La fressa d'en Glen

This project started from the recording of a clock. I recorded our kitchen clock, but unfortunately it ended up a bit noisier than I’d have liked. There’s some of hiss in there (more obvious once you layer dozens of versions of it!), and there might be the odd muffled street noise. Okay, so I don’t have a silent recording studio. Texture, yeah, that’s what I call it. (-;

I took that single monophonic sample (about 23 seconds long) and then used it as a buffer in SuperCollider, making various drone-like synths, plenty of funky ticking patterns and some weird warping transitions and granular stuff. The opening seconds are pretty much the original sound, albeit layered several times.

I wanted to go for a hypnotic, dream-like effect (yes, you are getting very, very sleeeeeepy) where I could move smoothly between different phases. In some, you’re aware of time being slowed down, in others it flies by, and at other moments you don’t even notice it’s there.

Produced for Disquiet Junto (Project 0056: Matter of Time).

Instructions: This week’s project requires you to make a field recording to serve as the source audio. These are the steps:

Step 1: Locate a clock that has an audible, even if very quiet, tick to its second hand. A watch or other timepiece is also appropriate to the task.

Step 2: Record the sound of the clock for at least 30 seconds, and do so in a manner captures the sound in the greatest detail. A contact mic is highly recommended.

Step 3: Adjust and otherwise filter the recording to reveal the various noises that make up its tick. The goal is to get at the nuance of its internal mechanism.

Step 4: Create an original piece of music employing only layered loops of that sound. These layered loops can individually be transformed in any manner you choose, but at least one unaltered version of the original recording should be included in your piece.