Back to Course Syllabus

SOUND:
1 : In physics, sound is a vibration that typically propagates as an audible wave of pressure, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid.
2 : In human physiology and psychology, sound is the reception of such waves and their perception by the brain.

MACHINE:
1 : A simple machine is a device that simply transforms the direction or magnitude of a force, but a large number of more complex machines exist. Examples include vehicles, electronic systems, molecular machines, computers, television, and radio.

Project #2:  SOUND MACHINE
Create a sound machine that produces a variety of sounds. This can be created out of anything. This can be a physical object, or a virtual machine. Develop a vocabulary of at least twenty sounds that your machine can make.

Create a 1 minute composition for your sound machine and record yourself playing this composition. Take a picture of your sound machine. Make an audio recording of your 1 minute composition and upload the audio to SoundCloud.

Write a score of your performance. The methodology you use should make sense to you and your machines capabilites.

Example:
Could a coffee can filled with nails be a sound machine? How would you make sounds with such a machine? Roll it? Shake it? Hit it? Throw it? How else might you make sounds with this machine?

REQUIREMENTS:
1. Sound Machine: Create a sound machine that produces a variety of sounds. This can be created out of anything. This can be a physical object, or a virtual machine. Explore the variety of sounds you can make with your machine. Develop a vocabulary of at least 20 different sounds. Consider carefully YOUR definition of a machine.

2. Score: Write a 1 minute composition for your machine and record yourself playing this composition. The methodology of your written score should make sense to you and your machines capabilites. This will be discussed in more detail in class. Take a picture of yourself playing your composition for documentation purposes. Upload an audio recording of you playing your 1 minute composition to the website SoundCloud.

3. Performance: You will perform your 1 minute composition in class.

5. Documentation: You will present your working sound machine in class. Document this performance in a way that is appropriate for your machine. (still image, video, audio etc...) Create a PDF containing a photo of your sound machine, your score and the URL to your audio recording hosted on SoundCloud.

Technical Requirements:
You will need to create an account on SoundCloud, to upload your recorded composition in MP3 format.

You will be graded on your machine, performance, written score and documentation. Grades will be based on the following: