uni Blurb...
Synesthesia
Over the last few months I've became very interested in the condition known as synesthesia. The condition often exhibits involuntary stimulation of parts of the brain responsible for specific sensory roles together. A synesthete could perceive a sound as a specific color meanwhile a shape may have a specific emotion. I find it fascinating to think about how our perception can be tailored by varying degrees of cross-sensory experiences. The beauty of this condition reminds us just how relative our perception can be. I often thought about how I personally perceive music and sound.
When I mix a track I don’t think about decibels, panning values or effects solely, these are tools used to realize the picture in mind. I think about the space, the feel and the environment I want to create. Often these are represented by colors or shades. For example, a dry, close acoustic guitar could be perceived as a warm red. Meanwhile the same sound within a large isolated space could become distant a cold blue. I decided I’d look for a way to play with the use of color and sound simultaneously.
Useful, interesting sources for inspiration:
“I’m seeing pictures, shapes patterns, almost like a square, like the texture of water drops, ripples almost.” – Daniel Tammet
- TED Talk - Daniel Tammet: Different ways of knowing
“Daniel Tammet has linguistic, numerical and visual synesthesia -- meaning that his perception of words, numbers and colors are woven together into a new way of perceiving and understanding the world.”
(TED.com)
- The Boy With The Incredible Brain
“This is the breathtaking story of Daniel Tammet. A twenty-something with extraordinary mental abilities, Daniel is one of the world’s few savants. He can do calculations to 100 decimal places in his head, and learn a language in a week.”
(Topdocumentaries.com)
Copyright
At the start of the semester during a composition seminar we had a presentation from a lawyer. One theme that struck me in particular was the notion of copyright and how it has developed over the years. Copyright was almost presented as an ever-changing idea that only applies to a society in which a form of media can be controlled. Within recent years the Internet has given rise to the sharing of media globally. As a result of this global online culture, I believe media really can’t be controlled. It seems the current model needs to evolve. I liked the idea of others being able to interact with my music, play with it, and create their own version. I found software such as Pure Data and Processing also shared this open source mentality. Patches are uploaded, explained and others improve, edit and share again. I can’t see why global culture shouldn’t be like this.
Useful, interesting sources for inspiration:
- RIP:A Remix Manifesto
“Immerse yourself in the energetic, innovative and potentially illegal world of mash-up media with RiP: A remix manifesto. Let web activist Brett Gaylor and musician Greg Gillis, better known as Girl Talk, serve as your digital tour guides on a probing investigation into how culture builds upon culture in the information age”.
(Rip Remix website)
- Revolution OS
“REVOLUTION OS tells the inside story of the hackers who rebelled against the proprietary software model and Microsoft to create GNU/Linux and the Open Source movement.”
(Revolution OS website)
- The Machine That Made Us
“In this revealing documentary, Stephen Fry investigates the story of one of the most important machines ever invented - the Gutenberg Press"
The printing press was the world's first mass-production machine. Its invention in the 1450s changed the world as dramatically as splitting the atom or sending men into space, sparking a cultural revolution that shaped the modern age. It is the machine that made us who we are today.”
(BBC Website)
Listening with colour, or drawing with sound?
With an aim to combine my interest in synaesthesia and changing notion of copyright, I set about creating an interactive installation. I wanted to provoke an interactive, accessible relationship between the listener and the music. Based on samples taken from my song "In Blooms", the listener can manipulate the mix purely with the use of colour. I spent a while learning how to use both Pure data and Processing in order to realize my initial idea.
Huge thanks to Mark Havryliv for his help both writing the patches and developing my understanding of PD and Processing.
watch a video of the patch in use By clicking on the picture above!
