B I O T E C H + A R T  :  H O N O R S   1 7 7

         In class last week we not only talked about heartbeat and noise frequencies, we also discussed scale. In class we talked about sound on a small scale and how it relates to life and vibration so for my assignment I decided to use sound on a larger scale.

I had a hard time figuring out what audio to record for this blog. The concept of soundwaves is very complex, and as a musician, I rarely think of sound from a scientific perspective (except when I’m in physics class). Sound is everywhere, and if you really think about it, there is no such thing as silence. For instance, in John Cage’s famous 4’33”, the performer never touches a single key on the piano, yet the music produced from the piece is different every time.

I was eager to carry out this assignment, but not for obvious reasons. We, as humans, are always compelled by and experience various iterations of sounds. However, most everyday sounds are habituated, and they become oversaturated and filtered out – as if they never existed, due to the propensity at which one experiences them. They become so abundant that we often tend to forget that these sounds are being absorbed. I decided to go outside with the intent of removing the filter, so that I may adjust to the everyday sounds I would naturally experience.

This week we learned about different sounds and the wavelengths and frequencies that account for the way that we perceive them. The first exercise in lecture was particularly interesting to me because we were able to hear the upper and lower limits of human hearing. It made me realize that even though there is sound all around us, there is an infinitely greater number of sounds that we are unable to hear.

think of energy, frequency, and vibration (Nikola Tesla)

Just chill...

Sounds used: “Misty” by Ella Fitzgerald, outside ambience, excerpts from “Bob Ross - The Joy of Painting”

For this week's blog, I did not know what to do. I do no have access to a piano, and I listen to music most of the day so I was lost for which sounds to record. Then I realized the only time of day that I actually truly listen to my surroundings: when I am cooking. In college, and more specifically quarantine, I have found comfort in cooking. Many people have found comfort in cooking, as “counselors intimate that the cooking courses soothe stress, reduce negative thinking and build confidence.

This week's assignment was very interesting to me because I would've never thought of sounds and audio collecting as a form of art. It took me a while to think of where I wanted to go and collect these sounds. Then, I realized this choice was blankly obvious: the beach. The beach is my favorite place to go and one of my favorite activities is to just go to the beach and lie down on the sand and close my eyes and allow myself to focus on the sounds surrounding me. 

During our lecture, I found it very interesting how our heart and brain rhythms are related to other rhythms that occur in our bodies. When we watched how fast our heart beats from 86 to 274 beats per minute, I started to think about how fast our blood needs to be pumping for our brain and body to receive all the necessary nutrients to keep our heart pumping.

My favorite part of this week’s lecture was seeing Carolina Eyck play her theremin. At first I thought that there would be worlds of difference between the way a theremin and the piano or other instruments like the cello are played. However, after watching Carolina Eyck on the theremin for several minutes, I noticed that a lot of her gestures and body movements are very reminiscent of how I play the piano. 

Good afternoon everyone,

This week's assignment was very unusual for me. I am not a musician or a physicist. So I do not work with sounds and waves. It took me a very long time to decide what to do for this assignment. Also, I was unsure how to do this as well as how to record and combine the recordings.

This week in class we discussed wavelengths and frequency and how changes in these two variables can affect whether we perceive something as there or not. Sound waves and visible light both function in a tight range that consists of both wavelengths and frequency. This personally reminds me about the classes I have taken in physics as this is within the first couple of things we learn about besides the different forces.

Going through the lecture, I thought this was one of the more interesting lectures because of the visualization of sound provided by the lecture material. Oftentimes, sounds bring us to tangible objects but rarely do we get the chance to see them in flesh. The musician who seemed to play an instrument from sound alone is a remarkable achievement since it relies completely on the trust of the intangible. I think this concept is fascinating to believe that as people we convince ourselves something is real when it is visible.

Frequencies of Breakfast Making