Josep Maria Balanyà IN RESiDENCE at the School Joan Brossa

WHAT IS A “SOUND SCULPTURE”?

At the first sessions with the pupils, Josep-Maria Balanyà presents his sound sculpture Cinco exteriores ke cuelgan [Five Hanging Exteriors] and gives two performances before the group. Through this work, the artist introduces the project that they will work on throughout the course. The creative process begins with finding and recording sounds in the everyday environment. The blog of the residence contains a “sound bank” where the most interesting sounds will be made available.

THE SOUND BANK

From November to the end of the residence, Josep-Maria Balanyà and the pupils search for sounds in their immediate environment. These sounds will be used to form a sound landscape.

EXPERIMENTING WITH PERCUSSION USING DIFFERENT OBJECTS

Josep-Maria Balanyà brings parts from the Oxiter factory in Girona to the school. They are all made in different forms and materials. Sound experimentation begins by striking these objects. The discovery of percussion continues with tables, drumsticks and other objects. The sound from all these sessions is recorded.

THE PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF SOUND

With the physics teacher, Israel Orga, the pupils explore the intensity, tone and timbre of sounds. The group also works on the visualisation of sound waves and frequency spectra.

SEARCH FOR SOUND AND VISUAL OBJECTS AT ELS ENCANTS FLEA MARKET

Between January and March, a search is made for objects that might be useful for the sound sculpture. Two visits are made to Els Encants, Barcelona’s flea market, where a series of objects are found that end up forming part of the sculpture: a milk churn, a mirror, a brush, various mechanical parts, etc.

THE SCULPTURE TAKES SHAPE

It is decided that the sculpture will be cuboid in form. Models are made from paper to design the overall project. The sculpture will be made of iron and will measure 250 x 250 x 230 cm. The sound objects gathered will hang from the iron structure, which will be produced by the craftsman Pere Daura.

MOUNTING THE SCULPTURE AND INSTALLING THE MICROPHONES

Pere Daura, Josep-Maria Balanyà and the pupils assemble the cube, fitting together and welding the tubes made by the craftsman. Next, directed by the sound designer Jordi Salvador, they install a number of microphones under the iron sheets that form the base of the structure, and the amplifiers are designed.

INSTALLING THE SOUND OBJECTS

The objects collected over the months are assembled and hung from the structure using threads, arranged at different heights and distances in order to produce interesting results from the standpoint of both sound and vision.

REHEARSALS FOR THE PERFORMANCE BEGIN

Together, the pupils and Josep-Maria Balanyà create a system of signs to enable the musician to conduct the performance, which is based on percussion and improvisation. The final weeks of the residence are devoted to rehearsing the performance and becoming fully familiar with the sound characteristics of each of the objects.

PREMIERE OF SO-ROLL, METALL, ÀNIMA

The interactive sound installation So-roll, metall, ànima [Sound, Noise, Metal, Soul] is presented on Friday 15 April 2011. Two performances are given: one at 11.30 am for pupils and teachers at the school; and on at 6 pm, open to the public.
The video of the performance is included in the Obra (“Work”) section.