This project shows a lot of promise. I know it took you out of your comfort zone since it required some different skills than those you have been honing all semester with your paper making. The layering of Leah’s performances is very successful–it is beautiful. I’m glad you also shared the version with no paper-making sounds as I agree that this particular version is more successful without these found sounds.
That said, I can also imagine a version that takes the opposite approach in incorporating even more of the prairie and paper making sounds. The piece would need to be longer, and would require a bit more of a dialogue between these two different sound worlds. I have two primary suggestions, were you to explore this alternate version:
1. If you return to the project, *begin* the composition process by working with the found sounds (paper/prairie), rather than with the violin recordings. This will help these elements to play a more significant role in the piece–the reason they don’t work as well right now is because they are more of an afterthought. I have always thought that it is amazing the extent to which one’s composition process is audible in the outcome of a piece.
2. Make the piece longer. This will really up a world of possibilities. The part you have already composed would serve wonderfully as a climax–it is very beautiful and has a lot of energy. In an earlier portion of the piece, you could build the texture up gradually. Begin with soft prairie recordings, for instance, and follow these with a single line of a violin melody. You could also reverse this process in the end, to have a long solo melody serve as a conclusion.
The layered texture of the violins worked so well in this piece. What I think the work could use in general is more of an evolution of sonic textures over time. This could follow the life of the paper, chronologically, though it wouldn’t have to.
Thank you for the suggestions! I definitely focused on the strings and ran out of time to fully engage with the found sounds. A project for winter break.
Sound Art 202-02 
I really do prefer the piece without the sounds from the papermaking process, and so I am including the link to the sound cloud file. https://soundcloud.com/marekulous/prairie-arias-quartet
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Hi Eden,
This project shows a lot of promise. I know it took you out of your comfort zone since it required some different skills than those you have been honing all semester with your paper making. The layering of Leah’s performances is very successful–it is beautiful. I’m glad you also shared the version with no paper-making sounds as I agree that this particular version is more successful without these found sounds.
That said, I can also imagine a version that takes the opposite approach in incorporating even more of the prairie and paper making sounds. The piece would need to be longer, and would require a bit more of a dialogue between these two different sound worlds. I have two primary suggestions, were you to explore this alternate version:
1. If you return to the project, *begin* the composition process by working with the found sounds (paper/prairie), rather than with the violin recordings. This will help these elements to play a more significant role in the piece–the reason they don’t work as well right now is because they are more of an afterthought. I have always thought that it is amazing the extent to which one’s composition process is audible in the outcome of a piece.
2. Make the piece longer. This will really up a world of possibilities. The part you have already composed would serve wonderfully as a climax–it is very beautiful and has a lot of energy. In an earlier portion of the piece, you could build the texture up gradually. Begin with soft prairie recordings, for instance, and follow these with a single line of a violin melody. You could also reverse this process in the end, to have a long solo melody serve as a conclusion.
The layered texture of the violins worked so well in this piece. What I think the work could use in general is more of an evolution of sonic textures over time. This could follow the life of the paper, chronologically, though it wouldn’t have to.
Lovely work this semester, Eden.
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Thank you for the suggestions! I definitely focused on the strings and ran out of time to fully engage with the found sounds. A project for winter break.
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