Audacity Project: Magnetic poetry/musique concrète
Download this PDF for complete instructions.Before Thursday’s class:
- choose your poem
- complete the pre-compositional worksheet
- record your poem in Audacity and bring or upload this file so you can access it during class on Thursday
If you did not already install Audacity on your computer you can do so here.
Upload your finished project (including self-assessment) to Teams before class next Tuesday (2/11).
A list of many of the basic navigation and editing actions you may need, with their keyboard shortcuts: PDF MS Word
Before you begin your project scroll down to listen to several classic vocal-based musique concrète pieces from the tape era.
Examples of compositions based on manipulated vocal audio
Pierre Schaeffer, the “godfather of sampling”: “Erotica” from Symphonie pour un homme seul (1950)
Karlheinz Stockhausen: Gesang der Jünglinge (1955/1956)
“Gesang der Jünglinge” is equal parts musigue concrète (recording-based) and elektronische Musik (synthesized). Stockhausen manipulated the material until it’s not always possible to distinguish electronically generated sounds from altered vocal source recordings, in effect resolving the ideological battle between concrete music and synthesized electronic music.
Steve Reich: It’s Gonna Rain (1965)
You may also want to check out Reich’s brutally minimalistic “Come Out” (1966).
Less serious and less technically complex, but a good example of reordering (digitally created, not on tape)—
The Evolution Control Committee: “The Christmas Wrong” (2003)
Another simple but well-done collage by the ECC is here. Trigger warning: title/refrain references sexual violence.