
075 Spitting 1

20100228 metal stutter 3
sample of AC/DC's For Those About To Rock (We Salute You), manipulated, looped and performed on the ASR10.
074 Metal stutter 3

20100227 metal stutter 2
sample of The Beatles' Rock And Roll Music, manipulated, looped and performed on the ASR10.
073 Metal stutter 2

20100226 metal stutter 1
sample of Velvet Underground's Rock and Roll, manipulated and performed on the ASR10.
072 Metal stutter 1

20100225 siren 02
sample of AC/DC's For Those About To Rock (We Salute You), manipulated, looped and performed on the ASR10. Focusing on one of the background sounds in the reference (see below)
071 Siren 2

20100224 siren 01
sample of Velvet Underground's Rock and Roll, manipulated, looped and performed on the ASR10.
070 Siren 1

20100223 shimmer
sample of the crowd from KISS' Rock and Roll All Nite (And Party Every Day), manipulated, looped and performed on the ASR10.
069 Shimmer

20100222 swelling drone
sample of Lou Reed's vocal from the Velvet Underground's Rock and Roll, manipulated, filtered and performed on ASR10. My sound is a lot more tonal than the reference (see below) but I think that's okay ... and I should mention that a key feature of the reference is the 'water running' continuing on from the last track. Underneath is what I am calling a swelling drone. The beginning of this Parmegiani track raises a new question: how to identify sound objects within a drone. Certainly one can hear multiple layers in the Parmegiani track, so each layer can be an object, but should each 'swell' be an object? What about the elements/layers that don't swell? hmmm tricky ...
068 Swelling drone

Track 8 Aquatisme (Aquatic) 7:53
Well, this track is incredibly dense. I could have done the entire project using this track alone. Almost every couple of seconds there is a new sound, or a development upon a previous sound so drastic it could warrant being called a new sound. Instead I will try to keep the number of sounds I identify for replication to a minimum by effectively doing what Schaeffer would call categorising into genre. Here, genre essentially means grouping sounds together that 'sound like' they all emanate from the one 'instrument'. Or more specifically, that I am able to recreate using the one sample, performed with variations on the ASR10.   Almost every couple of seconds there

20100221 pipe knocking
sample of the snare from Bill Haley and the Comets' Rock Around The Clock, manipulated, and performed on the ASR10. Not much manipulation in this one, simply dropped it a semitone (and is nicely similar to the pitch of the reference (see below)) and filtered out the high frequency snare sound (probably could hollow out the sound further to make it more like a 'metal pipe'). Accidentally used the same sample as the first sound for this track, so the track SHOULD be nicely consistent.
067 Pipe knocking

20100220 sucked thump
sample of The Pixies' Rock Music, manipulated, and performed on ASR10. The reference (see below) immediately suggested a reversed sound, and a song ending seemed obvious. It was just a matter of selecting one that had the closest timbral resemblance. The panning is a performable parameter.
066 Sucked thump

20100219 water running
sample of snare drum from Elvis Presley's Jailhouse Rock manipulated, layered and performed on ASR10. Same sample as '20100202 rolling glass' but processed and played differently.
065 Running water

20100218 drain variations
sample of  Lenny Kravitz's Rock n Roll Is Dead, manipulated, looped and performed on the ASR10. I didn't intentionally use a sample from the same track as yesterday but I am assuming the 2 will work together well ...
064 Drain variations

20100217 water birds
sample of  Lenny Kravitz's Rock n Roll Is Dead, manipulated, looped and performed on the ASR10.
063 Water birds

20100216 fluoro hum
sample of  Gary Glitter's Rock and Roll Part II, manipulated, and performed on the ASR10. Pitched very low. Obviously in the reference (see below) I am focusing upon the background sound.
062 Fluoro hum

20100215 insect buzz 2
same sample as 'car start' a couple of days ago (sample of  The Ramones' Rock n Roll Radio, manipulated, looped and performed on the ASR10) but looped differently and pitched higher.
061 Insect buzz 2

20100214 distant train
sample of  Led Zeppelin's Rock and Roll, manipulated and performed on the ASR10. Note that it is the very faint background sound in the reference (see below) that I am recreating.
060 Distant train

20100213 car start
20100213 droplet + car start
sample of  The Ramones' Rock n Roll Radio, manipulated, looped and performed on the ASR10. You will note that the reference (see below) is the same as yesterday. Originally I viewed the 'droplet' and the 'car start' as one but later on in the track they occur at different times, thus showing that although often working together, they are in fact 2 separate sounds. So, I have included an example of my 2 recreations working together. It raises the issue of assessing the suitability of a sound (sample) whilst considering how it will interact and compliment another sound - and thus pre-meditated composition begins to encroach on pure object construction.
059 Droplet + Car start

20100212 droplet 1
20100212 droplet 2
first one is a sample of  Lenny Kravitz's Rock n Roll Is Dead, manipulated, layered and performed on the ASR10, the second one is sample of the snare from The Clash's Rock The Casbah, manipulated and performed on the ASR10. I spent some time trying to get the Lenny Kravitz sample to sound like a droplet like the reference (see below) but then abandoned it and used the Clash sample instead.
059 Droplet + Car start

20100211 drain atmos
sample of the fretboard squeak from Lenny Kravitz's Rock n Roll Is Dead, manipulated, looped and performed on the ASR10. You will note that the reference (see below) is the same as yesterday but this time focusing upon the 'background' sound.
058b Drain atmos

20100210 insect buzz 1
sample of the snare from Bill Haley and the Comets' Rock Around The Clock, manipulated, looped and performed on the ASR10. I have amplified the reference (see below) about 30 dB because it is the very start of the Parmegiani track and very quiet.
058 Insect Buzz 1

Track 7 Cellules (Cells) 6:25
The third and final movement begins with a track that is relatively sparse. I have managed to only identify 4 new sounds although there is considerable variation with each 'repeat' or 'recurrence' of each sound ...

20100209 snare  splashes
sample of the hand claps from Queen's We Will Rock You, manipulated and performed on the ASR10. There is a bi-directional loop on the sound so that when the key is held longer a reverse version appears, plus there is velocity on the keys so that variations in volume can be performed when striking the key harder or softer.
057 Snare splashes

20100208 dogs bark
sample of Bill Haley shouting "Rock!" from Bill Haley and the Comets' Rock Around The Clock, manipulated and performed on the ASR10.
056 Dogs bark

20100207 keys jangle
sample of the Velvet Underground's Rock and Roll, manipulated, layered and performed on ASR10. This is actually the very same sample as yesterday but treated very differently. In the Parmegiani track the sound appears first as a very low level background, disappears and then later it provides the climax of the track before gradually petering out. (See below)
055 Keys jangle

20100206 reverse squeaks
sample of the Velvet Underground's Rock and Roll, manipulated and performed on ASR10. The difficulty with this one is that the first minute or so of the Parmegiani track consists of only these 'reverse squeaks ' (see below) so I needed to make something that had enough potential in the performance variations to sustain interest for so long. I used a 'ramp up' envelope to create an attack that mimics a reversed sound. Also, I used a reverse reverb to 'stretch' the sounds when I need to in performance. Rather than replicate the low scraping sound in the reference I decided to use the sound without pitch changes, to keep them all in the same family and to give a peek at the source.
054 Reverse squeaks

Track 6 Échos / mélopée (Echoes / chant) 5:37
I will only be making a few new sounds for this track because a lot of this track includes sounds from the previous tracks (as it is the final part of the 2nd movement). In particular, 'rolling glass' features quite prominently, as does the 'piano tinkles'. Also, the very first sound of the project, 'burst repeating', features throughout but in reverse. Interestingly, I cannot simply perform 'burst repeating' in reverse because of the envelope filters, and instead will have to resample or record it in Pro Tools and reverse it there (when it comes time to assemble the compositions). There's a PhD chapter here I am sure, to do with the question of when does a sound object became a new object. Strictly speaking, every new occurrence is a new object ... but it is also to do with the listening intention. The example Schaeffer uses to clarify this point is a harp arpeggio. When notated traditionally it is broken down into a succession of notes - but would in fact be considered a single sound object. So, if the intention is to notate the arpeggio so that a harp player can perform it, it needs to be analysed as a succession of notes but if the intention is to assess the sound as a concrete sonic occurrence, thus involving a much more rigorous examination, then it needs to be thought of as a single sound object.

20100205 R2D2
sample of the synth stab from The Clash's Rock The Casbah, manipulated and performed on the ASR10. This feels a little like cheating because it has been created by sampling a synth sound rather than sampling and manipulating a more typical rock instrument . But that sound is there in that track and it makes life easier ... The question was how much of the rest of the sound to leave in there. I decided to leave a little trail of Joe Strummer's vocal, especially because the final note in the 3 note sequence is at the original pitch and therefore is easily recognised. As usual the reference (see below) includes other sounds but it is just the electronic beeps I am focusing on. This and the last few sounds will all need to work together in the final track to create the chanting and echoing that the track title Échos / mélopée (Echoes / chant) refers to.
053 R2D2

20100204 alarm
sample of AC/DC's Rock n Roll Ain't Noise Pollution, manipulated and improvised performance on ASR10. In the reference below I am focusing on the background sound, so when the sound I've made is added to the composition it will be very low volume, and will need to compliment the dominant sounds. Therefore I have built in a performance parameter that manipulates the loop position (which in effect manipulates pitch and texture). You will notice that the reference sound is much higher in pitch than mine. This is because I wanted to retain as much of the 'guitarness' of the sample as possible and pitching it up an octave or more loses that. I am sure I could flesh out this issue more in the PhD - around privileging certain qualities at the expense of others. This issue is particularly relevant to sampling on the ASR10 when dealing with pitch versus tempo. As explained yesterday when I talked about altering pitch not tempo (and vice versa) for the 'chant' sound, the ASR10 is more akin to a tape machine in that way. Slowing down tape drops the pitch and tempo TOGETHER, and speeding up the tape increases pitch and tempo TOGETHER. What this means is that transposing pitch relationships drastically alters duration, tempo and often other elements too. To use the harp arpeggio example again: when playing the harp the series of notes can be transposed to a higher or lower key, while note duration etc can remain the same and this transposition is very easily performed. If the arpeggio is sampled on the ASR10 as a whole, transposition of pitch will alter duration (like a slowing down or speeding up a tape machine). If each note is sampled and the arpeggio is 'played' note by note on the ASR10 the issue remains. Transposing is easy, simply play lower or higher notes on the keyboard, but the duration of EACH note is effected. The manufacturers have solutions for these problems as demonstrated in the factory sounds they provide. So a harp 'instrument' on the ASR10 is constructed using envelope filters to keep each note of a consistent duration - which is what I tried (and failed) to do with 'chant' yesterday ...   
052 Alarm

20100203 chant
sample of The Rolling Stones' It's Only Rock and Roll (But I Like It) manipulated on Pro Tools, layered and performed on ASR10. After 50 sounds made only using the ASR10 I finally had to turn to software because, conceptually, I wanted to do something with this sound that the ASR10 cannot do; alter pitch without altering tempo. This is a fairly common place tool these days but not when the ASR10 was produced. In an effort to stay on the ASR10 I spent a considerable amount of time trying to make this sound in a very different way. In the reference below the sound that I am focusing on occurs twice (note the gap where I have edited out the material in between), the second time at a higher pitch but with the same overall volume/pitch shape and duration. Thinking that it was these envelopes of the reference that was critical - both the amplitude envelope and the pitch envelope - I thought I could apply consistent envelopes to a constant droning loop. Therefore the shape of the sound - i.e., the 'melody' and the volume shape - would remain constant no matter what pitch the sound was played at. This proved too difficult - theoretically I believe the ASR10 can do this but it involves a lot of time and effort. So, instead I used the Stones sample, which superficially resembled the reference to begin with, and first slowed it down (without altering the pitch) and then pitched it up (without altering the tempo). The first and second iterations of the sound above are designed to recreate the reference. The 3rd iteration is included above to demonstrate the first stage in the progression. The artefacting that occurs when using these tools (to extreme like I have) is also pleasing here because it brings the texture closer to the reference (see below)
051 Chant

Track 5 Jeux de Configurations (Sets of Configurations) 5:54
A lot of this track includes sounds from the previous track (as it is the continuation of the 2nd movement) so the sounds below will just be the new ones I identify ...  

20100202 rolling glass
sample of snare drum from Elvis Presley's Jailhouse Rock manipulated, layered and performed on ASR10. It is a loop and in performance the end of the loop is manipulated to create the rising pitch/increasing repeat speed effect. I am not 100% happy with this one. The attack is too hard compared to the reference (see below)
050 Rolling glass

20100201 buzzing distortion
sample of Lou Reed's Rock and Roll (live), manipulated, layered and performed on ASR10. There is a lot going on in the Parmegiani reference (see below) - including yesterday's 'howl' - so you may find it difficult to identify the precise 'instrument' or 'layer' that I am attempting to recreate ...
049 Buzzing distortion

20100131 short howl with delay
sample of AC/DC's For Those About To Rock (We Salute You), manipulated, and performed on the ASR10. In the Parmegiani track the sound occurs first without delay and then later with delay (in the reference below you will note the little gap because I have removed several seconds just to highlight the sound as it first occurs and then the delayed sound.)
048 Short howl with delay

20100130 close piano tinkle
same sample as yesterday (piano glissando from The Beatles' Rock And Roll Music), but manipulated and performed on the ASR10 in a different way. The loop position is able to be adjusted in performance. This is to enable the variations that occur throughout the track, although the reference (see below) is relatively static.
047 Close piano tinkle

20100129 distant piano tinkle
sample of piano glissando from The Beatles' Rock And Roll Music, manipulated and performed on the ASR10. This gets so removed from the source remaining recognisable that, when I put the sounds together into the compositions, I am considering hovering around the original pitch - even though that makes the sound less like the reference (see below).
046 Distant piano tinkle

20100128 plops
sample of the kick drum from Gary Glitter's Rock And Roll Part II, manipulated and performed on the ASR10. The pitch is randomised with each key strike. You will note some 'tinkling' in the reference (see below). I have decided to consider the tinkle as a separate sound object because it reoccurs at other times in the track. But I also have the luxury of being able to simultaneously  'activate' more than one 'instrument' on the ASR so that a single key strike can playback anything from 1 to 8 instruments simultaneously. This gives me the ability to perform sounds together - in this case I can trigger a 'plop' at the same time as a 'tinkle'. 
045 Plops

20100127 strum
sample of KISS' God Gave Rock n Roll To You II, manipulated, layered and performed on ASR10. This is a sound object (see reference below) that I identified very early on in the project as something I could replicate using a guitar strum. Closer listening revealed more to it than that so I have made three layers of the same sample but doing different things; the initial high pitched squeak, the middle layer at unaltered pitch but fading rapidly and the sustained layer at a low pitch and with a filter over the attack so that it emerges after the key is released.
044 Strum

Track 4 Lumière (Light) 11:34
Although this track is long it features a slow build and probably less variation than the preceding tracks. However, the tricky thing is that the initial surges of sound, separated by silence, are actually all a little different. So do I make a sound object for every time the sound evolves, considering each one as a 'new' sound? Or do I make an 'instrument' that features all the future evolutions that can then be revealed in performance modulations? Hmmmm ....

20100126 new resonance
technically this is not a new 'sound' in as much as I am reusing sounds I have made above but I felt that the best way to recreate what happens in the Parmegiani reference (see below) was to create an effect. In this case I am again using a chorus effect with the feedback set to max to create resonance. In the sound above I have put the 'tonal build', 'feedback sparkle' and 'descending backmasking' through the effect.
043 New resonance

20100125 descending backmasking
sample of Lenny Kravitz's Rock n Roll Is Dead, manipulated and performed on ASR10. This also utilises a reverse reverb inbuilt ASR effect.
042 Descending backmasking

20100124 feedback sparkle
sample of The Pixies' Rock Music, manipulated, filtered and performed on the ASR10. At the end I performed it in such a way so that the original sample is more discernible - which highlights a concern I continue to have throughout this project. Often I am able to recreate an element of the Parmegiani work to my satisfaction but at the expense of the source sample retaining recognition. So the question that continually comes to mind is; how important is it to have the sample sources recognisable to a listener? There are many issues at work; firstly subjectivity. Each individual listener will hear or not hear the sources to varying degrees. Also, it is impossible for me to imagine hearing something I have made for the first time without knowing where it came from and how it was manipulated. Then there is the issue of familiarity - listeners will 'know' the sources to varying degrees. If familiarity was so important I would have made sure I picked the most popular (ie. widely known) rock songs to sample from. At the beginning of the project I decided that I was more interested in retaining the essence of a sample than the specifics. By that I mean I would rather have a listener be aware that a sound is made from a snare drum than being able to identify that it is a particular  snare hit from a particular song or artist. But I guess that is at the heart of the project - finding out if there is something essential about the sound of rock that is retained when sampling rock songs to make a composition that is entirely unlike rock music ...
041 Feedback Sparkle 

20100123 dog bark
sample of Bill Haley singing the word 'Rock' from Rock Around The Clock, pitched down an octave, filtered and performed on the ASR10.
040 Dog bark

The bulk of this track consists of an intense build of very complex sound textures that I have found impossible to break down into sound objects. Furthermore it seems to me that there is considerable reliance upon pitch relationships (reminds me very much of Ligeti's micropolyphony works.) Again, they are quite complex, and it would be quite a task to transcribe and notate it, even if it were appropriate to this project (which it ain't). So, the sound below is an attempt at a simplified version of the reference but I think it will need revisiting when it comes time to assemble the composition.

20100121 lava rain
sample of Bill Haley and the Comets' Rock Around The Clock, manipulated and performed on the ASR10. You will note two occurrences of the sound. Originally I was going to approach them as two different sounds but as I was working I decided I wanted to use the same sample. But because the sample is so large and chews up ASR memory I copied the sample parameters but not the data to create a second layer within the instrument. Then I created a second patch so that I can create the variation when performing by holding down the patch button(s).
038 Lava rain

20100120 distant animal cries
sample of AC/DC's Rock n Roll Ain't Noise Pollution, manipulated and improvised performance on ASR10. Backwards guitar riff.
037 Distant animal cries

20100119 snare mist 3
sample of Elvis Presley's Jailhouse Rock, manipulated, looped and performed on the ASR10. The snare obviously. Much more recognisable than the first 2.
036 Snare mist 3

20100118 bass burble
sample of Lou Reed's Rock and Roll (live), manipulated and performed on ASR10. Another one from the vault. I made this back when I commenced this project (a couple of years ago) but even then was originally inspired by the reference (see below). Actually when I have used this in live performances members have the audience have commented that they assumed it was a live band coming through the venue wall. The pitch is constantly sliding around so that there is no rhythm created. (You might find the reference hard to hear without headphones ...)
035 Bass burble

20100117 distant bird cries
sample of Lenny Kravitz's Rock n Roll Is Dead, manipulated and performed on ASR10. It is the only guitar solo I have a sample of that is literally a solo (ie. no other instruments)
034 Distant bird cries

20100116 snare mist 2
sample of The Pixies' Rock Music, filtered on the ASR10. This third one however, I felt warranted a new sample.
033 Snare mist 2

20100115 snare mist 1
sample of AC/DC's Rock n Roll Ain't Noise Pollution, manipulated and improvised performance on ASR10. It comes from a sample I made a long time ago and has been through numerous generations of manipulation and resampling. But essentially I think it is a snare, blurred and reverbed into a mist ... You will notice two sounds, separated by silence. I decided that the first 2 sounds in the reference (see below) could be recreated using the same sample but with variation in the performance.
032 Snare mist 1

Track 3 Première Forces - Première Formes (First Forces - First Shapes) 7:36
This track is tricky because there is so much morphing going on it is difficult to identify when one 'sound' ends and another begins. It makes my already subjective methodology even more subjective so .... I have decided to try to limit the sound object identification process to around 10 sounds per track ... (which might be a rule I have to break for the next track as it is over 11 minutes long.)

20100114 impact with dungeon echoes
sample of Led Zeppelin's Rock and Roll, manipulated, layered and performed on the ASR10. Again, it features the resonating chorus but only on the layer underneath. On top are the initial snare hits uneffected. I was aiming to replicate the initial dryness of the reference, and this was the only rock sample (of the 60 or so that I've made) that was anywhere near 'dry'.
031 Impact with dungeon echoes

20100113 wide ambient tone
sample of KISS' God Gave Rock n Roll To You II, manipulated and performed on ASR10. It is the same sample as the 'rising tone' (20100105) but without the pitch rising and this time pitched very low. I know from experience that a stereo sample pitched very low will give a big wide spread of ambient sound. I've used a trace of the resonating chorus to begin with to match the reference (see below) but you could say, in the Parmegiani track, it is just the remnants of the previous sound.
030 Wide ambient tone

20100112 resonating buzz 1   resonating buzz 2
sample of The Ramones' Rock and Roll Radio, manipulated, looped and performed on the ASR10. The second one is a sample of Led Zeppelin's Rock and Roll, manipulated in the same way. To create the resonance I applied a chorus effect with the feedback hiked up to the max. The actual pitch created is independent of the source sound being fed into the effect. Therefore, because the effect is an ASR10 inbuilt effect, it can be applied to any sample I am using and will cause the resonance to be of a consistent pitch. Which is why I have included the second one, as an example.
029 Resonating buzz

20100111 bubbling pops
sample of the bass and drums from Gary Glitter's Rock And Roll Part II, and the snare from Bill Haley and the Comets' Rock Around The Clock, manipulated, layered and performed on the ASR10. The pitch is randomised with each key strike. Again I felt the need to combine 2 samples to get the variation it needed. It raises the issue of what Schaeffer called 'monophonie' - that is, concomitant elements that can be isolated by the ear. So, even though the ear (or at least my ear because I know how the sound was made) can separate the 2 samples, it is still a singular object because they occur together. Therefore, in effect, I have NOT been breaking down Parmegiani's work into sound objects but rather I have been breaking it down into 'instruments' or layers that is more akin to analysing a rock song. However, the samples of rock songs that I have made ARE more accurately Schafferian sound objects because I treat them holistically, whether the sample includes multiple instruments or not. Must be a chapter for the PhD in that issue somewhere ...
028 Bubbling pops

20100110 glass rattle
samples of  the snare from Bill Haley and the Comets' Rock Around The Clock, the guitar from The Beatles' Rock and Roll Music and a guitar strum from KISS' God Gave Rock n Roll To You II, manipulated, layered and performed on the ASR10. I had a bunch of samples that all had some 'glassy' quality to them and decided to combine 3, rather than just manipulate one. I felt it important to maintain a consistent pitch, as the reference does (see below).
027 Glass rattle

20100109 kick
sample of kick drum from Gary Glitter's Rock And Roll Part II, manipulated and improvised performance on the ASR10. The pitch is randomised with each key strike.
026 Kick

20100108 loop stutters 1   loop stutters 2
samples of AC/DC's For Those About To Rock (We Salute You), manipulated, looped and performed on the ASR10. Two different samples, both manipulated in the same way.
025 Loop stutters

20100107 duck quack
sample of guitar from AC/DC's Rock n Roll Ain't Noise Pollution, manipulated and improvised performance on ASR10. The pitch of the attack is  controlled by the velocity (how hard the key is struck) making this a fun one to perform.
024 Duck quack

20100106 creaky old boat
sample of the snare from Bill Haley and the Comets' Rock Around The Clock, looped and performed on the ASR10. I realised that the sound I created for the 'slow creak' (20091219) was perfect for this and at the same time realised that the 'slow creak' was too full bodied to match its reference. So I went back to 20091219 and filtered the sound to make it thinner and more like the reference. This one then just needed the reverb wash removed and a lower pitch to work fine.
023 Creaky old boat

20100105 rising tone
sample of KISS' God Gave Rock n Roll To You II, manipulated and layered on ASR10. This was very difficult and time consuming but also very satisfying. In the reference below I am focusing upon the low sound underneath. This is only the first 30 seconds of it. It actually takes 50 seconds to rise up in pitch before falling again for 20 seconds, and then rising again for a final 20 seconds before hovering for a while. I took a screaming lead guitar note from KISS and got all the drums and band as bonus sounds. To get the pitch to fall I have reversed the sample (I resampled a few times so that the pitch slide and other characteristics become fixed elements of the sample).
022 Rising woody bass tone

20100104 rain on roof
sample of Velvet Underground's Rock and Roll, manipulated and performed on ASR10. Just a guitar chord but with the pitch modulated so wildly it is beyond recognition.
021 Rain on roof

20100103 sucking sizzle
sample of Led Zeppelin's Rock and Roll, manipulated and performed on ASR10. This is the same sample as the 'sizzling flicker' (20091226) but manipulated differently.
020 Sucking sizzle

20100102 flaring gong
sample of Lenny Kravitz's Rock n Roll Is Dead, manipulated and performed on ASR10. I'm trying to use samples with tonal information as much as possible because it is all too easy to use drums, percussion and other non-tonal samples ... and I think there needs to be more variation in the project.
019 Flaring gong

Track 2 Instant 0 (Time 0) 4:43

20100101 sparkling flicker
sample of the feedback from The Pixies' Rock Music, looped and manipulated on the ASR10. Not totally happy with this one as I can still hear the loop (although I like how much it sounds like an out take from Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music). I didn't want it to sound too atonal because I find the reference (see below) to be quite pretty, so I played firsts and fifths (Ds and As) but it is almost pointless when the original sample is so atonal in the first place ...
018 Sparkling flicker

20091231 radio tuning
sample of AC/DC's For Those About To Rock (We Salute You), manipulated and layered on the ASR10. Almost any sample would have done the trick with this one because the effect is essentially extreme sweeping of parametric EQ. In fact once I had achieved the desired amount of 'radio' effect the source sample was totally obscured. So I made a second layer using the same sample but unprocessed, and dropped in volume so that it just barely there...
017 Radio tuning

20091230 static burst
sample of The Pixies' Rock Music, filtered on the ASR10. I had about 5 samples with potential for this one, but in the end went with the one that required the least amount of manipulation, in the hope that it retains more of its 'rockness' ...
016 Static burst

20091229 tense insect shrill
sample of the Chuck Berry's Rock n Roll Music, manipulated on ASR10. Very happy with this one. It is a loop of the jangling Chuck Berry guitar that opens his track, and it has been filtered and layered. Also, note the subtle pitch variations halfway through ...
015 Tense insect shrill

20091228 low buzzing whoosh
sample of the descending guitar slide in Lenny Kravitz's Rock n Roll Is Dead, manipulated, layered and performed on ASR10. Note: in the reference below I am just focusing upon a very small element, but it reappears at other times during the track.
014 Low buzzing whoosh

20091227 descending jet engine
sample of AC/DC's For Those About To Rock (We Salute You), manipulated and layered on ASR10. Looping a tiny fragment in the middle of the sample creates a dominant tone and the potential to play chords.
013 descending jet engine

20091226 sizzling flicker
sample of Led Zeppelin's Rock and Roll, manipulated and performed on ASR10. The snare and hi hats... This one and the one above could be put together and performed simultaneously ... in order to more accurately replicate the references, where it is hard to tell sounds apart.
012 Sizzling flicker

20091225 hiss and whoosh
sample of Lou Reed's Rock and Roll (live) - the crowd yet again!, manipulated and performed on ASR10. This 'instrument' features a key release envelope - the 'splash' sound that occurs when I release a key.
011 Hiss and whoosh

Track 1 Moins L'infini (Minus Infinity) 5:27 

20091224 bi directional whip
sample of KISS' God Gave Rock n Roll To You II, manipulated and layered on ASR10. I deliberately chose a full band sample, rather than a single instrument, even though it includes sound elements that aren't in the reference, because this is the final moment of track 1 and it mirrors nicely the full band sample at the start of the track. I am also using pitch to shape the approach and retreat of the sound rather than just volume and intensity as can be heard in the reference (see below). I created this with the backwards 'approach' and the forwards 'retreat' on separate keys, so to perform this I have to play one then the other. This gives the potential for variation in timing of the second half but also creates the potential for a mistake! Pros and cons, but essentially it would be time consuming to stitch together the two halves on the ASR (as it is not designed to be a cut and paste tool) so I won't for now ... Also, the deep bass rumble that ends the reference (see below) is not in mine but I figured I could work on that in the mix. Which raises the interesting issue of finding the line between preparing samples (or instruments) for a composition and preparing samples for a performance. When to allow room for variation and when to make things fixed ...
010 Bi-directional whip

20091223 bubblewrap pops
sample of the snare hit from The Clash's Rock The Casbah, manipulated and performed on the ASR10. There is a random function working on the pitch so that hitting the same key will get variations, but I have made the range wide enough so that the it gets low enough on occasion to be recognisable as a snare. Note: in the reference below I am just focusing on the 'pops' on the surface, not all the reverb, creaking stuff...
009 Bubblewrap pops

20091222 lofi crunch
sample of Led Zeppelin's Rock and Roll manipulated and performed on ASR10. Drum fill going backwards and forwards and run through ASR10 in built distortion. This sound appears a few times, a little different each time, therefore I constructed this 'instrument' to enable variations in performance.
008 Lofi crunch

20091221 doppler moped
sample of the descending guitar slide in Lenny Kravitz's Rock n Roll Is Dead, manipulated and layered on ASR10. I am pleased with the way I have generated the attack and initial 'approach' of the sound out of a sample that only had the 'retreat'. It's a shame that it only appears for a couple of seconds!!! Interestingly, if I wasn't married to the ASR10 I could have used a doppler effect which would have achieved this result in seconds - but is perhaps anathema to musique concréte ... (adding effects without real, deep listening and analysis)
007 Doppler moped

20091220 screeching reverb
sample of the crowd (again!) from the live version of KISS' Rock and Roll All Nite (and Party Every Day). Again I felt like cheating so I added a second layer (that you can hear in the second part) that is a sample of the feedback from The Pixies' Rock Music, manipulated and layered on ASR10. The feedback is pitched across the sampler in smaller steps (20% of a semitone) so that it is more like the 'atonal' crowd sample and will merge. I am happier with the way the 2 samples fit together to make a more cohesive 'object'.
006 Screeching reverb

20091219 slow creak
sample of Lou Reed's Rock and Roll (live) but this time grabbing the band ending the song with typical rock excess. On top of that is a sample of the snare from Bill Haley and the Comets' Rock Around The Clock, pitched up and looped. I spent a long time working on this, trying to replicate the reference. I'm not overly happy with the result - furthermore the way I have set up the 2 layers (so that I can control them independently) means it doesn't respond as a single 'instrument'. It sounds like 2 sounds, and arguably 2 sound objects ... You will notice that both the reference and my sound above have three parts - each part slightly different. So I wasn't just trying to replicate a single moment but rather an 'instrument' that behaves differently at different times.
005 Slow creak

20091218 whizzing glissando
sample of Lou Reed's Rock and Roll (live), manipulated and layered on ASR10. OK, so now I feel like I'm cheating. This is a sample of the crowd screaming and yelling at the end of the song - no rock instruments. BUT, I have read that Parmegiani used a lot of white noise as source material for La Création du Monde, and crowds always sound like white noise to me. I imagine I'll be sampling the crowd sounds again ...
004 Whizzing glissando

20091217 spinner cut short
sample of The Pixies' Rock Music, manipulated and layered on ASR10. In terms of it replicating the reference (see below) I am not overly satisfied with this one but it only appears once in the whole shebang so I won't dwell on it ...
003 Spinner cut short

20091216 metallic fragments
sample of AC/DC's Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution, manipulated and layered on ASR10. I enjoy performing this one because of the way it has been set up with various parameters being controlled by random noise generators. i.e. pan position is determined by the ASR10 in built random value generator. Therefore every time I play a key I am never quite sure where in the stereo field the sound will appear. Random values also control pitch and volume and other less obvious parameters to varying degrees. Also, I want to use this sample again somewhere but played differently, because it features some interesting 'guitar' textures that only develop when keys are held for longer periods of time than I have held them here. Here I am just trying to recreate Parmegiani sound below.
002 Metallic fragments

20091215 burst repeating
sample of AC/DC's For Those About To Rock (We Salute You), manipulated and layered on ASR10. When compared to the reference (see below) you will note mine fades out dramatically sooner. This is a result of several subjective decisions made in the process. Firstly, I have decided that the Parmegiani 'sound object' consists of a pulse that fades RATHER than determining it to be a single 'burst' that repeats 8 or so times, each time at a lesser amplitude. Therefore I have sampled a 'rock moment' that features a pulse RATHER than sampling a single 'burst' and repeating it with a decaying amplitude. The trade off is that the pulse I have chosen quickly features other elements (i.e. a snare hit and vocal etc) - therefore I fade it quickly in order to suppress these unwanted elements. This begs the question 'is this an appropriate sample to use to recreate the Parmegiani sound object?' to which the answer is that considerations of timbre and texture come into play. In this case the similarities in timbre outweigh the differences in duration. In the Parmegiani reference below ignore the metallic fragments that appear about 2 seconds into the sound - that's the next 'sound object'!
001 Burst repeating

still to come ...still to come ...

Track 11 Expression 2 (Expression 2) 7:15
Track 12 Réalité (Reality) 0:55

Sketches and tests for ROCKreation of the World:

experiments with basic musique concréte technique, repetition - i.e. the only way to analyse a sound using the principles of the sound object is to record it and repeatedly play it
20091211 lunar vox
sample of radio DJ speaking from The Ramones' Rock n Roll Radio, manipulated and improvised performance on ASR10
20091210 percusso
layered samples of drums  from Bill Haley and the Comets' Rock Around The Clock, Queen's We Will Rock You, Gary Glitter's Rock n Roll part 2 and The Clash's Rock the Casbah, manipulated and improvised performance on ASR10
20091209 drone
sample of guitar from from AC/DC's Rock n Roll Ain't Noise Pollution, manipulated and improvised performance on ASR10
20091208 repeatles
sample of classic early Beatles guitar sound from Rock n Roll Music, manipulated and improvised performance on ASR10
20091207 scratch
sample of Lenny Kravitz singing 'ooo yeah' from Rock n Roll Is Dead, manipulated and improvised performance on ASR10

elements for soundtrack to animation Polo's Robot (Peter Lowey)

20091206 crickets clock morph
similar technique as yesterday's sound below - crickets sound gated with key input from ticking clock. For opening scene of 'Polo's Robot', see clip below.
Polo's Robot opening
20091205 screwant morph
Director's response to sound for above clip is that he wants the sound of the screw hitting the metal to ring out longer and morph into scurrying ant. In Pro Tools I gated the metal ringing sound with key input from screwant 02 to give the former the envelope of the latter.
Polo's Robot excerpt
segment of animation featuring the below sounds
20091204 screwant04
sampled fluttering bird wings (library recording), manipulated on ASR10 to be performed as scurrying ants
20091203 screwant03
sampled nails in glass jar (own recording), manipulated on ASR10 to be performed as scurrying ants
20091202 screwant02
sampled screw turning in metal (library recording), manipulated on ASR10 to be performed as scurrying ants
20091201 screwant01
sampled screw hitting wooden table (own recording), manipulated on ASR10 to be performed as scurrying ants