This is a personal project that I wanted to carry since the beginning of the year, but it has also relation with some other course-related activities, for example I used these cases to perform at Corsica Studios and I will use them to perform outdoors as part as my second project in my Portfolio, a video essay about ambient music and mindfulness.
The cases have been cut in the 3D workshop, featuring engraving design inspired in nature motifs, quite related to my research in the Portfolio projects. I designed two cases, a more portable 52hp usb powered, and a bigger 84hp powered by mains.
The wooden structure was cut in the 3D workshop with a laser cutter, in 3mm plywood, and I had to attach specific Eurorack rails that I ordered online. For the smaller case I used the power module Rakit GO!, a USB C power mode which will allow me to perform on batteries as well, and for the bigger I used the 4ms Power 45, which need to be plugged to mains. Overall the project went really well, and it has been a good support for my Portfolio project and live performances.
I think that my work could be received very well from a wider public, and I will put quite interest in keep sharing my projects through different channels, in the form of exhibitions, releases and other collaborations. In terms of sound installations and sound in galleries and museums, I would probably start by joining open calls in London in order to have access to spaces. During the course, we’ve had the opportunity of exhibiting our work a couple of times and I always had a positive and constructive feedback. In this field I can combine my Sound Art skills with some coding and electronics, achieving interesting works in digital art and sound installation, adding interactive elements to enhance the experience with the public.
In terms of releasing sonic material, I have released albums and EP’s during and before the course and I was happy with the engagement received. This is a complicated area of work, as these days there are many publications being released every day, and the hard work of composing an album can sometimes fall in an ocean of digital records without being noticed. The world of audio streaming is clearly over-saturated, with thousands of musicians and composers trying to gain some recognition which makes it a highly competitive business. With these releases artists achieve some extra exposure in the creative industry, but due to the high volume of producers in this area, interacting in a more “physical” form with your audience is always a good idea, accompanying your releases with performance videos, creating your own instruments and selling merch like t-shirts or cassettes can contribute positively with your practice.
In relation to collaborating with other companies with my work, in the form of employment or partnerships, I believe that during the course I have gained really interesting skills which I can now offer to businesses in the audio and media industries. I have acquired excellent sound design skills, being able to generate digital ambience and effects, both digitally through DAW’s and DSP, or also with more “analog” techniques like field recording or foley. My research in coding with an audio approach during the course also allow me to work in tech industries, mainly working with sound and adapting this medium to apps or video games for example; always with a strong focus in creativity through composition, embodiment and visual approaches. In conclusion, I think that we are now prepared to show our skills to a wider public, and although only time and dedication will speak by itself, the feelings are good and I believe that the wide public will be delighted with my work beyond BA Sound Arts.
Living as an artist is a wide topic that could lead to many discussions and approaches, in general artists are not as demanded as scientists or other more functional professions, however, some artists can achieve higher incomes or popularity than the more demanded jobs. Artist’s expectations are normally to make a living with the art they create, without any limitations in creativity or schedule, but to make living completely as a freelance can be a difficult task, especially in a city like London, where prices in general are quite high and there are strict expenses due every month.
Therefore, artist’s life can be more manageable if working with their art in cooperation with companies or businesses. These employers will normally not allow the artist to have full freedom in their creations, moreover, they will create as demanded by the company. This option might not be as enjoyable as a being self-employed renowned artist, but still allows the artist to make a living in a related field, and being able to keep going with their own practice in their free time. From my point of view, and as we have seen from guest lecturers and from other professional’s advice, an artist will require, in many instances, a side job; these jobs are many times in education, sound engineering or customer service roles, but is not rare to see artists which have employments in services or unrelated fields. In this case, the artist practice could represent some extra income in the best cases, bring their day job to a part-time or reduced schedule contract.
As mentioned at the beginning, this is a wide topic from which there is a lot written and discussed, but I wouldn’t say that a graduate artist career should be more complicated than a career in other fields, and I have been informed of cases where students in other more “employable” subjects like science, law or engineering also struggle to find permanent and well paid roles. In conclusion, I would say that it is important for this industry to stay positive, and being optimistic as an individual to manage your opportunities in a realistic way, and try to find a balance between your artistic life and being able to afford the costs of living.
This course has been very inspiring and it has helped me to develop my practice in both new ways and in other areas that I already knew. I have gained more expertise in sound design, becoming a Pro Tools user and becoming a qualified specialist in this software, which is a standard in the industry. I have also discovered the academic world more in depth, being able to improve my academic writing and research skills, and finally I have started my way in coding, mastering Pure Data and learning Python which has lead the next step in my academic career, with a Msc in Computer Science next year.
My main aspiration therefore at this point will be to achieve this Masters course, which I’ll be attending part-time, and in an evening learning basis. This schedule will allow me to keep track with my second main aspiration which will be searching for employment and other opportunities. In these last 4 years of full time studying I have been able to employ quite time to my personal practice, collaborate with small projects and gigs, and have temporary jobs; for these reasons I would be very keen to have a permanent job after graduation. I’m really interested in sound design and sound engineering fields for this job, but it could fall into many other positions and industries, as long as this opportunity is related in some way to sound or art it would be acceptable. This might change in the future and could want to be back to freelance work, but as I mentioned before these last years I stayed in this side and I wouldn’t mind to go on a permanent position now to gain some stability.
In relation with my personal practice, I’m really excited as well, I’d like to get involved with communities in audio programming and DSP, continuing with more exciting projects in Sonic Interactive Design, probably participating in digital art exhibitions with more sound installations like I did in this course. My main practice has also always been around modular synthesisers and ambient music, even before starting the course, mainly sharing content online and releasing albums in streaming platforms. I also have great projects in mind in this area; I’ve gone more DIY during the course, having recently created portable synth cases, with which I’d like to perform live and outdoors, and I’m also currently involved in creating my own modules with SMD soldering, combining it with my coding skills.
On your blog, reflect on who you want to engage with your work after graduation. How will you reach out to relevant communities? How will people access your work and follow your development?
After graduation I would like to keep exploring the areas where I have developed during this end of the course, I would like to connect with more professionals in sound design and other tech areas and bring my work in more exhibitions and performances; also I keep sharing my practice through online content creation, therefore keep engaging with gear lovers, experimental music enthusiasts and creative coders.
I will try to achieve these connections through a good number of applications to different projects and opportunities, through websites and other mediums that have been discussed during this course, specially in this Professional Futures unit. This way, I hope to be able to present my work through different institutions, and the public will be able to see my work at venues, digital media or online, and hopefully get a good feedback and engagement.
As we have been seeing in class, some students have previously created a website in order to host their portfolio, which is one of the requirements for this unit’s assignment. Creating my own website is an exciting project that I always wanted to develop, and in this post I will explain a bit about the experience.
There is a huge amount of services available and ways to create a website, the majority of them offer an online site builder with pre-made templates and paid and free plans, some of the most popular of these companies are Wix, Cargo, WordPress, etc… After checking around these builders and starting to build one with Dorik, I found the limitations of these free plans, they offer a very limited number of pages and storage and shortly want to charge for custom domains and paid plans.
First project with Dorik, which was very limited on a free plan.
I always wanted to build a website from scratch and I finally went opted to build my site at Github Pages, with your profile on Github, you can create a repository and use it at a server that will host your website, using the address username.github.io. This process is completely free, with unlimited storage and number of pages which is much more suitable if you want to keep updating your site in the future. I also needed an offline builder, for which I used Publii, which combines a bit of menu based option with HTML coding. You can still download templates online for these kind of builders and although they might not be as amazing as paid software like Wix, they are quite good and you are able to modify the code as you like, and from my experience offline building is much stable and faster than online programs which use big amounts of memory.
Building the site with Publii
A page in the portfolio section.
Publii is linked with my Github repository, where it saves the code, pictures, videos etc… when your site is ready to be synced with the server, we just need to save changes and link with our address. I have been also able to embed YouTube videos and Spotify music for example, just by sharing the content and selecting “embedded” we will be able to copy the HTML code and paste in Publii. Finally, I needed to link my server with a domain; domains are normally a paid service, although there are some ways to get free domains eventually. In this case I’ve been lucky to achieve a .me domain free for one year thanks to the Github’s Education program, which is available for UAL students. Now I just needed to link the domain in my editor and at Github and my website is ready to visit, please feel free to have look:
Work on an Appraisal draft that identifies three opportunities relevant to your professional development for discussion next week.
Having very roughly checked for potential and desired work opportunities in London I have found some institutions in which I might be interested in, these are 3 of them in no particular order:
King (Videogame Company): This is a mobile video games company that usually post job offers for sound designers. I have played some of their games before and looks like a really attractive company to look at.
Cinimod Studio (AV Installation): Having found this company on Google, I really enjoyed what they do; they seem to be specialised in interactive and audiovisual installation, definitely interesting to approach.
Design Museum (Customer Service): I really loved the Design Museum every time I visited it, therefore, I thought it could be interesting to look at possible work offers within curational or customer service departments.
Write draft statements for the projects you are planning to submit and post these to your blog:
Project 1: Interactive Ecosystem
This interactive sound installation explores the intersection between nature and technology through real-time interaction. Making use of ultrasonic sensors, and electromagnetic response through plants, the participants will be able to interact with organic elements articulated by digital devices. The installation simulates an immersive acoustic ecosystem, where human presence and natural forces shape the sonic environment. As visitors move through the space, their actions influence an evolving soundscape, blurring the boundaries between organic and artificial life. Through this interactions, Interactive Ecosystem invites reflection on our relationship with the natural world in an era of technological transformation.
Project 2: Ambient Music as Mindfulness Practice
This project is presented in a video essay format and explores how ambient music can help improve focus, wellbeing and mental health. Through its calm and slow-paced nature, this musical genre helps listeners and performers cultivate awareness in the environment with mindfulness techniques through cognitive skills. In this recording we will explore other related sonic forms of meditation, its philosophical roots and contemporary applications; this video essay highlights how ambient music merges both artistic expression and meditation to enhance mental wellbeing.
Write a blog post reflecting on the realities of living as a sound artist in your chosen field and location. Try to reference the experience of other artists as well as your own.
The visit to Union Chapel in Highbury and Islington was really interesting and inspiring. Claire is a music composer and sound artist who also curates the event calendar at Union Chapel for 3 days a week. In the chapel there is a classic pipe organ that she has master to play and with which she now composes albums and film scores. Her advice about industry in the Q&A were very useful.
Living as an artist in London can be challenging and we are encouraged to look for an extra side job to secure your living expenses at least in the beginning. Claire gave us some tips for self-promotion, film work and music composition, she highlighted for us to progress in our career and find opportunities the use of social media, attending to events and playing shows. This was an interesting off-site visit where we have learnt some key point in the life of a professional sound artist.
Explores opportunities and challenges facing emerging artists. Sketches routes into potential employment, support schemes and networks.
Independent study
On your blog, describe your future aspirations and consider how these have been shaped by study and work experience, your peers and other key influences on your practice.
As I mentioned before, my main focus after graduating will be to find a permanent job. This could change in the future and I might explore a more freelance and gig based schedule, but after these years in university I think that I want to try with a fixed routine to get some stability. On the side I will keep making and releasing compositions, attending to events, etc… and as a new aspiration I’d like to get into exhibitions exploring digital art and sound installations.
Another possibility that is starting to take shape is to continue studying, and I already have some ideas and interests to pursue a Masters course in London.
Build on the references shared in class to make a personalised record of people, organisations and schemes most relevant to your professional development.
These are really big companies but are the only ones that come into mind right now, they’re media companies like Netflix for sound design and composition, King for game audio or even Sony or Universal Music. Museums like Tate or the Design Museum are other institutions which I always enjoyed visiting and obviously are places which are really relevant in the arts world. I know these brands are extremely competitive at professional level but these are ones that we all know, probably similar institutions but at a slightly lower level of popularity would be great to have a look at.
