Radical Sound offers students alternative ways to create project-specific sound, radically reducing the use of advanced technology. This course takes an interdisciplinary approach and welcomes students who wish to produce sound for films, animation projects, musical pieces, art pieces, performances, or (sound) installations. Following the meaning of radical, as in ‘relating to the origin’, this course will build on naturally occurring sounds in our environments through three key phases:

1) Finding and understanding sound structures through listening

2) conceptualizing sound for project purposes

3) Experimentally creating sound structures

Students will learn to utilize phenomenological practices such as writing, drawing, photography, and more to create scores for their sound projects. While conventional sound productions use recorded sounds that are heavily manipulated through sound effects, this course reduces post-production to a minimum. Instead, students are encouraged to engage with experimental and playful ways to manipulate sound and sound-capturing devices in the moment of recording. Everyday objects such as plastic containers, paper, metal plates, or small speakers filled with sand can become powerful tools to create unusual and organic sounds that stand out from the norm of digital sound production.

Building on the work of artists like Rie Nakajima and Rolf Julius, students will be pushed to work creatively toward the goal of realizing their own sonic structures.
 

Please contact fav@risd.edu for permission to register; registration is not available in Workday. 

Elective