by Jeff Pagano

This is my second version of Rubble.

The assignment was to use sound to create an emotional response, so that’s what I was going for. I don’t want to say too much because I want to let the listener be drawn in and draw their own conclusions. Please tell me in the comments what you think has just happened.

I did the first version for my Timeline Based Tools class, but I wasn’t satisfied with it. One minute was too short and I wanted to tell the story more clearly, so I started with the sounds I liked and started from scratch in Audition.

The idea first started with the song “Help, I’m Alive” by the Canadian band Metric. It’s about anxiety and the line “my heart keeps beating like a hammer” stuck in my head for days.

I started by recording loops of that line and the title on an iPad app called Loopy. I exported them to Audition and added delay. The heartbeat was a recording of a cloth being snapped and the water dripping was from my bathtub.

I put this all together in a multi-track sequence that starts with a gramophone needle clicking and popping. I wanted to convey that this was an old story, one that’s been experienced too many times. I guess my artistic motivation was to tell a story from a perspective we never hear. This is intense perspective and my point is it needs to stop.

The action begins with the character returning to consciousness and listening to what’s happening around him. The repeating thoughts and monotone voice are meant to convey his subscious mind. He’s dazed and deep in shock.

I spent a lot of time tweaking volume levels and used the panning feature extensively. If you listen closely you’ll hear it in the heartbeat and be able to sense the direction of travel of the tank, plane and marching feet. (It’s best to listen to this with headphones.)

After completing this project I have to admit it’s eerie and weird, but it is Halloween today, so I guess this was my way of expressing myself.

Below is the first version of Rubble, which now that I listen to it is a suitable prequel to the Revisited version.