Drawing sounds for a graphic score is another tool for helping me understand sounds.

Keeping in line with thinking about sounds in terms of their shape and build-up (behaviour), it helps to see that perception of the shape visually, as well as it's link to other sounds in one composition.

I see creating graphic scores as a process of problem solving; not only for the best way to depict a sound, but also in terms of thinking about the drawing in an aesthetic sense, whilst keeping it true to the sound I'm trying to convey - it's a balance.

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Focussing on a couple of the sounds drawn within these drawings I made for the iPad performance, which came from the underlying sounds from campus using contact mics. I noticed with the radiator hum that there was a rhythm, which reminded of of the modulation so typical to minimalist music, where there are slight shifts in emphasis on the beat in the bar. The rhythmic hum had tis similar effect, so I drew a small section which has this similar concept of a shifting beat.

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Another interesting sound to depict was the one in the first bubble. When I was recording the radiator, Andy came along and scraped his knuckles along whilst I was in the middle of recording - and it sounded awesome. It was an undetermined sound from my part, but still had interesting qualities. It accelerated and rose in pitch then slowed down... good one Andy! :) 

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Then there are more obvious ways of depicting, like a consistent sustained buzz (of a lampost).

There was also this generator near Bowland and a kind of scatter-effect sound was inside, I drew that as these tiny little dots scattered within a bubble trying to break free.

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The whole bubble thing - I think it works quite well at the moment for composing graphic scores, because it really epitomised the nature of this task where the sounds were all isolated from each other. Really separate sounds in different spaces.

Aesthetically and conceptually this has a function.