I found this project to be a great lesson in understanding how sound responds to different changes in volume. In making my project, I wanted to take a different look at how a moving wall will interact with frequencies in a closed area, with a small hole opening in the side through which the sound may emit from the piece.

In constructing my piece, I was very intentional in the materials that I used; I used a large styrofoam box (that I had to carve out – very messy), because I think it did a nice job of holding in the sounds that were playing from my speaker at one end of the box. To line my piece, I used duct tape, which allowed for my sliding wall to move easier.

In creating the piece, I struggled in executing my final goal of having the sounds change drastically as I slid the moving wall because of small inefficiencies in the shape of my wall in regards to the actual form of the box – there were small gaps through which noise could sneak through, resulting in an imperfect final sound product.

That said, there are still small effects, that you can hear in the audio aspects of the videos shown below. Overall, I thought this project was great and helped me in understanding how to capture frequencies and best emit those noises through a small opening. The opening for my hole was not determined via a calculation; rather, moving the wall around helps you arrive at the perfect volume within the box that corresponds with the area of the hole opening. In other words, you can essentially back into the correct volume by changing the distance of the wall, as the hole through which the sound leaves (on the side) remains constant.

Lastly, in using the piece, I decided to play music that was very deep at times, but also had fluctuating resonances throughout. This allowed for interesting effects and I was able to see how the wall reacted with the sound at different points of the song. I chose a piece by one of my favorite artists, Kygo, and I think that this piece went nicely with my final product.

I enjoyed creating my project, and it was great to further my knowledge of sound art through a creative piece like this. Thanks!