theraputicspacespotter-blog

[theraputicspacespotter-blog]

Evidence for Communication and role of group organiser. (part 3)

I also created the Wattsapp group and gather everyones numbers and send them all to everyone via email:

I believe that I have done quite well helping bring the group together, I believe I have listened and act upon any suggests asked of me to the best of my ability.

[theraputicspacespotter-blog]

Evidence for Communication and role of group organiser. (part 2)

Emily and Ellei (Carys under uni emails), are definately the most communicative of group, they are the most responsive to emails, and talk a lot which is good.

Rowan and Heather were at periods not in university at all. 

From messaging Rowan directly via messenger, She went on holiday around 22nd November 2018 and was ill when came back Tuesday 27th November 2018, after our meeting on Thursday 29th December, we did not see much of her, which she did look unwell on that day, so I guess she pick up a cold as there was colds going around at the time.  I thought it was good for me to inform her of anything relating to our group project that she needed to known:

I from speaking to her she did not mind of my messages to let her know while she was away.

When I spoken to Heather in person when she was in, particularly on Friday 14th December 2018. I discovered she works as a Barmaid at a Wedding venue in Clydach, which she works at a 0 hour contract. So this meant she was called to work there even if lectures were clashing. If I did not spoken to her in person, I would not be able to let the group know why she has not be able to come. 

I also organised the Videocall /skype meeting on Thursday 3rd January 2019:

Although only Rowan, Yan and Myself were able to do it, it help got to know what some of us was at, and ask some questions to the three of us that helped with our individual progress.

[theraputicspacespotter-blog]

Evidence for Communication and role of group organiser. (part 1)

Over the Course of the journey in collaborating. I have pledged that I will summarise any details that are important that need to remind or inform others in group. So by sending out large group emails such as this one:

Certain members of group quickly came to my attention to speak with more and get them more involved and talking:

The Chinese Students Yan Yu and Siwei Ren I had notice from the beginning do have a language barrier which enable them at the start to talk openly with group. So through speaking to them individually, emailing them and messaging them on messenger, which eventually they have grown in confidence to communicate more with others in the group but mostly with me.

Yan has from the 1st group email, did respond:

She is more fluent in English than Siwei, but she does from time use google translate to try and find the right English word to communicate to us, which when she did this, she was shy and nervous, but the group and myself do say not to worry or rush. In the email shown in the screenshot and when I seen her the following time she did say that the email summaries do help her a lot.

Siwei on the other hand is very quiet, she talks only when you open a conversation with her. She is herself quite fluid to speak in English but she did found my Welsh accent to throw her off as she did needed me to repeat myself sometimes, or ask Yan to explain to her what I mean.

Although messaged me on messenger which we could talk with ease:

Siwei explained she was lost a good listener nor was she a good communicator, so I did say to her that I will bear that in mind and told her that she is free to message me to talk about what was discussed or answer any questions freely.

[theraputicspacespotter-blog]

Future avenues to improve the music for Therapy rooms

In application, should Ethereal material in to a real entity. I think it would benefit greatly If I look into applying Spatial audio to my music.

Spatial audio is use of more than 2 speakers to play back music and sound, it is commonly heard in cinemas in the from of surround sound (5 Speakers).

I believe this would be a great feature to make my music and Soundscapes much more immersive and accurate for therapy rooms. How many speakers would be depending on the room. 

An 8 Speaker setup is quite standard for spatial audio, as it provided complete 360′ sound as circle:

 can work as a cube with the same number of speakers, where sounds can be heard high above too.

I did book to use the University’s Octophonic Speaker System but the room was closed and the Tehnician was not around. 

However, I have experienced using this system before. For a assignment in my 2nd year for my undergraduate course. 

Getting decent quality but cost effective studio or stage speakers is not cheap over If you were to start off with 8 (£1000 average atleast). So by having a Equipment sponsor onboard that would provide speakers, it certainly would tackle this, and overtime if both parties are happy with the deal relationship, We maybe be able to negotiate a range of quantities of speakers that we can play with. whether rented or bought to us.

[theraputicspacespotter-blog]

Update for Therapy room 4 music track

[theraputicspacespotter-blog]

The possibilities of Ethereal Also about the opportunities that can take my work to greater lengths

Over the journey I have undertaken in this project. I do believe between the 7 of us, we can work as a unit. 

To explain the possibilities of Ethereal cannot be explained fully by a single person in the group, as each of us can see Ethereal differently and are aware of avenue’s in their field that can make Ethereal as an Cooperative Charity that sets up Therapy rooms, unique and exciting proposition. 

However, from my own prospective, the tracks for the rooms and inspiration that lead to the creation of the tracks, provides exciting prospects for me both as a producer, and visionary, as that despite there is a clear, definitive style to therapy music traditionally. anything oddly can be viewed as therapeutic, mostly for nostalgic reasons.

I am not restricted to what I write, but there do seems to be a subconscious lean to a specific range that I can explore.

Possibilities and Financial details for Therapy rooms 

Music Therapy is quite a young profession in the last 30 years. There are currently close to 800 registered music therapists in the UK who are part of the British Association of Music Therapy (2017)

It does seem like I may need to attend another Master’s course specialising in Music Therapy and another sources has stated. (NHS, Unknown)

We can also be able to work with people with autism and mental health issues from experience with our group to assist target audience such as those listed by Catherine Ulbricht Pharm.D. (Pharm., 2013)

From Cancer research UK, there have been a couple of studies that show the impact that music therapy have for Cancer patients. For examples in 2006, with 51 studies and examination of 3,663 people there is clear evidence to suggest that music therapy although the benefit was quite small, it does not only reduce pain, but also reduce the need for Strong painkillers. On site music therapy centres for cancer patients in hospitals are free for therapy sessions, but private sessions through the British Association of Music Therapists.  Costing are usually £40s an hour. I do it seems would need to sign myself up to register myself officially as a music therapist. (Cancer Research UK, 2015)

If I do decide to become one, in order to qualify and work legally as a Music therapist, to justify my contributions to the Ethereal I would need to go through that process.

The salary for a music therapists con be on average $ 40,579 (Dayton, 2018) or £26,565 to £35,577 working for the NHS, to private and experienced music therapists £40,428 to £48,514 (Prospects, 2019).

It does seem to be an expensive venture for maybe something that I will not be earning from.

However, there are ways that I can get financial (Fiscal) funding, although burning man (2019) which Emily mention that we can get some funding from, many others such as the Arts council of Wales (2019), even other charities that link with our target audience, Such as Mencap (Unknown), personal ties with these companies and especially as a member of the target audience would motivate support.  All this would assist to help become an official music therapist as well as meeting end meet.

I can get equipment sponsors too; I could approach Music Technology companies to make deals to obtain equipment that would help produce the tracks. Especially when working with Spatial Audio (More on that in a bit). To provide an incentive, we would work to provide profit for the company providing the equipment.

Crowd funding is another possible avenue to utilize such as GoFundMe (2019), we could provide incentives such as a stereo version of the therapy room track in their favourite room.

[theraputicspacespotter-blog]

Analysis review - Therapy room 7 Music track

This track was made for Yan’s Therapy room with her concept sketch here. This was made Saturday 5th January 2019.

Musical details:

Home key (primary) of C, but modulates to Bb

Structure is in Binary form

Minimalist

Instrumentation consists of Clarinet, Glockenspiel, Bassoon, string quartet and double bass.

The track is balanced in the polar opposites of staccato and legato (smooth) phrasing, where the lower pitch string instruments and the Glockenspiel are set to phrase staccato notes and other accompaniment are smooth in the phrasing of their parts.  The melodic clarinet part weaves in between legato and staccato phrasing.

Yan was looking to have a song to fit her therapy music room that was typical for a fairy tale themed room. She said to me she was inspired by Tchaikovsky’s ‘Nutcracker’, so I went about to listen to it on Youtube. using this link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1nzCDUNf-0&t=2254s

The Youtube video I realised was more than a hour long, covering the ‘Nutcracker’ entire album in full. Listening to this, made me realise how dynamic and eclectic the entire album really is, being familiar with some of the individual songs in Nutcracker, I suspected the Yan was intrigued the most by the ‘Dance of the Suger-Plum Fairy’:

A key theme that seems apparent when studying the’ Dance of the Suger- Plum Fairy’, there seems to be cheeky theme that, heared and felt evidently with use of the Glockenspiel phrasing the notes in melody as staccato (playing the notes short) naturally, the slurred glissandi’s of the Oboe in a descending order, and the pizzicato-ed low string instruments. 

This is the influence I must show when I was making the track for Yan I felt.

I made Yan’s song using Sibelius to best control the harmonies I wanted to sue as well.

Making the track was a challenge, as I felt when I was trying to achieve the cheeky atmosphere, I had to carefully pick the harmonies to allow when the melody became ‘cheeky’ the dissonance is smooth not harsh.

Most of the time, I felt I have achieved my goal for Yan, although I feel like certain sections such as the transition from B to A sections I wish were more cheeky but were smoother.

[theraputicspacespotter-blog]

Analysis review - Therapy room 6 Soundscape

This image is not Siwei’s concept drawing, as that the images I did recieve were not compatible with Adobe Premiere, I have not received JPEGs yet to make any changes.

This Soundscape track was made in Cubase, for Siwei’s therapy room, and created on also Wednesday 2nd January 2019. However, the track as since been updated due to requests from Siwei to add sounds of frogs and some insects to make the imaginative ecosystem sounds more diverse. This was done of Tuesday 8th January 2019.

As was mentioned with Rowan’s  therapy room 5 Soundscape, I had to work within my own limitations. The track was easy to make.

Hearing nature is a popular feature for therapy room music clearly. Particularly natural habitats that are local.

[theraputicspacespotter-blog]

Analysis review - Therapy room 5 Soundscape

The Image used does not represent Rowan’s therapy room, as she has not provided me with a image of her own concept drawing for her room.

This Soundscape of using sound files of various British birds, insects (Grasshoppers) and wind blowing through trees was produced in Cubase, for Rowan, and made on Wednesday 2nd January 2019.

Through using my copies of a few sound banks (BBC Sound Library, and File Effects) I have been able to create what Rowan was after. A Forest soundscape.

Time had been a issue that has prevented me being able to record the sounds over the Christmas holidays due to various external commitments. So I had to make do with I already had. If I did had more time, I would have been in a position to be able to do this differently, and had more fun in the process.

This track was by far the quickest to write, as the sounds samples are already good enough, not needing to process, but I have found because the winds sounds were loud and could be easily mistaken as strong gusting winds not the intended gentle winds Rowan requested, I solved this by reducing the gain (volume) to a significant but still audible level to get the intended result.

It has taught me that by having low individual levels in the mix, there more to play about, and mastering feel to be not needed as there is no need to increase the dynamics as you want the sounds to be quiet as if they are quite a distance away anyway.

[theraputicspacespotter-blog]

Analysis Review of Therapy room 4 Music Track

The image is not Heather’s concept art for her room, as she has shown her room as a model, I have not yet seen the model in it’s complete form.

This Track was created in Cubase only, and made for Heather on Tuesday 1st January 2019. 

Heather gave me very little instructions to work from:

She wanted a Meditative calm piece of music as she said, but I felt I need to use something different from the other tracks I had made so far, so I decided to look into soft percussion sounds as they sound therapeutic and seem traditionally used, example would the Tibetan singing bowls (Esposito, 2013):

Music properties:

The smooth synth lead part and the percussive synthesised marimba parts were improvised, so that any stray from the tempo/timings creates a sense of relaxation as it is not strict

minimalistic

key of B major

[theraputicspacespotter-blog]

Updated Therapy room tracks:

Ellei’s ship cabin (Therapy room 2 Soundscape) now has his concept drawing for his room with the track:

Yan’s Thearpy room 7 Music track on Youtube has also been updated:

[theraputicspacespotter-blog]

Analysis Review 3 - Therapy room 3 Music track/Soundscape hybrid

Important to note: the image in use is not Emily’s actual graphic drawing of her room, as I have not received or seen it yet.

This track was made using a Sibelius, and Cubase as my D.A.W (Digital Workstation), and made for Emily on the Friday 28th December 2018.

Musical detail:

In the key of Bb 

Lo-fi Electronic dance music or ‘chill-hop’

Consists of soprano, Bass and hiphop Drums, Vibraphone musically

Ternary structure

In terms of sound, I had mostly sourced from BBC library sounds (the Sound of American people in a diner chatting and diner bell), but the sound of the record player, I have downloaded from FreeSound, which I give credit to  The IntraEnvrionmental Sound Project (2016) 

check out the following link to see original recording:

----> https://freesound.org/people/IESP/sounds/340072/

I had made the vintage background distortion using the Grungilizer effect in Cubase.

Inspiration for the making of therapy room 3′s Music/Soundscape

Emily had provided for me many listening examples, a few such as 

Space Pirate  - Show Me That You Love Me (2016)

lofi hip hop radio - beats to relax/study to. by Chilled Cow (2018)

Interestingly I came across this interesting example of Lofi EDM:

I Want To Be Well by Sufjan Stevens (2010)

I must say, 2 out of the 7 therapy room songs, this one had been the one of two of the trickier tracks I’ve produce simply because it is style I had not written before. Emily has been very pleased with it. I although I felt like I did a not bad job, I feel that It is out of place compare to the inspiration I had garnered before making it, perhaps I feel this as Lo-fi is a big style of EDM, which seems to be quite popular, but I also feel that I could explore this area and do better again. I see after making the track for Emily the genres appeal, and how I can utilise this style for future musical projects. 

[theraputicspacespotter-blog]

Analysis Review 2 - Therapy room 2 Soundscape

Important to note: the image in use is not Ellei’s actual graphic drawing of her room, as I have not received or seen it yet.

Therapy room 2 track is a Ship Cabin Soundscape that is made for Ellei Davies in the Collaboration. Which was made with using Protools (A Digital Audio Workstation), I had recorded myself moving about the stair’s landing in my house to make the sort of creaking sounds that you would get walking on the wooden platforms in a typical 18th century ship.

I have also obtained a sound file from my copy of the BBC Sound Library to find a sea sample that I can use in the background.

I have made ship themed sounds before, while I was making Gloriana for the ‘Bull versus Lioness’ song: 

And before that, I did a Live performance of storytelling the myth of St Govan’s chapel back in 2015.

So not only I had experiance in making similar ‘soundworld’s’ come to life, I was able to produce very quickly. which I made straight after finishing Therapy room 1 music track.

[theraputicspacespotter-blog]

Analysis review 1 - Therapy room 1 music

Therapy room 1 music track was made for my own therapy room and was created on Wednesday 19th December 2018. 

This song was developed in the notational software Sibelius where I can create something note for note and presentable in score format, and latter placed into a Digital workstation for the sounds to be converted into more rich and lively versions, next it is mixed and mastered. In order to put it into YouTube, I needed to Adobe Premiere to combine my graphic drawing with the track.

Musical properties of the song:

The song is in the key of F

Instrumentation include a Clarinet and a keyboard synthesizer

Musical genre would be likely New age Electro-Classical

overall phrasing is set to be legato with lots of reverb, to create the fluid flow and sparkle.

What lead me come to the making of this?

As my Room was water themed, and wanted my room to be the sort of therapy room that calm your nerves and relax. Although I could have used music that had made in the past, I felt it was better to make something new, something that I can create aspires more comfort in a more positive light.

Although listening to Stuart Jones’ music was a key influence as I wanted to make the first one a bit traditional (in the sense of having  2 instruments), I draw upon my own personal tastes of what music had been for me in a therapeutic manner. I use music for me to get me primed for the day when I go to uni. Music to me I find uplifting:

 https://open.spotify.com/user/1146467527/playlist/6RKSntwmmcIIlLBw3Bg2eU?si=OyeoahbxTOue7NnpjDQ5YQ

Also music that I find exciting also play it’s part too on certain occasions:

https://open.spotify.com/user/1146467527/playlist/3SPMVIdKuoVo0GdVyYneW4?si=z1cPdfOnRt2-F-DUUy8bCA

Although most of the music I listen to is not like what I had set out to make, but the is two song above else that has standout for me that I feel my music projects the same mood:

‘Piano Concerto in G: Adagio assai’ by Maurice Ravel (1931)

This song is very dramatic, it is incredible beautiful (in my biased opinion!), with it’s ternary music structure (A - B - A), The A sections are the area of interest in relation to what I had been trying to achieve, the sensation that the music creates makes the listener think in a way that a nurturing touch of a pillow would caress you head, isolating you from any worries, equalising that worry with assurance. for something that is played gracefully, but has a hidden strength that you can feel.

Another song that has achieved this to me is ‘Dream 13 (Minus Even)′ by Max Richer  (2015). 

This a Minimalist piece that revolves a long time with only a piano, cello and violins. like Ravel’s masterpiece, this song embodies that same magic that I mentioned.

It makes you think about your life, any bad feelings are neutralised with assurence, and good feelings prior to listening to this has the effect that it makes you cherish your high times.

Now having created my therapy room song.  I feel like I have achieved that connection. It may not be as dynamic in terms of texture with Ravel’s song, or as minimalistic as Richer’s song. Maybe I could send them out to certain people to review all 7 of my therapy room tracks.

[theraputicspacespotter-blog]

Early Research discussion

At the 1st half in the journey of this project, I did have difficulty being able to do substantial progress as I had the other assignments of the go, which had earlier deadlines, and a clearly large workload.

Since both the arrival of the Christmas Holidays, and the completion of both assignments.

The rush was to deliver with regards of making the main contribution for the Collaboration. The creation of the 7 therapy room music/soundcapes. At the same time, I need to manage some downtime as well, without including other commitments that I am tied to. I am definitely not alone with this, as I have learned about members in my group. 

I guess between the 7 of us, we can learn to help each other when external commitments take priority, we certainly have drive and passion in what we do as individuals, and collectively respect each other in terms of expertise and shared understandings. 

Summary of what has been learned so far from the initial research.

-Research in Therapy Rooms Word document:

The small amount of research in this document looked into seeking answers or understanding of suggestions brought up from Gavin and thoughts shared among the group. Such as use of Rage rooms, later discovering the cons associated with them (Bennett, 2017), (Scott, 2016). Which pulled us away from this field once the evidence was put forward to the group.

I looked into what makes a therapy room work, (Wang, 2014),  (Spy, 2015). looking into examples of other similar companies that follow what we going to pitch (Experia, 2018), (The Whitchurch Clinic, Unknown). Which I can believe we can standout with a few of our USPs to list is we can be adaptable with our therapy rooms in all aspects, music, room theme, mascots. 

I had also learned about how room acoustics could play a significant part in the room which can affect the music and any dialogue which would affect the customer’s stress levels (ACOUSTICAL SURFACES, INC., 2008),(Feinstein, 2016) - which I have learned that too dry (fabrics) and too wet (reflective surfaces) both can affect the customer negatively, so a balance is required to ensure a comfortable sonic space.

Bibliography for Research in Therapy Rooms Word document:

ACOUSTICAL SURFACES, INC.,  2008. Psychologist Office Sound Problem. [Online]  Available at: https://www.acousticalsurfaces.com/blog/soundproofing/psychologist-office-sound-problem/  [Accessed 20 November 2018].

Bennett, K., 2017. Rage Rooms Not a Good Idea. [Online]    Available at: https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/modern-minds/201703/rage-rooms-not-good-idea  [Accessed 20 November 2018].

Experia, 2018. Sensory Rooms. [Online]  Available at: https://www.experia-innovations.co.uk/sensory-rooms/  [Accessed 20 November 2018].

Feinstein, S., 2016. The Importance of Room  Acoustic. [Online]  Available at: https://www.alesis.com/kb/article/2228  [Accessed 20 November 2018].

McGregor, L., 2017. Lighting Technique: Create  Dreamlike Reflections with Water. [Online]  Available at: https://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/lighting-technique-reflecting-light-off-water-for-video/  [Accessed 20 November 2018].

Scott, E., 2016. Why rage rooms are a really bad  idea. [Online]  Available at: https://metro.co.uk/2016/12/07/why-rage-rooms-are-a-really-bad-idea-6307547/  [Accessed 20 November 2018].

Spy, S., 2015. What is a relaxation room?. [Online]    Available at: https://goodspaguide.co.uk/features/what-is-a-relaxation-room  [Accessed 27 November 2018].

The Whitchurch Clinic, Unknown. Room Rental/Hire. [Online]    Available at: https://www.thewhitchurchclinic.co.uk/room-hire/  [Accessed 7 January 2019].

Wang, K., 2014. 20 Ideas To Create A Therapeutic  Living Room. [Online]  Available at: https://www.friendshipcircle.org/blog/2014/02/17/20-ideas-to-create-a-therapeutic-living-room/  [Accessed 20 November 2018].

 -Sound Therapy research

Through this part of my research, I have learnt that therapy music/soundscapes are a fundamental part to everyone’s de-stressing routine, although this can vary from nostalgia that’s found in louder dynamic and distorted music (Rosenberg, 2017), to just simply silence (is there ever silence? As John Cage discovered before he wrote ‘4′33″ (2017)). 

There numurous common examples that I have heard of that I wanted to explore, such as White noise machines (Rosenberg, 2017),(Howes, 2010). Which I can use use in the form of wind, rainfall as natural examples that produce similar to white noise. 

I have studied what musical instruments or ‘sound making’ instruments , business use to provide therapy  (British Academy of Sound Therapy, 2014),  (Snoezelen, 2018). Certain instruments such as tuned percussion and woodwind (particularly Flutes (Sensory Learning 4 Life, 214) and seemingly similar octave registered woodwind instruments, from studying the listening examples in most of the suggested Youtube links found in the sources).

Prior to the making of the 7 therapy room music/Soundscapes I have been using additional listening inspiration from Spotify, listening to the work of Stuart Jones (2013) who is a eclectic keyboard artist, his music certainly was a interesting listen and show me that traditional therapy music is quite simplified and mostly easy listening: https://open.spotify.com/album/3rKkGzFWfeHdiWNXlA9N57?si=f0COW5EqSAiODXvpl4a4yQ

here is the blog for this area of research:

Bibliography  

British Tinnitus  Association, Unknown. What is sound therapy?. [Online]  Available at: https://www.tinnitus.org.uk/sound-therapy  [Accessed 28 November 2018].

Cooper, L., 2014. Bringing Therapeutic Sound Into  Your Therapy Room. [Online]  Available at: https://www.britishacademyofsoundtherapy.com/therapeutic-sound-therapy-room/  [Accessed 27 November 2018].

Howes, R., 2010. White Noise Machines and  Psychotherapy. [Online]  Available at: https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/in-therapy/201007/white-noise-machines-and-psychotherapy  [Accessed 27 November 2018].

REILLY, L., 2017. The Story Behind John Cage's  4'33". [Online]  Available at: http://mentalfloss.com/article/545665/facts-about-president-theodore-teddy-roosevelt  [Accessed 7 January 2019].

Rosenberg, C., 2017. What is sound therapy?. [Online]    Available at: https://www.mnn.com/health/fitness-well-being/stories/what-sound-therapy  [Accessed 28 November 2018].

Sensory Learning 4 Life, 214. How to make a Flute  or Swanee Slide Whistle out of Bamboo - Sensory Learning 4 Life. [Online]    Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlttALMwr7k  [Accessed 28 November 2018].

Snoezelen, 2018. Auditory Sense. [Online]  Available at: https://www.snoezelen.info/the-auditory-sense/  [Accessed 28 November 2018].

White Noise World, 2017. BAMBOO WIND CHIME SOUNDS.  [Online]  Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaULWsQaays  [Accessed 28 November 2018].

[theraputicspacespotter-blog]

Weekly Update: 6th January 2019

Big news!

All 7 therapy songs are more or less complete:

-Therapy room 1 music : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxpLI7cnvU8 

-Therapy room 2 soundscape : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyFGOWssWcE

-Therapy room 3 music : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_n6p_NNi_4

-Therapy room 4 music : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSuFyOmIO28

-Therapy room 5 soundscape : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcJ3eqRBiAM

-Therapy room 6 soundscape : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbJ1AXJS-HA

-Therapy room 7 music : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0eiAk2QLMU

Will soon be doing a series of post explaining each one, also I be doing posts to finalise the initial research I have undergone throughout the assignment.

I will be evidencing my leadership skills by screen-shooting my emails and messages, as I have been assumed to get everyone in the group up to scratch, organised and mobilised.

We did have a video call meeting on Tuesday at 11am. Unfortunately, only Yan, Rowan and myself we present. However, there was lots that were gained through our meeting, got the see Yan’s half mascot drawings (other half were pending as those people have yet spoken to Yan regarding a mascot for their rooms). Rowan had also set up the professional website, just needs content from the other members to add to it.

[theraputicspacespotter-blog]

Weekly Update - 30th December 2018

What has been worked on this week:

- Resolved an issue I had occurred when using Midi data to play back the score I had written in Sibelius, wanting to changing the defaulting sound to a desired sound type. In both Cubase and Protools (the obstacle was present in both softwares) I discovered through looking onto both the Steinberg (who made Cubase) and Avid (for Protools) Forums, I had learnt there is a integraded ‘Program change’ that comes with any midi data imported from Sibelius, which by removing this, allows me to assign the midi data to any sound I desire without reverting back to it’s assuming ‘default’ sound. (Sources with be provided soon)

- Made a second draft for Emily’s therapy room music has been made. The additions made to the music was a soundscape intro and outro section with the the music in the middle. This was made as I came to realise, that I was missing the 50′s american musical associations that would come when you think of a Classic American Diner. So sounds such as chatter is from my copy I had obtained of the BBC Sound Library, a recording from a Bar in Louisiana, combine this with passing Car sounds (also from BBC Sound Library). For the sound of a record player being turned on, I had burrowed in FreeSound, processed it to be deep to sound heavy, added the Grungilizer effect in Cubase, to add the distorted ‘dirty’ sound that is produced typically from speakers in the 50s. 

Hopefully by adding these elements, I can successfully achieve the style of music that Emily is after. All that would be left for Emily’s song, is to record her, doing Breathing sounds to add to the the music, which hopefully would be done on Wednesday.

Other things I would like to write about, is that I feel a bit unsure about the extent that is expected of me, beyond making the therapy music/soundscape, writing and researching about my specialism in this project. There is still not much communication from all of the group members. Although Emily has been active in communicating with me, the rest have been unresponsive to the emails. Heather has yet told me what she desires for her therapy room in terms of music/sound. Hopefully, she will let me know soon, as writing music is a longer process than making Soundscapes, if this is what she desires. 

I am enjoying the process so far, I am so pleased I have figured out away to resolve that midi issue, that had been a thorn to my side for a long while!

I do have faith in the group’s individual expertise, it is just wish we were a bit more communicative so we can assure eachother if something has been made, or any progress as been made.