The first piece was created using the sounds of a pot filled with water. I chose this sound as I found during seminars that I felt most inspired by sounds with a clear tone, and the metallic ring of a pot has a very clear tone that can be altered by moving water inside it (see Appendix 1).

All the samples in the pieces were captured using a Zoom H5 Field Recorder, which I chose to use due to the experience I had with it during the module’s field recording workshop. It is well suited for this project as the recordings are clear with relatively low noise and it is portable meaning more sounds are accessible i.e. it can be easily set up in a kitchen.

This piece has a loose narrative of entering a sink full of dishes, hence the title, but is more so intended to explore the sounds of washing dishes such as bubbling water, metallic impacts and tonal ringing.

Both pieces are greatly inspired by Jonty Harrison’s piece titled ‘Klang’, which we discussed in seminars, with both similar source material and some similarities in arrangement. In a 2013 analysis of Harrison’s piece, David Hirst writes that ‘the beginning of an electroacoustic work is always an important phase’ as ‘the composer creates the embryo of a sound world, so that some sort of relationship between the sound objects, the composer, and the listener can begin to be established’. I find this to be very effective in Harrison’s work, so I started my arrangement with just the processed recording to introduce the sonic and semantic field of kitchenware. Similarly to the structure of a classical piece, this introduces a ‘motif’ that can be repeated and returned to.

The initial processing involved cleaning up the recording with EQ, adding some reverb and then chopping the tail and reversing it to create a riser (see Appendices 2,3,4).

Appendix 1 – Unprocessed Pot Sample:

Appendix 2 – Processed Pot Sample:

Appendix 3 – EQ:

Appendix 4 – Waveform with Riser:

Then, I used the GRM Tools Reson plug-in (see Appendix 7) to bring more tone to the recording and combined that with another sample (see Appendix 6) that I used EQ to reduce to one tone (see Appendices 5,8).

This first movement of the piece consists of the sounds described, arranged to establish a sonic baseline – an impact on a metal pot – that is then reduced to just resonant tones as the sounds become less literal and lead into the next movement.

The second movement is intended to conjure the image of drips and splashes as the listener is submerged into a sink of water.

These sounds were created using the resonant tones from before processed through the GRM Tools Freeze plug-in to create a drone (see Appendices 9,10). The drone was then processed by automating the GRM Tools Reson plug-in to roll over frequencies that mimic water dripping (see Appendices 11,12,13).

Appendix 9 – Drone:

Appendix 10 – GRM Freeze to create drone:

Appendix 11 – Dripping:

Appendix 12 – GRM Freeze to create drips:

Appendix 13 – GRM Reson ‘Width’ Parameter Automation:

The third movement recalls to the first movement with the sounds of the pots, but this time the metallic impacts move us between the sounds of bubbling (see Appendix 14). These bubbling sounds were created using the GRM Tools Freeze plug-in to loop the sound of the pot impact and the GRM Tools Shuffle plug-in to create a somewhat random stream of bubble-like tones (see Appendices 15,16).

The fourth and final movement features every element of the piece – pan impacts, resonant tones, dripping and bubbling – to cumulate the narrative into one final form.

Appendix 14 – Bubbles:

Appendix 15 – GRM Freeze Parameters:

Appendix 16 – GRM Shuffle Parameters:

Appendix 17 – Knife Sample:

Appendix 18 – Processed Knife Sample:

Appendix 19 – GRM Reson Parameters:

Appendix 20 – Lower Tone:

The second piece revolves around the sound of a knife being tapped on a glass. Similarly to the last piece, this recording has a clear tone, but is much more grating and harsh (see Appendix 17).

This influenced me to create a piece to represent the unpleasant sound of scraping on plates – poor ‘Table Manners’ – and the feelings of tension that come with it, especially as someone with auditory sensory issues.

Again similarly to the first piece, Table Manners begins with the sound of a knife being struck on glass. I processed this sample with EQ and reverb again (see Appendix 18) and then used the GRM Reson plug-in to create a lower resonant tone that contributes to tension (see Appendices 19,20).

I also transposed the sample to create different harmonic relationships to increase tension.

Appendix 21 – Repetitions:

Appendix 22 – Duplications:

Appendix 23 – Low Drone:

Appendix 24 – High Drone:

The next movement is a cacophony of needling repetitions of the harsh knife sound pairs with low and high drones. The repetitions of the high frequencies were created by duplicating the sample many times and using the GRM Tools Shuffle plug-in as well as reverb to create stereo depth and a denser field of sound, and then reversing the product (see Appendices 21,22). I did this twice and panned the results to either side to make it even more surrounding. This recreates the experience of being trapped and invaded by unpleasant sounds.

The drones were both created by using the GRM Tools Freeze plug-in with the reverb tails from the high and low frequencies (see Appendices 23,24). I also used the Reson plug-in on the high drone to create some movement by altering the resonant width and centre.

Appendix 25 – Itching:

Appendix 26 – Freeze:

The third movement features an almost glassy or sandy sound that represents the itching feelings of discomfort which was also created with the Freeze plug-in, instead using the original knife sample, turning down the pitch and turning up the pitch offset to create a tinnier sound (see Appendices 25,26).

I then reduced the number of loops to create a sound reminiscent of a detuned music box that is entirely unnerving (see Appendices 27,28).