Live versus Recorded

I've been reading a couple of very interesting posts on the soundpoetry email list, and it struck me, not from anything that was directly said, that there's a big, big difference between electronic effects you might use in recordings, and those you can use for live performances.

• When recording, you can experiment for as long as you like, until you get the effect you want. In a live performance, although you can (perhaps) practise beforehand, the effect has to be right first time on the night.
• You can use software and effects that don't work in real time for recordings, but live performances are decidedly in real time. I use Syntrillium's Cool Edit for editing pre-recorded sound files, but you couldn't take it on stage.
• You know exactly what it sounds like when it's recorded, but you don't when it's live. If you split the performance between the performer and someone responsible for controlling the sound, then you've more flexibility, but that depends on developing an artistic relationship between the two.
• When recording, you have complete control of the acoustic environment (subject to the technical limitations of the equipment you're using.) In a performance, there are the acoustics of the venue (which will vary from place to place) and there's always going to be some component of unamplified, unmodified voice coming through.
• In performance, you might change things slightly (or a lot) depending on audience feedback or just how you're feeling. Any effects used have to allow for this happening.

Thinking about it, almost all my experience with sound has been with recording, rather than with live performance. When I played with The Galactic Emperors (no hyperlink - this was a long time before the WWW) we were principally a recording band, and rarely performed live. But now, I'm reading with The Joy of Six whose main focus is performance. I'll take my Vocalizer along with me tomorrow and see what they make of it.

Bottom to Top

One thing I can't get my head around properly is this daft convention of putting more recent postings above earlier ones, so if you want to read a blog chronologically you have to start at the bottom and work upwards. Surely we have the technology to do something more sensible, but I guess it's entrenched in blog culture by now, and there'd be an outcry if anyone tried to change it. It might be interesting to write a novel in the format of blog entries, so that you read the end before the beginning. But I guess the only people who'd read such a work would be bloggers, and they'd naturally start at the back and read their way forwards, thus spoiling the whoe effect.

This convention gives me problems when posting my sound poems. I want any reader to see Soundpoem1 before either of the other two. I could post all three in a single entry, but that makes for a long entry, and also destroys the sense of chronology that's part of the point of a blog, as far as I can see. If I post them as separate entries, then a visitor is going to see the third one first, and possibly be distracted by it. Of course, I can't force anyone to read them in a particular order, nor would I want to, but I would like to be able to guide them, and I don't know how.

I think you're supposed to post at regular intervals, aren't you, rather than several in one go. I'm still not getting it right, am I?

Soundpoem3

Or then again, maybe the consonants would be better. But it's bloody difficult to read something consisting of just consonants. It sounds better than the original, though, over a system with lots of echo.

th ss z n t s nd p m b c z
s nd p m h z t d w w w d z
nd z nl zz z cl cs y lpss
n z z nd s nds str p d m s l ss l
v s m n t c s nd
s m p l d nt h v ch tz p
t n f l c t th t n y nd pr t nd
n w w t m d ng nd th t t pr f nd

d nt g t m r ng m n t t ll s ng
th t ts ll f k h ks c n sp r s
f pr t nt n ts dj st th t f w
t d t t w d b ll th z th ngs
m t v n g t w w th t w t
scr m t y s f s nt y l d l s th t
y th t m rs r r ng ng th s
m st b mp t nt nd f y th t
t w s mp t nt w d th t m k t mp t nt
z th n d f r s b tw n mp t n s nd
th p s p t n v mp t n s v c s th s
y s l s f st c t d s c f nts

Soundpoem2

That last was a bit ordinary, so I tried rewriting it with just the vowels...

i i o a ow owee i or
uh ow owee a oo oo uh ay i er
a yoo oh ee uh i i e
oi e a ows i er i e ee
uh e a i a
eye i i ow a uh uh ah
oo i i a o oo a i e
eye owe o eye oo i a a i uh ow

owe e ee o - eye o a or ay i
a i or uh ay uh owe, uh oi uh i
o i e uh i uh a i eye er
uh oo i i uh ee or owe i
eye eye ee uh e uh ay i i er eye oo
ee a oo uh i e i ow i owe a
oo or eye eer ar i i i
uh ee i or uh a i oo or
i o i or uh uh a ay i i or uh
i ere e i i er e i ee i or uh a
uh uh e uh o i or uh o or ere i
oo i i o i i ay uh i o a

You might not agree with the vowel sounds I've chosen - vowels are slippery characters.

Soundpoem1

This is a sound poem I wrote for experimenting with. Of course, it's not really a sound poem. It's not really a poem.

This is not a sound poem because
a sound poem has to do away with words
and use only buzzes clicks yelps
noises and sounds stripped mercilessly
of semantics and
I simply don't have the chutzpah
to inflict that on you and pretend
I know what I'm doing and that it's profound.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not at all saying
that it's all a fake, a hoax, a conspiracy
of pretension. It's just that if I were
to do it, it would be all those things.
I might even get away with it, were I to
scream at you sufficiently loudly so that
you thought "my ears are ringing - this
must be important" And if you thought
it was important would that make it important -
is there any difference between importance and
the perception of importance. Of course there is
you silly sophisticated sycophants.

I'm not sure I like the last bit; I put it in for the sibilants, but it sounds like I'm insulting the audience. Perhaps I'll change it.

Effects Processor Experiments

I bought an effects processor, the Behringer Virtualizer, and have been playing around with it, so see if I can get any interesting vocal effects that might be used in a performance. They'd have to add something of value to the performance, of course, not just be there for the novelty value. Novelty wears off so quickly.

For my purposes, I think I can divide the effects into three categories. First off are the useless effects, those I can't imagine ever wanting to use in a performance. For example, there's the LoFi effect, which sounds like a really bad amplifier, with lots of hum and distortion. Or the Vinylizer, which makes it sound as if your voice is being played back from a vinyl disc, complete with noise, clicks and scratches. There's a danger in chucking things into the useless category, of course, but those two could only be used in very specific circumstances, and probably only once in a lifetime.

My second category I'll call subtle enhancements because I can't think of a better name at the moment. Things like adding a bit of reverb or some equalisation to improve the voice quality. Probably which effects were used would depend on the performance venue more than the poems being read. Though there might be mileage in adjusting the effect to suit the poem. Since the Virtualizer has 100 programmable presets, the effects could be programmed in sequence and then you could simply step through them as you went through the performance. It would take a lot of practice to get the settings right and the sequence right.

As subtle enhancements become less subtle, they shade into my third category, which I'll call poem-specific because the alternative is to call them unsubtle effects, which doesn't have the right connotations. Actually, my terminology isn't particularly good, because you could easily imagine using the same poem-specific effect with a range of poems. But these effects add something noticeable to the performance, and what they add specifically affects the performance. A simple example is that of adding cathedral reverb to a poem about a cathedral.

The most versatile sort of poem-specific effects seem to be the various sorts of echo effect. (Maybe instead of 'versatile' I should have written 'obvious' or 'blatant'.) I quite enjoyed a setting of about 350ms delay with a high level of feedback (at least 90%) but you can't really use words with these settings and expect to be understood. The Virtualizer has a maximum delay of over 5 seconds and it's quite odd using that length. If you make a noise you don't notice, when it's repeated five seconds later, you do notice it, and wonder who is in the room with you. If you have a lot of feedback, you can say the first line of a poem, wait until it's repeated, then read the second one, and so on. Or you can turn the electronic feedback down, and use acoustic feedback via the speakers and microphone. You can get a lot of interesting effects that way.

Some links

Oh, I get it now. You're supposed to put links in, aren't you. Here are some links to sound poetry sites...

http://epc.buffalo.edu/sound/soundpoetry.html 

http://www.chbooks.com/projects/bp/sound_poetry/index.html

http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Sound%20poetry

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_poetry

http://joerg.piringer.net/soundpoetry.htm

http://www.ubu.com/

The Final Touch

Rats! I'd forgotten to put it in sentences. Anyway, Word's grammar checker has given this one the nod, so I'm pretty sure this must be it...

Aiming terse tiding thief aeons found outcry endow ludic kettle rewire ting roper hasps towel debt. Titre mosaic monster unction gnome brutish advent yenta naked togged mayhem adroit nitre. Sconce pathway times nosing needs meant elect teals justify irate on tom myself agleam story. Perplex trait gnosis doped Tyron testify fewer ethos outdo father ordain skimp lymph hasps erase. Unsay erred mangle yolk incubi testify fewer ethos outdid switch outset mantis command yelp. Lethal music hatful bison noses elute daunt hankie tisane tallow futon yawing tank erratic lube. Funny orphic ghee ingot evoke awhile-erring effort harem option shied jihad ethics differ cultic. Within tilts amour aster catch animus licit humus cither ethyl shag legacy yawper lexis tinge. Orison its no third tossed heron sown effort tomato chump eighth erect focus reseals withal yurt. Ironed screw aging music rate thin sonic wallop apart xenon espy shying theory unbar isobar. Eking gewgaw round agleam statue bound Aries arrive sable thigh foundry reason ably Armco. Ludic elfin thou doped trawl ether yawls siren ingot random blurb ling's orison ethnic grove wound. Elite hankie probe glycol lust doughy father purblind gnawed repel inverse death suffix client. Verve comfit dance anvil lumen might think thaw grebe titre haunt epact dually where falcon. Struck tensor meson dope tricot unlit ell if that erred dumb rubble angora smote hinge roof nether. Swish action corns meadow naming dean thou gutsy lily know inmost infamy tonsure whets. Harem being silly being tilde amiss ocean settle ionic moulds lamina haven reason nobly welds. Envelop pedal sheet canes sensor debase Gouda judge ammos torah latte optima adios indent. Needy wooer lover mocha booty timid dints arroyo vermin chaos uteri would unthaw earwax. sonar. Libel levee loped asthma ethics ensue oldie theca yeses it you canto untidy pinnate oath waxy. Uncoil dados mallow nimbi pious anima tempo emits grotto bounce omen tuna lands twang. Venous ghetto ivory entree opera nudist grotto betel inverse death utter comfit dance orate on two. Racoon vented tonal ohms sounds euchre tetra itchy-knifed model ivory sebum agued polemic. Aloft ensure vivid minds offered nether forma knead month inch sesame guest orison undo me.

I'm not sure I've quite got the hang of this blog stuff, yet

More improvements

I forgot the spelling check, didn't I. This must be right because Word told me what I should have put...

aiming terse tiding thief aeons found outcry endow ludic kettle rewire ting roper hasps towel debt titre mosaic monster unction gnome brutish advent yenta naked togged mayhem adroit nitre sconce pathway times nosing needs meant elect teals justify irate on tom myself agleam story perplex trait gnosis doped Tyron testify fewer ethos outdo father ordain skimp lymph hasps erase unsay erred mangle yolk incubi testify fewer ethos outdid switch outset mantis command yelp lethal music hatful bison noses elute daunt hankie tisane tallow futon yawing tank erratic lube funny orphic ghee ingot evoke awhile erring effort harem option shied jihad ethics differ cultic within tilts amour aster catch animus licit humus cither ethyl shag legacy yawper lexis tinge orison its no third tossed heron sown effort tomato chump eighth erect focus reseals withal yurt ironed screw aging music rate thin sonic wallop apart xenon espy shying theory unbar isobar eking gewgaw round agleam statue bound Aries arrive sable thigh foundry reason ably Armco ludic elfin thou doped trawl ether yawls siren ingot random blurb lings orison ethnic grove wound elite hankie probe glycol lust doughy father purblind gnawed repel inverse death suffix client verve comfit dance anvil lumen might think thaw grebe titre haunt epact dually where falcon struck tensor meson dope tricot unlit ell if that erred dumb rubble angora smote hinge roof nether swish action corns meadow naming dean thou gutsy lily know inmost infamy tonsure whets harem being silly being tilde amiss ocean settle ionic moulds lamina haven reason nobly weld envelop pedal sheet canes sensor debase gouda judge ammos torah latte optima adios indent needy wooer lover mocha booty timid dints arroyo vermin chaos uteri would unthaw earwax sonar libel levee loped asthma ethics ensue oldie theca yeses it you canto untidy pinnate oath waxy uncoil dados mallow nimbi pious anima tempo emits grotto bounce omen tuna lands twang venous ghetto ivory entree opera nudist grotto betel inverse death utter comfit dance orate on two racoon vented tonal ohms sounds euchre tetra itchy knifed model ivory sebum agued polemic aloft ensure vivid minds offered nether forma knead month inch sesame guest orison undo me

A moment's inattention...

...and I deleted all the spaces. I tried to put them back, but couldn't remember where they were supposed to go. I think this is roughly right...

iamin teres tedin theid eaofs oundp oetry andwo uldli ketot rywri ting( orper hapsi twoul dbebe ttert osayc onstr uctin gsome butih avent yetma naged toget myhea darou ndthe conce ptwha timea nisin eedso meint ellec tualj ustif icati ontom yself atlea stfor perpe trati ngsou ndpoe tryno tstuf fwher ethes oundo fthew ordsi ssimp lyemp hasis edasi nsayg erard manle yhopk insbu tstuf fwher ethes oundi swith outse manti csman ypeop lethi nksuc hstuf fisno nsens ebuti dontt hinki tisno tallo fitan ywayi tcanc ertai nlybe funny orfri ghten ingor evoke awhol erang eofot herem otion swhyd oihav ethis diffi culty withi titsn omore abstr actth anmus icwit hmusi cther esthi shuge legac yofpr eexis tingw orkso itsno thard tosee howon esown effor tsmat chupw ithth erest ofcou rseas witha nyart ifone iscre ating music rathe rthan sonic wallp apert henon eispu shing thebo undar iesbr eakin gnewg round atlea stthe bound aries arevi sible thegr oundr eason ablyf irmco uldit ellwi thsou ndpoe trywh ether iwasl isten ingto rando mburb lings orsom ethin gprof oundw ellit hinki proba blyco uldth oughi ftheb urbli ngswe redel ivere dwith suffi cient verve confi dence andvo lumei might think theyw erebe ttert hanth eyact ually werei ficon struc tedso mesou ndpoe tryco uldit ellif thatw erera ndomb urbli ngsor somet hingp rofou ndthi siswh atcon cerns meido ntmin dbein gthou ghtsi llyif iknow imnot ifimn otsur ewhet herim being silly being toldi amism oreun settl ingic ouldc laimi havea reaso nably welld evelo pedae sthet icsen sesoi dbeas gooda judge asmos tofan yatte mptim adeso idont needt oworr yover mucha bouti tifid idntw orryo vermu chabo utiti would nthav earea sonab lywel ldeve loped aesth etics ensew ouldi thewa yisee ityou cantj ustdi pinat oethe wayyo ucoul ddoas mallu nambi tious anima tedpo emits gotto beunc onven tiona lands trang eenou ghtod isori entpe oplea ndits gotto bedel ivere dwith utter confi dence oritw ontwo rkcon venti onalp oemss oundm uchbe tterw ithco nfide ntdel iveri esbut agood poemc anoft ensur vivea nindi ffere ntper forma nceid ontth inkth esame goesf oraso undpo em

Then again

On the other hand, the last one lost a bit of sense. So I went back to the original, and cut out a few of the more boring words...

Am interested in idea of sound poetry, would like to try writing (or perhaps it would be better to say constructing) some, but haven't yet managed to get my head around concept. What mean is, need some intellectual justification (to myself, at least) for perpetrating sound poetry. Not stuff where sound of words is simply emphasised, as in, say Gerard Manley Hopkins, but stuff where sound is without semantics. Many people think such stuff is nonsense, but don't think it is. Not all of it, anyway. It can certainly be funny or frightening or evoke whole range of other emotions.

Why do have this difficulty with it? It's no more abstract than music. With music, there's this huge legacy of pre-existing work, so it's not hard to see how one's own efforts match up with rest. Of course, as with any art, if one is creating music rather than sonic wallpaper, then one is pushing boundaries, breaking new ground. At least boundaries are visible, ground reasonably firm.

Could tell with sound poetry whether was listening to random burblings or something profound? Well, think probably could, though if burblings were delivered with sufficient verve, confidence volume, might think they were better than they actually were. If constructed some sound poetry, could tell if that were random burblings or something profound? This is what concerns me. Don't mind being thought silly if know 'm not. If 'm not sure whether 'm being silly, being told am is more unsettling.

Could claim have reasonably well-developed aesthetic sense, so 'd be as good judge as most of any attempt made, so don't need to worry overmuch about it. If didn't worry overmuch about it, wouldn't have reasonably well-developed aesthetic sense, would?

Way see it, you can't just dip in toe, way you could do small, unambitious animated poem. It's got to be unconventional strange enough to disorient people it's got to be delivered with utter confidence or it won't work. Conventional poems sound much better with confident deliveries, but good poem can often survive an indifferent performance. Don't think same goes for sound poem.

Variation on a theme

I thought my last post looked a bit ordinary, so I re-arranged the words into alphabetical order. Much tidier, I'm sure you'll agree:

(or (to a a a a a a a a about about abstract actually aesthetic aesthetic all am am an and and and and animated any any anyway. are around art, as as as as at At attempt be be be be be being being being better better better boundaries boundaries, breaking burblings burblings burblings but but but but can can can't certainly claim concept. concerns confidence confidence confident constructed constructing) Conventional Could could could could could, course, creating delivered delivered deliveries, didn't difficulty dip disorient do do don't don't don't don't efforts emotions. emphasised, enough evoke firm. for for frightening funny Gerard get goes good good got got ground ground. hard have have have haven't head Hopkins, how huge I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I? I'd idea if if If if if If If I'm I'm I'm in in in, indifferent intellectual interested is is is is is is is is, is. it it It it it, it, it, it. it? It's it's It's it's judge just justification know least least) legacy like listening made, managed Manley Many match me. mean might mind more more most much music music, music. my myself, need need new no nonsense, Not Not not not not. of of of of of Of of often one one one's or or or or or other overmuch overmuch own people people performance. perhaps perpetrating poem poem. poem. poems poetry poetry, poetry, poetry. pre-existing probably profound? profound? pushing random random range rather reasonably reasonably reasonably rest. same say say see see semantics. sense, sense, silly silly, simply small, so so so some some some, something something sonic sound sound sound sound sound sound sound sound strange stuff stuff stuff such sufficient sure survive tell tell than than than that the the the the the the the the the the The the the then there's they they think think think think think this this This though thought to to to to to to to to to toe, told try unambitious unconventional unsettling. up utter verve, visible, volume, wallpaper, was way way Well, well-developed well-developed were were were were. What what where where whether whether whole Why with With with with with with with with without won't words work, work. worry worry would would would wouldn't writing yet you you

Sound poetry

I am interested in the idea of sound poetry, and would like to try writing (or perhaps it would be better to say constructing) some, but I haven't yet managed to get my head around the concept. What I mean is, I need some intellectual justification (to myself, at least) for perpetrating sound poetry. Not stuff where the sound of the words is simply emphasised, as in, say Gerard Manley Hopkins, but stuff where the sound is without semantics. Many people think such stuff is nonsense, but I don't think it is. Not all of it, anyway. It can certainly be funny or frightening or evoke a whole range of other emotions.

Why do I have this difficulty with it? It's no more abstract than music. With music, there's this huge legacy of pre-existing work, so it's not hard to see how one's own efforts match up with the rest. Of course, as with any art, if one is creating music rather than sonic wallpaper, then one is pushing the boundaries, breaking new ground. At least the boundaries are visible, the ground reasonably firm.

Could I tell with sound poetry whether I was listening to random burblings or something profound? Well, I think I probably could, though if the burblings were delivered with sufficient verve, confidence and volume, I might think they were better than they actually were. If I constructed some sound poetry, could I tell if that were random burblings or something profound? This is what concerns me. I don't mind being thought silly if I know I'm not. If I'm not sure whether I'm being silly, being told I am is more unsettling.

I could claim I have a reasonably well-developed aesthetic sense, so I'd be as good a judge as most of any attempt I made, so I don't need to worry overmuch about it. If I didn't worry overmuch about it, I wouldn't have a reasonably well-developed aesthetic sense, would I?

The way I see it, you can't just dip in a toe, the way you could do a small, unambitious animated poem. It's got to be unconventional and strange enough to disorient people and it's got to be delivered with utter confidence or it won't work. Conventional poems sound much better with confident deliveries, but a good poem can often survive an indifferent performance. I don't think the same goes for a sound poem.

A Title for a Pontification?

Does the world really need this? Do I really need this?

Trying things out

I'm just trying this stuff out. It doesn't mean anything. What is subatomic poetry anyway?