Capitol piece
In the past week, I’ve made significant changes to this piece, based on my thoughts in last week’s blog post, but also from some feedback given in class. One suggestion I’ve implemented is to use some kind of change in lighting alongside the changes of bass note. In the first six minutes this is shown using a slow “burst” preset, along the ceiling—in fact, this is the only lighting that appears on the ceiling in the first six minutes, with exception of some strobing at the rear of the venue at the beginning.
From ~6:20 onwards, the bass note changes are accentuated using a long decay 808 bass drum, which is used as a sidechain input for a compressor effecting all other elements*. To mirror this, the ceiling lighting cuts out and fades back in over a few seconds, each time a different colour. There’s a chance the bass drum sound will cause the viewer to snap out of a potential hypnotic state, but that’s to be seen when it’s tested in venue. Perhaps removing the white noise/screen lighting buildup before each “drop” could remedy this.
I’ve slowed down the transitions significantly as well, so hopefully it’s a smoother experience in the venue. Holding back on using all of the lighting until near the end was also a new experience for me. I’m very much used to making minimalist music by now, but as I’m new to lighting design, I have to fight to not throw everything in at once. I think I chose the right adjective for this in order for it to be a nice challenge.
* – A technique commonly used by EDM producers, often to accentuate or influence the listener’s perception of rhythm (Brøvig-Hanssen, Sandvik & Aareskjold-Drecker 2020), but also found in more experimental styles of electronic music. Using such techniques in experimental and minimal styles of music is less concerned with rhythm; however, there is some sense of disruption from the way the sidechain source causes the other tracks to “dip”, giving an almost psychedelic sensation. This is by no means a new technique—in fact, in an article on sidechain compression, Abravanel (2019) refers to The Beatles’ recording Tomorrow Never Knows (1966) as an early example of overcompression achieving a similar effect, where the cymbals are “ducked” by the bass drum and snare.
Exactly why this contributes to, or represents, a psychedelic effect is something I’ve attempted to research, with no success so far; however, I’ve discovered a few interesting articles on the mechanics of psychedelic music, in particular, Melting Clocks and the Hallways of Always: Time in Psychedelic Music (Reising 2009) which touches on some examples of repetition and constant rhythms in early psychedelic music, which connects back to my original ideas and use of repetitive rhythms. As such, it made sense to implement sidechain compression in my Capitol piece, to further enhance the psychedelic and hypnotic experience.
Phase browser work
I haven’t had the chance to work more on this piece, as a few other things have taken over in terms of priority, but as mentioned in my presentation last week, I’ve got some good ideas about how to iterate on it, based on the reactions when it was presented in class.
One main reaction that made me consider some modification was that the hypnotic effect is diminished when all of the squares are active. I can remedy this by grouping the squares, perhaps by row, or even in groups of two, and only allowing one square in each group to be active. This would also allow the user to “perform” the work more effectively, as well as preventing notes only a semitone apart from clashing.
Another notable suggestion was to create different versions with varying degrees of synchronisation—one unsynchronised (as per current version), one where clicking on a square causes the ball to appear at the bottom of the cycle (thus bouncing immediately), and one where each ball is strictly locked to a certain point in the sequence, for example to a 16th note grid. Ultimately, I think I’m going to keep it unsynchronised, but it will be a good coding exercise, if nothing else.
Further research opportunities
Adam Neely’s recent video on rhythm perception has inspired me to continue research into rhythm, beyond the end of semester.
Using an example of a musical piece performed by his band, he demonstrates the edges of perception of both slow and fast rhythms. It was something he discussed already in a previous video, but he referred to Paul Fraisse’s writing on rhythm; this motivated me to look him up and find his other writing. In particular, I’m interested in reading Repp’s translation/interpretation The legacy of Paul Fraisse: II. Two further studies of sensorimotor synchronization (2012) as it investigates human response to rhythm at varying tempi. I’m finding that as I continue with this program, my works are becoming more and more focused on rhythm, rather than melodic content, so it’s appropriate that I continue researching interesting rhythmic phenomena to apply to my work.
References
Brøvig-Hanssen, R, Sandvik, B, and Aareskjold-Drecker, J.M 2020, “Dynamic Range Processing and Its Influence on Perceived Timing in Electronic Dance Music.” Music theory online, vol. 26, no. 2.
Abravanel, D 2019, “Sidechain Compression”, Canadian Musician, vol. 41, no. 3, p. 31.
Beatles, The 1966, Tomorrow Never Knows, sound recording, Parlophone Records, UK.
Reising, R 2009, “Melting Clocks and the Hallways of Always: Time in Psychedelic Music”, Popular Music and Society, vol. 32, no. 4, pp. 523–547.
Neely, A 2021, The Psychology of Extreme Rhythms, YouTube, 25 September, viewed 26 September 2021, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRLTjESyuQk>.
Repp, B 2012, “The legacy of Paul Fraisse: II. Two further studies of sensorimotor synchronization”, Psychomusicology, vol.22, no. 1, pp. 74–76.