process- editing, normality vs sensational

FIRST I WANTED TO I WANTED TO CAN YOU JUST LIKE THIS I WANT YOU TO CAN WE I WANT TO YOU

hearing implies a state of preparedness to both ignore and to listen to sounds. 
R. Murray Schaffer

Initial ideas, the 'plan' I bought to the gathering became a burden to the process that was unfolding. I had to relinquish my first proposal 'Illegal Broadcast' (see proposal, first blogpost as) unnecessary -this work revealed itself without any care toward my poor battered 'my plan, my idea' ego. I had suggested that the desires of all of us would find a place within the work and we would devise a drama together- but it became very clear very quickly that this radio work was to be about the experience of 'working together'- the sound material recorded was primarily us all seeking reasons for creativity (artistically, socially) and enjoying each other's company...I made room begrudgingly- I am amazed by the difficulty I experienced letting go of my 'workshop attitude' and letting what happened just occur. This project demanded a deeper level of listening and sensitivity than I had needed so far in my degree- this was community radio in practice, not just in theory!!!

As producer, I have choices to make. Every choice will have implications on many levels:

Recording and editing processes determine the tone, rhythm and amplitude as well as subtlety shaping phonemic, morphological and syntactic elements. They also subtly position the listener in position to the speaking voice Sarah Parry,(2002). This quote refers to recordings that seek to be as naturalistic as possible. I have considered my role in this work carefully. (I cannot own it- without the others- there would be nothing.)

I took recordings of conversations to which I had introduced ideas and introduced techniques to those recordings. Those techniques were controlled acts of chaos. To be true to the themes we were speaking on, and the slowly rising notion that this work was something to do with acceptance and deconstruction, I listened to the recordings, discarded 'that which could not be used- due to gratuitous swearing, or a too delicate subject matter- and then compiled the cut up audio- and let it find its own 'telling'- Why? Because, the juice is between the cracks... Roland Barthes (1985) , suggests the posture of listening is “an attitude of decoding what is obscure, blurred, or mute, in order to make available to consciousness the 'underside' of meaning.”Mixing up time lines, addresser/addressee relays and adjusting volumes are techniques of exploding the material. We seek new communication modalities when we perceive with 'an open mind'- work that makes sense on a more significant level than 'the expected'. I wanted to hear this work over/ anew/ refreshed- to listen and be struck by my own interpretation of its randomness- find its 'message' for me, and make a work that made every body's interpretation something recognisably original.

It would be honest to see 'producer' as 'anarchitect' after Sophie Gosslin. Writing on her collective apo33's radio work and their use of both orchestrated flux and random chaos in sound: Diffusion not only lets the substructure's ghosts be heard, those ghosts that hide behind the machines , the pipes, the electrical wires, waking the sleepless bodies of the real that stands locked in a repressive machine, but in turn allows such elements to come into a larger communicational network. P151 this 'larger communicational network' is that of interaction and possibility. Ambiguous works allow the reader such agency as can shatter the hold learnt interpretation holds over us, allowing listening to become re-invigorated and deeper- a engagement which feeds back into life...
 

Extraneous sounds to speech, coughing, clinking, hiccups, sniffs, chairs banging, cars passing, farts, burps and legally contentious swearing remain- the real body of the text remains unmolested in the processing, present as extra-linguistic contextualization- references to the finite happening and the human embodiment of the work's moment. Through the inclusion of these sounds in the mix, I hope to have generated a kind of 'sharawadaji' – a effect of- unexpected beauty in the absence of any discernible order or arrangement'. This effect is common in cite soundscapes- playgrounds full of children, demonstrations, bustling market places or carnivals- dirty busy places...

My choice to edit was influenced by montage techniques: I have not used any repetitions or effects other than adjusting the levels of amplitude,- my editing has been rather about cutting up and overlay as a reflection on the ways we speak and hear. Hello William Burroughs...

I think, create, cook, clean, share quality time with others- but- for the sake of critical discourse- the fact that, yes, I am invested here too- there should be a place where this important work of 'mining' can occur. 
 

Bojana says, the space attained, when acceptance of ones agency reveals a perspective that introduces a whole world of possibilities – this is what we seek.

Shelly states the projects that have failed the most are the ones which have rewarded her most.

These are the premises this work is founded upon- there is something for us as producers, and hopefully something for listeners too....