In this unit we explored the idea of composing in language, sound, and music. We looked at composing through the lens of language and sound with poet Joe Mills who talked about not only the meaning of language in poetry, but the meaning of language's sound in poetry as well. We looked through the lenses of sound and music as well with Bruno Louchouarn's presentation on his compositions using music. The main goal of the unit was to explore the contemporary status of music, language, and sound to see how they work separately, but come together so easily.
When the unit started I had no real knowledge about composing in an audible sense. I had worked sound for many shows at my high school and knew the delicate balance that goes into mixing a live event, but I never created what was being heard by audiences. That being said, I was extremely excited for this unit to learn about composing in this context.
In this section I learned a lot from my daily journals including how songs cannot be a songs without words or lyrics. The lyrics create sound and the sounds are the lyrics - they cannot be without each other. The idea of sound and lyrics coming together in perfect synergy was a really interesting idea to me. From the discussion groups it was very interesting to see how some people extremely connect to composing in music and have very interesting opinions on using music or sound in other forms of media. From the readings at the beginning of the week I was really intrigued by John Cage, who said, "When we separate music from life we get art," because if life connects art and music together because art isn't just on paper, it can be in the sound waves as well. My biggest take away from Joe Mill's presentation was the idea that for him poetry isn't just the words or prose, but it's the sound of the poem. My biggest take away from Bruno Louchouarn's presentation was the idea of semantic satiation, an idea that I've been aware of since I was little, but never realized had a name for. The idea that words only have meaning because we give it to them is fascinating, even more so when we start to purposefully lose that meaning. In my audio projects I learned how to hands on edit my own creative composition like Girl Talk from RIP! A Remix Manifesto. My links are as follows: Double Exposure (https://soundcloud.com/claire-murphy-43/double-exposure), Seamless Blend (https://soundcloud.com/claire-murphy-43/seamless-blend), and Side by Side (https://soundcloud.com/claire-murphy-43/side-by-side).
I would love to learn more about the filmmakers behind RIP! A Remix Manifesto and learn about their process filming, writing, and editing the film. I would also love to learn more about Girl Talk. Ever since I saw him live in 2012 at North Coast in Chicago I've been a fan of his mashups, but I have never looked at his creative process. Seeing him create on tour would be such a cool experience.
In conclusion, the contemporary movement of composing in language, sound, and music exemplified by Joe Mills, Bruno Louchouarn, and Girl Talk is constantly developing and changing as the sounds, languages, and music of our world changes.
