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Sound Experiment 5 [End] by allsaints [Email]
Genre: Other

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SONG STATS:
Hits: 962
Comments: 17
Votes: 6
Plays: 132
Last Played: Aug 13, 2008 - 01:30:42 AM
Downloads: 65
Fans: 2
Uploaded: Nov 16, 2005 - 09:36:03 PM
Last Updated: Aug 02, 2006 - 12:54:50 PM



Keywords:
salacious (2)reify (2)contretemps (1)lucubration (2)imprecation (1)pusillanimous (1)machinate (1)virulent (1)concupiscence (1)recondite (1)calumny (1)sebaceous (1)onanism (1)polemic (1)oneiric (1)bagetelle (1)contumacious (1)fulmination (1)sex-machine (1)
Description:
This is the last in the Sound Experiment Cycle. It can be listened to alone or as part of the whole.


NOTES ON THE SOUND EXPERIMENT CYCLE


The intention was to construct a piece of “music” that would be difficult to listen to, while simultaneously maintaining a musical integrity. This is to say, I wanted to construct a song from noises that would grate and jar against a person’s listening palate. I wanted people to feel as though they were listening to fingernails on a chalkboard or the sound of metal being cut. I wanted something unpleasant, but specifically industrial sounding in its unpleasant nature. Simultaneously, I wanted there to be form and structure, and that when you moved beyond the difficulty of the sounds, there remained something interesting and stimulating to be found. This of course is not uncommon, and the art world has always explored these difficult areas.

I soon realized I wasn’t getting the difficult sounds I wanted. Yes, the sounds used are difficult and possess a degree of unpleasantness, but each movement, I discovered, is easy to listen to, especially when you have steeped yourself in music of a similar nature. I contemplated stopping until this problem had been resolved, but I also realized that this cycle was taking on a life of its own. Although I might not be accomplishing what I intended, I found myself stimulated by what was being created. I chose to follow it through in its creation. I’ve always been a firm believer in the Dadaist adage of moving with the unexpected twists and results that you encounter while working.

The Sound Experiment is not complex or difficult. It exists in layers. Sounds weave in and out; the sounds themselves are repetitive patterns or pulses and these patterns then repeat themselves while weaving in and out from each other. While each movement is an exploration of new sounds, there are, throughout each movement, two or three sounds that are repeated. The intention is twofold: First, each section is an attempt to move forward, but simultaneously, to reference back to what had come previously. Secondly, a key objective to this experiment is the exploration of the simple juxtaposition of sounds: What happens when you place sound one with sound two? Then, what happens when you put sound one with sound four? And so on. By juxtaposing two things, a third is always created. If one of those two were to change, then a new third is created. The more sounds that are juxtaposed together, the more virtual or other “third” sounds are equally created.

Now, what happens if you look at the cycle in a non-liner fashion? What happens if you look at it as if it were an amoebae-like form where each sound coexists equally at all times? Then at any moment any one of the sounds can come to the foreground or recede from hearing range. The Sound Experiment Cycle then is only a 17-minute fragment of a grouping of sounds that are in a state of continuous permutation.

Ideally, a program would be created to house these sounds, and then, depending either at random by the program or by the manipulation of a person, these sounds and their duration would rise or recede from the foreground, middle ground, or background (or depending upon how many sounds the operator wants heard at any one moment), thereby always creating a new variation or pattern or song.

The core or foundation of this experiment is in simple repetition or the pulse. The pulse, or a simple repeating rhythm, is the core of not only humanity but also the universe. It is primeval. It is the repetition of a person’s daily biological rhythms and the cycles of the planets as they rotate in the solar system. By extension, man has incorporated these repeating rhythms into the beating or pounding of machinery in the industrial age and visually, and this has proliferated remarkably so in the past decades, the repetition of images in the worlds of art and advertisement.

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doodling. &mdash 11/17/05 - 04:55:10 AM
some of the best art i have seen is one with pen to paper while they are talking on the phone........ a colage of beautiful abstract unconscious...... this gives me that feeling absolutely beautiful.

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doodling. &mdash 11/17/05 - 05:48:20 PM
Thanks for the comment and I'm glad you enjoyed the piece. I like your work a
lot as well so I'm glad you stopped by for a listen.

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A nice ending to a great series. &mdash 11/17/05 - 01:45:47 PM
Of course, these work best as a whole... all five in a row just put
me into this mediative mood. Did I hear excerpts of the others in
this one?

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A nice ending to a great series. &mdash 11/17/05 - 05:45:18 PM
I'm glad that someone sat down and listened to them all as a whole, and even
more so that this person is as receptive to the piece(s) as you are. (It's quite
strange how the numbers for downloads for all 5 experiments fluctuate so
dramatically from one to another).

Yes, I used a few, 2 maybe 3, sound samples that I had used in the first three
experiments. I'm surprised you noticed them because they're mixed down
and I didn't want them to be too noticable, i.e. I wanted people to find them
only by becoming acquainted with the cycle as a whole.

The intention all along was to always use 2 or 3 sound samples from the
previous experiments in the latest one. The intent is to reference the past
while moving forward. Also, to see how the sounds "change" when
juxtaposed differently, i.e. when placed with new sounds.

While this is the end of a specific cycle, I hope to continue to experiment in
much the same manner. Although, these new experiments will probably be
self-contained.

Thanks for listening and for commenting.

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Invasive &mdash 11/17/05 - 09:47:05 PM
Your song invaded my home!
Very successful in that regard. I like when a sound or song puts you in the
position to have a strong opinion, reaction, emotion. This song did that.
Very beautiful sounds in different layers. I am assuming some of these
sounds will make it in to finished songs in the future.

Brandon:p

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Invasive &mdash 11/18/05 - 11:22:01 AM
Yes and no. The Sound Experiment is a cycle unto itself and is a "finished
product," or to quote Duchamp, it is "officially incomplete". Although, I have
been thinking all along of ways to incorporate many of these sounds into more
conventional or traditional approaches to music. For example, they could be
used wonderfully in electronic music, which I would love to do. The only thing
preventing me, or maybe more aptly, my major obstacle to its realization, is that
I don't have access to the kind of equipment that I would need. I have an iMac
G4 and GB2. I work within these limitations. Anyway, I've always been a firm
believer that working with limited resources will force you to create and invent in
ways you might not otherwise consider, and by extention, yield results you
otherwise would not have discovered. But this also works both ways.

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Skillful manipulation &mdash 11/18/05 - 09:41:37 PM
Hm. I encountered this song when I did a keyword search for
"concupiscence." Now why don't more titles appear with that keyword?
Surely there are other "lusty" tracks?

Nice evolution of many layered sounds! The subtle integration between
volume and rhythm creates a mesmerizing pulse that mutates in a way
to keep the listener "leaning forward." I'm going to have to make a
point to search out your other works.

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Skillful manipulation &mdash 11/20/05 - 11:41:33 AM
Thanks for taking the time to listen. I'm always surprised when people pay
attention to Key Words, and often wonder how much people even notice them. I
use this section in a slightly different manner than most. While some words, in
their way, are an apt description of the song in part or as a whole, it is only
when the words are used ironically that they best describe what I'm attempting.

So, did you actually enter into this, with the intent ahead of time, of seeing
whether or not someone had used the word concupiscence?

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CLOACA &mdash 11/30/05 - 09:59:15 AM
I LOVE CLOACA!

See you have good taste too!

[ Reply to This ]
CLOACA &mdash 11/30/05 - 09:59:17 AM
I LOVE CLOACA!

See you have good taste too!

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CLOACA &mdash 11/30/05 - 02:15:40 PM
CLOACA is a product of genius. It is the perfect metaphor.

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grrrreat &mdash 02/15/06 - 12:01:53 PM
I am a huge fan of the ambient genre. Loved what you did. Going to
listen to the whole thing. Thanks for sharing this. I really appreciate
your musical vision. Man, I love macjams!!! xxoo, kelli

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grrrreat &mdash 02/15/06 - 12:23:12 PM
I am a huge fan of the ambient genre. Loved what you did. Going to
listen to the whole thing. Thanks for sharing this. I really appreciate
your musical vision. Man, I love macjams!!! xxoo, kelli

[ Reply to This ]
grrrreat &mdash 02/17/06 - 11:26:52 AM
Thanks for the comment and enthusiasm. Please check out all 5 sections of the experiment. I have the entire composition edited into a seamless whole, but am just waiting until I have some highspeed connection to upload it.

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I kept looking for my phone &mdash 02/15/06 - 05:21:52 PM
It was ringing, or was it my head? I hate doing comparisons, but I keep remembering Firesign Theater when I listen to this. Thanks for posting! - Harold

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I kept looking for my phone &mdash 02/17/06 - 11:29:34 AM
Interesting comparison. I would be interested in hearing more about this.

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I kept looking for my phone &mdash 02/17/06 - 04:20:07 PM
Again, I apologize for the comparison, it is incongruent to music as such.
I used to listen to a lot of stuff in the early 70's like P. Floyd with "spacey" ambient sounds etc., and occasionally I would get together with friends and we'd listen to comedy albums like Cheech n' Chong had produced as well. One day a friend brought over a comedy album by Firesign Theater (1st and only time I have listened to them), and I was amazed at the background sounds and effects in the disc behind the banter of comedy exchange. There was no music like yours in there, but sounds barely identifiable or lead me to think I had heard. This music of yours here makes me feel that way I did back then when I listen now. Best regards, -Harold

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