The document discusses sound artist Bill Fontana and his work recording natural environmental sounds. It notes that Fontana began his career in music composition but wanted to work with sound in a different way. He is known for recordings of sounds in abandoned spaces, like pigeon noises echoing in an old church. The document also discusses two of Fontana's sound works and how they use recorded ambient audio to create atmospheric, narrative compositions.

2. • Began his career as a composer, however, did
not want to carry on doing something he did
not fully enjoy.
• Attended New School for Social Research and
carried on working with music in a different
way.
• Began to record natural and environmental
sounds for example his most famous ‘Pigeon
Sounds’.
• Set up microphones in an old church
ruin, recorded the sounds echoing through the
church which mostly consisted of pigeons.

3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W
OQvK6cqwfI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2
KO38Z-2SU

4. Bill Fontana created his work by listening intently to the
sounds going on around him. Believing that we do not
appreciate the unnoticed sounds that happen in
everyday life, he made it his role as a sound designer to
record these sounds and make them appreciated by his
supporters. His aim is to use displacement; taking a sound
and putting it where it does not belong.
• Both of these sounds that Bill Fontana has created are
natural and environmental as they have been recorded
as apposed to produced or composed.
• Even though they were recorded and not edited, they
would be useful in composed music. More so Harmonic
Bridge as it has a mysterious and sinister type
atmosphere and mood to it.
• Both of these sounds that he has created are narrative
sounds as they have no beginning middle or end; it is
just one continuous sound however has a lot going on.
• Also the sounds are clearly diegetic as no characters
are involved and we can all hear it.
• His role is to make us think a certain thing or make us
feel are certain emotion with what he creates.

5. Hairspray is a 2002 Broadway musical of the
same name, which in turn was based on
John Waters's 1988 comedy film of the same
name. Set in 1962 Baltimore, Maryland, the
film follows the "pleasantly plump" teenager
Tracy Turnblad as she pursues stardom as a
dancer on a local TV show and rallies against
racial segregation.

6. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uI
Ajej_HusY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gU
dVLHbAp6s

7. •I think the creators of Hairspray the Musical have
aimed for the audience to feel what the
characters are feeling at the time which is
happiness.
•All of the sounds used in these clips of hairspray
are diegetic sounds as the characters and the
people watching it can hear everything that is
happening, including the music and sound
effects.
•As the clip is an actual song playing, it is not
narrative because it has a beginning middle and
end like most songs do.
•You Can’t Stop The Beat is a good example of
leitmotif as it fits the situation very well.
• The audience gets spoon fed because the
musical basically tells you to feel a certain
thing.

8. Similarities
•Both create mood and
atmosphere
•Both diegetic sounds
Differences
•Historically different
•Geographically
different
•Hairspray has been
composed whereas Bill
Fontana's work has
been recorded.
•Characters are used
in hairspray whereas
there is no characters
in Fontana's work
•Dialogue is used in
Hairspray
•Fontana’s work is
narrative