THE SOUND WAS

Prepare ‘The Sound’
Create an original audio file. The file should be between 15 to 20 seconds long. The audio file should contain a mix of field recordings and electronically generated sounds. Layer the sounds and splice them up so no one sound is recognizable.

Collect Responses to ‘The Sound’
Store ‘The Sound’ on a portable playback device with headphones. Play the sound for someone and, immediately following their encounter with ‘The Sound,’ ask them to tell you what they thought the sound was. They MUST tell you in a sentence that starts with ‘The Sound was….’. Record their response.

Ask as many people as possible to tell you what they thought ‘The Sound’ was. Record all of their responses. Make sure that no one who tells you their response has heard any of the other responses.

Edit ‘The Sound Was…’ Responses
Edit all of the responses together into a single stream of audio. Leave 3 seconds of pure ‘black’ silence between each response. After you have created the stream of responses, erase ‘The Sound.’

Length: 8 mins
Orchestration: Tape
Date:  2005