Graphical sound

Graphical sound, also called drawn sound, is a special way of making sound recordings. It involves creating sound by drawing images directly onto film or paper. These drawings are then played back using a sound system to produce music and other sounds.

This technique comes from the development of sound-on-film technology. It allows artists to make artificial sound tracks on clear film. There are many different methods to create graphical sound, but they all depend on being able to add sound to film.

This interesting process shows how art and technology can come together to create new ways of making music and sound. It lets artists explore creative sounds that might be hard to produce with traditional instruments.

History

The first systems for recording sound on film were developed around the same time in the USSR, USA, and Germany. In Soviet Russia, Pavel Tager began this work in 1926 in Moscow.

In 1927, Alexander Shorin started similar research in Leningrad. His "Shorinophone" system recorded sound by using grooves cut into film, much like old gramophone records. Another version of his system used changing widths of film to record sound.

In 1929, a film called Piatiletka. Plan velikih rabot was made. The team included artist Mikhail Tsekhanovsky and inventor Evgeny Sholpo, along with composer Arseny Avraamov. When they saw the first sound track, they wondered if using ancient ornaments as sound could create new music. They began experiments they called "ornamental," "drawn," or "graphical" sound.

Soon after, in Germany, Rudolf Pfenninger in Munich and Oskar Fischinger in Berlin were also working on similar ideas. Fischinger said that ornaments and music are closely connected, and his films with drawn patterns could produce pure, new kinds of sound, opening exciting possibilities for future music. Avraamov was doing similar work, drawing geometric shapes on paper to create music that could be played back through a film projector. He planned to finish this work by the end of December and share it with others.

National Film Board of Canada

In the 1950s, the National Film Board of Canada had some interesting experiments with graphical sound. Animators Norman McLaren and Evelyn Lambart, along with film composer Maurice Blackburn, used new ways to create sound in their films. McLaren made a short film called Pen Point Percussion in 1951 to show his ideas. In 1952, he finished Neighbours, a film that won an Academy Award and mixed stop-motion pixilation with graphical sound. Another film, Blinkity Blank, from 1955, used black film leader to create sounds with jazz music. McLaren’s last film using graphical sound was Synchromy made in 1971.