Sound moves to centre stage as students make some noise
For most of the evening the dark red curtain on the stage hardly moved, but nonetheless the audience’s attention was riveted on it.
In the darkened room at Montreal’s popular and historic Sala Rossa, Communications students showcased their productions in the seventh annual ProdFest, a presentation of advanced students in sound production. The event was called Hearing Aid, and represented the culmination of a semester of work for students of Andra McCartney’s COMS 478 class, or as it’s more commonly known, Sound 3.
The diversity of sounds reflected the varied interests and ambitions of the students, who are bound for careers in all areas of sound production.
Sean Duckett, a Montreal hip-hop artist, shared a professional-sounding recording of his rap, “Progress,” a track steeped in Montreal place names that gave a local flavour to its relentless groove.
Other productions explored personal themes, such as Lina Harper’s “PerformanXII,” an experimental documentary narrative about her first reading at a spoken-word open mic. At only four and a half minutes, Harper’s piece gave the audience a glimpse into the pre-stage jitters, the actual performance and private reflections of a budding performing poet.
“There’s something about slice-of-life narratives that I really like,” reflected Harper following the show.
Productions also entered the avant-garde, like John Keane’s recording of magnetic strips found on bank cards, library cards and the like. By cutting out the strips, taping them together and capturing them on a reel-to-reel recorder, Keane composed a mind-bending montage of sound using only analog technology.
Dominic Durocher, whose band, The Beds, performed later that night, said Hearing Aid represented everything “from the mainstream and off the streets to unique and from the soul.”
The TA for COMS 478, Mark Harris, watched these student works progress from an idea to the final product in a workshop environment in which students gave comments on matters both technical and creative. “The process is very communal,” he reflected. “Everyone listens to each other’s projects and gives feedback.”
Instructor Andra McCartney was described as an inspiration. One of McCartney’s past students, Lisa Gasior, exclaimed, “Everything I know about sound is thanks to this woman.”