Daily Creates: May 18th – 24th
#tdc3998: Make some music from an image
For this daily create I was tasked with making music from an image through Unspoken Symphony. I chose to use an image of the Roman Forum that I took last year while in Italy. I chose this image because it brings back great memories and I really like the perspective of the pillars. I think that the music it generated was calming, but not what I expected.
This daily create is a great example of the Dual Coding Theory and Accessibility. As this was originally an image, the addition of music allows both audio and visual channels to be engaged and process information at the same time. By engaging both channels simultaneously the viewer can gain a more immersive view than a plain static image. Regarding accessibility, Unspoken Symphony was created specifically for those who struggled to express themselves verbally.
#tdc5065: Going all nostalgic on us
This Daily Create tasked me with finding a nostalgic song from my childhood that resonates with me. I chose this daily create because I enjoy a variety of music, and it is fun to look back at songs I used to listen to. In this case, the song Cooler Than Me by Mike Posner.
Although the song was released in 2010, it became nostalgic for me later on because one of my close friends would always play it at my house before we went to basketball practice together. I think that this fits with the Voice Principle, as human voices are easier to memorize than a machine voice. This is likely why I remember most of the lyrics of the song despite not having listened to it in a few years, as songs are easier to memorize than words. Additionally, I think that this challenge highlights personal storytelling through audio. Listening to this song reminded me of specific memories in my life that I had otherwise forgotten.
#tdc4979: Obscure but good songs of the 80s
This daily create tasked me with finding a song from the 1980s that was noteworthy in its day, but that we don’t hear much anymore. It took a bit to find a song from the 80s I enjoyed that wasn’t very mainstream, but I think that Doesn’t Really Matter by Platinum Blonde fits well for this prompt. Platinum Blonde were very popular in Canada at the time, but not so much elsewhere. I would listen to this song with my family on road trips and personally enjoy it, but haven’t heard it in ages.
Finding this song followed the design process outlined in the class. I used divergent thinking to explore the different song possibilities of the 80s. In turn, I ended up with a large number of songs, but very few that I believed could be considered forgotten. I then shifted to convergent thinking to narrow down the song options until I landed on Doesn’t Really Matter by Platinum Blonde.
Reflection
Working with audio this week made me think about how sound is portrayed in multimedia. It never occurred to me that it can be used to give a voice to those who cannot speak. Additionally, I learned that audio is an adaptive media format that can bring up memories or emotions in individuals, or provide an alternative sensory channel for information. Creating and formatting audio in multimedia requires consideration to ensure accessibility and heightens user experience.