Sonic Art & Sound Design- P18:Sonic art is a new art form, or rather, forms. As we shall see, it can encompass a wide range of activities, perhaps wider than almost any other art form. It is an unusual case, based upon a medium that has traditionally been regarded as inferior and subservient to other creative or expressive forms. | STUDIO OR LABORATORY Summary As we have seen the technologies and working practices of the conventional recording studio can appear superficially to be very close to those of sonic art and sound design. This proximity is however somewhat of an illusion. Certainly some of the same equipment is used but the critical difference is how we answer the question of what informs its recording process as it applies to conventional music is a well-established pathway of practices that leads to a consistent series of outcomes. The use of studio technologies in the creation of sound art is quite different Brian Eno has observed that he finds it perfectly acceptable to enter the studio with absolutely no ideas in his head and simply to let himself be driven to work in particular ways and with particular process in response to what he hears. This is perhaps an extreme difference and most sonic arts studio practice lies somewhere between the two poles. The interesting difference is the focus upon the qualities of sounds in their own right without there being any inevitable reference to their musical context. We should however be careful in making unduly clear-cut distinctions. In his book Audible Design Trevor Wishart refers to what he calls sound composition as a practice that partakes of both the experimentalism of sonic art and of the conventions of musical composition and this may form a basis upon which we are able to re-visit the practices of recording as we have known them hitherto. 8. Listen for example to Inside - Paul Horn s 1968 recording of improvised flute playing under the dome of the Taj Mahal. Not only does the feedback that Horn receives from the acoustics of this space impact upon his playing but the personal and cultural significance of the Taj Mahal also colours our response to what we hear. 84 85 PROCESS AND PRACTICE Designing and Creating Sounds Introduction Here we look at some of the many ways in which we can create sound but perhaps more .
