This is a blog documenting my MA Digital Arts project “Sonorous City”, undertaken at Camberwell College of Arts.

Sonorous City is an immersive surround-sound installation exploring the relationship between the soundscape and our perception of the urban environment. A series of soundwalks stemming from the River Thames form the basis of the work, which reveals an experience of London lead by the ear.

Please visit www.zaitang.com to watch a short film documenting my project and  keep up to date with my latest work.

Please use the links below to navigate your way through my curated blog. I have written a short entry at the top of each curated section. This is to draw your attention to the most important blog entries, documenting the final stages of my MA project.

Artist Statement & Reflection:

http://zaitang.wordpress.com/category/mada-unit-3/artists-statement-reflection/

Development and installation of the visual element of my final piece:

http://zaitang.wordpress.com/category/mada-unit-3/visualisations/

Development and implementation of the sonic element of my final piece:

http://zaitang.wordpress.com/category/mada-unit-3/logic-progress/

http://zaitang.wordpress.com/category/mada-unit-3/maxmspjitter-progress/

http://zaitang.wordpress.com/category/mada-unit-3/main-derives/

My contribution to the final show:

http://zaitang.wordpress.com/category/mada-unit-3/final-show/

Professional presentation of my work:

http://zaitang.wordpress.com/category/mada-unit-3/presentations-crits-tutorials/

Final stages of research and contextualisation:

http://zaitang.wordpress.com/category/mada-unit-3/research-lectures-contextualisation/

Each posts reflects upon how my project was progressing at each stage (January’s Work, Progress, Process… Questions) . I found this extremely useful in assessing if I was taking things in the right direction, and also managing my time effectively. The artist statement & reflection paper (directly below this post) details both the focus of my creative practise, and the key stages of my project and how it’s developed over the 2 years here at Camberwell.

The posts below (and on the next page) show 2 strands of the visual element of my final work; generating ideas for my soundscape compositions within my process (sound drawings/mapping tactics), as well as constructing and testing within the final installation space itself.

The posts below (& on page two) document my soundwalks (sonic derives) and my reflections upon them. All the materials for my final piece were collected on these journeys. My experience of the soundscape through soundwalking and reflection through writing certainly influenced how I have approached composing with my material, as well as helping me to identify the sort of experience I want give the audience / listener with my final piece.

These blog entries show how my ideas were realised and informed by MaxMSP/Jitter. After getting my computer stolen at the end of unit 2, I had a fair amount of ground to cover again (since I lost all my patches as reference). I tested my surround sound in Max, and although it was successful, Logic provided a much more dynamic and easily workable solution. After much consideration, the interactive element was reduced to a simple trigger. This was due in part to losing my computer and hence my time, but also because I felt that a simple interaction could still be meaningful and serve my idea better. (more details of this in my report)

The entries below detail my planning, experimentation and testing in Logic. Over the course of the unit I experimented with my compositional approaches and developed technical skills within the software; through the use of space designer, generating ideas through improvising, as well as utilising the power of surround sound. The skills and ideas I have acquired will inform my future professional work.

The groups crits (towards the bottom of the page) and presentations (both Digital Arts Symposium 09 and Presentation @ Digital Noise) detailed below, helped me to analyse and reflect upon both my own and others work, as well as giving me the opportunity to communicate my area of research in a professional context.

All entries are relevant to the final stages of my projects development. In particular, the lectures/performances I attended at Goldsmiths helped to solidify my compositional approach and inspired me to use surround for my final piece.

The entries here document my involvement in the final show. Asides from communicative aspects, such as keeping people informed about rep meeting discussions, I organised the aftershow party at the Crypt and created the music and sound design for the MADA showreel. (below)