for tape
Tape / 4-channel audio
Youngjoo Jennifer Ryu Portrait Concert,
Lee Kang Sook Hall,
Seoul, South Korea
SEP 23, 2023
⟪Peter Gahn: Hidden+Lost—Tracing Sound⟫ Event
“Anatomy of sound”—Electronic music from K-Arts
Alternative Space LOOP,
Seoul, South Korea
NOV 11, 2022
⟪DICMF 2022⟫
Daegu, South Korea
JUL 9, 2021
Headphone Concert
⟪Viberation#2⟫
Vieux Port, Marseille, France
A closed surface is a finite surface without boundaries that completely encloses a portion of space. A hole must first be drilled to create a boundary on a closed surface. Moving from one space to another is impossible without perforating the closed surface, as it separates the inside from the outside.
In this piece, the closed surface was assumed to consist of glass, and the propositions above were approached considering the physical properties of glass. The word 'perforate,' which means 'to drill a hole,' includes three concepts: surface, hole, and penetration. These concepts were explored by recording the sounds of glass being tapped, broken, rubbed, or dropped into water. The process of encountering a blocked surface, piercing a hole, and entering through it is guided by the altered and transformed sounds of glass.
• Techniques Employed
Ableton Live
- Tape music techniques
- Surround panner
Sound Recording
Production Details
• Goals
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Expressing the theme of ‘Hole’: conveying the feeling of breaking through something.
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Composing in Musique Concrète Style: creating a piece true to the principles of musique concrète.
• Sound Source Selection
I decided to record the sounds of breaking glass and the interaction of water with glass shards. To prepare, I went to a store near my house and bought glass bowls, cups, a large plastic basket, and a vinyl sheet to protect the floor. I also used diatomaceous earth slabs that I already had at home for the recording.
• Sound Recording
Due to the risk of flying glass and lacking an appropriate place to record, I decided to record at home. Since my house is near a roadside, I had to record at night to minimize outside noise.
First, I broke the glass with the hammer on the floor and then on a stone slab. After that, I recorded the sound of glass pieces rubbing against each other. I also filled a large plastic basket with water and recorded the sound of glass breaking and falling into it. I collected all the broken glass pieces, placed them in a basket, and recorded various sounds, such as stirring them with a stick and capturing the sound of glass rising from under the water to the surface.
• Composition
The next step was to listen to the recordings and select the interesting parts to use in the piece. Inevitably, there was some hum from the refrigerator and the sound of motorcycles passing by outside, so I used Waves’ X-Noise plugin to remove that noise before sampling.
I composed the piece in Ableton Live, using basic tape music techniques such as time stretching, pitch shifting, and cutting sections. The 4-channel panning was also done in Ableton Live using the surround panner.