The Symbiosis of Music and Technology

Section 1: Critical Analysis

Introduction

Connections between science and music (and philosophy) go back to remote periods of history when they did not exist as such but were part of magic rituals. Historically, music has evolve as technology advancement although some scholars can argue that demand for a better music experience has pushed advancement of technology to production and listening habit. The oldest known musical instrument is a 45,000-year-old (Neanderthal) flute made merely of a hollow bear bone, which was dug up in Slovenia in 1995. Nevertheless, the earliest complete, playable, multi-note music instruments are small flutes made from hollow bird bones, found in a 9,000-Year-old settlement at Jiahu, China, in 1999 (Maruani, 2003). According to Fitch (2005) and Cross & Morley (2010), music evolution is traceable to back before agriculture and considered first cultural expressions and social functions. As pointed by Katz (2010), the connection between music and technology goes back to a very remote period, to a time where science and technology were interpreted as magic or paranormal. Thus, the intent of this essay is to highlight the symbiotic relationship between the phenomena that is in a certain way, natural virtualisation of information embedded in our minds through historical or cultural records. Essentially, it aims to assimilate the cognitive and non-cognitive personal interpretation regarding the different levels of legitimation, institutionalisation and non-institutionalisation processes that one it part of.

Conceptual Approach

Human brains usually and in most times subconsciously, automatically fill in the missing information with fabricated concepts of what it is to have an intrinsic experience for a living organism in a different physical and psychological reality (Berger, and Luckmann, 2007, p. 34). The same relation can be applied to what is experience when entering the realm of virtual reality (Kozlov, and Johansen, 2010). In the end, according to Nyberg et al. (2010) and Solms & Turnbull (2010), human minds construct those bridges between the data or information that has been provided to us by its subjective information given, and how we access it. Ultimately, the use of our imagination to completing it (Levy, 1998 p. 23). Subsequently, for instance, the idea of being careful at sea where some people find the sound soothing can cause psychological imprisonment purposely used in this song as a good example of a metaphorical reality and, in fact, it merely a mythological construct through historical reference, as a singular and not a factual experience (Augoyard, and Torgue, 2014; ). Therefore, this example as much as it is embedded in organisational classification of human existence serves as an example that cannot be accounted for as a real human experience (Crang, 2005). Ideally, all of this preconceptions are a product of fictional stories passed on culturally and historically. Although indeed, they are accepted and trusted socially when in fact nobody realises that most of these concepts are in fact mostly filled with everyone imagination. As pointed by Ong and Musa (2012), underwater experience is something that human beings are not used to experience. Therefore, like all other alien forms of existence to human beings, the idea of forging a construct of consciousness while scuba driving or emerged in water and cutting off the external environment is not naturally perceived (Musa et al., 2011). Furthermore, the specific choice of water is purposely applied to the fact that it is not a natural environment for humans. Additionally, it is, in fact, a more comfortable medium to immerse humans in a different reality with an unusual context (Urick, 2013). Consequently, as Berger and Luckmann (2007) suggested, "consciousness is always intentional, and we can never apprehend some putative substratum of consciousness of something or other." In reality, very few of people in have experience in this specific scenario of underwater experience.

The same happens with a certain representation of sounds. For example, in an utmost natural way, certain sounds, frequencies, and musical compositions are related correlating to specific emotions. According to Collins (2013), people do not see or tangibly interact with sound, as sound has no taste, colour, scent, or materialistic feel, but do experience the intention given. For instance, in hearing certain a harmonic melodies through a certain tone and timbre in a horror film makes some people feel an uneasiness that culminates in a discomfort state of relative stress. Likewise, the same happens when something calm and warm is played, some individuals tend to process a feeling of comfort and calm. Moreover, viewing analytically, these metaphysical moments affect one’s perception of existence, time, thinking, and, some extent, values even though this given perception is, for instance, and only through sound (Bunt, and Stige, 2014; Raimi, 2016). As argued by Aigen (2013), music therapy employs the beauty and the power of sound. Basing from assertion held LaBelle (2006 p. 212) sound plays a critical role and affecting people in many different ways even though little is really categorised. Therefore, individuals tend to take as the fact most things we can account for as our personal experiences. They are, in reality, a certain amount of data obtained by our access to the given information passed on to us through the cultural and sociological interim (Rosenthal, 2002). The sounds applied in this musical composition conceptualisation, indeed try to re-enact that bridge where reality and imagination are intertwined as we subconsciously process it.

Manifestation of concept

1 - Underwater

This essay, as mentioned above, is intrinsically linked to the underwater experience. Thus, the musical structure starts as if one is nearing the water surface and slowly enter the subaquatic world with all its properties. In first section, sounds of waves are used to give an idea of submerging oneself in the water, and purposely with the help of VOG (Holman, 2008) and the 13.1 setup used in Vestry hall 2. In this sense, by panning the waves above the listener on the above speaker, the intent was to immerse the listener into the piece with a specific straight impact to obtain attention. It follows Barrett’s spatial compositional techniques, which encompasses the following: “Creating trajectories; these trajectories will introduce. The choreography of sounds into the piece and this choreography needs to have a certain meaning.” (Barrett, 2002). Subsequently, one then enters the stage of total submersion where the listener can start to listen to the sounds of the desired underwater environment as presented by this interpretation in the form of a warm ambient pad. As Sonnenschein suggests, it creates “space within, which the audience can be enveloped” (Sonnenschein, 2001). Therefore, after being fully submerged in the subaquatic environment, the listener encounters entities such as arthropods represented by small effects in the existent sounds. As it progresses, the sound of whales and other subaquatic elements start to manifest in the piece. For this, 3D Auro Panning is being used to give the impression of a multipoint location. Furthermore, as it progresses, the listener physical continuance starts to manifest hypothetically underwater, the intention is to enter the next layer of existence. In order for this to deepen the experience into the next layer of an imaginary reality, another play of synth keys above the main pad and voices are used to represent the Sirens (Waller & Nadel, 2013). Thus, the sounds executed symbolise one descending into different level of existence and entering the metaphysical reality as such. The central pad represents the harmony of nature, in the depth of the ocean, un-interacted by human presence and solely balancing all the natural elements, the equilibrium of nature itself. Low pass filters are used to represent underwater perception. Indeed, according to Kerins (2011), high frequencies are absorbed in water. Therefore, using an automated low pass filter helped to represent the underwater environment. It is worth noting that in a natural human environment, high frequencies are more prominent compared in such environment as underwater (Manjula, and Manvi, 2011; Grelowska, and Kozaczka, 2014). As a result, cutting most of the high frequencies enables the listeners to be projected in this unusual context, according to Barrett (2002), spatial compositional technique: Furthermore, the 303 licks are added to represent the complex existing life in underwater such as small lifeforms. The resonance of the filter is another useful way to represent water. Essentially, by experimenting with it, it was realised that adding resonance to the filter ultimately would give a liquid impression reminiscent of the ocean waves. Thus as ocean waves differ in shape, size, and frequencies, it is essential to automate the amount of resonance in the filter. The filter automation is also useful to bring interest to the piece and keep listeners attention. Even though waves are complex in an ocean environment, the mathematical principle of waves is very simple to an orderly set of waves (Elliott, 2019). This binary nature is also syncopated by the main synth of the piece following this intended binary and lunar melodic pattern (Liu, and Lei, 2010; Robert, 2013).

Furthermore, the use of an envelope is another vital tool in representing water and its properties. In essence, most of the synths used had a relatively long attack. The idea is to re-enact the smoothness of the liquid element in opposition to the solid terrestrial environment. In addition, more prolonged attacks tend to give a sense of smoothness, a typical aspect of the water element compared to the terrestrial environment. Lastly, even though most of the sounds are sustained with a long attack, plucks are used and experimented with many different timbres (Robert, 2013). In this case, the conceptuality using an ample palette of sounds aims to represent the diversity and complexity of the ocean ecosystem. Therefore, the plucky sound intends to represent smaller subaquatic entities, while long and sustained sounds represent larger ones. The harsh sounds in this piece also aim to represent more aggressive animals, while smooth sounds represent docile ones. In addition, the up-tempo and complex beat represents the fascinating and rich complexity of the underwater world. Therefore the idea is to organise all these different sounds harmoniously in order to show the perfect order of the subaquatic nature.

2 - Fantasy

As explained in the conceptual approach, the idea of a fantasy factor is plays an important role. The consequential intention to immerse the listener in a fantastical or metaphysical experience is one of the main challenges. Some conscious compositional decisions are made in order to take the listener out of the so-called real interpretation of the world, thus transport one in an alienated journey. Firstly, the syncopation representing the binary movement of waves, the balanced ‘up-and-down’ sustained melody aims to hypnotise the listeners in order to set their minds into a fantastical journey. Hence, the use of ambient sonority is applied to obtain a sense of homogeneity (Dimmers, 2010, p. 117). In the conceptualisation, the stuttered audio property of the beat aims to give an unrealistic feel to the song, which purposely aims to fit with the fantastical concept. The beat does not aim to represent a classic drum pattern; it is heavily processed in order to give an impression of the complexity of the mythological environment. in this case, two conceptualisation are developed:

Each sound represents an animal or an underwater mythological element. (that is sirens sounding).

The composition is a rather calm and hypnotic piece in order to help the listener to relax and disconnect from the real world in order to fully contemplate the power of the natural element that is water.

3- The 3D Realm

As suggested by Moorefield (2010), producers make music in relation to the studio facilities. In 3D audio, using the possibilities of surround monitors is particularly essential, especially in a piece with a concept based on immersion. Therefore, appropriate use of the studio as a compositional tool is essential for the success of the piece. In the context of 3D audio, it takes a form of collecting data and filling it up with one creative brain in a similar way of process and interpret binaural audio. Although even if the 3D audio processing has a real physical interaction with the brain and spatial perception, nevertheless the brain always fills in the rest of the information intuitively concerning the location and psychological receptiveness of the sound listened to and its specific property (Bolaños, and Pulkki, 2012; Schmele, and Gomez, 2012). Therefore, in this case, the aim is to first enter a terrain whereas the mind already anticipates and pre-concept most of the information given by this thematic spatialisation. Which in this case, the element that is chosen, water. In addition, it intends to trigger the amount of information conceptually given as facts and apply it to this experiment. The capabilities of the 3D audio realm as an example are taken into consideration. Moreover, how much can a recording be manipulated in 3D audio? Therefore, how much we perceive with this medium concerning the stereo field. How much more do we become an interactive part of what is presented to us in a tridimensional world? (Moylan, 2014). How much have we given closure to the stereo field as a way to consume audio? If we analyse and level with the rest of innovative industries, the application of suspending disbelief is not at all complete. Thus, one seems to be holding on an archaic way of consuming such an essential and natural medium. Therefore, need sonically level up in audio with what happens in the VR and gaming industry. Hence, the possibilities of using 3D audio widen our sonic capacities, expressiveness in terms of creation, but also in terms of manipulation, the creativity tools become endless. Additionally, emphasis is placed on the conceptualization on the interpretation of another layer of sound with the availability of the 3D realm. As such, in taking advantage of the possibility of creating a simulacrum with the actual technology in the 3D soundscape give a layer of another dimensional measure. The sounds used in this piece intents to symbolise a further existential perception. The panning of sounds on pro tools are processed with Auro 3D and channels are routed with an extra channel to pan the effects on the already panned audio channels. Thus the idea to spatialise the fx independently to the aleatory sounds (Cook, 2012) Another appealing aspect of the 3D realm is that the listener becomes somehow much more active in the consumption of the medium due to his positional factor. He is no longer outside in the listening position, but he is part of the space in the recording. (Moylan, 2014).

Conclusion

In modern music production which is mostly within a stereo spectrum, the use of space (reverb, panning) is just one of many concepts used in the production side and mixing (alongside compression, eq, volumes and more). In pop music, for instance, choruses tend to sound wider than verses. In electronic music, drops tend to sound wider than intro, buildups, and breakdowns. The reason for this is that the use of space is not conceptual, but rather emotional. The idea is to transport the listener on an emotional journey. In this case, the use of space has a different purpose than traditional stereo tracks. It is not emotional but conceptual. Indeed, the use of space aims to immerse the listener int the underwater environment. As a result, space is used as a core element and not as one of many other concepts. The use of 3-D audio seems, therefore, to give a new breath to the use of space as an artistic expression tool and not only as an extension to its use in stereo. Just like Virtual reality or 3D cinematic experience, regarding audio, it seems a leap forward towards an evolution nature of the medium. In this project, 3D audio indeed helped the aim to immerse the audience in the underwater world.

Section 2: Diary

In this project, the aim was to represent a theme using the 3-D sound field as a creative tool by developing a deeper understanding of the concept and explore the standardised closure of the medium and expandability. It was, therefore, essential to start with the concept of the piece. The intention is to immerse the listener in a virtual environment in addition to applying a preconception of the subject to let the mind fill the gaps with its imagination naturally. The underwater world seems to fit the criteria. Not only that few people have had firsthand experience with diving in the ocean, but also there is limited study on the sonic interaction with the human brain. Nevertheless, from the literature, most people seems to have an idea of how a subaquatic experience is supposed to be. Hence, this is not a re-creative mix assignment; the aim is to deepen the concept and explore the standardised closure of the medium and expandability. Therefore in this project, it is essential to include some extrasensory element and playability of conceptualisation in order to give space to the imagination and ultimately create a piece that is a reproduction of a conceptualised experience of the underwater world. Once the concept was found, on the 20th of April, I started looking for some sounds in my home studio that would fit my concept. I downloaded some underwater, oceans and water animals sounds. I found them either on YouTube, freesounds.com or splice.com. Then, I booked three sessions at Vestry Hall studios on the 12th, on the 17tht and on 21 May 2019. During those sessions, I got used to the Auro system, the mixing desk and the Pro Tools routing (cook, 2012). I played back some sounds which were previously downloaded in my home studio to get used to the studio environment and Auro 3D system. In addition, I experimented with different types of sounds, timbres, waveforms and production techniques. I also got used to automating sounds in the 3-D sound field. I realised that some sounds were more localisable than others. In this sense, I used the studio as a compositional tool, as suggested by Eno (2004). Indeed, the studio was not only the place where the production process happened, but it was also used as an essential tool to represent my concept. I quickly found out that the use of low pass filters, high resonance on the filters, long attack on the envelopes were useful to represent my concept. Indeed, all these sound design techniques are helpful to represent “water-like” sounds.

In addition, I realized, during these three sessions, that it was essential to use a quite broad palette of sounds with different timbres to represent the complexity of the underwater world. In this sense, I followed Moylan (2014) idea, according to which the selection of the relevant sounds are crucial to the representation of a concept. Between the sessions at Vestry Hall studios, I kept working in my home studio to enrich the palette of sounds (14th, 15th and 18th of May). I kept downloading sounds on different websites related to my concept to have a more significant choice at my disposal. Once I got used to the creative environment, I started making some songwriting and production decisions. The production process of my piece started with the pads. I empirically panned them to get the most enveloping outcome. It was interesting to notice that phantom images allowed me to get a high sense of immersion with the pads. The Pads were an essential element as they are the only long and sustained elements in my piece that can give a foundation to my piece. Once I got the bed of my piece, I decided to focus on the percussive sounds that aimed to represent the complexity of the underwater world. I experimented with different percussive timbres to represent different small aquatic animals. To give life to animals, I automated the percussive sound sources. Once more, the phantom images were instrumental for two reasons. On the one hand, phantom images avoided gaps between the monitors, which would have implicated a lack of realm. Even though the idea was not to replicate precisely the underwater world, sounds jumping from a speaker to another would have probably created a lack of immersion that is a crucial element to disconnect the listener from the real world.

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On the other hand, as suggested by Moylan (2014): “phantom images not only provide the illusion of the location of the sound source but also create the illusion of the physical size (width) of the source“. As a result, I was able to keep the sharp and percussive essence of the sounds to represent the small animals accurately. The way I used panning on the percussive sounds was quite dynamic to represent the quick movements of animals like small fish. On the last two days at Vestry Hall studios (on the 17th and on the 21st of May), I started experimenting with the drums. I quickly realised that it made sense to program a rather complex beat to emphasise the idea of the richness of the underwater world. Besides, it seemed that it was possible to stack a higher amount of layers than in stereo as the sound field is much more prominent in 3-D. Once most of the main elements were in the ProTools session, I decided to focus on the sound design. I imported some underwater sounds (that I downloaded in my home studio on the 14th, 15th and 18th of May) like whales and sirens screams and waves. I panned the waves essentially in the high layers of speakers and VOG to give an impression that the listener is under the water. The way I used panning on whales and waves was much slower and less dynamic than on percussive sounds to represent the impression of majesty of these elements. After I got all the elements in the Protools session, I spent the last 4 hours of 21 May session on the mixing and mastering session. It was imperative to get a sense of perfect balance between the different elements to represent the perfection of nature.

References

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