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3D Tangible Sound

Through the first half of this project, the goal is to design an ambient sound design for a fictitious planet. The second half of the project is to design a physical representation of your neighbors ambient sound design.

EMPATHIZE

What are the project's parameters and constraints? 1) Length requirements: Sound file must be at least 30 seconds but not extend past 2 minutes while using 6 sounds minimum; 2) The 3D sculptures will then be created through tinkercad; and 3) Students will work in pairs for this project.

 

Material list:

 

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DEFINE

Part 1

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I brainstormed up different worlds that I thought sounded interesting to me to create soundscapes for. Then I narrowed down my ideas to three by eliminating the ideas that might be too complex or not as interesting for this assignment. I then started to list sound ideas for each world. The world that produced a variety of sound ideas and a clear vision was chosen.

 

Part 2

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After receiving the .wav file from David Garza, The Field of Machines and Energy, I listened to the file several times. Each time, noting what thoughts came to mind. I began to brainstorm different ideas that illustrated the sounds I heard within David’s soundscape.


 

IDEATE

Part 1

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The fictitious planet, The Underworld, is a dark and creepy place. A planet in the hell dimension that one may find difficult to escape from once entering its atmosphere. After defining what type of world I would like to create through sound, I began to brainstorm what this world would look and feel like. Sketches were created to draw a visual reference to the sounds that I wanted displayed within The Underworld.

 

Part 2

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As I listened to the soundscape of the unique world, The Field of Machines and Energy, I closed my eyes and began to visualize what elements I was seeing.  However, I found this task a little more difficult than anticipated because I wasn't quite sure what could be responsible for making some of the sounds. The thoughts that did arise were quite abstract and fairly creative explanations. I began sketching ideas for what items or concepts was responsible for producing the sounds I heard. I narrowed down the sketched ideas to two and began to prototype both. The two ideas:

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  • Energy Gun - A literal representation for what could make some of the sounds that were heard​​

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  • Energy Towers - An abstract representation for what could make some of the sounds that were heard​​

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PROTOTYPE

 

Part 1

 

The Underworld

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Below is the finished soundscape for The Underworld I created using nine sounds files downloaded from FreeSound.org. I used ProTools to edit the sounds together to create a cohesive moment in time on The Underworld. Pitch shift, time extend, panning, and fading in and out was applied to the tracks. 

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Sources for all the sounds heard listed in order as heard in sound timeline:

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https://www.freesound.org/s/51587/

https://www.freesound.org/s/260440/

 

https://www.freesound.org/s/329866/

 

https://www.freesound.org/s/152004/

 

https://www.freesound.org/s/333832/

https://www.freesound.org/s/256643/

 

https://www.freesound.org/s/124626/

 

https://www.freesound.org/s/79129/

https://www.freesound.org/s/11114/

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All sounds from FreeSound.org

The 3D TinkerCad design created by David Garza for The Underworld soundscape.

Part 2

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Energy Gun

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The first 3D object I created was an energy gun. A literal representation of an item that could produce the sounds heard within The Field of Machines and Energy. However, I found this 3D representation to be a little too simple for the array of complex sounds presented within David's soundscape.

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The shapes used to create the Energy Gun are: Paraboloids, Polygon, Tubes, Rectangles, Cylinder, a Helix, a half sphere, and a Torus (rounded ring).

Energy Towers

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The second 3D object I created was a cluster of energy towers. An abstract representation of what could produce the sounds heard within The Field of Machines and Energy.

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I used shapes such as: â€‹Sphere combined with a icosahedron with a smaller sphere inside; Torus, the rings around the sphere and the base of the structure; a Star pulled out of shape to be used as a platform; a short cylinder as the ground base, a Mandala centered around the largest tower; and two Helix coming out the sides penetrating the ground, expanding.

FEEDBACK

Feedback from Dr. Round was quite positive reception for both The Underworld soundscape and the Energy Towers 3D TinkerCad design. The soundscape received compliments such as it is creepy and quite scary. The 3D design was admired for being quite abstract. A constructive note was that more could be added to the floor level of the environment such as ripples.

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