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Spring 2023
Group Improv, based on prompts from chatGPT
Contact microphones were taped onto the students instruments and processed through audio effect chains via Max patches and mixed in logic.
Part of students projects for MTHC 480/780 at University of Kansas
Juan Marulanda - Arepa Grill
The possibility of recycling an old arepa grill has emerged as an unimagined experience. An arepa is a flat round cake made of cornmeal that is found in Colombia and Venezuela, where they are frequently eaten with different meals. The object that I have used in this project has a certain sentimental value. On a recent trip to Colombia, I brought an old grill from my mother's house with the intention of making arepas here in Lawrence. However, to my disappointment, just a few weeks after having arrived, the object lost a good part of its functionality due to an involuntary accident in the kitchen. Producing sound through this grill, by transforming it into an amplified idiophone, has been helpful in overcoming my previous disappointment. The initial plan of attaching a handle to hold the instrument while it was struck with a metal beater did not work because the worn and irregular surface of the object did not allow the necessary adhesion. This setback, however, was fortunate because the handle was substantially limiting the already low and barely perceptible vibration of the instrument. The use of the handle was then discarded, and this led me to consider other more subtle modes of sound production using the fingertips, the palm of the hand, or bowing. The effects chain, made up of a formant filter and an MC Bergmál Delay, allows the generation of a wide and varied range of sounds with it.
Snow Kim - Oven pan with stings and earrings
The instrument is an oven pan with stings and earrings. It can be hit, plucked, and rubbed with different equipment. I use Effect chains, including Echo delay, Distortion, and Reverb. Also, with EVOC FB, I could switch the frequency emphasized. I liked this oven pan with a wet and roomy sound when it emphasized low frequency.
Jake Bernard - Amazon box with long toothpicks
"This instrument was put together from a cardboard box and long toothpicks inserted into it and glued into place. I was going to experiment with different ratios for the length they stuck out from the box, but I got distracted and ran out of time. There are also some PVC pipes cut to different lengths on the top. Whether or not these serve a purpose is debatable. I had intended to be more rigorous, but I got distracted.
When you "pluck" (bend then release/flick) the toothpicks the box makes a sound. It's a beautiful day outside today. It isn't so impressive, but it's nice to build things. It is important to be ok with being human
Chase Boerke - Grate
My instrument was created by suspending a cooling rack from string and striking it with different items, like a ring, a metal crochet hook, and a drumstick. Through a contact microphone, there is a strange shimmering effect from the multitude of metal poles that create the cooling rack. The audio is processed through a delay pedal, as well as an effect that pans different frequencies to different places
Jasmine White - Metal Mixing bowl
For my instrument building project, I decided to use a metal bowl as the foundation of the instrument because I wanted to create a percussive instrument with a resonant, ambient sound. I figured out that I could create a variety of sounds with a metal bowl by sliding, swirling, and tapping it with a small metal crochet hook. Also, to add an element of pitch variety, I strapped three pieces of brass wire across the bowl. I discovered through a process of trial and error that electrical tape would work better than blue painter’s tape to hold the wires in place, and I discovered I could get different pitches based on how tense the wires were (strapping them as tightly as possible was the ideal path to take to ensure that the wires would not detach from the bowl).
To further develop the sounds of my instrument, I used Logic Pro to create an effect chain. I amplified the resonance of the bowl by adding a bloomy reverb effect through Chromaverb, as well as the Big Chorus effect through the modulation delay tool. I also created two Channel EQ effects (“pad warmer” and “reduce sharpness”) to add a sense of warmth to the sounds created by the bowl, and I used Pedalboard to add the TieDelay, Trem-O-Tone, and Double Dragon Deluxe Overdrive amps. The result was an eerie echo delay effect, slightly amplified by the use of the overdrive amp.
Lastly, for mic placement, in order to effectively pick up both the resonance of the bowl and plucking of the wires, I placed a contact mic on the inside of the bowl as close to the wires and edge of the bowl’s opening as I could.
Gabriel Leverette - Resonant metal objects suspended on a board of wood
My instrument consists of various resonant metal objects suspended with sewing string on a board of wood. A contact mic will be attached to one of the resonant nodes on the board of wood to maximize the chance of picking up the most sound possible. My method of playing the instrument will consist of using a metal chopstick to strike the metal objects and using my fingers to do more percussive effects. the sound of the metal objects resembles that of a triangle. I think this is both because of the shape, as well as the silver plating on the forks. I got the idea for this instrument when I accidentally hit one of the forks and realized the resonant potential. My max patch for this instrument includes the following audio effects; Reverb, panning, delay,, a double distortion system, an autonomation patch made by Gulli Bjornsson, and an earlier patch made by me, that takes some of the input sound and makes notes with an ADSR envelope.
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