I would like to begin by saying that the title "Art for Radios" is just a working title, serving purely utilitarian means. I would prefer the piece remain untitled, so that the listener will have no preconceived notions about the nature of piece or what it represents. I wanted to create a piece using found sounds, or samples, from films or television and mesh them with a rhythmical base. Choosing televised media as a source for musical inspiration stems from the unhealthy amount of television that I watch on a daily basis. I felt the need to justify my habit by actively interacting with a medium which forces us to be passive. One is not supposed to play with the sound or the images which seep from our televisions, we are merely supposed to sit back "relax" and be force fed. I felt like defying that, for a little while.

The rhythmical base is 2-3 second sample plucked from six hours of tape recordings of a friend and myself jamming at the Peterborough Arts Umbrella. The sample consists of vocals, some guitar and drums, looped through a sampling effects pedal which was played out of a bass amp and recorded by a cheap cassette player with no speakers. The quality was sub-par but that was the sound I was going for. I then looped the loop on the computer so that it was rhythmically sound. I began playing with all of the on board effects, including tempo alterations, flanging effects and pitch shifting. As well, tiny sections of the sound were copied and replicated many times over in order to produce a very mechanical sound. After this was done I went in search of some vocal samples.

The spoken word samples were taking from a television program in which Japanese chefs are involved in a high-intensity cook-off. The program is dubbed into English, with some humorous results. By taking the samples out of the context of a cooking battle, they take on a whole new light. Instead of referring to certain food items, the vocal samples are now referring to the piece itself. For instance, the first sample is debating the quality of the production, and the second sample enters in response to the harsh comment. I tried to alter certain samples in the same manner as certain sections of the rhythmical base. Where the rhythm slows to a halt, the vocal sample does as well. In doing so I was trying to infuse the two parts together, so as to give the impression that they were never autonomous entities.

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