Welcome. On this page you will find the SoundCloud link to a track I made. I call it “A Modern Music Box” because I think that title perfectly encapsulates what I’ve been trying to create for the digital component of my artist book–that is, a modern take on the music box sound. Click and enjoy, then scroll below the embedded track to learn about my process.
As noted in my project statement, my artist book centers around the physical object of the music box as a means to explore personal symbology, memory, and the ways in which objects from our childhood can carry with them great significance even as we grow and age.
I began with a strong idea of what the artist book itself might look like, but I was less sure about the digital component. Then it hit me. The sound from a music box is very unique, often a somewhat eerie, dream-like classical melody. If I could take that melody and make it sound more modern using audio mixing technology, then I could really pull this project together and get people thinking about the place of pre-Internet technology (in this case, the simple machine that is the music box) in our current age.
I got to work, finding a royalty-free track from Kevin Macleod at Incompetech called “Industrial Music Box” as the basis for my “modern” track. Then, I began experimenting in an online audio mixing software called Soundtrap, playing with their Patterns Beatmaker all while praying I could produce a track that would not make people’s ears bleed.
When I played around with the track to my liking (after many, many hours of trial and error), it was time to upload it to SoundCloud. I needed cover art, and so I found an image of a music box from the San Francisco Music Box Company that looks exactly like a music box I’ve had since I was seven. I incorporated the galaxy image into my cover art to further add to the modern feel, as I have seen many artists today using similar imagery. Enjoy.
Follow this hyperlink to read Hayley Jones’ project statement.