Group Concept

Originally our concept was created when thinking about the room we had chosen; the toilet.
We thought about what role it plays in a building and how it has a natural unique environment to it, which is unlike any other room in the Audio Foundation, and for that matter – any other public building.

There is a whole psychological process which one undergoes when sharing this room with a stranger. The ambience is dramatically altered and one’s self-conscious is increased, weary of signs that they may give off or signs that the stranger gives off.

Privacy is an important factor in a toilet, and in a toilet there are certain measures in place such as a cubicle armed with a lock. This cubicle provides visuals to be blocked out and some assurance that no one will walk in while you are exposed, but there are no measures in place to prevent noises being heard by strangers.

No soundproof walls which would block out potentially embarrassing noises being shared. In some western toilets they play calming ‘elevator music’ for the users to relax and also to block out uncomfortable silence. In some other cultures the cubicles are equipped with a bell which is rung when the user pees/poops.

In this project we have decided to investigate these feelings by means of sound with the help of microphones and recordings.

Using microphones we are going to pick up noises that the user/s make, and amplify and distort these noises. This will make the user question the natural feelings the user is inclined to have when in this environment.

Further, we will be playing sound recordings of different environments in the toilet to alter the familiar environment that the user is accustomed to and to force them to step out of their comfort zone.

Contribution

During the length of this project my role always tended towards the more physical making of the technology required to make our installation. Over the 3 weeks before the final project I had absorbed a lot of information on electrical and sound circuits. I had gone out of my way to find out as much as possible as the mechanical side of the sound fascinated me. This led me to build an amp which we would use to boost the output of our microphones as well as power the speakers for the installation. This meant when it came to creating the installation we could progress smoothly and quickly towards the end result instead of being tied down researching production methods.

Another small part of our project were some effects on ableton live. These were added to delay and distort the sound to create a sense of discomfort in the user. I spent some time setting up and testing for the best possible effects to put on our sound.

As with all the projects so far I have noticed that each person has their own idea of what the concept is. We may all have a general one but each member has something more they want to get out of the project. So when we came to write the group statement e all wrote out what we wanted and combined the better and similar points. This meant it was a whole group contribution rather than just one persons interpretation of the idea.

Audio Evening

On the day of the installation we moved into our space to set up the equipment. Everything ran smoothly and we were able to hide away all the speakers and mics so they were difficult to find. This was important to the project as the user was not supposed o know they were being affected. We ran into one difficulty with this and that was the large amount of feedback we were getting of the mics. On odd occasions it would grow to the point where it would be damaging for the ears. We had to make last minute adjustments to the volume and settings of the equipment. Other than this everything ran fine.

My Concept

When space was divvied up in the foundation we noticed that the bathroom was being left untouched and realised this was an area often overlooked when it comes to a gallery or installation experience. We decided we might be able to create something that would become part of an environment that has become a secure and private part of human life. We hope to be able to subtly change the atmosphere in the place and push the participant into an area of their psyche that is both new and uncomfortable compared to the normal situation.This being the opposite of the general toilet space. Sound, as one of the major senses used during everyday life and the only one really that you can still use shut away in a cubicle can be easily manipulated and distorted to destroy and recreate the environment and effect the mental state of the participant

TO do this we will be using microphones and recording which stimulate different emotions.

Trial Run

We wanted to be able to test the effects that our mics would have in a small space. We set ourselves up in a small room and played around with the their position and sensitivity

Microphones

Cardioid

US664A University Sound Dynamic Supercardioid Microphone

The most common unidirectional microphone is a cardioid microphone, so named because the sensitivity pattern is heart-shaped. A hyper-cardioid microphone is similar but with a tighter area of front sensitivity and a smaller lobe of rear sensitivity. A super-cardioid microphone is similar to a hyper-cardioid, except there is more front pickup and less rear pickup. These three patterns are commonly used as vocal or speech microphones, since they are good at rejecting sounds from other directions.

Cardioid Mic Area

With this information in our minds we set out to get some normal vocal mics that we could use to pic up a larger area of sound.

Test Fail

After buying and testing some small electec mics we found that they would not pick up enough sound even if we used a pre amp before the amp. We know have to do some research into mics to see which ones would be best suited for our project.