For the final episode of the Sound Series I’m hoping to put together a showcase of work created in response to the exercises I’ve been offering throughout the series.

I’d love to receive your work by Thursday 24 September

You can send your responses to me at:

betterreadnz@gmail.com

Or if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to email me here.

If none of the exercises appeal, you could also send a recording of you reading a piece of your own work that you think is interesting in relation to sound.

Please see all the exercises below:

Sound Series 1 – James Woods and Nick Ascroft Exercise:

We talk quite a lot about rhyme in this discussion.

So, the exercise is simply this – turn on your recorder, say the line:

‘I listened to a band called Flipper’

And see how long you can go rhyming words with ‘Flipper’. Don’t forget about half-rhymes and don’t be afraid to change the end sound completely if it feels right. The idea is to try and keep composing for 2 minutes.

Sound Series 2 – Ruby Solly and Chris Tse Exercise:

This is an exercise where you compose in situ.

Take your recorder – it can be your phone – to a noisy place.

Turn your recorder on and respond to the sounds around you in spoken words.

It might take the form of a conversation with the noises in the environment you are in. Or the noises may form a backing track to your words.

Sound Series 3 – Cooki Aimee M and Eamonn Marra Exercise:

We talked a bit in this episode about sound that are ‘difficult’ or ‘uncomfortable’.

So, this exercise is about discomforting sounds and is pretty straight forward.

Find a sound that is hard to listen to.

Play it over headphones while you speak for 45 seconds into a recorder. It might work quite well if you have it loud enough so you can’t hear your voice.

The title of this work is the sound you listened to.

Sound Series 4 – Sinead Overbye and Charlotte Forrester Exercise:

What’s the most beautiful word in the world?

Maybe you’d like to take a minute or two to write down words, word combinations or sentences that you think are beautiful.

Then you might like to record these.

You may like to miss out the step of writing down and try composing beautiful sounds out loud and on the fly.

Sound Series 5 – Brannavan Gnanalingam and Tokerau Wilson Exercise:

This is a free styling exercise.

Play either Tokerau or Brannavan’s sound in headphones and record yourself composing along to it.

That simple. What happens when you have rain or ripping paper as a back beat?

Sound Series 6 – Carl Shuker and Simon Sweetman Exercise:

We talk a bit about writing about music in this episode.

So, take a song you like.

Now writer or speak for 3 minutes without using any words from the song – so, no lyrics and not the title.

Sound Series 7 – Kerry Ann Lee and Jackson Nieuwland Exercise:

I love the idea of using something wrong.

How about trying to make a poem out of noises that are not words.

Maybe you could get together several objects that make noise – placing a cup, tapping something, unscrewing a lid.

Write your poem in sound.

Ep 120: Beyond a Joke 11 – Anna Pendergrast & Kelly Pendergrast talk with Pip Adam about The Laughter Lift from Kermode & Mayo’s Take – Better off Read

Subscribe to Better off Read at https://betteroffread.substack.com Anna and Kelly Pendergrast’s latest work is More Zeros and Ones a book they edited which is published by BWB. This book brings together essays from incredibly interesting thinkers and doers who write about environmental science, law and Te Tiriti o Waitangi and recent developments in technology. I just can’t recommend this book enough. I love this blurb from BWB: Many of today’s digital technologies inadvertently amplify the power structures and prejudices of wider society. By examining the way digital tools and platforms are designed, built, and maintained, this BWB Text aims to identify how we can do better for everyone in Aotearoa. Anna and Kelly are founders of Antistatic a research and communications consultancy like no other I’ve come across. I got to talk to Anna and Kelly, as Antistatic, last year about their part in the Flat Earthers exhibition/book/event. Still one of the best things I’ve ever done. I was interested in talking to Anna and Kelly about humour and laughter for several reasons. Anna and Kelly’s work is often playful and because of this I think, is able to say some pretty profound things about some of the power structures that sit in technology. Also, Anna and Kelly do a lot of work in communications – taking very complex ideas and structuring them for different purposes. I was interested in how this deep knowledge of communication gives an insight into what makes us laugh. Ann and Kelly brought the perfect ‘thing that made them laugh’ for this kind of conversation. The Laughter Lift is a segment on the Kermode & Mayo’s Take podcast. I loved the way this opened up a conversation about jokes and the social act of telling jokes. One of the things I loved talking about was that because we often share an idea of the structure of ‘the joke’ with the people are telling jokes to, even when the joke goes wrong it is still funny because it becomes a subversion of the form. This gives me immense hope as I am practicing my ‘bit’ for the Verb After Hours – Beyond A Joke night Thursday 3 November, 8.30pm at Meow in Wellington. To which there are still tickets available. This is a shameless self-promotion but also, the folk who are appearing in this event are amazing!!  

1. Ep 120: Beyond a Joke 11 – Anna Pendergrast & Kelly Pendergrast talk with Pip Adam about The Laughter Lift from Kermode & Mayo’s Take 01:00:35
2. Ep 119: Beyond a Joke 10 – Marolyn Krasner talks with Pip Adam about Hudson Valley Ballers: Lovers 01:12:41
3. Ep 118: Beyond a Joke 9 – Rijula Das, author of Small Deaths, talks to Pip Adam about a New Yorker cartoon 01:18:52
4. Ep 117: Beyond a Joke 8 – Dominic Hoey tells Pip Adam a funny story and they talk about Poor People With Money 01:05:48
5. Ep 116: Beyond a Joke 7 – Sarah Jane Barnett talks with Pip Adam about Michael Schur’s The Good Place 50:54